Minnesota, Grand Army of the Republic Membership Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Minnesota

What is in the Collection?
These records include membership records of the Minnesota Department Grand Army of the Republic. An organization of Union army and navy veterans of the Civil War. The collection consists of registers, lists, adjutant and quartermaster reports and and descriptive books of local post (chapters) Records include town of residence, military unit, date of enlistment, date of discharge, age and birthplace. This collection includes records from 1869 to 1940.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
These records generally contain the following information:


 * Member's name
 * Residence
 * Birthplace
 * Enlistment date
 * Discharge date
 * Rank
 * Organization served in
 * Remarks

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of the soldier.
 * The birth place of the soldier.
 * The organization in which the solider served.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page: Fill in your ancestor’s name in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about those in the list to what you already know about your own ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒ Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒ Select the appropriate "Post Number and Year Range" which takes you to the images.

Look at the images one by one. Again you will need to compare the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine which one is your ancestor.

Be aware that with either search you may need to compare the information about more than one person to make this determination. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.
 * If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names.
 * Even though these indexes are very accurate they may still contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s Grand Army of the Republic membership record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. Download a copy of the record, or extract the genealogical information needed. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details. Add this new information to your records of each family. The information may also lead you to other records about your ancestors.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the name, enlistment date and organization to find the soldier’s military records.
 * Use the name and residence to find the soldier’s family in census, church, and land records.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Look for another index. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby counties.
 * Try alternative search methods such as only filling in the surname search box (or the given name search box) on the landing page leaving the other box empty and then click on search. This should return a list of everyone with that particular name. You could then browse the list for individuals that may be your ancestor.

Related Digital Books

 * Annual Encampment Department of Minnesota 1905

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image Citation: