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Free* Access to the Native American Collection

November 1, 2017 by Trevor | 5 Comments

Do you have Native American ancestry? Or are you interested in Native American history? Then explore Fold3’s Native American Collection for free November 1-15.

Titles in this collection include:

Ratified Indian Treaties (1722-1869): Ratified treaties that occurred between the United States government and American Indian tribes. Also included are presidential proclamations, correspondence, and treaty negotiation expenses.
Indian Census Rolls (1885-1940): Census rolls submitted annually by agents or superintendents of Indian reservations as required by an 1884 Act of Congress. Only persons who maintained a formal affiliation with a tribe under Federal supervision are listed on these census rolls.
Dawes Packets: Applications between 1896 and 1914 from members of the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole tribes to establish eligibility for an allotment of land in return for abolishing their tribal governments and recognizing Federal law.
Dawes Enrollment Cards (1898-1914): Enrollment cards, also referred to as “census cards,” prepared by the staff of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, commonly known as the Dawes Commission. The cards record information provided by applications submitted by members of the same family group or household and include notations of the actions taken.
Eastern Cherokee Applications (1906-1909): Applications submitted for shares of the money that was appropriated for the Eastern Cherokee Indians by Congress on June 30, 1906.

Enrollment of Eastern Cherokee by Guion Miller (1908-1910): The Guion Miller Roll is perhaps the most important source for Cherokee genealogical research. There are an estimated 90,000 individual applicants from throughout North America included within this publication.
Cherokee Indian Agency, TN (1801-1835): The records of the agent of Indian Affairs in Tennessee, including correspondence, agency letter books, fiscal records, records of the Agent for the Department of War in Tennessee, records of the Agent for Cherokee Removal, and miscellaneous records.
Rinehart Photos – Native Americans (1898): Photographs of over 100 Native Americans taken by Frank A. Rinehart, a commercial photographer in Omaha, Nebraska. Rinehart was commissioned to photograph the 1898 Indian Congress, part of the Trans-Mississippi International Exposition.

Have you found an ancestor in Fold3’s Native American collection? Tell us about it! Or get started exploring the Native American Collection here.

*Access to the records in the featured collections will be free until Nov 15, 2017 at 11:59 p.m. MT. Free access requires registration for a free Fold3 account. After the free access period ends, you will only be able to view the records in the featured collections using a paid Fold3 membership.

Canada, Certificates of Military Instruction

October 27, 2017 by Trevor | 5 Comments

Come look for your Canadian ancestors in our collection “Canada, Certificates of Military Instruction,” which includes records from 1867 to 1932.

In 1864, a Militia General Order announced the establishment of Schools of Military Instruction in Toronto and Quebec. These schools were intended to help company- and battalion-level militia officers and candidates for a militia commission learn about their military duties, as well as about drills, discipline, and other skills. After the creation of these schools, it became a requirement that candidates for militia commissions attend one of the Schools of Military Instruction and receive a certificate before they could receive a commission. A candidate was not allowed to stay at the school longer than 3 months.

There were initially two types of certificates: First Class and Second Class. First Class Certificates were for battalion-level officers. The certificate certified that the man was able to drill and handle a battalion in the field and was familiar with other aspects of running a battalion. Second Class Certificates were for company-level officers and showed that the man was able to—among other skills—command a company at battalion drills, as well as drill a company at company drills.

Schools of Gunnery for militia were also established in Quebec and Kingston in 1871. These schools, open to all ranks, had both “short courses” (3 months) and—for the top students selected by the school’s commandant—”long courses” (an additional 12 months). These schools had their own certificate system; for example, the short course had 4 certificates: First and Second Class for officers, and Third and Fourth Class for non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and other ranks.

This short and long course system was extended to the infantry, cavalry, and mounted infantry schools beginning in 1883. Among the certificates offered at these schools were certificates for short, long, and special courses, with such certificates typically designated as either Grade A or B (A for officers and B for NCOs and other ranks) and either first class (battalion level) or second class (company level)—though the certificates varied over the years in format and classification scheme.

Information you can find in the certificates in this collection typically includes the man’s name, rank, and residence; the certificate type and date; and the name and location of the school.

Included in this collection on Fold3 are:

Artillery and Gunnery Certificates, 1869-1905
Certificates from All Schools, 1884-1932
Registers of Artillery Certificates, 1895-1900
Registers of Certificates (Non-Commissioned Officers), 1905-1912
Registers of Certificates (Officers), 1895-1916
Registers of Certificates of Qualification, 1884-1906
Returns of Men Granted Certificates, 1899-1905

Get started searching or browsing the Canada, Certificates of Military Instruction on Fold3!

Find: Halloween UFO Sightings from Project Blue Book

October 12, 2017 by Trevor | 9 Comments

On Halloween night, 1957, around 8:30 p.m., a man in Massapequa Park, New York, saw an extremely bright object in the sky traveling very fast. A former pilot and FBI agent, he didn’t think it could be a meteor because the object moved on a “flat trajectory, which appeared to parallel the horizon throughout its sweep.” When the man reported this sighting to the Air Force, he knew nothing might come of it, but, as he stated, he wanted to “toss it in now, for what it may be worth, on the off-chance that it might just happen to tie in with someone else’s observation.” Upon analysis, the Air Force deemed the UFO to in fact have been a meteor.

Between 1952 and 1969, the U.S. Air Force conducted a study into UFO sightings, known as Project Blue Book. This followed two other UFO-related government projects, the first of which began in 1947. The goals of Project Blue Book were to scientifically analyze UFO data and to determine if UFOs were a national security threat.

During the life of the project, more than 12,000 reported UFO sightings were collected and analyzed, with most of the “UFOs” being explained away as known aircraft or naturally occurring phenomenon, such as the meteor in Massapequa Park. The project was ended in 1969, when it was concluded that there was nothing anomalous or dangerous about the reported UFOs and that there was no evidence that any of the UFOs were in fact extraterrestrial.

Now, nearly 50 years later, you can read the Project Blue Book UFO Investigations on Fold3. Was the Massapequa Park sighting really a meteor, or was that explanation just a government cover up? Decide for yourself!

With Halloween coming up, we’ve collected a few of Project Blue Book’s best UFO sightings that occurred on Halloween. Take a look below!

Williston, Florida, 1955: A policeman spots multiple round objects in loose formation in the night sky, making no noise but emitting a light so bright it hurt his eyes. Multiple other witnesses made similar reports. The official explanation? An aircraft refueling operation.
South Charleston, Ohio, 1964: A freelance photographer submits a photo of multiple UFOs near a tree. He claims that “the strange objects on the film [were] not visible to my eyes [and] no sounds were heard at the time.” The official explanation? The mostly likely cause of the UFOs in the photo was “a lightbulb and reflector taken at multiple exposures.”
West Hyattsville, Maryland, 1966: A 15-year-old boy submits a Polaroid photo of “grayish solid object with 2 red lights and 2 blue lights” in the night sky. He declares, “This is no prank!” The official explanation? There was considered to be insufficient data for evaluation and the photo was deemed of insufficient clarity.
Logansville, Ohio, 1953: A farmer sees “a round saucer-like object with a glow like a million electric lightbulbs travel with terrific speed from east to west, then veer south and disappear.” The official explanation? A meteor, with the turn regarded as an illusion.

Get started searching or browsing the Project Blue Book UFO Investigations on Fold3. You can even try searching for your city or state to find out if any UFOs were spotted in your area. Access to the Project Blue Book UFO Investigations is free with registration.

Death of Robert E. Lee: October 12, 1870

October 1, 2017 by Trevor | Comments Off on Death of Robert E. Lee: October 12, 1870

On October 12, 1870, former Confederate general Robert E. Lee died at his home in Lexington, Virginia, at age 63, after suffering a stroke two weeks prior.

Following his surrender to Union general Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in April 1865, Lee—who had been commander of the Army of Northern Virginia and then General in Chief of all Confederate armies—traveled to Richmond, Virginia, where his family was living. Now jobless and without an income, Lee briefly considered turning to farming but instead accepted the presidency of Washington College in Lexington, Virginia—a position he would hold until his death five years later.

Washington College (today’s Washington and Lee University)—at the time a private white, all-male school—had been damaged during the war and had fewer than 50 students when Lee became its president in the fall of 1865. During Lee’s tenure, the student body grew to several hundred students, and Lee favored adding modern, practical courses to the curriculum in addition to the traditional courses in the classics.

In the years following the Civil War, Lee largely stayed out of the public eye and avoided postwar politics. Despite being indicted, Lee was never tried for treason, due mainly to the intercession of Ulysses S. Grant on his behalf. However, although he submitted the necessary documents, Lee was never returned to U.S. citizenship during his lifetime; instead, Congress would posthumously restore his citizenship in 1975.

In his final years, Lee’s health declined due to cardiovascular disease, but he remained active with the college. In the early spring of 1870, the college faculty and Lee’s doctors recommended he travel further south for his health. This trip—in which he visited Southern states such as North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida—became what many historians call Lee’s “farewell tour.”

Although his health was poor, Lee remained president of Washington College when it resumed classes in the fall of 1870. However, on September 28, following a church meeting, Lee suffered what was most likely a stroke after returning home that evening. Lee remained largely incapacitated for two weeks following his stroke and developed pneumonia, finally passing away on the morning of October 12 at the age of 63. He was interred at the Washington College chapel.

If you’re interested in learning more about Robert E. Lee, you can find more documents and images relating to his life and career on Fold3.

Ireland, Royal Hospital Kilmainham Pensioner Discharge Documents

September 15, 2017 by Trevor | 5 Comments

If you have ancestors from Ireland who received an army pension between 1724 and 1924, come explore Fold3’s collection of Royal Hospital Kilmainham Pensioner Discharge Documents!

The Royal Hospital Kilmainham, located in Dublin, Ireland, was founded in 1679 and handled the pensions of Irish Regiments (as well as some English, Scottish, and Welsh units, though most pensions for non-Irish regiments were handled by the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London). The Royal Hospital Kilmainham was originally built as a home for retired soldiers, and as such, some of the men who qualified for pensions were “in-pensioners,” which meant they surrendered their pensions and lived at the Royal Hospital; however, many more were “out-pensioners,” meaning they received their pensions while living elsewhere.

The hospital dealt with pensions for regiments in the Irish Army Establishment until 1800, when the British and Irish Army Establishments were combined. In 1822, the out-pensions administered by Kilmainham were shifted over to the Royal Hospital Chelsea; however, soldiers discharged in Ireland were still examined at Kilmainham before their information was passed along to Chelsea until the 1860s, and in-pensioners continued to live at Kilmainham until 1929.

Veterans were eligible to receive a pension if they had a disabling injury and had either been invalided home or completed 12 years of service. Officers’ pensions were not typically handled by the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, as pensions were usually awarded to officers through the “half-pay” system.

On Fold3, this collection is actually in two parts: the Pension Admissions and the Pensioners’ Discharge Documents. The records fall between 1724 and 1924. The Pension Admissions are registers of in- and out- pensioners of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham. The pensioners in these books are typically ordered by the date the veteran was examined for pension. Information found in these registers can include name, regiment, rank, length of service, illness or disability, birthplace, occupation, physical description, and more. Admissions registers for earlier years contain less information than those for later years. The Pension Admissions section also contains two registers of in-pensioners (covering 1839 until 1922), as well as a register of pensioners living abroad (1819-1822).

The Pensioners’ Discharge Documents contain pensioners’ certificates of service. These documents may contain service history information (corps, rank, years of service), as well as the man’s physical description, trade, birthplace, medical condition, and more.

On Fold3, the records in this title are grouped first into Admissions and Discharge documents as mentioned above. The Pension Admission Books are then typically arranged by date. The Discharge documents are also roughly arranged by date; however, they are more specifically arranged by the veteran’s discharge number, an index to which can be found in Pieces 1–12 of the Pension Admissions. This all being the case, knowing the approximate date your ancestor was awarded his pension (or at least the rough dates when he was drawing his pension) will make it easier to find him in this collection, as you will need to browse rather than use the search tool.

Start browsing the Ireland, Royal Hospital Kilmainham Pensioner Discharge Documents on Fold3!

Learn More about the Vietnam War on Fold3

September 1, 2017 by Trevor | 52 Comments

On September 17, Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s highly anticipated 10-part documentary The Vietnam War will begin airing. In the meantime, brush up on your knowledge of the conflict on Fold3 with the more than 21 million records in our Vietnam War collection.

There are currently 17 titles in our Vietnam Collection, and each provides a unique perspective on the decades-long conflict. If you’re not sure where to start, below we’ve spotlighted 5 titles that will be sure to interest you:

Photos: Fold3 has 4 Vietnam photo collections—Vietnam Marine Corps (B/W), Vietnam War Marine Corps, Vietnam War Army, and Vietnam War Navy. Many of the thousands of photos in these titles are in color, and they capture nearly every subject imaginable, from service members, to aircraft, to local Vietnamese, to military offensives, and beyond.

Vietnam Service Awards: This title includes candidates for Meritorious Unit Commendations, Navy Unit Commendations, Presidential Unit Citations, Presidential Unit Commendations, Valorous Unit Awards, and Vietnam Unit Awards. Not only do the records in this title contain explanations and the history of each recommendation, but they also describe the missions, list the soldiers, and outline the process of approving or disapproving the award.

Medal of Honor Recipients: Citations for Vietnam War Medal of Honor recipients are included in this title. The citations tell you when and where the Medal of Honor action occurred and typically give a fairly extensive description of the action and why it was considered deserving of a Medal of Honor. The Vietnam War medal citations begin on page 799 of the first volume (1863-1978). There are also a few Vietnam-era citations in the second volume (1979-2013), beginning on page 28.

The Pentagon Papers: This formerly top-secret report was originally leaked to the New York Times in 1971 and revealed damaging insights into U.S. policy in Vietnam, creating a whirlwind of controversy. In 2011, the full 7,000-page report was declassified and released to the public.

Interactive Vietnam Veterans Memorial: The interactive memorial on Fold3 was made of 6,301 photographs of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC that were stitched together by computer into a single, high-quality image. The Interactive Vietnam Veterans Memorial allows you to either search for a name or look at a high-resolution image of the wall—as if you were really in Washington DC. Every name on Fold3’s Vietnam Wall is connected to an Honor Wall page for the veteran that you can view or edit.

Search or browse these Vietnam War titles and more on Fold3!

US Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards

August 21, 2017 by Trevor | 18 Comments

Do you have an ancestor who received a U.S Army or Navy pension between 1907 and 1933? Check out Fold3’s collection of US Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards!

These payment cards document pension payments made to disabled veterans of the regular Army or Navy or their widows between 1907 and 1933. Prior to 1907, pension payments were recorded in pension agency payment books, but in 1907, the pension bureau switched to a card system and transferred all active pensioners to this new system. The system changed again in 1923, when they switched from quarterly to monthly payments. Pension payments made under this new system were recorded on a new card.

There are four classes of cards: those for Army invalids, Army widows, Navy invalids, and Navy widows. The four types of card are very similar. Although the information actually recorded on each card varies, the cards contain the following fields:

name of veteran
certificate number
unit or arm of service
disability for which pensioned
law or laws under which pensioned
class of pension or certificate
rate of pension
effective date of pension
date of the certificate
any fees paid
name of the pension agency or group transferred from (if applicable)
date of death
date the Bureau was notified
former roll number
home

On the widows’ cards, the woman’s name replaces the veteran’s, and the veteran’s name replaces the disability information. There is also a space for payments made to minors. Since payments were made to widows as well as to the veterans themselves, your military ancestor might have a pension payment card even if he died before 1907.

On Fold3, the cards are organized alphabetically by the surname and then given name of the veteran, even for the widows’ cards. This will save you time, as it eliminates the hassle of looking up a veteran’s pension under the name of his widow.

Keep in mind that there might be more than one person with the same name, so double check that it really is your ancestor. If you can’t find the person you’re looking for in the records, try looking under any nicknames or aliases your ancestor may have used and also check alternative spellings.

Get started searching or browsing for your ancestors in Fold3’s US Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards today!