Georgia, Andersonville Prison Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Georgia

What is in the Collection?
Camp Sumter of Andersonville was built beginning in 1864 and was in operation just over a year. During that time 45,000 Union solders were imprisoned with 13,000 deaths.

This collection contains images of records of Federal (Union) prisoners of war confined at Andersonville prison 1862-1865. The collection consists of prison hospital admissions, death and burial records, registers of prison departures, prisoner claims for reimbursements, and consolidated monthly reports. This collection is NARA microfilm publication M1303 and is from Record Group 249 Records of the Commissary General of Prisoners.

Record collections from Record Group 249 in National Archives Microfilm Publication M1303
 * Registers of Federal Prisoners of War
 * Registers of Federal Prisoners of War Admitted to the Hospital
 * Statements of Money Claimed by Federal Prisoners of War
 * List of Funds Claimed by Federal Prisoners of War
 * Consolidated Monthly Reports of Federal Prisoners of War
 * Register of Federal Prisoners of War Admitted to the Hospital
 * Registers of Deaths and Burials of Federal Prisoners of War
 * Registers of Deceased Federal Prisoners of War
 * Lists of Deceased Federal Prisoners of War
 * Partial Name Index to Records of Federal Prisoners of War Interred
 * Morning Reports of Federal Prisoners of War

What Can these Records Tell Me?
The records generally include the following:


 * Name of prisoner
 * Date of entry in the report, list, or ledger
 * Reason for entry in the repost, list, or ledger

Depending on the list, the following information may also be included:


 * Birth date and place
 * Death date and place
 * Burial date and place
 * Cause of death
 * Age
 * Physical description
 * Names of relatives or friends
 * Enlistment date and place
 * Last residence prior to enlistment
 * Monies exchanged
 * Release or transfer date

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search you will need to know:


 * The full name of the soldier.
 * The age or birth date of the soldier.
 * The death date of the soldier.

Compare the information on the image to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct family or person. You may need to compare several images before you find your ancestor.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page then: ⇒Select the "Document Type" ⇒Select the "Volume, description, date, and range"

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

What Do I Do Next?
Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the age to calculate a birth date and to find other records such as birth, christening, census, land and death records.
 * Use the information to find additional family members. Witnesses or bondsmen were usually relatives.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

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

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of Georgia, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the Georgia Archives and Libraries.

Related Digital Books

 * Iowa Monuments Rolls of Iowa Soldiers Buried at Andersonville
 * FamilySearch Digital Books Pennsylvania at Andersonville
 * FamilySearch Digital Books Report of the Michigan Andersonville Monument Commission

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:

Image Citation