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

United States Pennsylvania

What is in the Collection?
Index and images of membership records of the Pennsylvania Department Grand Army of the Republic that cover from the years 1866-1936. An organization of Union army and navy veterans of the Civil War. The collection consists of registers, lists, minute, account and descriptive books of local post (chapters) The descriptive books include town of residence, military unit, date of enlistment,date of discharge, age and birthplace. The collection was acquired from the Pennsylvania State Archives.

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:
 * Name of the soldier
 * Other identifying information such as birthplace, residence and military service

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page: Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the ancestors in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to find your ancestor.

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 'Box number' category which takes you to the images

Look at each image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors 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 service under a different name or variations of their name during the Civil War.
 * Your ancestor may have lived after the war in a different locality.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s 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 service or pension records.
 * Use the name and residence to find the soldier’s family in census, church, and land records.
 * Continue to search the records to identify other relatives who may have served in the same unit or a nearby unit.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.
 * Search the records of nearby military units.
 * You may need to compare the information of more than one family or person to make this determination.

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

 * Look for variant spellings of the surnames.
 * Check for nicknames and abbreviated names.

Related Digital Books

 * Rosters Department of Pennsylvania Grand Army of the Republic 1885,1908-1909,1912, 1921
 * Annual Encampment Department of Pennsylvania Grand Army of the Republic 1907

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: