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Confirming An Ancestor's Military Service: Military Service

This guide presents methods of determining whether an ancestor has been in any branch of the United States Armed Forces during war time or peace time.

National Personnel Records Ctr

The National Personnel Records Center, Military Personnel Records (NPRC-MPR) is the repository of millions of military personnel, health, and medical records of discharged and deceased veterans of all services during the 20th century from World War I to the present. Requests should be made using Form 180 available at https://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/standard-form-180.html. All requests must be in writing, signed and mailed to the address shown below.

National Personnel Records Center
1 Archives Drive
St. Louis, Missouri 63138

Military records prior to World War I should be ordered from the National Archives in Washington, DC using NATF Form 86, which is available at the following site https://www.archives.gov/forms/pdf/natf-86.pdf

Virgil White Military Abstracts

 

Genealogist Virgil D. White specializes in abstracting war records for 18th and 19th century American conflicts.  The Local History Room at May Memorial Library owns the following sets of his abstracts:

 

American Revolutionary War

 CLICK HERE for a list of Local Revolutionary War Pensioners from the Pension List of 1835                           

 

Military Databases

Alamance County Public Libraries offer 2 subscription databases that have access to military records for various wars.  The Heritage Quest database is available from home via NCLive at www.nclive.org.  It contains selected records from the Revolutionary War Era pension and bounty land warrent application files.
The Ancestry Library edition databases must be used from within the library.  They include almost 400 separate state, federal, and international military databases covering most wars in which Americans fought over the last 200 years.  The largest of these databases contain WW I draft registrations, WW II draft registrations,  WWII Army enlistments, and the Marine Corps muster rolls for 1798 through 1958.
The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System is an additional large military database that is available free on the internet at https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/soldiers-and-sailors-database.htm.  It is maintained by the National Parks Service and contains 6.3 million names of Union and Confederate soldiers for 44 separate states and territories.

Alamance County Public Libraries

Alamance County Public Libraries provide free and open access to lifelong learning, resources for everyday living, and reading for pleasure in a welcoming environment.  Our collections, services and programs enhance the quality of life for individuals, families, and communities. Contact the Library webmaster.

Alamance County Public Libraries operates as a Department of Alamance County Government.  Visit the Alamance County Website at www.alamance-nc.com.

Of Local Interest

There are more than 600 names on the Alamance County Veterans Memorial in Graham.  CLICK HERE for some local casualties of 19th & 20th century wars buried outside the county

War of the Regulation

 


The Regulator rebellion was a colonial tax revolt in which backcountry farmers from this area fought the colonial militia.  It culminated in the Battle of Alamance which was fought here in this county on May 16, 1771 and involved an estimated 3,000 combatants.  The Regulator rebellion is considered important historically as a precursor to the American Revolution.   There is a state historic site within Alamance County on the site of the former battleground.  The following books contains information about the Regulators:

 

 

 

 

Breaking Loose Together: the Regulator Movement in Pre-Revolutionary North Carolina by Marjoleine Kars

Farming Dissenters:  the Regulator Movement in Piedmont North Carolina by Carole W. Troxler

The Regulators in North Carolina: Documentary History 1759-1776 by William S. Powell

Some Neglected History of North Carolina by William E. Fitch

War of the Regulation and the Battle of Alamance by William S. Powell