My Trails into the Past

During the government shutdown, Brian Rhinehart of CivilWarRecords.com, presented a webinar, “Researching Your 19th Century Ancestors,” about researching military records at Fold3 . His pitch was to help support his employees since they could not work at the National Archives while it was closed. Learning to do better searching at Fold3 is always welcome, and I liked the idea of supporting those who were caught in the shutdown. I didn’t attend live, as I had other obligations, and watched the recording later, which turned out better because we had exercises to try out his methodologies. Seeing the recording allowed me to work on the problems without any stress. The way Fold3 is set up is different from most websites, where you enter a name in a search field and you’ll get all the documents about that person or persons with similar names. You can do that at Fold3, but you won’t get everything. Fold3 is better searched using their browse feature. He used the analogy of file drawe...

On 12 July 1973, a fire broke out at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, destroying 80 percent of Army personnel files and 75 percent of Air Force files. [1] I submitted an order for my great-uncle, Jack C. Sullivan’s file in 2017, and received the dreaded letter that there was no record for him. I have, since that time, worked at discovering substitute records to tell the story of his military service during World War I. [2] What You Can Get from the NPRC Although there was no personnel file for Jack, I did receive the final pay voucher for ten men who were discharged at Fort D. A. Russell in Wyoming on 6 August 1919, and he was included. He was listed as: Jack C. Sullivan, Sergeant, 568973, enlisted 4 June 1917, from Anaconda, Montana. He was part of Detachment 4th Engineers. He received $153.41. The net pay was $112.76 plus a $7.00 insurance premium allotment, plus $40.65 for travel pay. It included his signature. [3] Later, I visited the NPRC and viewe...

George Thomas Davey registered for the draft on 5 June 1917, the date of the first registration. He was twenty-seven years old and worked for the American Car and Foundry in Jeffersonville, Indiana. He claimed his mother and three children were dependent on him. He also claimed an exception because he worked at a plant making war material. On the back of the card under disabilities, it states “weak ambler.” [1] None of the statements on the card prevented him from being drafted. He was listed as Class 1 (eligible for the draft) by the Clark County Exemption Board in April 1918. [2] He entered the army on 26 April 1918 and was sent to Camp Zachary Taylor on April 27. [3] Camp Zachary Taylor was located in Louisville, Kentucky and used during the war as a training center. [4] He was a private with the Detachment Quartermaster Corps of the School for Bakers and Cooks. He spent the entire war at Camp Zachary Taylor as a cook. [5] He was discharged on 29 July 1919. [6] Camp Zachary T...

Earlier this year, I wrote about my husband's great-uncle, Ernest Ferdinand Nilsen, who was a skilled patternmaker. It can be found here . For this week, I want to describe his military service. When he was eighteen years old, Ernie enrolled at the Navy Recruiting Station in San Francisco on 2 July 1918. He received his training at the Naval Training Camp in San Pedro, California from 16 July to 13 August. He served on board the USS Sequoia from 13 August to 11 November 1918. He was placed on inactive duty on 30 June 1919 at San Francisco. [1] He was discharged on 30 September 1921. [2] He served as a Seaman 2 nd Class. After the service with the U.S. Navy, Ernie met his future wife, Mary McConnell, at the E.W. Reynolds Wholesale Jewelry Company where he worked in the shipping department. She was the head cashier. They married on 10 June 1925. [3] Later Ernie worked as a custom cabinet maker and this led him to enlist again in the U.S. Navy during World War II as a patternm...

In papers I received from my grandmother, there were several letters of recommendation written for my grandfather. [1] These letters date in April 1944, just shortly after he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. [2] Likely, he was trying for a specialization in carpentry and needed these recommendations. Reading about what these important people wrote about my grandfather’s character and abilities is very interesting and also helpful in filling in his timeline. R. Y. Anderson, manager of the Clay Building Material Company of Stephenville, Texas, wrote on 8 April 1944:

This week I am taking a military class virtually at the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) called “Answering the Call of Uncle Sam: Research in Military Records,” with instructors Sandra Rumble and Jonathan Deiss. [1] So far, it has been wonderful. Tuesday, we’re explored examples of Compiled Military Service Records (CMSR) and I thought I would locate a file for someone in my family tree. There are some complete files digitized on Fold3 . The best way to find these records is to use the browse function. I click Civil War (Union) and then browsed to find Civil War Service Records (CMSR) – Union and the state of interest. Once there, look for the military unit, and then the first letter of the last name. Most of my known Civil War soldiers served out of Ohio and unfortunately, there were only index cards for Ohio soldiers. I did find a Missouri soldier with a complete file: Andreas Pfotenhauer. He was the grandfather of Fred James Davey’s wife, Christine Pfotenhau...

This is my third year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. I am very proud of those ancestors and collateral relatives who served our country in the Armed Forces. I would like to list them here. U.S. Army: John Eliason Lundquist, Civil War Harold Rupert Gleeson, WWI Joseph W Gorrell, Civil War Amos Gorrell, Civil War Oral D Johnston, WWI John E. Lundquist, WWI Carl David Harry Nilsen, WWI Carl David Harry Nilsen Jr, WWII Joseph A Nilsen, WWI Eugene F Soares, WWII John Cyril Sullivan, WWI Woodrow Whitlow, WWII U.S. Air Force: George J. Gorrell, WWII Rayburn D Lancaster, Korea/Viet Nam U.S. Navy: William Cyril Hork, WWI Tom J Johnston, WWII Ernest Nilsen, WWI, WWII Leonard M Nilsen, WWII Since my mother’s side is all southern, I’ll include those who served for the  Confeder...

My husband’s father, George J. Gorrell, served during World War II at the Army Air Force base, Burtonwood Air Depot, as a mechanic. Other posts about his adventures are here: George J Gorrell Served in the Army Air Corps During WWII US Army Air Corps Base in England Where George J Gorrell Served Letters Home, Using V-Mail George J Gorrell's WWII Service at Burtonwood Air Depot Today is the 75th anniversary of VE-Day (Victory in Europe).  On May 8, 1945, Nazi Germany surrendered to Allied Forces. George kept a diary of his adventures during the war. From April 28, 1945 to May 8, he  recorded the news of the war. April 28:    Mussolini reported executed. April 30:    Hitler reported by Germany to have died. May 2:       Italy’s German armies surrender, including South Austria. Heard news at Southport ARC. May 4:       North Germany, Holland, and Denmark Germans surrender. May 7: ...

This is my third year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. This is a continuation of the story of George J. Gorrell’s service during World War II in the Army Air Forces. Previous posts: George J Gorrell Served in the Army Air Corps During WWII US Army Air Corps Base in England Where George J Gorrell Served Letters Home, Using V-Mail George J. Gorrell enlisted in the Army Air Forces on 27 July 1943 in San Francisco. [1] He was part of the group of men who were already working at air depots doing maintenance on airplanes. He was told he would be doing the same work. [2] In 1941, he had trained at Curtiss-Wright Technical Institute in Glendale, California and was awarded a diploma as Master Aviation Mechanic. [3] He also received training at the Sacramento ...