The Department of Veterans Affairs has partnered with the internet-based genealogy research firm Ancestry.com to bring burial records from historic national cemetery ledgers into the digital age. The effort will make the collection\u201d\u201dpredominantly of Civil War interments\u201d\u201daccessible to researchers and Ancestry.com subscribers undertaking historical and genealogical research.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are excited to be able to share this wealth of primary documentation,\u201d\u009d said VA\u2019s Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs Steve L. Muro. \u201cWith the help of Ancestry.com, we have opened the doors to thousands of service members\u2019 histories through the information contained in these burial ledgers….\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Ancestry.com has assembled the digitized and indexed NCA burial ledgers with those at NARA into a new collection, “U.S. Burial Registers, Military Posts and National Cemeteries, 1862-1960.” The burial records contain information such as name, rank, company\/regiment, date of death, age at death, date of burial and grave number. A large number of Civil War soldiers were buried where they fell in battle or in temporary cemeteries, and sometimes that information, along with religious affiliation, can be found in the ledgers.<\/p>\n