South Dakota, Grand Army of the Republic Membership Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
The collection consists of images of G.A.R post records from the Dakota and South Dakota Departments for the years 1861-1941. The collection includes


 * Membership rosters
 * Attendance registration books of various encampments (some include Women's Relief Corps.)
 * Post descriptive books
 * Member deaths
 * Adjutant reports
 * Muster rolls
 * Lists of officers
 * Applications to form a post
 * Reunion rosters

The descriptive books are arranged by post name and number. Most records include item number, name, post name and number. The collection was acquired from the South Dakota State Historical Society in Pierre.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
Descriptive books may list any of the following:


 * Member's name
 * Age
 * Residence
 * Birthplace
 * Occupation
 * Enlistment or muster in date
 * Discharge date
 * Rank
 * Company
 * Regiment
 * Cause of discharge
 * Death date
 * Organization served in
 * Remarks

How Do I Search This Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of the soldier
 * The birthplace of the soldier
 * The organization in which the soldier served

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the :
 * 1) Select Box Number and Record Description to view the images

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

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 the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Use the name, enlistment date and organization to find the soldier’s military records
 * Use the age to calculate a birth date and to find other records such as birth, christening, census, land and death records
 * Use the information to find additional family members. Witnesses or bondsmen were usually relatives
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900

I Can’t Find the Person 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. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records
 * 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
 * Search the indexes and records of South Dakota, United States Genealogy
 * Search in the South Dakota Archives and Libraries

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.

"South Dakota, Grand Army of the Republic Membership Records, 1861-1941." Database with images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 14 June 2016. South Dakota State Historical Society, Pierre.
 * Collection Citation:

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