Some Camp member are curious to find out if they have additional Confederate ancestors, and some potential members and legionnaires are interested in finding their first one...but they are uncertain how to approach it. I’d like to offer a logical system of research that I used in finding my first, and then 10 more Confederates.

1. First, find out what you can from family members. Generally someone in the family is the “keeper” of this information and will be glad to share it. If you’re lucky, someone has already researched your family. Calls to family members (aunts, distant cousins, etc.) might even turn up a published family history with everything you need to know (except the actual Confederate service). Simply leaf through the book and trace your line back to a likely man and then skip to #4 to focus on his Confederate service.

2. Put the info in an organized fashion. I suggest a length-wise un-ruled piece of paper. Start with your name on the top left and then work to the right of the page. Then fill in as much as you can with dates of birth, death and marriage and places of these. Only trace ONE parent, grandparent, etc. on a page….too confusing otherwise. When you run out of space on the first line, continue about ½ way down on the page (space for details).

3. Armed with this information, you can start looking farther back:

4. Ok, you have found a name and he is of the age to have served (born before about 1843 but after about 1820)….how do you find out if he served? The Camp web site is a great starting point. On the left side of the of the "research sources" below is the National Parks Database. This is the most comprehensive list I know. It is not COMPLETE, no lists are, but it is very good. Start here with a ‘soldier search’ unless your ancestor is from a coastal area, then you might want to start with ‘sailor’ search. Key in the last name, the State you BELIEVE he served from (where he lived) and of course “Confederate” and ‘let ‘er rip’. You will see display a list of potential candidates. Let’s say you have a very common name, like in my case, James Butler in Georgia. You can narrow it down by the unit. This particular database shows the unit, and in most cases, when you click on the unit, a regimental history will be displayed. It will mention the counties the unit was recruited from. Get out your atlas and compare this list to where your ancestor lived. For example, there is a James listed from a county in North Georgia - I can pretty much rule that James out because my family was from Southwest Georgia…..get the picture? Some regiments are not listed, but you can at least narrow it down from the ones that are.

To REALLY know for sure is hard, especially if he had a common name. One way is to research if he or his widow drew a Confederate pension. The pension will include genealogical info, like where and when the man was born, where he lived, etc. His widow’s pension will also list marriage and death dates of the veteran…..great stuff! You can really rule out the wrong ones and know for sure the right one! If your ancestor is from Florida, you’re in luck…you can search the Florida Confederate pension database (right from the “research sources" below) and see if it is your man. Some other states have pensions on line, others you have to order – all on line ones are linked to the camp web site.

Another way to rule out duplicates is the census. By searching a county in 1860 (the year before the war), you can tell if there are any other men with your ancestor’s name from the same county. Again, the camp web site “research sources” page has two excellent census resources. Get a library card— with this you can access “Heritage Quest” (best census database) from the Tampa-Hillsborough Library (top link on the right side of the ‘research sources" below.

I’d be pleased to answer any questions you have, and once you get the hang of this, it is rewarding to view the old records and find out more about your Confederate and Southern heritage.