Vermont, Enrolled Militia Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

Collection Time Period
This collection contains militia records for the years 1861 through 1867.

Record Description
The records are in good condition and are composed of the following groups of records:


 * Registers - Arranged by town, then grouped in rough alphabetical order by first letter of the last name
 * Personal War Sketches - Authored by the company historian and usually indexed
 * Record of burials
 * Certificates of appointment and commendation

The images in this collection are from the following offices:


 * Waltham, Vermont Town Clerk
 * Woodford, Vermont Town Clerk
 * Glastonbury, Vermont Unorganized Town Supervisor
 * Tinmouth, Vermont Town Clerk
 * Winhall, Vermont Town Clerk
 * Richmond, Vermont Town Clerk
 * Bolton, Vermont Town Clerk
 * Hinesburg, Vermont Town Clerk/Treasurer
 * Westmore, Vermont Town Clerk/Treasurer
 * Huntington, Vermont Town Clerk
 * Charlotte, Vermont Town Clerk/Treasurer
 * Essex, Vermont Town Clerk/Treasurer
 * Belvidere, Vermont Town Clerk
 * Waterville, Vermont Town Clerk
 * Cambridge, Vermont Town Clerk
 * Johnson, Vermont Town Clerk/Treasurer
 * Richford, Vermont Town Clerk
 * Fairfax, Vermont Town Clerk

On an annual basis, per the Act of 1844, listers in each town were to enroll every male liable to enrollment, between the ages of 18 and 45, who were not members of uniformed companies (for the time period of these records every male between 18 and 45 was to be listed). Duplicate copies of the enrollments were to be given to the town clerk who in turn would send one of the copies to the adjutant and inspector general. The records identify thousands of men from the state of Vermont who served in the military or who were eligible for service during the time period 1861-1867.

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the data and images published on FamilySearch.org Historical Records. It may include the author, custodian, publisher, and archive for the original records.

Information about creating source citations for FamilySearch Historical Collections is listed in the wiki article Help:How to Create Source Citations For FamilySearch Historical Records Collections

Record Content
Key genealogical facts found in the Registers are the name of the individual, age, occupation, and remarks.

The remarks section may contain any of the following:


 * Injuries, illnesses, disabilities and nature of disability
 * Death or burial date
 * Exemptions and nature of the exemption
 * Substitutes furnished and commutations paid
 * Change of residence and often name of new residence
 * Enrollment and discharge dates along with length of service
 * Service in US military
 * Color or Race
 * Salary paid
 * Military unit served in

Personal War Sketches usually contain the following:


 * Name
 * Birth date
 * Birth place
 * Mustering in date and place
 * Discharge date and place
 * Details of service such as companies served in; battles fought in; injuries sustained
 * Captures and confinements in prison
 * Rank and offices held
 * Pensions, bounties, and payments received
 * Death date and place
 * Burial date and place
 * Names of close relatives and/or friends
 * Photographs
 * Date war sketch was made
 * Author of sketch

The record of burials usually contains the following:


 * Name
 * Rank
 * Company
 * Arm of service
 * Death date
 * Burial place
 * Remarks

Certificates usually contain the following:


 * Name
 * Post number
 * Reason for certificate
 * Date

How to Use the Records
To search for your ancestors in the index you will need to know their full names. Check the index for the surname and then the given name. If you are having difficulty finding your ancestor, look for variations in the spelling of the name. If your ancestor used an alias or a nickname, be sure to check for those alternate names. Remember that these indexes may contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

Compare the information in the record to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct person. You may need to compare the information of more than one person to make this determination.

When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family. This information will often lead you to other records.

For example:


 * Death dates may lead to death certificates, mortuary, or burial records.
 * Use the age to calculate an approximate birth date.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the residence or place of birth of the deceased to locate census, church, and land records.

You may also find these search tips helpful:


 * Compile the entries for every person who has the same surname as the deceased, this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual.
 * Continue to search the records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives who may have been seeking the pension.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

Why the Record Was Created
The record was created to provide a list of those men in the state of Vermont who were eligible to serve in the military.

Record Reliability
The records are fairly reliable; however, the records are only as accurate as the knowledge of the individual who provided the information and the accuracy of the individual who recorded it.

Related Websites
Civil War Records at the Vermont State Archives

Related Wiki Articles

 * Vermont
 * Vermont Military Records

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

Citation Example for a Record Found in This Collection
"Vermont Enrolled Militia Records, 1861-1867," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/J3MP-NMX : accessed 19 April 2012), David Holdridge.

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the wiki article Help:How to Cite FamilySearch Collections.