In my last post, I talked about the Sea Fencibles, a unique fighting unit from the War of 1812.  I thought it would be interesting to continue that trend, moving on this time to introduce the Regiment of U.S. Voltigeurs and Foot Riflemen from the Mexican War.  Voltigeurs, you may ask?!?  What in the world [...]

With all the hype ramping up for the approaching 150th anniversary of the Civil War next year, which is expected to continue over the next five years, I’ve heard a few concerns that another major milestone might be overshadowed–the bicentennial in 2012 of the beginning of the War of 1812!  Lest we forget about our [...]

When I started this series of blog posts on immigration records, I mentioned that the Federal government began documenting alien arrivals in 1820, in fulfillment of the requirements of the Steerage Act of 1819.  So, can you still find any information in federal records about alien arrivals PRIOR to 1820?  As a matter of fact, [...]

Even though passenger arrival records were intended to document foreign or alien immigrants coming into the United States, you will occasionally find U.S. citizens listed on the vessel manifests as well.  In the 19th century records, they are much harder to locate, their names generally mixed together with the alien arrivals.  You have to note [...]

As I mentioned in my previous post, when most people today think of immigration history they envision the “Ellis Island experience”–the huddled masses from Europe entering New York harbor (waving at the Statue of Liberty on those old news reels) and then being processed in long lines at the INS transfer station.  That whole system [...]

Most people today equate Ellis Island with the typical immigration experience in U.S. history–the “huddled masses” coming through immigration processing centers before being allowed entrance into the country.  Well, it actually took many decades after 1820–when the United States first started regulating immigration (see my previous blog post!)–for U.S. immigration law to reach that point, [...]

Family historians generally know that federal immigration records begin in 1820, but has anyone stopped to wonder why?  Well, it all began with the Steerage Act of March 2, 1819 (which went into effect on January 1, 1820).  Traveling conditions aboard ocean-going vessels were anything but good in the early 19th century, especially for general [...]

Continuing on the theme of vital records that were intentionally created by the federal government–in this case the U.S. military. You may not be aware that many military posts maintained their own burial records for deaths that occurred among both military personnel and (sometimes) the nearby civilian population.  Among the many responsibilities of the post [...]

Recently, a colleague of mine received a reference request that highlights a common misperception some people have regarding original records.  The request involved a researcher who complained that their family name had been misspelled on the 1930 census and they wanted the National Archives to “fix” the mistake.  Now, most expert researchers know that original [...]

In a previous blog post, my colleague Katherine talked about vital statistics that sometimes show up in federal records.  I thought it might be worthwhile to point out that, under specific circumstances, vital records were also intentionally created by the government, particularly the U.S. military.  In our vast collection of records relating to 19th-century military forts–all [...]