Military records, especially military pension records, can be an excellent place to find genealogical information. Through them, you can often find information such as birthplace, age at enlistment, occupation, and names of immediate family members.

Most records for veterans of the U.S. Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy are available through the National Archives, with the earliest records dating from the Revolutionary War. The collection includes service records, pension applications and records, bounty land records, and even pardon petitions for Confederate Army veterans.

The National Archives will search for military records if you can provide the following information about the individual:

Full name

The war in which the individual served

The state from which the individual entered the military

The branch of service -- whether Army, Navy, or the Marine Corps

Other identifying information, such as birth and death dates and locations, is helpful, but not required. It is likely that there will be many files with the same name as your ancestor, and this information can help determine which is the correct file.

Requests for copies of military records at the National Archives need to be submitted on NATF Form 80. You may only make one request per form and they do not accept reproductions of the form, so be sure to order one copy of Form 80 for each request that you want to make. If you are sending for copies of bounty land warrant applications, you will need Form 26. To obtain a copy of either form, write to:

Reference Services Branch (NNIR)
National Archives and Records Administration
7th and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20408

For a faster response, you can request Form 80 via email.

Simply send a message to - inquire@arch2.nara.gov - with the word "Form" in the subject line. In the body of the message, include your name and mailing address, as well as the number of copies of Form 80 you need. The National Archives will send you an e-mail message confirming receipt of your request. You will be surprised at how quickly they will respond by sending the appropriate form to you. PENSION files contain the most useful genealogical data.

Once you return the completed form, the National Archives will conduct a search. If they are able to locate what they believe is the correct file, they will photocopy it and send you a bill. Once you return the payment, they will send the copies. For larger files, they will not photocopy every page unless you specifically request this. Instead, they will photocopy the pages that they deem most useful. If they cannot determine which is the correct file, they will notify you of this.

To find your ancestor's Michigan military unit, check the "Brown Books," or The Index to MI Soldiers and Sailors Individual Records , published at Lansing, MI, 1915. In these books are listed the names of most of those who served from Michigan. When you find your ancestor's name in the index, it will tell you what volume and page number to look up, for a short record of service. This record usually gives name, enlistment date, muster date, unit, length of service, age at enlistment and rank, and rank at end of service. These books are available at the Hall-Fowler Memorial Library in Ionia as well as at most other libraries.

• The Hall-Fowler Memorial Library in Ionia holds the DAR scrapbook for the county. The originals 1894 - are available ( although in delicate condition) as well as a microfilmed copy.

• The Hall Fowler Memorial Library in Ionia has copies of Michigan in War, Vol. 1-46 as well as the Michigan Soldiers and Sailors Index.

• The Library of Michigan in Lansing Michigan has the following microfilm.

The patriots : Ionia County, Michigan men who were in the Civil War (1991)

............. Mich (Non-Circ) 2 N,Mich 2 N : F 572 .I6 D45 1991

• The following records are available at The State Archives of Michigan

Soldier's relief board, 1899 - Record Group 66-73, Series 12

World War I veterans, 1917-1918 - Record Group 66-73, Series 15

Burial of indigent soldiers, 1866-1930 - Record Group 66-73, Series 19

Prisoner of war camp, 1944-1945 - Record Group 66-73, Series 25

Selective service records, 1945 - Record Group 66-73, Series 26

Burial of veterans, 1906-1914 - Record Group 66-73, Series 30

War bounty bonds, 1864-1865 - Record Group 68-25, Series 4

• The records of the Michigan Veterans Facility located in Grand Rapids, have been microfilmed and placed in the Grand Rapids Public Library by the Western Michigan Genealogical Society

• The following book is available for purchase from AGLL.

Michigan in the War of 1812 by Fred C. Hamil reviews Michigan's involvement in the various battles of the War of 1812 including chapters on causes and background of the War, Hull and the Campaign of 1812, Harrison and the Campaign of 1813, and the stalemate on the Western Front. Publ. 1977. Maps, illus. 45p.

E0803 Softbound $3.95

Sons of the Revolution in the State of Michigan
411 Bartlett Street
Lansing, MI 48915

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