"COOK" and U.S. CIVIL WAR SOLDIER RECORDS

Question

Hi,

I was presented with Civil War Records, Grave Information, and Pension Information for three different Cooks on Ancestry.  I have tried to pull them up, but so many are blocked etc.

The names are:

Charles W. Cook

US., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865

age of enlistment 18, enlistment date 2 Dec 1861, state served Maine, survived war yes, Enlisted in the Maine 5th Light Artillery Battery on 21 Dec 1861 promoted to Full Corporal.  Mustered out on 06 Jul 1865 at Augusta, ME. birth  date abt 1843. Sources Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Maine.  Historical Data Systems, comp, U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865 (database on-line). Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry,com Operations Inc, 2009. http://search.ancestry.com/search/collections/civilwar_hisdatasys/334...

Same individual

Charles Wallace Cook in the Maine, Death Records, 1617-1922

Charles Wallace Cook, Male age 63 birth abt 1845 death date 5 Sep 1908

Death place Sullivan, registration place Sullivan, Hancock, Father Hezekiah, Mother Joanna.

Source Maine State Archives, Cultural Building, 84 State House Station, Auguste, Me 04333-0084; 1908-1922 Vital Records; Roll #: 12.  http://search.ancestry.com/search/collections/MaineDeathRe/1617234/...

 

Maryvilla A. Cook In the U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934

Maryvilla A. Cook, Female, Place Filed, Maine, USA, Relation to Head Widow, spouse Charles W. Cook.

Source The National Archives of Washington, D.C., NAI Title: General Index to Civil War and Later Pension Files, ca. 1949-ca. 1949; NAI Number: 563268; Record Group Title: Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1772-2007; Record Group Number: 15; Series Title: US, Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934; Series Number:T288: Roll: 94.

 

Answer 1

Hi Taylor:

What do you need to know about these Cooks?  Ancestry has a few sources that are specific to the Civil War, but there are also plenty of free sources available through Family Search.  I usually start with the National Park Service Soldiers and Sailors database, which is free.  I also subscribe to Fold3, which has some useful records, especially if you're lucky enough that they've digitized the service records, or if the person died during the Civil War and left a widow (widow's pensions are online at Fold3).  I almost never find anything useful in Ancestry itself.  So what do you need to know?

Comments

J.Crook, thank you so much for your suggestions!! Especially going to the National Parks Service FREE Database!!  I like 3Fold site because the military documented everything from Sunup  to Sun Up! Pensions, and land grants during US Independence.  Found some information is helpful. 3 Fold is costly and I'm unsure if our local library offers free access.

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I have 4 Civil War Union ancestors, and presumably a few Confederates hiding in there as well.  I also have a couple of projects where I'm constantly researching Civil War and other veterans.  I always start with the National Park Service site, and also read their description of what each regiment did during the war.  All of that is free.  They also have summaries of every Civil War battle (search for National Park Service Civil War Battle Summaries).  If I find out that someone is in a particular regiment, I search for that regiment on the Internet to see what's available.  Sometimes entire books have been published about a particular regiment, and a lot of those are available for free at sites like the Internet archive.  For one of my ancestors, who served in Ohio, there was a book, and from that I made this free space page, where I plan to research each soldier: https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Space:Company_G_2nd_Ohio_Cavalry&public=1  I found it by searching for Company G 2nd Ohio Cavalry--just those words--in Google.  Unfortunately, there isn't a book for my great-grandfather's regiment, but all the service records are in Fold3, so I am slowly reconstructing his company from the NPS site, then I'll add details from Fold3.  Then I'll research everyone in his Company and add them to Wikitree.  For another soldier I'm researching, someone else had made an entire website for his company in Indiana, so I was able to copy that work (with permission from the website owner).  That's here:  https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Company_K_42nd_Indiana_Infantry  Basically, most of that information was free.  I will get some info from Fold3, but most of it is widely available online in one form or another.