Ohio Military Records

United States U.S. Military  Ohio  Military Records

The U.S. Military Records Research Page provides more information on federal military records and search strategies.

Forts
Forts dotted Ohio as settlers, Native Americans and Europeans each struggled for their place on Ohio’s lands. These log forts played an instrumental part of Ohio’s early development and each has it’s own unique tale to tell.

Revolutionary War (1775-1783)
Although Ohio did not exist as a state during the time of the Revolutionary War, a man born between 1730 and 1765 who lived in Ohio later may have been granted Ohio land for his service for another state or for the Continental Army.

Pension Files


 * Genealogical Abstracts of the Revolutionary War Pension Files May give a veteran's name, age, birth date, marriage date, residence, names of relatives, unit, and service dates and places.


 * Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land- Warrant Application Files
 * Revolutionary War Pensions

The 1835 Pension Roll

On June 5, 1834, the U.S. Senate required the Secretary of War to submit a statement showing the names of pensioners who were on the pension rolls or had previously been on the pension rolls. For more information on the 1835 Pension Roll see Revolutionary War Pension Records. The 1835 Pension Roll for Ohio, which includes Revolutionary War pensioners and heirs of War of 1812 casualties is available online:


 * Report from the Secretary of War... Vol. III (Google Books)
 * The Pension Roll of 1835, Vol. IV (Ancestry) ($)

Land Warrants


 * U.S. Revolutionary War Bounty Land Warrants Used in the U.S. Military District of Ohio and Related Papers, Acts of 1788, 1803, 1806 
 * Ohio Land and Property page is a good source for this information.

Rosters

Rosters have been published for soldiers who lived in Ohio and are buried there, such as:


 * Official Roster of the Soldiers of the American Revolution Buried in the State of Ohio.


 * The Official Roster of the Soldiers of the American Revolution Who Lived in the State of Ohio


 * Official Roster III, Soldiers of the American Revolution Who Lived in the State of Ohio

War of 1812 (1812-1815)

 * Miller, Phyllis Brown, editor. Index to the Grave Records of Servicemen of the War of 1812, State of Ohio. Brockville, Ohio: Dillon’s Princely, 1988. (FHL book 977.1 V22u 1988; film 0496718 item 5.) (1969 edition FHL film 0496718 item 15.) This index includes the name, rank, unit, birth and death dates of each soldier and his wife, sources of information, and year of entry of the graves registration form into Daughters of 1812 records. This source indexes 5,197 grave registration forms submitted between 1937 and 1987 by members of the United States Daughters of 1812 in the state of Ohio.

Rosters

Microfilmed and published rosters are available at the Family History Library. These include:


 * Roster of Ohio Soldiers in the War of 1812. 1916


 * Index to the Grave Records of Soldiers of the War of 1812 Buried in Ohio

Mexican War (1846-1848)
Rosters

For published rosters of Ohio soldiers who served in the Mexican War, see:


 * Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the War with Mexico, 1846-1848


 * Official Roster of the State of Ohio in the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1866, and in the War with Mexico, 1846-1848.


 * Index to Mexican War (1846) Records at the Ohio State Archives Consists of microfilm of a card file at the Ohio State Archives which gives the name of each soldier's military unit.


 * Ohio in the Mexican War Includes a section that tells when and where a company was raised and lists many of the officers in those companies. The Library does not have volume 21.

Civil War (1861-1865)


See Ohio in the Civil War for information about Ohio Civil War records, web sites, etc. with links to articles about the Ohio regiments involved in the Civil War. The regimental pages often include lists of the companies with links to the counties where the companies started. Men in the companies often lived in the counties where the companies were raised. Knowing a county can help when researching more about the soldiers and their families.

The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System allows name searching for soldiers. The result set gives the regiments for the soldiers. Then you can check the Wiki regiment pages to determine counties. Often knowing the counties that had men in a regiment will help you determine if a soldier was your ancestor.

Spanish-American War (1898)
Rosters

Muster-in and muster-out rolls are on 31 microfilms at the Family History Library.


 * The Official Roster of Ohio Soldiers in the War with Spain, 1898-1899.


 * Index to Official Roster of Ohio Soldiers in the War with Spain, 1898-1899


 * Official Roster of the Soldiers of the State of Ohio. Muster In and Muster Out Rolls in the Spanish American War: . . .


 * Ohio Soldiers in the War with Spain, 1898-99 Original data: Compiled under the direction of Frank B. Willis, Governor, Charles Q. Hildebrant, Secretary of State, and Benson W. Hough, Adjutant General. The Official Roster of Ohio Soldiers in the War with Spain, 1898-99. Ft. Leavenworth, KS, USA: C.A.R.L. Library, 1916.

By 1890, about 40 percent of the Civil War veterans were members of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). The descriptive books of each GAR post usually indicate each member's name, age, rank, birthplace, residence, occupation, and enlistment and discharge information. Records of GAR posts and of other veteran organizations may be found in various libraries and archives throughout Ohio.

World War I (1917-1918)
Registration Cards

World War I draft registration cards for men ages 18 to 45 may list each registrant's address, birth date, birthplace, race, nationality, citizenship, and next of kin. Not all registrants served in the war.


 * Ohio, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918.


 * To find an individual's draft card, it helps to know his name and residence at the time of registration. The cards are arranged by county and by draft boards within the county. Individuals are listed alphabetically within each draft board. Most counties had only one board; large cities had more. Finding an ancestor's street address in a city directory will help you determine the board number if he lived in a large city. Special maps of Cleveland and Cincinnati have been prepared, to show the draft board registration district boundaries.

The cities are listed in alphabetical order by name of the city.


 * List of World War One Draft Board Maps has a copy of this draft board registration district boundaries map.

Service cards for Navy (eight films), Marine Corps (three films), out-of-state (four films), and regular service (76 films) are on films at the Family History Library. The cards containing the names and information on over 200,000 soldiers have also been published in:


 * The Official Roster of Ohio Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines in the World War, 1917-1918


 * World War I - Service Cards of the State of Ohio

Service records for World War I and later wars are at the Adjutant General's Office (State House, Columbus, OH 43215).

World War II (1941-1945)
Dead and Missing Soldiers

Lists of dead and missing soldiers who served during World War II, arranged alphabetically by county.


 * World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing - State of Ohio


 * World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel from Ohio.


 * World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing - State of Ohio. A concerted effort has been made to locate the Ohio gravesites of veterans from all pre-1945 wars. The cards are arranged alphabetically.

Additional Records

 * Roster of Soldiers of the Ohio National Guard, 1874-1917.


 * The History of the Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans' Home at Xenia, Ohio This does not include the records.

Military service records are also found in the office of each county auditor and county recorder. The Family History Library has microfilms of discharge papers, dating from the Civil War to 1920 (some to 1970), for about half the counties in Ohio.

Information about prominent Ohio veterans and major military actions is in:


 * Two Hundred Years: The Military History of Ohio.

Many more useful sources are listed in the Family History Library Catalog under:


 * OHIO - MILITARY RECORDS
 * OHIO - MILITARY RECORDS - [WAR]
 * OHIO - MILITARY HISTORY
 * OHIO - MILITARY HISTORY - [WAR]
 * OHIO, [COUNTY] - MILITARY RECORDS

Websites
Online Military information for Ohio is located at:


 * Revolutionary War Documents from Footnote
 * Civil War Documents from Footnote
 * Civil War Genealogy
 * Civil War Records
 * How to Trace Your US Military Ancestors
 * Military Abbreviations Found on U.S. Grave Markers
 * Military Records
 * Military Tombstones
 * National Archives
 * Ohio Military Men 1917-1918
 * Online Searchable Military Records &amp; Databases for the USA.