Family History

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It’s Monday morning, and I’m excited! This is my day to volunteer at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. I work on the Civil War Conservation Corps (CWCC) project, specifically with the Widow’s Certificate pension files. These are the case files of widows who received a government pension after their husbands died fighting in the Civil War.

Gathering my government ID badge and notebook, I take an elevator to the 18th floor of the “stacks” nestled in the center of the stately neo-classic building at 7th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. Taking my seat in the CWCC project room, I wonder what human dramas will unfold before me in the hours to come.

I carefully open an oversized manila envelope containing an array of yellow, aged documents:  letters tied with faded ribbons, papers clasped with metal grommets, official documents stamped with crumbled sealing wax. Instantly, I am immersed in the story of a soldier and his family. This is where the drama of human life is not just whispered, but documented in all its painful details: mourning, poverty, suffering – and on occasion, infidelity, illegitimacy or abuse.

But it is the “letters home” that reveal poignant life experiences and pierce my soul:

Dear Father & Mother, I have sent you two letters now and received no answer to either of them this is the third. You have said in some of the letters that the boys got that you have not heard from me in a length of time which is not my neglect for you ought to know that I have not been so long as this without writing.

 I have been paid twice since the first I got was pretty small. After I had my debt paid I had but $15.00 left. I was barefooted almost and there was no way of getting shoes upon James Island only on board of some of the boats then they would take advantage of you. They charged me four dollars and a quarter for them and a cap for $2.00 and then I borrowed a couple of dollars for to buy something to eat upon the march for we had nothing hardly to eat upon the march so I have thirty five or six dollars and I will send  you 35 in this mail.

 I would have sent it before that is in the last mail only I was too late for it. I was on guard and I did not have time to go up to Head Quarters when I went up the express man could not take it he said I was too late but I hope you are not in hard need. Dear Mother I did not like to send home only fifteen dollars and I know that we were going to paid soon again.

Dear Father and Mother we had some pretty rough times from the time we left here until we came back. I have wrote to you a letter giving the details of it which you say you have not received. I got a letter and the few things you sent me by Lieut. Nevin. We left Edison about the 3rd of June and we went on our march.

 We marched about six miles that day and rested and we had no water and it was very hot – we dug some wells and it was all salt water we got so thirsty we drank the salt water which only made us worse then some of the men found out where there were some houses and there was a well there which was about three miles from this place we had rested and we all started with our canteens for the water when we got there we were as happy as could be. We drank there till we had drank enough and then filled our canteens and went back again.

Before long we was ordered to get ready for march again which was soon done and we marched back where the well was and stopped there two days and two nights and it rained steady during that time we having no camps with us nor no shelter we were under all the rain and lay down on the wet grass and rested there the best we could and the rain pouring down upon us.

The next it cleared up some and that night we were routed up and ready for march again when about two hours upon the march it commenced to rain again and we marched on that night and during the whole of the next day till coming on night when we finally reached a little village upon Johns Island called Lagraville and we took our quarters in houses then for about three days.

 When we got in the houses we built fires in the fireplaces and stripped and dried ourselves and was pretty comfortable then we started from there and took a steamer to James Island and it rained all that night – it was a portion of it that the gunboats shelled that day and when we went up there all the Regiment went out upon Picket except our corps which were left to unload the boat coming towards morning.

The rebels fired into them and wounded two of Company P of this Regiment and in a few days after the rebels came in to drive our pickets in and make an attack upon us but the pickets being a good number kept up fire with them until two pieces of the light battery came up to their assistance and soon routed them back with a big loss. All that was killed of our men was 3 or 4 and several wounded.

 We were brought up in a line of battle and was looking on at it but we did not fire a shot it was a handsome scene to see it – our pickets were brave men they stood up and fired…a few days went by quiet and easy when we were routed up at night or coming towards morning and attacked them which proved to be a failure…poor Frank Carroll was all the one that met his fate by it out of our crowd and I see him fall and I went to pick him up and he got up himself he said he would be all over it in a couple of days – I helped to carry him out of the woods and got him in a team and he says I am all right.

 I went back in the woods and we formed a line and went back to camp we lost four men out of our company…well I had the prayer in my pocket which I sent you a copy of and I believe that I had God’s grace about me for I was right upon a band of Rebels I should think 400 and there was only three or four with me and when we seen them we run back from them and while we were running back there was a man killed that was running along side of me I could leave my left hand on him. When he fell I looked at him to see if I knew him but I did not he was shot right in the back of the ear.Let me know how my father is getting along and write as soon as you possibly can for it is some time now since I got word from you. Give my love to all inquiring friends. Kiss little Jimmy for me.

No more from your affectionate son, John Grimes. Write, write, write and don’t forget.1

To preserve cherished and insightful documents such as these, the CWCC was formed in 1994 with a mission to preserve the compiled military service records of the War Between the States. These records are a genealogist’s dream-come-true. Files contain birth, marriage and death certificates, letters to and from soldiers, affidavits of family and friends, and occasionally a precious, rare photograph. Widows were eligible to receive a pension of eight dollars, with an additional two dollars for every minor child under the age of sixteen. Thus, no effort or expense was spared in providing the government with requisite documentation to prove the relationship between the deceased soldier and his family.

To bring these documents into the digital age, teams of volunteers gather each weekday to read and analyze individual case files, extract pertinent information, and complete a “target sheet” or form that will be used in the preparation of a project index.

After a file is prepped and reviewed, it is brought to the first floor of the Archives building where three teams of FamilySearch missionaries use professional digital cameras to photograph of every piece of paper. The target sheets are then forwarded to Footnote.com where they are indexed and subsequently uploaded to that website. Thus, a vital part the history of our nation and its people is preserved and made internet-accessible to researchers and family members worldwide.

This is an ambitious and overwhelming project – there are 1.28 million WC case files containing over 10 million documents. It is estimated that completion of the digitization process will take 48 years! To date, nearly 30,000 cases have been prepped, over 20,000 have been digitized, and more than 10,000 are currently available online at Footnote.com.2

Being part of this historical undertaking is changing me. Our collective mortal experiences – fears, struggles, joys and triumphs – reach across time and circumstance to teach me powerful lessons on the contribution of every human being to the history of this earth. Without letters and documents, people would live and die forgotten. Hauntingly, John Grimes’ words prompt me to record my time on earth: write, write, write and don’t forget.

Family history is a journey that takes us to places near and far, and connects us to individuals who share our genes and our dreams. How has your heart been turned? What words of encouragement or stories of inspiration can you share with our readers? Please consider sharing your comments and stories by submitting them to: [email protected].