Did your Confederate ancestor perhaps join the Yankees?
This was the topic of a lecture by Jordan Jones, entitled “Gone to the Yankees! Civil War Loyalists,” at the recent National Genealogical Society conference.
His example was his own ancestor, a Confederate soldier from Virginia who was captured and sent to a POW camp, then offered release if he would sign up with the Union forces, which he did. When he died, decades later, his obituary made no mention of any military service, but his widow applied for a Union pension. The family also kept quiet.
Thousands of Southerners fought on the Union side, especially from the border states. So, if someone in your family was of age to have fought in the Civil War and you can’t find a Confederate service record, you might check to see if he fought for the other side.
Sites to check: The U.S. National Park Service's Soldiers and Sailors Database at nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.htm or specifically by name in the U.S. Volunteers at fold3.com. Jones also cites a book, "Lincoln's Loyalists: Union Soldiers From the Confederacy" (Northeastern University Press, 1992) by Richard Current, which might provide more background.
Declaration on display
The Georgia Archives will have Georgia’s recorded copy of the Declaration of Independence on display 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. June 25.
The chance to see this 240-year-old landmark document will be a rare treat for school children who have only studied about it and cannot get to Washington to see the original. Georgia's copy was rediscovered only a few years ago. For more information, call 678-364-3710 or check georgiaarchives.org.
NGS lecture recordings
Session recordings from the recent National Genealogical Society conference in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., can be purchased from PlaybackNow, 3139 Campus Drive, Suite 700, Norcross, GA 30071. Contact them at playbackNGS.com/7760 for the list of lectures from the 2016 conference, which covered a wide range of topics. Or call 1-800-241-7785. You can purchase copies in various formats, such as streaming/download, MP3 CDs or a USB drive. It's worth checking into these options in order to avail yourself of some of the great lectures given.
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