Today’
s post is in honor of all those who served our great country. I hope you’ll find the following collection of hidden gems helpful in your family research. I’m wondering how many of us really take the time to review all the options on any given website. Do you take the time to look at collection titles that may not have immediate or apparent interest? When using the New Jersey State Archives (NJSA) website, my guess is that most of us choose “Search the Collections” from the main webpage.
This choice leads us to all of the “genealogical friendly” selections:
- Overview of Genealogical Collections – a .pdf file reviewing the holdings of NJSA relevant to family research.
- Searchable Databases – a link to the 14 name searchable data collections for marriages, deaths, land, court, military and more.
- Catalog (View our browsable catalog) – a link to the almost 200 collections or record groups. This is probably the most popular choice for most researchers.
- Imaged Collections – the link “View our imaged collections” takes researchers to the 7,100 digitzed images from NJSA’s photograph and manuscript collections.
And it’s that last option, way at the bottom of the page, that offers us the opportunity to view unique photo and digitized document collections.
Hidden Gems
There are five choices within the Imaged Collections categorized into:
- Military and Wartime Activities
- Cultural Resources and Historical Geography
- Governors’ Documents and Institutional Records
- County and Municipal Records
- Family Papers and Non-Governmental Organizations
And since today’s theme is Honoring Our Veterans, let’s take a closer look at the Military and Wartime Activities category which contain items pertaining to the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and World War I. The collections range from photographs of soldiers & officers to digitized military documents and most surprisingly, the category comprises just over 25% of the 7,100 items within the Imaged Collections.
- Civil War Cartes de Visite – 401 portraits of New Jersey Civil War soldiers, mostly officers, 1861-1890s
- United States Colored Troops Service Files – 286 images of service records for New Jersey’s black soldiers in the Civil War, 1862-1870s
- United States Navy – Volunteer/Enlistment Certificates, 1864-1865 – 609 images of volunteer/enlistment certificates, 1864-1865
- Spanish-American War Infantry Officers – 40 portraits collected to honor those who served, 1898-1904
- Spanish-American War Naval Officers – 25 officers’ portraits in the Battalions of the East and West, 1898-1905
- Spanish-American War Miscellaneous Naval Photographs– 9 maritime and group photographs, 1898
- New Jersey National Guard – 1,039 photographs collected by the New Jersey National Guard, including a Mexican Border War scrapbook.
- World War I Casualties: Descriptive Cards and Photographs – 5,353 images of information cards and photographs of soldiers and sailors who died in World War I.
- Gettysburg Monuments – 86 images depicting New Jersey’s monuments and related material, 1885-1888
- Photographs of Monuments – 19 views of New Jersey military monuments, in-and out-of-state, 1888-1908
Muster Roll, 6th Regiment US Colored Troops
Camp William Penn, 6 October 1863
I encourage to explore these wonderful treasures and hope you’ll find your “hidden gem”.
To all that have served, I offer our grateful thanks for your military service!
Happy Searching!!
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