Fantastic Find! US Mexican War Soldiers & Sailors Database

If you've ever researched an ancestor who fought in the Civil War, you're probably familiar with the Soldiers and Sailors Database of the  National Park Service (NPS). Now there's a new source of information for an earlier conflict, the Mexican-American War (1846-1848).*

[B.W. Kilburn Company. (ca. 1873) Monument over the remains of 750 U.S. soldiers, who fell in the valley of Mexico during the Mexican War. Mexico Mexico City, ca. 1873. Littleton, N.H.: Photographed and published by B.W. Kilburn. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2005693423/.]

Last week the NPS and the  Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) announced the launch of of the U.S.-Mexican War Soldier & Sailor database:

This online, searchable database contains information for over 85,000 U.S. and Mexican veterans who served in this war. Many records include personal details, such as hair color and occupation. 

The database allows descendants of these soldiers and sailors to connect to their personal history and helps Palo Alto commemorate and tell the stories of those who served. This invaluable research tool benefits genealogists, historians, as well as people who may have never known they are related to a U.S.-Mexican War veteran.

 This project started in 2007. Progress was extremely slow until 2015 when FGS joined forces with the NPS. FGS offered their expertise and numerous volunteers. 

Patricia Rand, the FGS contact, recruited and trained volunteers who spent over 17,000 hours doing the tedious task of inputting data. Their dedication makes it possible for future generations to learn about those who served in the U.S.-Mexican War.**

Although the database is up and running now, the virtual launch will take place at 3:00 pm (Central) on Monday, January 27, 2020 live on-line or in person at the Palo Alto Visitor Center.

I don't have any direct ancestors who were participants but Joshua Butler Walsh, the second husband of my maternal great great grandmother Mercy Ann Darling, was. We know more about Joshua than is listed in this database so I've contacted them (via their link) offering to share our information. I'll let you know how that turns out.


*I learned about this from a post by Judy G. Russell (The Legal Genealogist)
**From the FGS press release dated 14 Jan 2020.

© 2020 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: Joshua Butler Walsh (1810 - 1888), Blacksmith and Soldier, Mexican War

Born in South Carolina on May 30, 1810, Joshua had already survived two wives when he met and married my widowed great great grandmother Mercy Ann Darling Webb in Texas in 1864, thereby becoming the stepfather of my great grandfather Jesse Webb. 

[Courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

He had enlisted as a army private in the Mexican War in May of 1847 in Alton, Illinois.*

Census records confirm that he was a blacksmith, although how much heavy work he was doing in the 1885 Nebraska census (below) is in question.

[Year: 1850; Census Place: District 11, Marion, Illinois; Roll: M432_119; Page: 41B; Image: 609. Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

[Year: 1870; Census Place: Fairview, Jones, Iowa. Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: 1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.Minnesota census schedules for 1870. NARA microfilm publication T132, 13 rolls. Washington, D.C.]

[Nebraska State Census; Year: 1885; Series/Record Group: M352; County: Antelope; Township: Verdigris; Page: 8. Ancestry.com. Nebraska, State Census Collection, 1860-1885 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors in partnership with the following organizations: Nebraska State Genealogical Society Bismarck Mandan Historical and Genealogical Society Original data: Nebraska. Cass County. “County Census, 1876-1882.” Microfilm RG220, 9 rolls. Nebraska State Historical Society, Lincoln.Nebraska. Lancaster County. “County Census, 1860-1880.” Microfilm RG207, 4 rolls. Nebraska State Historical Society, Lincoln.Schedules of the Nebraska State Census of 1885.

NARA Microfilm Publication M352, 56 rolls.Washington, D.C.]

Joshua died in Antelope County, Nebraska, on July 5, 1888, and his widow is listed on the 1890 Special Schedule - Surviving Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines, and Widows, etc.**

[Year: 1890; Census Place: Verdigris, Antelope, Nebraska; Roll: 37; Page: 2; Enumeration District: 2.

Ancestry.com. 1890 Veterans Schedules [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Original data: Special Schedules of the Eleventh Census (1890) Enumerating Union Veterans and Widows of Union Veterans of the Civil War; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M123, 118 rolls); Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15; National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

*None of my direct ancestors fought in that war.
**One of the few records to escape the fire that destroyed almost all of the 1890 U.S. Population Census.

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.