A Quick Start to Researching Your WWII Ancestors in the Grosvenor Room

• Search the military collection in Ancestry Library Edition.  World War II databases include but are not limited to:
• U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946—Includes over 8 million names, but it is not a complete list of Army enlistees.  Details often given are name, residence, date and place of enlistment, year and place of birth, race, citizenship, height, weight, marital status, Army branch and grade.
• U.S. World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949—Will likely give name, military occupation/specialty, enlistment date, service number,  name of ship/station/activity, ship number, date of muster roll.
• U.S. WWII Draft Registration Cards, 1942— This is known as the “Old Man’s Registration” and included men born between 28 April 1877 and 16 February 1897.
• May list the soldier’s name, age, birth date and place, residence, employment information, closest family member or acquaintance, and physical description.

 

•  Search: Names of Buffalo and Western N.Y. Residents Who Gave Their Lives in the Service in World War II—GRO Ref *AY67 .B9 N4 1947—gives name, residence, rank.

Click here for more WWII military sources in the Grosvenor Room.

Catlin’s Images of Buffalo

Buffalo from the Lighthouse, 1825

 George Catlin (1796-1872) is best known for his nineteenth-century portraits of Native Americans, but his early work includes engravings of natural sites along the Erie Canal in New York State.  Cadwallader Colden’s 1825 book, Memoir, prepared at the request of a committee of the Common council of the city of New York : and presented to the mayor of the city, at the celebration of the completion of the New York canals, contains several early images of Buffalo reproduced by the process of lithography, a method for printing using stones or metal plates invented in 1796 by Bavarian author, Alois Senefelder.

Buffalo Harbor from the Village, 1825

The first lithograph to appear in the United States was in the July, 1819 issue of The Analectic Magazine, vol.XIV, no.2.  The print, known as “Mill on a stream,” was created by American Bass Otis (1784-1861) and accompanies a brief article on the lithographic process.  While simple, this image represents a milestone in American art technique and printing.

 

"Mill on a Stream" 1819

Researching Your Military Ancestors

1. Interview relatives and write down family stories related to military ancestors.
2. Collect home sources of information such as photographs of soldiers in uniform, correspondence, diaries/journals, medals, patches, military papers, and memorabilia.
3. Obtain obituaries – often give military information.  Click here to read about searching for obituaries in Buffalo newspapers.
4. Visit gravestones – may include military details such as war fought in and regiment.  A list of cemetery records in the Grosvenor Room is available at this link.
5. Consider which of your ancestors were eligible for military service during times of war.
6. Learn details about potential military ancestors such as birth date and place, family member names, and residence at wartime.  This will help identify your ancestor in records and will help you learn where to look for records.
7. Census records – the 1840, 1890 veteran’s schedule, 1910, and 1930 censuses ask for military service information.  Learn what census resources are available in the Grosvenor Room by clicking here.   To read census questions, click here.
8. Newspapers often wrote profiles on local soldiers and/or listed those who died in service.
9. Local history books usually include details of local soldiers and regiments that fought in times of war.
10. Check lineage and fraternal society publications such as Daughters of the American Revolution, Sons of the American Revolution, Grand Army of the Republic, United Daughters of the Confederacy, Sons of Confederate Veterans, and others.
11. Military discharge papers – these are often kept at the county clerk’s office where the soldier was discharged.
12. Military rosters – usually name the soldiers who enlisted, where and when they enlisted, and their regiment and company.
13. Military pension files – are usually rich in genealogical detail because those who applied for pensions had to prove their identity and their relationship to the soldier.  You may find documents such as bible records; birth, death, and marriage records; and affidavits of witnesses to military service or life events.
14. Military histories – often list servicemen and detail battles fought in.
15. Genealogy databases – The Library subscribes to Ancestry Library Edition and HeritageQuest Online (HQ) which both include military records.   Ancestry includes resources such as the Civil War Pension index, World War I Draft Registration Cards, Revolutionary War Compiled Military Service Records, World War II “Old Man’s Draft” Registration Cards, and other records.  HQ includes Revolutionary War Pension Files and a book collection which includes some military histories, lineage/fraternal society publications, and local histories.  HQ also includes a genealogy/local history periodicals index, which could lead to transcribed military records or how-to articles on military research.

Click here to see select lists of military resources available in the Grosvenor Room.

Researching Shipwrecks in the Grosvenor Room

If you’re interested in researching shipwrecks this summer, here are some great resources in the Grosvenor Room.

• Great Lakes File – Lists books, newspaper articles, and facts dealing with a wide variety of Great Lakes topic.

 Look under topic headings:

Great Lakes.  Disasters

Great Lakes. Vessels

•  Local History File – Cites newspaper articles, local magazines and journals, books, scrapbooks, and vertical files dealing with Buffalo and Erie County people, places, events, and history.

Look under topic heading:

Shipwrecks

•  Vertical File – Includes article clippings from newspapers and magazines, pamphlets, brochures, flyers, and other ephemera related to Buffalo and Erie County topics.

 Look under topic heading:

Ships and Shipwrecks

•  Books

GRO Ref 551 .M28 v.1. History of the Great Lakes. Chicago: J.H. Beers & Co., 1899.  The Chronology section covers 1812-1898 and covers wrecks as well as other events.

GRO Ref F555 .W42. Wachter, Georgann & Michael. Erie Wrecks: A Divers Guide. Avon Lake, OH: CorporateImpact, 1998.

GRO Ref F555 .W43 2000. Wachter, Georgann & Michael. Erie Wrecks East: A Guide to Shipwrecks of Eastern Lake Erie. Avon Lake, OH: CorporateImpact, 2000.  

GRO Ref F555 .W433 2007. Wachter, Georgann & Michael. Erie Wrecks & Lights. Avon Lake, OH: CorporateImpact, 2007.

GRO Ref VK1271 .B68. Bowen, Dana Thomas. Shipwrecks of the Lakes. Cleveland, OH: Freshwater Press, 1952.

More Recent Church Record Additions in the Western New York Genealogical Society Collection, Located in the Grosvenor Room

First Congregational Church, Jamestown, NY.  Births/baptisms: 1816-1983;  Communicants: 1816-1890; Marriages:  1835-1876, 1925-1926, 1958-1983; Deaths/burials: 1873-1876, 1958-1967, 1969-1983;  Members received & removed :1894-1983 ; (other records are included).

German Evangelical Friedens Buffalo, NY.  Births/baptisms: 1880-1931; Confirmations: 1881-1930; Communicants:1880-1930; Marriages: 1880-1931; Deaths/burials: 1880-1930;  New members: 1930.

Saint Matthew German United Evangelical Protestant Church Buffalo, NY. Births/baptisms: 1871-1956; Confirmations/communicants: 1870-1955; Marriages: 1868-1954 (some early gaps); Deaths/burials: 1870-1956.