Vermont, Enrolled Militia Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

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Collection Time Period
This collection contains militia records for the years 1861 through 1867.

Record History
On an annual basis, per the Act of 1844, listers in each town were to enroll every male liable to enrollment, between the ages of 18 and 45, who were not members of uniformed companies (for the time period of these records every male between 18 and 45 was to be listed). Duplicate copies of the enrollments were to be given to the town clerk who in turn would send one of the copies to the adjutant and inspector general. The records identify thousands of men from the state of Vermont who served in the military or who were eligible for service during the time period 1861-1867.

Why This Record Was Created
The record was created to provide a list of those men in the state of Vermont who were eligible to serve in the military.

Record Reliability
The records are fairly reliable; however, the records are only as accurate as the knowledge of the individual who provided the information and the accuracy of the individual who recorded it.

Record Description
The records are in good condition and are composed of the following groups of records:


 * Registers which are arranged by town and then grouped in rough alphabetical order by first letter of the last name.
 * Personal War Sketches are authored by the company historian and are usually indexed.
 * Record of burials.
 * Certificates of appointment and commendation.

Record Content
Key genealogical facts found in the Registers are the name of the individual, age, occupation, and remarks.

The remarks section may contain any of the following:  • Injuries, illnesses, disabilities and nature of disability • Death or burial date • Exemptions and nature of the exemption • Substitutes furnished and commutations paid • Change of residence and often name of new residence • Enrollment and discharge dates along with length of service • Service in US military • Color or race • Salary paid • Military unit served in

Personal War Sketches usually contain the following: • Name • Birth date • Birth place • Mustering in date and place • Discharge date and place • Details of service such as companies served in; battles fought in; injuries sustained • Captures and confinements in prison • Rank and offices held • Pensions, bounties, and payments received • Death date and place • Burial date and place • Names of close relatives and/or friends • Photographs • Date war sketch was made • Author of sketch The record of burials usually contains the following: • Name • Rank • Company • Arm of service • Death date • Burial place • Remarks

Certificates usually contain the following: • Name • Post number • Reason for certificate • Date

How to Use The Record
Begin your search by finding your ancestors in the index. Name indexes make it possible to access a specific record quickly. Remember that these indexes may contain inaccuracies, such as altered spellings, misinterpretations, and optical character recognition errors if the information was scanned.

When searching the index it is helpful to know the following: • The place where your ancestor lived. • The name of your ancestor.

Use the locator information found in the index (such as page, entry, or certificate number) to locate your ancestors in the records. Compare the information in the record to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct person. You may need to compare the information of more than one person to make this determination.

When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family. For example: • Use the birth date or age along with the residence or place of enrollment to birth records and parents' names. • Use the birth date or age along with the residence or place of enrollment to find the family in census records. • Use the residence to locate church and land records. • Occupations listed can lead you to employment records or other types of records such as military records. • The place of death or burial could lead you to funeral and cemetery records which often include the names and residences of other family members. • Compile the entries for every person who has the same surname. This is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual. • Continue to search the records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives who may have lived in the same county or nearby. This can help you identify other generations of your family.

• When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

If you are unable to find the ancestors you are looking for, try the following: • Check for variant spellings of the surnames. • Check for a different index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume. • Search the indexes and records of nearby counties.

Related Web Sites
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Related Wiki Articles
Vermont Military Records

Sources of This Collection

 * Vermont. Militia Records.  Digital images of originals stored in County Clerk offices in various counties throughout Vermont.

How to Cite Your Sources
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