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

United States  Oregon

What is in the Collection?
This collection contains the Grand Army of the Republic membership records of Union Civil War veterans for the years 1870 to 1930. The Descriptive books are arranged by Post name and number. The Descriptive books may list name, age, state of birth, residence in Oregon, occupation, date-rank-company-regiment of service and final discharge, cause of discharge, when mustered into G.A.R., status, and date of death. The collection is located at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland and is part of manuscript 1378. Oregon G.A.R. posts include:


 * Meade Post 2
 * Lincoln-Garfield Post 3
 * Sumner Post 12
 * US Grant Post 17
 * Hancock Post 21
 * General Compson Post 22
 * Shepardston, Post 25
 * Gettysburg Post 33
 * Reuben Wilson Post 38
 * Arlington Post 40
 * M.A. Ross Post 42
 * F. B. Sprague Post 46
 * Iuka Post 48
 * Benjamin F Butler Post 57
 * John Bucher Post 70
 * Wm P Dickinson Post 78

What Can These Records 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 at least some of the following:
 * The name of the soldier.
 * The place where the soldier was born.
 * The unit or organization in which the soldier served.

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.

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page: View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Pagethen: ⇒ Select the appropriate Descriptive Books.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the wiki article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

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?

 * Use the name, enlistment date and organization to find the soldier’s military records.
 * Use the information to find other records such as birth, christening, marriage, census, land and probate records.
 * Use the information to find additional family members.
 * 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 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. 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 Oregon, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the Oregon Archives and Libraries.

Related Digital Books

 * Roster of Posts 1886 Department of Oregon Grand Army of the Republic

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: