Historical Documents Online: Search Hints for Selected Topics

Genealogy

The Archival Research Catalog (ARC) contains some records for genealogical research that can be viewed online. The descriptions below will direct you to search steps for viewing specific genealogical sources.

• African Americans
• Court Records
• Federal Employees
• Immigration / Emigration
  • Aliens
  • Chinese Immigration
  • Naturalization
• Military Records
  • American Revolutionary War
  • Civil War
  • Military Personnel Records
  • Spanish-American War
  • World War II
    Direct links to:
    • World War II Army and Army Air Force Casualty List
    • World War II Navy, Marine and Coast Guard Casualty List
• Native Americans
  Direct links to:
  • Guion Miller Roll Index
  • Index to the Final Rolls (Dawes)

For more information on genealogical sources at the National Archives, please visit NARA's Genealogy section.

To see more search hints for historical documents that are not specifically related to genealogy, visit Historical Documents Online: Search Hints for Selected Topics in ARC.

Please note: No census, ship passenger lists, or other genealogical sources have been added to date.

• Selected Documents Relating to Fugitive Slaves, 1837 - 1860: 26 multi-page documents include affidavits, petitions, powers of attorney, case file covers, depositions, and certification of the receipt of fugitive slaves.
• Fugitive Slave Case Papers, 1850 - 1860 and Petitions Filed Under the Fugitive Slave Act (Fugitive Slave Petition Book), 1850-1860: 116 multi-page documents have been digitized from these two series. The "Fugitive Slave Case Papers" pertain to petitions filed with the Court per Fugitive Slave Act of September 18, 1850. They include affidavits, copies of wills and other papers in support of the petitioners' ownership of the slave(s).
• Records of Death and Internment at Camp Nelson, KY, 1864-1865: 259 documents have been digitized from this series. The Records of Death and Internment provide the decedent's name, rank, unit, cause and date of death, and burial location. The Records of Death from the Colored Refugee Home and the Freedman's Hospital are for "contraband," slaves who escaped or were brought within Union lines. The latter records provide the decedent's name, height, and date of death. Please note that only portions of these documents have been digitized and made available online.

For more information on records relating to African Americans, visit Genealogy: African American Research.

For search hints on online historical documents generally related to African American History, see Search Hints for Selected Topics in ARC: African American History.

• Fort Smith, Arkansas: 50,000 Criminal Case Files. Please note: These descriptions do not have digital copies associated with them. 49,888 criminal case files from this series are described in ARC. This series consists of criminal court cases, and contains such material as indictments, bills of information, arrest warrants, writs, subpoenas, appearance bonds, transcripts of proceedings before U.S. commissioners, orders, verdicts, judgments, sentencing orders, and appeal papers.

For more information on genealogy, visit NARA's Genealogy section.

For search hints on online historical court records, see Search Hints for Selected Topics in ARC: Court Records.

• Appointments and Oaths of U.S. Marshals and Deputy Marshals, 1864-1912 includes 268 descriptions for Arizona.

For more information on genealogical records relating to Federal employees, please visit Genealogy: Federal Employees.

• Alien Registration Affidavits: U.S. District Court, Phoenix Division, February 6, 1918-June 28, 1918. All 179 affidavits have digitized documents attached to them.
• Enemy Alien Registration Affidavits: 5,929 affidavits created by U.S. Marshals, Kansas Judicial District, 1917-1921. 120 of the affidavits have digitized copies attached to them.

For more information on records relating to aliens, visit Genealogy: Immigration.

For search hints on online historical documents generally related to aliens, see Search Hints for Selected Topics in ARC: Immigration: Aliens/Arrivals.

• Chinese Exclusion Acts: 409 documents from case files. All 409 item-level descriptions have digitized documents attached to them.

For more information on records relating to Chinese immigration, visit Genealogy: Chinese Immigration.

For search hints on online historical documents generally related to Chinese Immigration, see Search Hints for Selected Topics in ARC: Immigration: Chinese.

• Selected Naturalization Petitions, Declarations, and Oaths, 1798 - 1861: 14 multi-page documents from this series created by the United States District Court, Southern District of Georgia, Savannah Division, have been digitized. Naturalization records document an individual's intention and petition to the United States requesting citizenship.
• Naturalization Petition and Record Books, 1906 ca. - 1975: At least 14 documents have been digitized from this series. They relate to the naturalization case files for Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Saul Bellow, Enrico Fermi, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Samuel Ichiye Hayakawa.
• Naturalization Petition and Record Books, 1943 - 1978: The 327 documents relate to naturalization records created by the United States District Court, Sixth Division of Minnesota (Fergus Falls).
• Selected Documents from the San Francisco District Office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service: The 17 multi-page documents relate to case files of alien individuals considered to be a threat to the United States.

For more information on records relating to naturalization, visit Genealogy: Research Topics: Naturalization Records.

For search hints on online historical documents generally related to naturalization, see Search Hints for Selected Topics in ARC: Immigration: Naturalization.

• Case Files of Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Revolutionary War Service, ca. 1800 - ca. 1900: 166 documents have been digitized from this series. These items include fraktur submitted with Revolutionary War Pension applications. Fraktur are highly colorful personal records that are intrinsically valuable examples of folk art and documentation in the early national period of the Pennsylvania German culture. The fraktur usually are equivalent to modern concepts of birth, marriage, and death certificates.

Military bounty-land warrant records and pension records for the Revolutionary War can now be ordered online, as well as through NATF Form 85.

For more information on records related to the American Revolutionary War, visit Research Room Topics: Military Resources: American Revolution .

For search hints on online historical documents generally related to the American Revolutionary War, see Search Hints for Selected Topics in ARC: Military: American Revolutionary War.

• Records of Death and Interment at Camp Nelson, KY, 1864-1865: 259 documents have been digitized from these materials. The Records of Death and Interment provide the decedent's name, rank, unit, cause and date of death, and burial location. The Records of Death from the Colored Refugee Home and the Freedman's Hospital are for "contraband", slaves who escaped or were brought within Union lines. The latter records provide the decedent's name, height, and date of death. Please note that only portions of these documents have been digitized and made available online.

Military pension records for the Civil War can now be ordered online, as well as through NATF Form 85.

For more information on military records related to genealogical research, visit Genealogy: Research in Military Records.

For search hints on online historical documents generally related to the Civil War, see Search Hints for Selected Topics in ARC: Military: Civil War.

• Sample Case Files of Members, Battle Mountain Sanitarium, 1907-1934: 42 multi-page documents have been digitized from this series. These are sample case files for veterans treated at the Battle Mountain Sanitarium in Hot Springs, South Dakota.

For more information on military records related to genealogical research, visit Genealogy: Research in Military Records.

For search hints on online historical documents generally related to military personnel records, see Search Hints for Selected Topics in ARC: Military: Official Military Personnel Files.

• Spanish-American War Compiled Military Service Records for 1,235 "Rough Riders" from the Carded Records, Volunteer Organizations: Spanish-American War, 1898 series. All 1,235 item-level descriptions have digitized copies attached to them.

Military pension records for the Spanish-American War can now be ordered online, as well as through NATF Form 85.

For more information on military records related to genealogical research, visit Genealogy: Research in Military Records.

For search hints on online historical documents generally related to the Spanish-American War, see Search Hints for Selected Topics in ARC: Military: Spanish-American War.

• World War II Selective Service System Registration Cards for Ohio Men born April 28, 1877 through February 16, 1897 (all 998 item level descriptions have digitized copies attached to them.)
• State Summaries of War Casualties for the United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard during World War II, 1946: All volumes have been digitized. The documents list name, serial number, grade and cause of death of World War II casualties for each State, including U.S. Territories and Possessions. Navy volumes list residence of next-of-kin.
  Direct link to World War II Navy, Marine and Coast Guard Casualty List
• World War II Honor List of Dead and Missing Army and Army Air Forces Personnel, 1946: All volumes have been digitized. The documents list name, serial number, grade and cause of death of World War II casualties for each State, including U.S. Territories and Possessions. Army volumes do not list residence.
  Direct link to World War II Army and Army Air Force Casualty List

For more information on WWII records, visit Research Room: Research Topics: World War II.

For search hints on online historical documents generally related to World War II, see Search Hints for Selected Topics in ARC: Military: World War II.

• 1896 Citizenship Applications: 9,618 applications received by the Dawes Commission have been digitized.
• Applications for Enrollment in the Five Civilized Tribes, 1898 - 1914: Also known as Dawes Commission Applications. The documents include descriptions of 64,177 Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole applications for enrollment to the Five Civilized Tribes Dawes Commission between 1898 and 1914. There is no description in ARC relating to the fifth tribe - Choctaw. Please note: 10,874 of the 64,177 application descriptions have digital copies attached to them. Many of the descriptions share the same digitized image(s).
• Final Rolls of the Citizens and Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory: All 634 pages of the document have been digitized. The document lists the names of the individuals who were allowed on the tribal rolls by the Dawes Commission.
• Index to the Final Rolls of Citizens and Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory: All 635 pages of the document have been digitized. The document lists the names of the individuals who were allowed on the tribal rolls by the Dawes Commission.
• Index to Applications Submitted for the Eastern Cherokee Roll of 1909 (Guion-Miller Roll): All 343 pages of the index have been digitized. The index includes the names of all persons applying for compensation arising from the judgment of the United States Court of Claims on May 28, 1906, for the Eastern Cherokee tribe.
• Wallace Roll of Cherokee Freedmen in Indian Territory, 1890: All 196 pages of the document have been digitized. The document is a schedule of names of Cherokee freedmen created by Special Agent John W. Wallace. Individuals on the schedule were entitled to share with the Shawnee and Delaware in the per capita distribution of $75,000, appropriated by Congress in October 1888, and issued under the supervision of his office.
• Kern-Clifton Roll of Cherokee Freedmen, January 16, 1867: All 202 pages of the document have been digitized. The digitized document is a census of freedmen of the Cherokee Nation and their descendants.

For more information on genealogical research on Native Americans, visit Genealogy: Native American Records.

For search hints on online historical documents generally related to Native Americans, see Search Hints for Selected Topics in ARC: Native American Indian Records.