Finding photographic materials in your family history research

Online family trees

Be skeptical of the accuracy of materials posted on-line as they have not been vetted for accuracy.

Family Search

A free “one family tree” website hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  In a one tree format all individuals are connected within the family tree, it is open source such that anyone can make edits.  All images have a delay in their posting as they are reviewed by a human prior to going live and have to meet decency standards, which exclude explicit materials, and also hate speech, like images related to Nazi’s or the SS.

Uploaded image on FamilySearch.org for Lewis Brunson and Catherine Keaton Carling

While the image could look better, all images list who uploaded them and you can contact the contributor via e-mail or through the messaging on the website.

Ancestry

Another on-line family history website with individual trees.  There is a fee to join, but it can be accessed at many public libraries and at Family History Centers

US Passport Applications after 1914

All US Passports Applications after 1914 have a photograph included with them.  Passports would be issued to a whole family group rather than just an individual, if more than one person was traveling.  As a result the photographs could be of more than one person. They are not the standardized passport photos of today and could be a portrait or a family snapshot.  A database can be accessed here: United States Passport Applications, 1795-1925 on Ancestry or at My Heritage.

Carl Ludwig Ferdinand Stelter’s photo from passport application dated 9 May 1922

Histories

Local, military, and published family histories can be a source of photographic materials. It was common in the mid-19th century and early 20th-century for communities, often at the county level, to have local histories written about the history of the local area and feature short biographies of prominent people in the area and those willing to pay a fee to have themselves featured in the publication. Local histories can be found at genealogical libraries, local Family History Centers, Google Books, and Internet Archive.

Image of the Stock Farm of John H Miller found in History of Miami Country, Indiana: a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests by Arthur L Bodurtha accessed on archive.org

There were two histories written of the 99th Indiana Infantry in the Union Army, the first in 1865 and the second in 1900. Jacob E Marsh was a sergeant in Company D, his photograph and a brief sketch of his life are included in the second publication.

SGT Jacob E Marsh of the 99th Indiana Infantry. Image from New History of the 99th Indiana Infantry: containing official reports, anecdotes, incidents, biographies and complete rolls by Daniel R Lucas; accessed from archive.org

State Archives & Historical Societies

Mabel Dague with two new teachers at Classen High School, photo by Ronald Pyer, 26 August 1952, published in the Daily Oklahoman 28 August 1952 from the Oklahoma Historical Society

Local Historical Societies

There are many local historical societies in the US. Many counties have historical societies whose missions are to preserve the history of the local area and the families that have lived within its borders. Many religious groups, fraternal organizations, and immigrant ethnic groups maintain histories of the people within their groups.

Civil War Pension Files for Union Soldiers and their dependents- How to find them

I was fortunate to work at a large scale research project at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Washington, DC and the National Records Center in Suitland, Maryland for 18 months in which I daily handled Civil War Pension Files and Medical Records and Military Service Records. It was a treasure trove of information on the soldiers and their families.

United States Civil War and Later Pensions is an enormous record group at NARA and the National Records Center. Pensions began to be issued to disabled veterans in 1862 with laws making major changes to the qualifications being made in 1872, 1890, and 1906. According to the Social Security Administration, by 1910, 90% of living Union veterans were receiving a pension.

There are indexes to Union Pension Records with nearly 2.5 million Index Cards. There are several ways to search the index files; Family Search has United States Civil War and Later Pension Index, 1861-1917 and United States General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934; Ancestry’s Index is the same as the latter from Family Search ; and Fold3 has Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900. I recommend that you look at all three.

Each of the databases yielded a different card on the same person, which will give you the necessary information in order to request their full pension records; however, they also give important information regarding the veteran and their families. We find out not only the service information for David N. Dague within the index cards, we find his wife’s name- Matilda J., the mailing address in Perry, Oklahoma (if the name sounds familiar watch Far and Away with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman), the monthly pension amount- $15-50, and David’s date and place of death.

From United States Civil War and Later Pension Index, 1861-1917

From United States General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934

From Fold3’s Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900, Indiana, Infantry, Regiment 155, Company A

If you do not have subscriptions to Ancestry.com or Fold3, you can access them at Family History Centers or your local library. Many community libraries have the databases available at the library or remotely with your library card number. Family Search can be accessed through any computer; however, you will have to create a free account.

Next: Requesting Civil War Pension Files

U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918

In May of 1917, the Selective Service Act was passed.  It authorized the President to increase the national army through conscription.  There were three draft registrations.  The first on June 5, 1918, all men in the U.S. between the ages of 21 and 31 were to register with their local draft board.  There was a second draft registration a year later for those who had turned 21 after the first draft registration with a supplemental registration on August 24, 1918 for those had turned 21 after June 5, 1917.  The third and final registration was expanded to include men between 18 and 45 years of age on September 12, 1918.

The approximately 24 million draft registration cards (NARA Microfilm publication M1509) have been microfilmed and are indexed on a several sites; which encompasses almost 25% of the population of the U.S. in 1918.  Indexed and searchable copies of the record group are available on Ancestry, Family Search, and Fold3.

How are these records useful in your family history research?

They contain details about the individual that may not be found anywhere else: date and place of birth, physical description, street address, employer, name and residence of closest relative, and signature.

As with all records- look on the back and the record before and after!

WWI Draft Registration Card for Morton Henry Dague