Hidden in downtown Washington amid floor-to-ceiling stacks of faded forms and weather-worn papers are some of the greatest Civil War stories never told. Ann Neubaum is determined to find at least a few of them. Four times in the past year, the Hummelstown, Pa., resident has hopped on a D.C.-bound tour bus without any intention of taking a tour. Instead, she heads straight to the National Archives, where she searches through war records, pension applications and miles of microfiche for details about her ancestors — 11 of whom were Civil War veterans.
One of her great-grandfathers, a New York City orphan who enlisted in the Union Army as a teenager, fought at the bloody Battle of Fredericksburg in the winter of 1862. He survived, as did his future father-in-law — Neubaum is still trying to determine if the two may have met there.
Another great-grandfather drank too much, deserted the war, married at least two women — the second of whom didn’t know about the first — and died train-hopping. His second wife was denied a widow’s pension because of his dishonorable status.
“It took me a year to find him and that’s what I found out,” Neubaum said, laughing.
Neubaum is one of thousands of people who visit the National Archives each year hoping to learn more about from where and from whom they came. At their disposal are millions of papers, from military service records to letters from the president of the United States, and archivists on staff to help sort the useful from the overwhelming.
“The most surprising feature is how many records are still in existence,” said Pam Stenhouse, of Roswell, Ga., who has been researching her family’s ancestry for more than 10 years. “Each time, I keep thinking I’ll come to an end, but I find so much more is out there.”
One form often leads to another — a service record hints at a pension application that contains testimonies from relatives long since forgotten. But in order to find the first link, archivists recommend arriving with as much information as possible.
When searching for military records, specifically, it’s helpful to know which state the person lived in when he joined the military (a handful of shes served in the Civil War, too, but almost exclusively in disguise as men). What branch of the service did he serve in? Was he an officer or an enlisted man?
National Archives researcher cards are issued to anyone 14 years of age or older and are free with a photo identification and a brief computer tutorial onsite. Much information can be found online, as well, at archives.gov/research.
The rewards, in the end, can be great.
“It’s really something to hold the original records in your hands,” Stenhouse said. “When you find something in the words of your ancestors, it becomes very, very real.
