MY OLD KENTUCKY ANCESTORS
FINDING CIVIL WAR ANCESTOR SOLDIERS
By Mr. Paul Low
Searching for ancestor information, whether they were
soldiers or not, can be as easy or as difficult as you
want to make it. Most ancestors can be found; some
will always remain in limbo no matter what you try.
FIRST STEP
It is always best to begin the story at the
beginning. Gather as much information about family
members as you can. Start with yourself, then talk
with your parents, grandparents, and as many older
living relatives as you can. Keep a notepad with you
so you can write down answers.
In most families there are those who are known as the
"keepers of the family history". While I am one such
'keeper' in my family, I am more of the researcher, my
daughter being the primary 'keeper', keeping birth
dates, marriage dates, off-spring names and dates,
etc. I also have two cousins who keep side family
information just as my daughter does. These people are
invaluable to your search. One of them should have the
"family Bible". See if you can obtain photocopies of
what has been recorded inside. Also try to locate
photographs of family members. These will inspire you
to dig deeper.
NEXT STEP
Once you have obtained and organized as much
information as you can, draw out a "family tree" which
shows relationships. One of the nicest can be
downloaded from the Latter Day Saints site at
http://www.familysearch.com.
Now we search. Kentucky was one of those "border"
States that sent men to the Confederate and the Union
armies, meaning you have to do twice the work. This
is truly one of those States where brother fought
brother, father fought son, cousins fought cousins
The majority of Civil War soldiers were between the
ages of 13 and 60 years of age, meaning that they had
been born between 1800 and 1848. Check your family
tree. Are there any males born between 1800 and 1848?
If there are, they are good candidates for having been
soldiers during the conflict. What does family oral
history say about any of them? If you can come up with
a name [or names] you can check the Rosters of Civil
War Soldiers. If these volumes [something like 60
volumes in all] are not available in your local
library or through the library lending system, contact
me via e-mail at JohnnyReb1865@Yahoo.com and I'll do
the search for you.
The information you need for your search is: family
surname, first name, middle name. The more
information you provide, the easier the search will
be.
EXAMPLE: Family name = SMITH
first name = JOHN
middle name = PAUL
The roster of Confederate Soldiers, 1861-1865 shows:
No record of any SMITH, JOHN PAUL or SMITH, JOHN P.
from Kentucky. There are a lot of SMITH, JOHN's from
Kentucky:
Smith, John KY 10th (Johnson's) Cav. Co.A
Smith, John KY 13th Cav. Co.I
Smith, John KY 1st (Butler's) Cav. 1st Lt.
Smith, John KY 1st (Butler's) Cav.
Smith, John KY 2nd (Duke's) Cav. Co.G
Smith, John KY 2nd (Duke's) Cav. Co.K
Smith, John KY 3rd Cav. Co.B
Smith, John KY 3rd Cav. Co.D
Smith, John KY 3rd Cav. Co.F
Smith, John KY 3rd Cav. Co.K
Smith, John KY 3rd Mtd.Inf. Co.F
Etc.
This is not really much help unless someone has told
us which unit our John Paul Smith had served [or was
believed to have served] in. Further checking shows:
Smith, J.P. KY 10th (Johnson's) Cav. Co. C
And since he is the only one listed from Kentucky we
can be fairly sure that this is our man. You will also
notice that there was a JOHN SMITH in the Kentucky
10th (Johnson's) Cavalry in Company A. It is possible
that these two men are one in the same and we should
order service records for both names. It is entirely
possible that he may have enlisted originally in
Company C where the clerk recorded his name as J.P.
Smith to differentiate him from his brother, J.C.
Smith. Later, when he went to Company A, the clerk
recorded him only as John since he was the only John
Smith in Company A.
Next we look for other Smith's that served in the 10th
Kentucky Cavalry and we find:
Smith, --- KY 10th (Johnson's) Cav. Co.E
Smith, Adam KY 10th (Johnson's) Cav. Co.D
Smith, B.F. KY 10th (Johnson's) Cav. New Co.C
Smith, Benjamin KY 10th (Johnson's) Cav. Co.B
Etc.
NEXT STEP
Ordering a Service Record. These can be ordered from
the National Archive and Records Administration, 700
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20408
[(202)-501-5170] or via e-mail at inquire@nara.gov.
You will need one Form 80, Civil War Soldier, for
every soldier you want a service record for. Fill out
the form with as much information as you can, giving
the name as it is shown SMITH, J.P. KY 10TH
(JOHNSON'S) CAV. CO. A CSA. If your ancestor happened
to have fought for the Union, then you might consider
requesting a Pension record. Each record request is
currently costing $17.00 and will take 3-4 months to
complete [remember, you're dealing with volunteers
here].
An alternative source is Broadfoot Publishing
Company, 1907 Buena Vista Circle, Wilmington, NC
28411. You can call them at 1-800-537-524 if you are
placing an order or 1-910-686-4816 if you just have
questions [ask for Page, she's great! And tell them I
sent you]. You can also e-mail Page at
bropubco@wilmington.net or visit the website at
http://www.broadfootpublishing.com. Their cost is
$25.00 per service record but the turn around time is
usually less than one week.
The information provided by NARA and Broadfoot is
from the same source material. The difference is that
NARA usually limits the return to 10 pages while
Broadfoot gives you everything they can find.
FOLLOW UPS
Follow up sources of information are:
Kentucky Public Records Division
Archives Research Room
P.O. Box 537
Frankfort, Kentucky 40602-0537
General Information 1-502-564-3016
Information available includes:
Adjutant General's reports and rosters of Confederate
soldiers from Kentucky
Indexed rosters of Kentucky soldiers in Confederate
units
Index of Confederate pension applications and approved
pension files
Collection of Kentucky county histories
Published genealogy collections
Registration of Confederate and Union veterans' graves
Kentucky Confederate Soldiers' Home records
The Union Regiments of Kentucky
Report of the Adjutant General of the State of
Kentucky. Confederate Kentucky Volunteers, War
1861-1865. Two volumes.
Report of the Adjutant General of the State of
Kentucky. Union Kentucky Volunteers, War 1861-1865.
Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives
300 Coffee Tree Road
Frankfort, KY 40602
502-564-8300
Kentucky Historical Society
100 West Broadway
Frankfort, KY 40601
502-564-3016
The 1st Kentucky Brigade, CSA: The "Orphan Brigade"
1st Kentucky Independent Battery
The 6th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry Regiment, U.S.,
web site
The 7th Kentucky Inc.
9th Kentucky Volunteer Cavalry, Union
11th Kentucky ("Chenault's") Cavalry, CSA
14th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry (USA), 1861-1865
The 39th Kentucky Mounted Infantry Webpage
53rd Kentucky Mounted Infantry
54th Regiment Kentucky Infantry, Union
The 65th Kentucky Enrolled Militia