United States Military Old Soldiers Home Records

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History of Old Soldiers and Sailors Homes
In 1811 Congress approved a national home for disabled Navy veterans, but construction did not start until 1827. The Naval Home in the Philadelphia Naval Yard was first occupied in 1834. Homes for the Army were also proposed in 1827, but not approved until 1851 after the Mexican War, and again in 1865 after the Civil War. Veterans were eligible for admittance if they were honorably discharged; had served in the regular, volunteer, or militia forces mustered into federal service; were disabled and without support; and were unable to earn a living. By the late 1920s the system had expanded to include 17 federal veterans homes. Most national homes were officially known as a branch National Military Home, and informally called an Old Soldiers Home. In 1930 the national homes were combined with other agencies to form part of the Veterans Administration, now the Department of Veteran Affairs. In many cases veterans homes were converted to veterans hospitals after World War II.

Most old soldier homes were run by individual states. 43 states operated 55 homes between 1865 and 1933 for military veterans, or their widows, or orphans. Fourteen of those states also had a federal veterans home open at the same time as their state veterans home. Eleven states had two or more state veterans homes in operation at the same time (two of which states also had a federal home).

For more detailed histories, especially of National Military Homes, see:


 * the Wikipedia article National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers.
 * the Wikipedia article Old soldiers' home
 * Trevor K. Plante, "The National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers," Prologue: Journal of the National Archives, Spring 2004, vol. 36, No. 1. [FHL Book 973 B2p].

Record Content
Soldier home registers are typically divided into three main sections: (1) military, (2) domestic, and (3) home, along with some general remarks. The military section includes information such as enlistment, rank, company, regiment, and discharge. The domestic section includes the veteran’s birthplace, age, height, religion, occupation, residence, marital status, and name and address of nearest relative. The home section includes the veteran’s rate of pension, date of admission to the home, discharge, death date, and burial place.

Some reports published by the Board of Managers for the National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers contain alphabetical rosters of soldiers. The rosters provide name, rank, company, organization, length of service, war, pension rate, birthplace, admission date, age when admitted, and status (including death date).

Almost all soldiers' homes had their own cemetery, or used a nearby cemetery as the final resting place for their residents. These cemeteries are easy to identify with their veterans' home. In the case of national homes, most of the associated cemeteries have become part of the National Cemetery system run by the Veterans Administration, and have good Internet indexes.

Finding the Records
The following tables lists the location and names of old soldier homes, Family History Library (FHL) records, Internet information, and known manuscript (Ms) collections for the homes. For additional records ask at nearby museums, if any. Some old soldier home records may have ended up at their respective state archives.

The following tables do not list soldiers' orphans' homes that were separate from an old soldiers' home.

U.S. Sanitary Commission homes, lodges, and rest. During the Civil War the U.S. Sanitary Commission provided Union servicemen "Temporary aid and protection,—food, lodging, care, etc.,—for soldiers in transitn[sic], chiefly the discharged, disabled, and furloughed." By 1865 the Commission operated 18 "soldiers' homes," 11 "lodges," and one "rest" in 15 states north and south (for a list see Commission bulletin, 3:1279). Most of their homes were war-time facilities and were closed at war's end. They are not included in the above tables for locating old soldiers' home records.



External References

 * Cyndi's List Veterans' or Soldiers' Homes
 * Wikipedia Old soldiers' home gives more history about federal, state, and city soldiers' and sailors' homes.