Hillsborough County, Florida Resource

Today's free genealogy resource is Hillsborough County Cemeteries. The Florida Genealogical Society has published an 8 volume set which includes around 90 of the cemeteries in the county, as well as a few outside of the county lines where county residents are interred. The website owner has expanded on this information, adding around 40 more cemeteries. Per the website, there are over 86,000 graves listed.

If you know the cemetery where your ancestor is buried, you can simply scroll down until you find the hyperlinked name in the list. It will take you to the cemetery page, which gives a picture of the cemetery and directions to it. If there are only a few burials at the cemetery, the names will be listed on the same page. For larger cemeteries, the cemetery page will give a link to the transcription.

The transcriptions give the name, date of birth and date of death. If yes is listed in the stone column, then there is a picture available of the headstone. Some entries offer additional information in the notes column. A few even have the obituary linked, which may offer more genealogical information.

One nice feature of this free genealogy resource is that it includes defunct cemeteries. These include those that have been destroyed, bodies have been moved or the cemetery can no longer be located. If the bodies have been moved, there is information on where the bodies are currently if known.

If you don't know the cemetery, you can also search by your ancestor's last name.If you're not sure about the spelling,  you can select contains or starts with to aid your search.

The site also offers links to other cemetery listing sites which may be helpful in your search.

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Florida Resource

If your Florida ancestors fought in the Civil War in the Confederate forces, today's free genealogy resource is for you. In 1885, the first Confederate pensions were authorized in the state. Civil War veterans and their widows that met certain requirements were able to receive a small monthly pension.

These pension applications can be an invaluable resource for genealogical information. Information you can expect to find include service information, residency, date and place of birth. Widows applications may also include place and date of their birth and information on the veteran's death.

The Florida Archives have digitized the Confederate Pension Files. It is searchable by surname or application number. The results screen gives the application number, surname, given name, service unit, reference information, wife's name and application year and county. Clicking on the application number will take you to another screen which has hyperlinked pages to the file.

If official copies of the file are needed or wanted, they can be ordered for a small fee. Currently as of the date of this post, the fee is $7.50 per file. Applications for both the veteran and widow are filed together so there is only one fee even if there were two separate applications.

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Free WWI Records

Arizona WWI Alien Registrations-During WWI, people who lived in Arizona, but were citizens of other countries were required to register as aliens. This free genealogy resource just gives you a list of the names, their date of registration and the ARC description number. Once you have the description number, visit the National Archives ARC system and put the number in the search box. Then click on the icon on the left that looks like a CD to view a digital image of the registration documents. From the documents, you get the name of the individual, any other names used, address, how long they have lived at that address, any other residences, birthplace and date, employer, occupation, date arrived in the US, port of arrival, ship arrived on, name of parents, address of parents if they are living, name of spouse and children, name of relatives fighting for or against the US, whether registered for draft and where if they are, previous military or government service, whether naturalized or not, if naturalized or applied to be naturalized where and when, any oaths of allegiance and any criminal history. It also includes a photograph, age, physical description and fingerprints of the individual. This is one of the many free genealogy resources available that could be considered a goldmine for researchers.

Connecticut WWI Military Service Questionnaires-This database is searchable by name and residence. It gives you the full name of the individual, residence, if they had an foreign service, notes if there are any pictures, and gives you the box number of their questionnaire. Some results may include notes. You can request a copy of the questionnaire for a small fee.

Florida WWI Service Cards-This database searches service cards, which are an abbreviated version of the individual's military record. All cards include name, age, serial number, race, birthplace and residence when entering service. Cards may also include information on service with dates of beginning and transfer, engagements served in, wounds or injuries sustained in action, time served overseas, discharge notes and other comments.

Kansas Enemy Alien Registration-This one is broken down into county. Once you select the correct county, you get a list of names. Information included with the names is the city and county of residence, sex, birthdate, birth country, city of origin and maiden name for women. The name can be searched in the National Archives ARC System to find their documents.

Kansas WWI Casualties-This database is searchable by surname. There are also several options for statistics including by cause of death, by state, by residence, etc. Be sure to note the number beside your ancestor's listing. This corresponds to a list that has the person the soldier named as an emergency contact. In most cases, the individual listed in this list is a family member. You may also want to check the supplements as they correct erroneous information that may be in the original listings.

Louisiana WWI Soldiers-This includes soldiers killed in action. Unfortunately, this isn't searchable so finding your ancestor requires browsing or using your browser's find command. You get name and residence. Some names are hyperlinked and clicking on them will take you to a photograph of the individual. Some names also have notes for further information about the individual.

Missouri WWI Service Cards-This database covers soldiers from multiple conflicts. Just select WWI from the conflict drop down to access. Cards give name, branch of service, serial number, race, residence, place and date of induction, birthplace, age or date of birth, organizations served in with dates, rank with dates of appointment, engagements, injuries sustained in action, overseas service dates, discharge information, disability upon discharge, and remarks.

St. Louis WWI Casualties-This database covers casualties from St. Louis, MO and St. Louis County. You can scroll through the names or select the first letter of the surname to jump to that set of names. You get name, rank at time of death and residence at time of enlistment.

Virginia Military Dead Database-This databases covers just about all conflicts in history. Just select World War I from the conflict drop down box for your search. Results will give name, city or county, gender, race, service branch, rank, date and place of death, cause of death, source, residence and comments.

WWI Casualties-This database is from the American Battle Monuments Commission. It only contains records of those individuals buried in their cemeteries or listed on the Wall of the Missing. That's roughly a third of WWI casualties, but as a free genealogy resource, it's worth a check. Search results give you the name, rank, state, death date and cemetery location. Clicking on the 'Go' button beside the name yields a little more information.

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