Northwest Oklahoma Genealogical Society - Key Finder
Summer 1997
Vol. 18 No. 3
MILITARY ARCHIVES RICH IN MISSOURI HISTORY
CONTINUED
While some war records are descriptive rolls that list physical features, date of birth and other pertinent data, others are simply a service card showing date of enlistment and date and place of discharge.
Mary Beck, the archives military records specialist, said records are available only for times when the militia was active. There is no record of who served in the military in peace-time.
The archives has received some records from fraternal organizations such as the Daughters of the War of 1812, but the bulk of. its military records came from the Missouri National Guard in February 1988. The collection includes more than 1,100 military books, listing pension claims, service/release forms and other information.
Beck said the National Guard continues to come across documents. Archives staff and volunteers also discover new information when they have time to go over the records. And then there are unopened boxes, including those that contain Oaths of Loyalty.
Such information will interest historians, but researchers looking at their family tree also will find the information useful. Genealogists might not unearth a great deal of family history in the military records, but sometimes all they need for research purposes is a name, date or unit. If the record lists a county, the genealogist gains another avenue of research.
A little-known source for family information is the 1865-1866 county enrollments.
“In 1865, the Legislature passed a law that all counties were to sign up all eligible men, Beck said. “It was like a
draft.”
The law was rescinded a year later, but the artistically penned county rolls include age, height, hair and eye color, complexion, marital status, occupation and, sometimes, other remarks concerning all men over 18 in 89 counties.
The archives also has rare documents from World War I. Although most records from that war were lost in a fire at the Federal Personnel Record center in St. Louis some 25 years ago, the archives managed to find some from that period. Beck said most people are unaware that the archives also has records for the U. S. Colored Troops, which sometimes included American Indians.
Records also exist for the “home guard,” which describes those who enrolled in the state. Many, in fact, stayed home, just as the name implies, and continued to work the fields.
The home guard had 89 numbered and several named units, and was the predecessor of the Missouri National Guard.
“Some never fired a shot, but they were considered to be on active duty,” Beck said.
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