Are Your Ancestors Keeping Secrets From You?

   Earlier this month I posted - Elusive Civil War Ancestors.  This post will continue to look at William Albert Clark and his Civil War records, or lack of records.

   I like to treat genealogy like a science.  It does have that nice –logy suffix.  Since I’m treating it like a science I tend to create theories about the ancestors that I am studying.  Theories are great to have.  They help focus your research goals and give you a sense of accomplishment whether you prove or disprove them.

   In the case of William Albert Clark, my theory is that he must have served in the Civil War.  William was born in 1840 in West Cambridge (now Arlington) MA.  He and his father ran a harness making company. He was 21 when the war started and after the war ended, he got married.   He married a girl named Emma Read from Jersey City, NJ.  So, either he met her on the way to or from the war front or mail order brides came from New Jersey back then.

   I realize that neither of those two choices may be true.  The idea of William serving in the Civil War and passing through New Jersey where he meets his future wife does support my theory.  All I had to do was to find the proof.

   To date I have been fairly successful at finding the service records of those who served in the Civil War.  I did find William Albert’s draft record in 1863, but I haven’t been able to find any service or pension records.  Maybe it was time for a new theory.  Maybe William Albert was drafted but never served.

   I went to NARA in Waltham and asked where I could find information on war exemptions and it was suggested that I go to Arlington where William lived.  Arlington is about 10 minutes away so it wasn’t a problem.  I visited the Arlington Library and was told that the person I wanted to talk to wouldn’t be in until that afternoon.  I left a message.

   This was all serendipitous because it gave me time to visit the Clark house a mile down Mass Ave.  I wrote about that adventure here - Old Photo Reveals More Clues.  While I was at the old house, I crossed the street to the Fire Department and the adjoining War Memorial Park.  In support of my new theory, I couldn’t find William Albert in the rolls for serving in the War from Arlington.

   Later that afternoon I received a call from a very nice Arlington librarian.   She had gotten my message, done her own research and she told me the records I wanted were at NARA.  I smiled quietly to myself.  Her research did point me to the exact records I needed to ask for - The Civil War Letters of Exemption.  “Oh, by the way, they only have the surnames beginning with C.”  I said that should work out well and thanked her for her help.

   A week later, I visited NARA again to look at the Letters.  Unfortunately, the index should have stated that the surnames were not only limited to the letter C, but even more limited to names beginning with Cu.  Any of you Currys or Currans or Cunninghams out there might be in luck, I wasn’t.

   The folks at NARA suggested more avenues and I requested – Descriptions of Persons Drafted 1863-1864.  This wonderful old ledger listed men who were drafted and later exempted from service.  I found a couple of William Albert’s cohorts from the 1863 draft, but no William.

   This guy was really holding on to his secrets tightly.

   I wonder if there was a stigma associated with not serving.  Not serving didn’t seem to hurt Grover Cleveland or John D. Rockefeller.  They both paid someone to serve for them.  Whatever did happen to William Albert during the war years he didn’t share with his family.  I have read and reread the 100-year-old notes from his daughter-in-law, Mary (Cheney) Clark, and she mentions nothing to support either of my theories.

   The answers look like they will remain elusive for a while longer.

   My lack of success won’t deter me from acting like a scientist and creating new theories.  I know that science will shine a light on all those dark places, like secrets, and illuminate what they are and whether they are false or true.

Elusive Civil War Ancestors

   Since this is the sesquicentennial of the beginning of the Civil War, I have decided to “begin” to get serious about finding my children’s Civil War ancestors.  I’ll be easy on myself and make it a goal to be complete in four years in time for the anniversary of the end of the war.

William Albert Clark - ~1885

   I have already found a 3rd g-grand uncle, but that is not the same as a direct line family member.  I’m looking for two people.  The first is my wife’s great grandfather, William A. Clark, from Massachusetts.  I have a draft record, now I need some service records.  The second is my 3rd g-grandfather, Theodore Schulz, from Missouri.  I have nothing for Theodore.  That is why I’m off to NARA in Waltham.

  Wish me luck.

Old Dogs and New Genealogy Clues

   We organize data and it becomes information.   We interpret and integrate that information and it becomes knowledge.  When knowledge of one topic merges with the knowledge of another, we get the spark called innovation.

   I have been researching genealogy for over 25 years and the world of genealogy keeps changing.  I plan to keep changing along with it and learn as many new tricks as I can.
  
   I haven’t had the need to do much Civil War research in the past but I decided to take advantage of a workshop presented by the National Archives in Waltham.  The session was titled Torn in Two: Researching Civil War Records at the National Archives.  I had been to the Archives dozens of times in search of Naturalization records.  This was an opportunity to find out what else they offered.


   The most important and most disappointing information that I learned was that Waltham didn’t have any of the Service or Pension records.  Everything was in Washington DC.  This drawback was offset by the fact that Waltham does have thousands of other Civil War records and letters.


   The presentation focused on the hidden treasure behind the Service and Pension records.  Once you have a Pension application number or the regiment that your ancestor served in you can send away for the entire file.  This entire file could be dozens of records including letters and genealogical information.


   As soon as the workshop was over, I took advantage of the newfound knowledge and headed for the research room.  The Archive’s Service records are indexed by Ancestry.com and the Pension records are indexed by Fold3.com.  If you have access to these sites then you can get started at home, if not well the National Archives gives you access for free.


   I started with some research for a friend.  A few minutes later, I had the Massachusetts regiment that her ancestor served in and the Pension index record with two application numbers, one for him and one for his wife after he died.  Using the application numbers my friend will be able to send away for a variety military files the government has collected.


   I was a bit luckier. 

   My 3rd great grand uncle, George Albig, was born in Germany and immigrated to the US around 1850.  Thirteen years later, he fought for the Union and died at the Battle of Ringgold Gap in Georgia.  His mother, Margaretha (Hess) Albig, (my 4th g-grandmother) filed for George’s pension.  Fold3 had 20 pages digitized from this pension application.   Many of these pages were sworn affidavits from friends and neighbors saying that Margaretha was who she said she was.  


   One document was genealogy gold.  It had the birth information for my 4th g-grandfather, Johann Georg Albig, in 1796 in Endsee, Germany and the birth of Anna Margaretha Hessin in 1800 in Hartershofen, Germany.  There were the godparent’s names and the parishes where the baptisms took place also.  I now know that they were married in 1820 and that there is a 14-year gap between that marriage and the birth of my 3rd g-grandmother, who I thought was the first born, which creates a few questions.


   Take every opportunity to learn something new, every day if possible.  This old dog learned a new trick and the rewards were records that confirmed my research and opened up new avenues into this line of German ancestry.