Researching Ancestors in Civilian Conservation Corp

Where are the records?

Personnel records are kept at the National Archives at St. Louis. You can request a search for an enrollee’s file to uncover their personal journey through the program.

Researchers can often find:

• Service records: Enrollment dates, discharge papers, and camp assignments.
• Camp life: Inspection reports and project descriptions.
• Personal details: Medical exams, pay records, and conduct reports.
• Visuals: Historic photographs of camp structures and daily work.

To dig deeper

1) Look into Record Group 35 at the National Archives in College Park (Archives II) for administrative files, or ...

2) Check state archives for local camp newspapers and maps.

Ancestor Research through Diaries

Do you have a diary from your female ancestor? Many of these women were avid writers.


They wrote to politicians, to each other and many kept diaries. The details of meetings were excluded, but personal diaries, by happenstance, may reference a name or two that may be quite telling. A reference to Polly’s Halliday's liberal tea house may also let you know that you are on the track of a progressive thinking ancestor. .

Where to Find Diaries?

Listen in to where Angela Rodesky says she obtains them:

5 Places to locate diaries:
1) State Archives and Repositories that hold Personal Papers.
2) Be sure to research the Merrill J. Mattes Reseearch Library at the National Frontier Trails Museum. I must say, spending a day with this concentrated selection of wagon train resources, makes me smile.
3) The ancestry.com California, Pioneer and Immigrant Files, 1790-1950 database holds 10,000 records "with biographical information about pioneers who arrived in California before 1860.
4) Local Histories and Newspapers detail wagon trains and their departure (it was both exciting and devastating to communities and families). Small-town newspapers also reprinted letters sent "home" for the community to read; sometimes enticing others to follow, and just as frequently warnings of the danger.
5) The Oregon-California Trails Association (OCTA) hosts of Paper Trail, an online database Guide to Overland Pioneer Names and Documents is a great place to begin your diary, manuscript, and written information search.
It is subscription based, but the initial search is free. This database will GUIDE you to the correct repository. You cannot download the diary from this location, but it leads you to where to go using a surname search.

Search for Your Ancestors in Writings

 

What did five (5) month travelers do? They recorded their journeys in diaries and letters back home, detailing the trip. Ok, not all of them. But you will be surprised where you may find your ancestor's name. Sometimes the diaries are filled with gruesome details as the writer recalls on paper a companion's demise. Sometimes the accounts are so detailed that they read like a novel. Sometimes they just follow a train of thought, or confirm a reader's suspicion.

I proved that a religious "group," Bethel Community, occupied settlements in both Missouri and Oregon. I located the letters that leader, William Kiel, wrote to his congregation back home in Missouri from 1855-1870. He even threatened to excommunicate ("bar them from the Bethel Community") a few Missourians for raising the Union flag, and endangering the community. Interestingly enough, he was writing from his new Bethel Community in Oregon. The letters were filled with historical data, names of members and religious practices.[1]

Westward Bound - Not Just California

Image: Bureau of Land Management

Tracing Your Ancestors Going West
We know there were wagon trains. Families packed their belongings, and carried their personal wealth overland to reach the newly opened west lands. Sometimes, families were left behind, as the pioneer travelled with a wagon train.  This westward migration wasn't just for those panning for gold.  There were the Mormon's escaping persecution, the future vintner wanting rich soil, and those who made a living in transport. 

Three Key Resources

Researchers may wish to begin their ancestors’ westward migration by perusing the following: 

1) National Frontier Trails -  Independence, MO. A partner of the Oregon - California Trails Association. This repository holds over forty-eight thousand (48,000) pioneers in their database,

2) Merrill J. Mattes Collection - The Merrill J. Mattes Research Library is believed to be the largest public research library in the nation focused on the overland trails,
3)  State Historical Society of Missouri manuscript collection holds includes personal papers, maps, and photographic records of westward expansion and local trails.
Be sure to scour the E.B. Trail Collection (C2071) for steamboat memorabilia and various diary/map collections documenting historic routes like the Santa Fe Trail and Missouri River journeys, also.

Research Tips / Hints

America Mathews Overland Diary, 1857 (SHSMO)

Not every family researcher will find Great-Grandpa's passage recorded in diaries, or even his name.  But, by narrowing his year, and month of travel, you may find his experience recorded through the eyes of his neighbors and friends:  

• Analyze diaries from his hometown.
• Follow the path and his final settlement to determine his passage.
• Track Military Forts' activities along the route. The military controlled the trails, and would detain small groups travel for safety.  This may have delayed your pioneers trip.

Remember others traveled by water. The trip from Louisiana up the Mississippi River was still arduous, but may have been your ancestor’s best option if they were not travelling with a large wagon train through hostile territories. Newspaper accounts are a great resource of those who arrived west.

9 More Resources and Database

a3Genealogy researchers proved that a religious "group," Bethel Community, occupied settlements in both Missouri and Oregon by locating the letters that leader, William Kiel, wrote to his congregation back home in Missouri from 1855-1870.  He even threatened to excommunicate ("bar them from the Bethel Community") a few Missourians for raising the Union flag, and endangering the community. Interestingly enough, he was writing from his new Bethel Community in Oregon.  The letters were filled with historical data, names of members and religious practices.[1]

1. One of our favorite websites: Oregon - California Trails Association holds over 48 thousand pioneers in their database.
2. The Oregon Genealogical Society and Idaho Genealogical Society have a listing of names in their Pioneer Certificate programs.
3. For FAQs, visit the Bureau of Land Management Website
4. For a list of Oregon Trail Historic Sites visit Legends of America http://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-oregontrail.html
5. The Oregon Territory and Its Pioneers
6. Oregon Trail Histories
7. Oregon State Archives. This can be most helpful when looking for land records.
8. The ancestry.com California, Pioneer and Immigrant Files, 1790-1950 database holds 10,000 records with biographical information about pioneers who arrived in California before 1860.
9. Find A Grave, Along The Oregon Trail Cemetery Tombstone project.

African Americans Headed West

The overland journeys were before the Civil War.  Free-coloreds, as many as 3000 by 1850, found their way to California from the onset of the gold rush, but rarely settled in the unwelcoming Oregon. Review the Black Laws of Oregon 1844-1857

Even though many enslavers carried enslaved people on their westward trek. This same westward path was integral to successful escape plans. If you need to refresh your history of the role African Americans played during this westward movement, you may wish to read Blacks in Gold Rush California, by Rudolph M. Lapp.  

Another great resource is the Negro Trail Blazers of California by Delilah L. Beasley; original 1818; reprinted 1969.

 [1] Kiel, Wm., Letters 1855-1870; Bethel Community to Oregon 24 Jun 1855; microfilm, Western Historical Manuscript Collection, UMKC

Kathleen Brandt

How to Research Pre-Revolutionary War Ancestors

Excerpt: How to Research Pre-Revolutionary War Ancestors, 2016

Finding Family Before 1776
When genealogists hit the colonial period, many suddenly feel the trail goes cold. There is no 1easy civil registration. Few family stories survive. Records may be scattered, damaged, or hidden in places researchers never think to look. But your ancestor did not appear in America in 1776.

They lived, worked, married, bought land, went to court, paid taxes, served apprenticeships, worshipped, migrated, and sometimes got into trouble long before the Revolutionary War. The key is learning where early lives were documented.

So where were they documented?
For pre-Revolutionary ancestors, success often comes from looking beyond birth, marriage, and death records. Here are 12 record sets, the basics that should be reviewed if extant:

1. land grants and deeds
2. tax lists
3. church registers
4. probate files
5. petitions
6. militia lists
7. shipping records
8. indenture contracts
9. apprenticeship records
10. court minutes
11. merchant account books
12. newspapers
13. cemetery and churchyard records

Was Your Ancestor a Sailor, Pirate, Merchant, or Convict?

When genealogists hit the colonial period, many suddenly feel the trail goes cold. Have you considered that your ancestor may have gotten into trouble long before the Revolutionary War?

One overlooked source for colonial-era research is maritime court records. If your ancestor worked at sea, traded goods, was accused of piracy, transported cargo, or arrived as a convict laborer, records may appear in British Admiralty or colonial Vice-Admiralty courts.

Check out the Proceedings of Vice-Admiralty courts in North America, the West Indies and Africa.

These courts handled maritime disputes, seizures, wages, smuggling, and other sea-related matters across the colonies. Colonial vice-admiralty courts existed in several regions, and jurisdiction sometimes crossed colony lines.

That means an ancestor living in one colony may appear in records held elsewhere.

Unexpected Women
Don't forget the women. They were not so squeaky clean. Women appear in colonial records more often than many assume.

Check out these 9 record sets:

1. widow petitions
2. dower claims
3. probate distributions
4. church discipline cases
5. guardianship records
6. poor relief requests
7. newspaper notices
8. runaway servant advertisements
9. court complaints and testimony

Reminder: A woman may be the key to proving an entire family line.

Smart Tip: 

Remember that podcast on One Place Studies? This is a perfect chance to research by the community, not just name. If records are sparse, study the community.

Ask:

• Who were the neighbors?
• Who witnessed deeds?
• Who appeared in the same tax district?
• Who married into the family?
• What church served the area?
• What migration route did families use?

Sometimes your ancestor is hiding inside the records of relatives, neighbors, or associates.

7 Smart Places to Search Pre-1776 Ancestors
1. State Archives
Many colonial court, land, and legislative records are preserved at the state level.

2. County Courthouses
Especially for deeds, probate, and local court minutes.

 
3. Historical Societies

Local collections may contain manuscripts, family papers, maps, and cemetery transcriptions.

 
4. University Libraries
Many hold digitized colonial collections and regional papers.

 
5. British Repositories
Especially for emigrants, convicts, merchants, and military matters.

 
6. Church Archives

Baptisms, marriages, burials, pew lists, and vestry records can be gold.

 
7. Digitized Databases
Search modern collections repeatedly. New material appears all the time.

Lost Records
Some colonial records were destroyed by war, fire, weather, and time. However, a burned courthouse does not always mean a dead end. Search for the following in your state archives and repositories: 

• tax rolls
• neighboring county records
• church records
• newspapers
• land transfers
• probate heirs
• militia lists
• court references in later cases

The trail may be faint, but it is often still there.

8 Resources: Spanish Territory to USA Citizens

Where to Research for Puerto Rican Ancestors

When researching Puerto Rican ancestors, one of the biggest mistakes genealogists make is assuming the records will all be in one place. Puerto Rico sits at the crossroads of Spanish colonial history, U.S. territorial governance, military eligibility, and changing citizenship law.

Before 1898, Puerto Rico was under Spanish control. That means earlier genealogical records are often found in:

• Catholic parish registers
• Spanish-language civil and administrative records
• Local municipal records
• Land, tax, and notarial records

Before 1917, your Puerto Rican ancestor records may be found in:

• Spanish-language local records
• Church records
• Municipal civil records
• Territorial administrative records

After the Spanish-American War in 1898, Puerto Rico became a territory of the United States. In 1917 the Jones-Shafroth Act granted U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans.

The State, Columbia, SC · Tuesday, June 05, 1917

So, after 1917, Your ancestor may also begin appearing in:

• U.S. federal records
• World War I draft cards
• Military service records
• Other citizenship-related documentation

That means one person may appear across two governments, two languages, and two legal systems over the course of a lifetime: 

 Your ancestor may appear in:

• A Spanish-language baptismal register
• A civil marriage record
• A U.S. draft registration
• A later federal military or migration record

At first glance, it may not look like the same person. You may see name spelling changes, anglicized versions of names, different places listed, shifts in language or legal terminology

These differences often reflect government change, not family inconsistency.

8 Resources for Research

1.  New York National Archives (NARA). The Guide to Puerto Rican Records in the National Archives, New York City, is a great place to begin your Puerto Rican ancestor research. 

2.  Newspapers. The New York Puerto Rican newspapers reported news of its community. Although much was in Spanish, these OCR digitized copies are easily available with the New York Public Library database resources, or other comprehensive historical/genealogical libraries that hold newspaper database subscriptions (i.e. Midwest Genealogy Center, MO. -  library card will get you home access).

- La Democracia

- La Correspondencia de Puerto Rico

- El Tiempo y Union Obera

3.  Passenger Lists.
--Puerto Rico, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1901 – 1962, ancestry.com
--National Archives Record Group (RG85) Manifests of Ship Passengers Arriving at San Juan, PR in Transit to Other Destinations, 07/01/1921 – 06/30/1947 (microfilm only)
--RG 85.3.1 Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at San Juan PR 10/7/1901 – 6/30/1948

4.  Military Records. Selective Service System draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 are digitally available on FamilySearch.org or ancestry.com.

5.  Passports. Many Puerto Ricans worked in neighboring countries, (i.e. Dominican Republic).  For easier entry and exist many applied for their U. S. passports. Visit U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 on ancestry.com. For Puerto Rico, this collection holds records from 1907-1925. This is a good place to begin your passport research.

6. Consular Records. 

Was a child of an American citizen born overseas? This occurred frequently with customary long overseas visits. The Department of State records, various records of death notices of U.S. citizens abroad should be scoured for your elusive ancestor. Don’t dismiss these records as only for those who were naturalized USA citizens and returned to their native land to visit family. Vacationers fell sick, were victims of violence, automobile accidents, or were imprisoned, etc. These records also included deaths that occurred in Canada and the Americas.

7. Guide to Puerto Rican Records in the National Archives NYC, (these records may be transplanted to Pennsylvania 

8. Puerto Rico Civil Registration, familysearch Wiki

In the Age of AI, Be Authentic

  A Manifesto for Genealogists, Historical Writers, and Authors

Genealogists and historians are no longer approaching the age of AI.
We are challenged by it daily in our blogs, our social media posts, and our research writings.

 AI can rewrite, summarize, reshape, and repackage language at extraordinary speed. It can generate blog posts, captions, outlines, descriptions, and polished paragraphs in seconds. We have seen plagiarism from the a3Genealogy blog (https://a3genealogy.blogspot.com/).

I do not want our readers to leave asking the following questions:

1. What belongs to the human researcher?
2. What still belongs to the author?

So, how do we live alongside AI? We write our expertise. We write what we can prove. 

I write a genealogical and historical blog. I produce articles for magazines and content for the Hittin' the Bricks with Kathleen podcast. The case studies, examples, and shared experiences are directly tied to a3Genealogy client research and historical documents. So, to distinguish my writings from AI-generated text, I make it personal. I make it authentic, I make it "unmistakably" mine. 

AI can generate language.

But, it cannot do what real historical work requires:

It cannot analyze conflicting evidence or determine the need or reasoning for a proof argument.
It cannot assess deeper suggestions of missing records or the conflicts proposed on surviving ones.
It cannot determine how supplementary records, i.e., widow’s pension, tax list, church registers, county boundary changes, or a misspelled surname will influence a research plan.

Frustration is not a plan.

And anger is not a strategy.

I know that blog posts written for a3Genealogy  years ago, as early as 2008, are fodder for AI. When I was a teenager, my mother used to say, “Once you tell one person, it’s no longer a secret.” As an adult, I now understand that lesson differently: 

My goal is neither to compete with AI nor to devalue it as a "research tool." But AI cannot replace my experience, my client base, or the authenticity of twenty years of client-based and personal research.

So, the real question is not whether AI is here to stay.
           It is.

The real question is this:

How do we, as genealogists, historians, and authors,
write in the AI era, without losing ourselves to it?

For me, the answer is clear:

I must write authentically, not fast. 

I am Kathleen Strader Brandt of the Hittin' the Bricks with Kathleen podcast. The life-long mentor for genealogists and a3Genealogy interns. The researcher for unique family histories. AI can't take that away from me. 

However, AI can assist - i.e., need a date quickly? To me, it's like a dictionary; an encyclopedia (if you remember them before wiki and the internet). It's a reference tool without a Dewey Decimal System, but I still get to gather information, analyze, and synthesize the data. 

But, it cannot do what real historical work requires:

It cannot sit with a document and weigh the uncertainty of conflicting data.
It cannot understand why a missing record may be the answer; or the key to a proof argument. 
It cannot prove family ties using collaborative data: surname conflicts in a widow’s pension file, a tax list, a church register, a county boundary change, or generational changes of a family 
surname.
It cannot empathize with the emotions of your ancestors or your readers.

AI is not human.

It lacks cognitive dissonance. 
It lacks a belief system.
It cannot ask the deeper question: Who is missing, and why?AI can assemble facts.
It cannot replace discernment.

   And discernment is where our authority lives.

This is to say, our writings, our author's touch, will be recognized by creating authentic content:

Good writing, beyond that of AI rewrites and plagiarism, adds human values. 

The ability to Connect evidence to meaning
The ability to Analyze and Interpret community and social practices
The ability to Contextualize.
The ability to Teach. 

 In other words:

           The future belongs to the subject matter expert. 

Not the loudest voice.
Not the fastest publisher.
Not the person who can produce the most in the shortest amount of time. 

The future belongs to the person who can say:

I know this field.
I know these records.
I know this history.
And I know how to help others understand it with integrity. 

That is the work now.
Not to outpace the machine, but to go where the machine cannot follow: 

Into nuance.
Into ethics.
Into humanity.

So perhaps this is not the end of authorship.

Perhaps this is the moment authorship becomes more defined.

If AI can produce quick, shallow content, then expertise matters more.

So, I am not asking how to fight AI.
I am asking something more important: 

How do I root my research writing in a manner that 
my experience, my standards, and my voice
cannot be mistaken for anything but my own?

This is the work now.
And perhaps this has always been the work.

This manifesto come from my own work as a genealogist, researcher, and writer in an evolving AI landscape.

 

Using Store Account Books to Find Our Ancestors

Store account of Berry Cook, Negro, June 9, 1831

Overlooked Genealogy Records
Genealogists often search the obvious records first, i.e., census, land deeds, wills, military files, and church registers. But sometimes the richest clues to our ancestors’ lives appear in the most unexpected places. One such source is the store account book.

Recently, I came across a fascinating example from an ironworks community in Pennsylvania. 
At first glance, it might appear to be a simple transaction record. But a closer look reveals an entire community and the daily lives of the people who lived there.

Ironworks Community History in Early Pennsylvania
In 1810, Irish immigrant Roland Curtin established an iron forge along Bald Eagle Creek in Centre County, Pennsylvania. His enterprise, known as Eagle Iron Works, quickly grew into a large industrial community. The operation eventually included:

• 30,000 acres of land
• three blast furnaces
• rolling, grist, and saw mills
• a company store
• worker housing
• a school
• homes for the Curtin family

Between 100 and 200 workers lived and labored in this iron plantation community. These workers filled many specialized roles:

• miners extracting ore
• colliers producing charcoal
• Teamsters transporting materials
• founders determining furnace mixtures
• Iron masters tapping molten iron
• drivers hauling timber and supplies, etc.

Industrial communities like this functioned almost like small towns built around a single employer.

A Research Goldmine for One-Place Studies

Records like this are especially powerful when studying a single community or workplace. By combining store ledgers, genealogists can reconstruct an entire social and economic network. 
A One-Place Study allows researchers to understand not just one ancestor, but the community that shaped their life. Using the following records, the community comes to life:

• census records
• tax lists
• land deeds
• church registers
• payroll books
• probate records

Where to Find Store Account Books
Many remain uncataloged or lightly indexed, making them especially valuable discoveries for genealogists willing to dig deeper. These genealogy store ledgers often survive in surprising places:

• local historical societies
• county archives
• university manuscript collections
• business archives
• state libraries
• museum collections connected to historic industries

They may appear under titles such as store ledgers, day-books, merchant account books, 
company store ledgers. 

Why Store Account Books Matter for Genealogy

Company store ledgers like this can reveal details rarely found elsewhere. 

They may show:
Occupations: Workers were often credited for specific tasks

Family clues: hint at family members not named in other records.
Economic status: Types of goods purchased can reflect income level.
Community connections: Multiple workers appear in the same ledger, reconstructing entire neighborhoods.
Ethnic diversity: Industrial sites often employed immigrants and free Black workers alongside others.

Other Overlooked Records Like Store Ledgers”

• tavern licenses
  
• apprenticeship indentures
• tax lists
• mill payroll books
• church poor relief lists

Case Study:  Irish Immigrant and the Company Store
These humble account books remind us that genealogy is not just about names and dates. Even when other records barely acknowledge African American presence in the 1830s, in this case of Berry Cook, June 9, 1831,  identified in the record as a Black worker, is an entire story of labor, family, community, and survival in early industrial America. 

Case Study 
Curtin Iron Works, Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission

In 1810, Roland Curtin, an Irish immigrant, built an iron forge on Bald Eagle Creek in Centre County. Curtin expanded his "Eagle Iron Works" to include 30,000 acres of farm, ore, and forest land; three blast furnaces; rolling, grist, and saw mills; a store; a school; four "semi-mansions" for family members; and approximately seventy dwellings for his 100-200 full and part-time employees. His workers included, among others, drivers who transported wood to the wood-cutters; colliers who prepared the charcoal; miners who dug the ore; a founder who determined what amounts of ore and limestone (used as a flux to burn impurities from the ore) to put in the furnace; the iron master whose responsibility it was to tap the furnace of its molten iron at the proper time; and teamsters who carried the iron to markets east and west.

African Americans Named in Company Store Records
Although most of the ironworkers were of European ancestry, some were African Americans. As early as the 1770s, Blacks worked at the iron foundry at the Hopewell plantation in Berks County. By the 1830s, Roland Curtin employed at least a few at his Eagle Iron Works. It is not possible to determine exactly what they did, but it is unlikely that they held skilled positions here, or at any other iron plantation. The extant records do not reveal whether they lived in the company houses, but they might have resided there with the white workers and their families. What the records do indicate is that they frequented the company store. There, they purchased goods that they needed on credit, like the white workers. The document presented here is probably typical of the variety of goods bought at such a store. 

It shows, "Berry Cook, negro" bought in June and July of 1831, bacon and beef; fabrics such as calico, flannel, and muslin; stockings, combs, "1 pair Shoes for Wife," and other necessities. 

Even more valuable are the credits recorded in the account. As noted at the bottom of the document, Mr. Cook earned credit for his purchases, for example, $28.44 "By Making 8 ton 15¢ Blooms [a bar of iron for use by blacksmiths] @ 3.25 with Snowden", probably the man he assisted, and $3.00 for "6 days Mowing & Making Hay". $28.44 credited for making eight tons of iron blooms.

These entries suggest Berry Cook worked in iron production while also performing seasonal agricultural labor.

Entries for other workers whose ethnicity is not given, probably because they were white, show they made similar types of purchases, except for the forge manager. Presumably, his salary was higher, enabling him to buy more expensive goods, such as chocolate and molasses.