Washington, Soldier Home Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Washington

What is in the Collection?
The collection consists of images to the records of the Washington Soldier Homes acquired from the Washington State Archives in Olympia. The records include information from the State Soldiers' Home in Orting, the State Soldiers' Colony in Orting, and the Washington Veterans' Home in Retsil. The Washington Veterans' Home is also listed as being in Port Orchard, close to Retsil. These records are arranged by file number. Includes application for admission to home, lists military service, unit, date and place of enlistment and date and place of discharge, cause of discharge, name and address of nearest relative or friend, and miscellaneous information. The collection covers the years 1891 to 1945.

What Can This Collection Tell Me?
Key genealogical facts found in this collection may include:


 * Name of disabled veteran
 * Time and place of enlistment
 * Rank, company and regiment in which served
 * Time and place of discharge
 * Nature of disability
 * Date admitted to home
 * Birthplace
 * Age and physical description
 * Religion
 * Occupation
 * Residence
 * Marital status
 * Name and address of nearest relative
 * Date and cause of death
 * Pension information
 * Place of burial

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The full name of your ancestor.
 * The years your ancestor was in the soldier home.
 * The place of the soldier home.
 * The approximate date of death.

Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information in the list to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct family or person. You may need to compare several persons in the list before you 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 appropriate "Soldier Home" ⇒Select the appropriate "Name and Number" which takes you to the images

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?

 * Death dates may lead to death certificates, mortuary, or burial records.
 * Use the age to calculate an approximate birth date and search for birth, census, church, and land records. These may help you to find additional family members.
 * It may also be helpful to compile the entries for every person who has the same surname as your ancestor. This is especially helpful if the surname is unusual.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found to find more generations of the family.

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.
 * 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.
 * Look for an index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby counties.

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: