Honoring Veterans: Eternal Valor Network

Highlighting Salus Populi of Missouri
All across America, in large cities, suburbs, and rural towns, the watchful eye can spot war memorials honoring our veteran ancestors. Some are dedicated to a specific war or troop, and others provide a running list of town veterans or those who lost their lives serving our country. These not-so-known memorials most often display veteran’s names, but some are structures of “salute” inviting the community to learn more about local troops. Check out these few highlighted Kansas City memorials on Can You List Your Area Memorials?  Another wonderful celebration of veterans is The Final Salute held in Des Moines, IA. We most recently shared the exciting work of Salus Populi in Missouri. 

The Eternal Valor Network - A Consortium 

Tracing Ancestors, a 501c3 organization, has recently learned that, with great, intent and purpose, each of the organizations are working in isolation. So, Tracing Ancestors has established The Eternal Valor Network (EVN) -  a collaborative initiative dedicated to preserving the memory and honoring the military service of unclaimed Veterans and local fallen Veterans. 

EVN, a Tracing Ancestors Project, brings together coroners, medical examiners, funeral homes, Veteran organizations, and local cemeteries to ensure no Veteran is forgotten. We believe, not only should military history be preserved, but veterans must be honored.

This coordinated consortium streamlines the process of identifying unclaimed veterans' remains, providing dignified burials, memorials, and celebrations to commemorate their service. Through partnerships with local communities, state agencies, and Veteran advocacy groups, the Eternal Valor Network embraces our communities' shared responsibility to honor those who served. 

Preparing for Inaugural Event
Tracing Ancestors will host the inaugural Eternal Valor Network event Spring 2025. This gathering will equip EVN partners with resources and feature an inspiring lineup of keynote speakers, including:

• Lanae Strovers, The Final Salute
• Michelle Cook and Riley Sutherland, Missouri United States Colored Troops (USCT) Salus Populi Project
• Lori Berdak Miller, genealogist and military researcher from the National Archives in St. Louis, representing Redbird Research
• Lyle Gibson: (tentative) Veteran Air Force, Genealogist / Filmmaker

Donations

Thanks to your donations, Tracing Ancestors is on track to funding our 2025 Eternal Valor Network Inaugural Event. Help us meet our goal!

If you wish to donate, here's the link: Eternal Valor Network.  Be sure to check out Tracing Ancestors 2024 Successes.

Kathleen Brandt
President of TracingAncestors.org

5 Research Tips for your Black Cowboy Ancestor

 

 Wichita Beacon, 25 Apr  1975 

The Western Expansion

Sometimes I wonder if I was raised in an alternate USA. The Black Cowboy's importance to westward expansion has ALWAYS been a part of my ancestral history. I went to a "black rodeo" before the age of fifteen.

My maternal ancestors are seven (7) generations Western Kansans, my father's line was five.

Here's a photo of my Great-Grandma's second husband, Arthur White at the Hutchinson Diamond Pow Wow. (For G-GP Arthur, this event was not tied to Native Americans.)

Photo: 1946, Hutchinson Diamond Pow Wow. William Arthur White (Arthur), mulatto, born 23 September 1890 in Trenton, Missouri, died 15 May 1973 in Hutchinson, KS. Hopefully, this was just a git-up, especially the gun, since Arthur was blind in his right eye.

The seventy-fifth anniversary of Hutchinson, KS celebrated its founding with the “Diamond Pow Wow.” This four-day celebration was held May 15 - 18,1946, and featured street entertainment, parades, and a historical pageant. Three pages of pictures were taken and featured in the June 17 issue of Life.

Research Tips

Yes, you can find your cowboy ancestors too.
Library of Congress Learn more about Black Cowboys at “Home on the Range” by Neely Tucker at the Library of Congress.https://lnkd.in/gm7gghJU

1 )Learn more about Black Cowboys at “Home on the Range” by Neely Tucker at the Library of Congress.

2)  use the occupation option and put in Cowboy

Tobler was in enumerated from the Leavenworth Penitentiary, 1900

Get this, he was imprisoned for swindling others with Confederate bills (money) in 1896!!! Yes, a local market and a butcher let him buy a dollar worth of goods and gave him change on his $20.00 of fraudulent money. I'll share how I traced him via a subsequent post. He was fun!

3) local newspaper searches

https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-iola-register/159250910/

4) Cowboy Museums. Did you even know there was a Black American West Museum in Denver? Go on a limb, and ask your local museum to share this part of America's history: Black Cowboys: An American Story.

The Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas

5)  Compilation of Black Cowboy Resources: https://lnkd.in/gSqAMs-E

Help our Fund Grow: tracingancestors.org
Donate Here:
Zeffy for Hittin' The Bricks with Kathleen
TracingAncestors.org

Kathleen Brandt, a3Genealogy

They Returned to a Divided Country

Tracing Ancestors is in the digitizing and indexing stage of this reference guide. This will be a part of our NEW Eternal Valor Network Project. (More information is on its way.) We rely on your donations!

Veterans Day

Veterans Day is to remind the nation that my ancestor, too, fought and served for this country. My ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the Spanish American War, WWI and WWII, the Korean Conflict (aka War).

America’s military history is still not properly told in America's History books. But, the truth is documented in USA and world newspapers, Congressional and court case documents, local histories and military records, etc. Here are 5 other resources to use when researching your veteran. 

Let's do what we can to preserve and share America’s real history. Do not go silent! Our ancestors, all of our ancestors, must be honored for their “honorable” veteran service to the USA. linktr.ee/hittinthebricks

5 Military Research Resources:

Spanish-American War/Philippine Insurrection

Military Service by African Americans: America's History Part 1

Resources for Military History Research: Tips for Everyone
America's History Part 2

My Veteran: National Guard or Army / Navy Reserve: How to Research?

Military Records Lost in Fire? Let's Reconstruct Them!

They Returned to a Divided County

In the Great-Grandmother Underwood old cedar chest there are ancestral pictures, quilts, and a family Bible. There are also letters and notes, and a semi-hard cover book from 1919 “

Victory – History of the 805th Pioneer Infantry American Expeditionary Forces” authored by Major Paul S. Bliss in 1919. In the right hand corner “July 5th 1918 July 8th 1919” is written.

It was no secret that Great-Uncle George Strader served in WWI, his service.  His military files were destroyed in the 1973 NARA - St. Louis Fire, but Victory gives a thorough overview of the duties, challenges and environment of the 805 Infantry during this one year span as they were transported from Kansas to Europe and mobilized throughout France. Photos of thes service men were featured.

The 805th Pioneer Infantry Regiment, AEF, known as the Bearcats, was a "colored" unit formed at Camp Funston, Kansas. This unit served with the 1st Army and Advance Section Command in France during WWI and was a labor force of ditch diggers, undertakers and railroad mechanics. The 805^th landed in France on July, 1918 and served in Europe until July 1919. They saw saw 39 days of action.

Great Uncle George,with Company D, traveled from Ft. Riley Camp Funston 25 August 1918 to Kansas City where they boarded the Wabash train to Detroit. They were able to stop in Moberly, Mo. for a proper military send off by the “colored citizens” of the town. From Detroit, they took passage by ferry to Canada, stopping in Niagara Falls for a short visit before reporting to Camp Upton, Long Island, 30 August 1918. On Sept. 1, they were shuffled off to Montreal Canada where they were shipped to Camp Romsey in England. Having yet to arrive in France, they crossed the English Channel for France on 28 September. (pgs 107-111)

He wrote home and the Lyons Republican, local paper for Lyons, Rice County, Kansas posted the lenthgy letter in the 14 Jan 1919 newspaper. He shared news of other black soldiers who were within a 30 mile radius: Sterling Kansas, Geneseo Kansas, and Great Bend, KS.

 

  

  

Great-Uncle George, noted as a local "Colored Hero" in Lyons, Kansas, was not so loved by the county he fought for.

Kathleen Brandt
a3genealogy@gmail.com 

Researching Ancestors: The Enemies Within?

Confederate States

4 Tips to Research Confederacy, Traitors, and the Denaturalized
The Confederacy were made up of eleven Southern States which formed the Confederate States of America (CSA).  After the Civil War, previously fellow American citizens, were labeled to be the "enemy from within" our borders. Or, mostly commonly called the Confederate States. They had seceded from the USA and were accused of being "traitors."  They had in-effect forfeited certain rights due to their rebellion against the Union. Treason is defined narrowly in the U.S. Constitution as "levying war" against the United States or "adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. From the Union’s perspective, the Confederacy’s secession and rebellion were treated as acts of treason.

However, after the Civil War, the southern states did not resist rejoining the Union for survival. One key step involved was for the Confederates to take an "Oath of Allegiance" to the United States, promising loyalty to the Union and the Constitution. This oath was part of the Reconstruction process, aimed at reintegrating former Confederates back into the country. 

So, Were Children of Traitors Americans?

Even though most ordinary Confederates were not barred from regaining citizenship and could take the Oath of Allegiance to be reintegrated into the Union, Confederate leaders who had held prominent military or political roles were initially barred from regaining citizenship. However, President Andrew Johnson offered amnesty through various proclamations from 1865 to 1867, allowing many former Confederates to take the loyalty oath and be "renaturalized" as U.S. citizens. In 1872, Congress passed the Amnesty Act, which restored citizenship to most former Confederates. 

However, Confederate military and political leaders were often excluded from amnesty.

Were They  Denaturalized?

During the Confederacy, the concept of "denaturalization" (the process of revoking a person’s citizenship) did not exist in a formalized way as it does today. However, the secession of Southern states and the establishment of the Confederate States of America created a unique situation regarding citizenship and loyalty, which raised questions about the legal status of individuals in the Confederacy.  

While the CSA didn’t officially denaturalize Union sympathizers, the CSA did treat anyone with Union loyalties as a potential enemy or traitor. People who expressed Unionist views or refused to swear allegiance to the Confederacy often faced persecution, imprisonment, or forced exile. Confederate states also enacted laws to punish or suppress Union sympathizers. However, the Confederacy didn’t or couldn't implement formal denaturalization as it wasn’t a fully recognized government.

The Union’s approach was more about controlling territory and loyalty than about denaturalizing citizens, as it did not recognize the Confederacy’s authority to "naturalize" its own citizens. This is not to say that the denaturalization practice never occcured in America. It has; and is still in place. 

Denaturalization is the process of revoking citenzenship from naturalized citizen. American born citizens are USA citizens by birth. This is different from the denaturalization process which applies only to those who acquire citizenship through naturalization. The denaturalization process in the US was actively practiced during periods like the Red Scare. Supposedly, it targeted people accused of disloyalty, communism, or other forms of subversion. 

Press of Atlantic City, Atlantic City, New Jersey, Sep 9, 1942

Case of Louisiana

Louisiana is just one of eleven states that made up the CSA:  South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina. 

After the Civil War the Ironclad Oath, was passed by Congress in 1862. It became a requirement for
1) former Confederate states rejoining the Union and 2) for citizens seeking certain privileges, including the right to vote, hold office, or receive federal jobs to swear they had never voluntarily supported the Confederacy or engaged in activities against the Union. It remained in place until 1884. 

The purpose of the Ironclad Oath was to ensure loyalty to the Union and exclude former Confederates and sympathizers from political and public positions. Congress also required that the Southern states adopt new constitutions affirming loyalty to the Union and outlawing slavery.

Let's take a look at Louisana, but know that the others followed suit. Louisiana established their new state Constitution on 7 Mar 1868. The State of Louisiana was restored to the Union 9 Jul 1868.

Figure 1 Constitution of Louisiana, 7 March 1868[1]\

 

The Confederate military paroled soldiers, granting them safe passage and a promise not to fight again. Tennessee was the only former Confederate state exempt from the Ironclad Oath. Tennesse was readmitted to Union in 1866; before the 1867 Reconstruction Acts. But, the oath proposed by Congress was rejected by many of the traitor states. Instead, the states complied with the terms in order to be readmitted to the Union (i.e. like Louisiana). Researchers will want to trace ancestors with knowledge of the state:

• Tennessee: The only former Confederate state to be readmitted to the Union in 1866, before the Reconstruction Acts, Tennessee was exempt from the strict requirements of the Ironclad Oath.
• Arkansas and Louisiana: Initially attempted partial reconstruction efforts during the war, adopting revised constitutions under Union control, but still had to follow the Ironclad Oath requirements during post-war Reconstruction for full readmission.
• Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas: These states were each part of military districts set up by the Reconstruction Acts, which enforced the oath requirement for any participation in state constitutional conventions and government. Under pressure to end military occupation and re-enter the Union, they complied, though often reluctantly.
• Georgia: Initially readmitted in 1868, but when it expelled Black legislators and allowed former Confederates back into power, Congress re-imposed military rule, and Georgia had to enforce the oath again before final readmission in 1870.

But remember, your ancestor lost voting rights and other benefits. So as seen below in Louisiana many ancestors signed the Oath, as did Frank Stanga. “Oath to be taken by those who were never Disfranchised” was offered to those who never registered as an enemy of the United States, or did not serve as a leader of guerilla bands during the “late rebellion.” It worked in tandem with the new Louisiana Constitution.  And, Frank Stanga, of Covington, St. Tammany Parish, was an early signer of the Oath. Stanga recorded his State Oath 18 Oct 1868 which also restored his voting rights. Of course that was a Presidential election year; voting being held 3 Nov 1863.

Figure 2 Oath of Citizenship, 19 Oct 1868

The Amnesty Proclamation was signed by President Andrew Johnson 25 Dec 1868 (Christmas Day), granting a blanket pardon to most former Confederates, except for high-ranking officials.

4 Key Resources

Researchers may find these records in military record files on Ancestry.com and Fold3. Familysearch.org also has digitized military service records and pension records.

1. National Archives (NARA),

• RG94; includes Confederate records, paroles, and oaths taken by individuals after the war
• Civil War and Reconstruction Record
• Pardon and Amnesty Records

2. State Archives and Libraries

• The Virginia State Library and Archives holds collections of loyalty oaths taken in Virginia.
• The Texas State Library and Archives has a collection of Confederate pardons and oaths.
• Pardon and Amnesty Records

3.  County Courthouses and Local Archives. This is where the Frank Stanga Oath was loated.

4.  Library of Congress. Manuscript Division or Rare Books Division may contain oaths for certain states or regions.

Kathleen Brandt, a3Genealogy

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[1] Constitution adopted by the State Constitutional Convention of the state of Louisiana, March 7, 1868, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t9w10bd3n&view=1up&seq=24

 

Genealogy Hints in Poll Tax & Voter Registration Docs

Don't Pass Over Poll Taxes and Voting Registration RecordsFew researchers claim poll tax records and voter registration docs as their favorite set of records. But why not? These records can really move along your family research in USA and Europe. Here are just a few ways I've used these records to solve mysteries.

Learn More About the Poll Tax Here
Starting at 15:36

Are Your Ancestor On Voter Lists?

Voting rights have historically been reserved for citizens, but privileges comes with a plethora of law changes. Knowing the laws will help ferret out information on your ancestor. Let's take Poll Tax Laws as an example. 

California Voter Register 

In the USA poll taxes were used slightly different than Europe. In Europe poll taxes were traditionally used as a revenue source for the government rather than as a means to restrict voting. This practice dates back to the medieval period. In the U.S., poll taxes were widely imposed in the 19th and early 20th centuries, especially in Southern states. Adopted as a way to prevent African Americans and low-income individuals from voting, poll taxes was a tool used for voter suppression. Of course prior to the Civil War tax records were not available for disenfranchised persons. This practice continued up to 1964, with the passage of the 24th Amendment which abolished poll taxes in federal elections. Two years later, the Supreme Court extended this to state elections in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, ruling that poll taxes were unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause.

While these taxes often served as a barrier to voting, they also produced detailed records that listed individuals by name, residence, and often occupation or age. 

Why Use Poll Taxes?

For genealogists poll taxes often provide a glimpse into the social and land financial standing of our ancestors. Researchers may find gaps in ancestors' information, due to racial or economic barriers, however, even these gaps provide clues. If an ancestor appears on one poll tax record and not another, it might indicate a move, a change in financial status, or other life events worth exploring. 

Researchers often use Poll Tax Records as a substitue for incomplete or missing Census Records. Poll tax records were typically assessed yearly or biennial. 

Don't Forget Other Voter Registration Records

Again researchers must be familiar with the laws for their time frame.

• For example in 1867 ex-slaves were added to voter registrations. In 1920 women were extended the privilege to vote thanks to the ratification of the 19th Amendment.
• If you are researching in Europe, you will find that typically only land-owners were added to voter rolls.
• Another note of importance -  not all registered to vote, often because they were not naturalized. Many of our immigrant ancestors never became naturalized citizens, but their country-born children were eligible to vote. 

Here are some Uses of Voter Registration Records

“North Carolina, Voter Registration Records, 1868-1898,” FamilySearch

Separate Common Named Ancestors

When researching common named ancestors, family historians can not afford to overlook voter registration records (when available).  Identifying ancestors by age, nativity and occupation, I use voter registers to create a preliminary snap shot of an ancestor's residence. You must pair your ancestor's name with other distinctions: age, occupation, country of nativity (may simply state the country of Kentucky) to separate common named ancestors (especially if the name is repeated within families). Some voter registrations list physical descriptions: height, unique marks, etc.

Voter Registers and Land Claims

What good is a land deed, if you don't know which Moses owned it?  Sometimes, the deed itself will note Sr. or Jr. or a wife's name to assist the researcher, but what if these distinctions are omitted? My Moses was born in 1804, his youngest son 1848 and a grandson, a descendant of an older son, born in 1855, was also named Moses. It did not help that generations of this family died intestate (without a will). Using voter registrations coupled with the census records, tax records, deeds and probates, this active migratory family was traced making it easier to determine the owner of various land plats based on dates and county of residence.

Where Was Your Ancestor Naturalized?

It's not enough to know that your ancestor was naturalized. To obtain records, you may need to identify the specific court  (not all were naturalized in Federal Courts even after 1906).  You may find the court of naturalization listed on the voter register. 

Where to Find Poll Tax and  Voter Register Records?

Scott County, KY

After an online state and county search, turn to the State Archives or State Historical Society to retrieve any salvaged records like that at the Colorado State Archives. Of course these records may be found at a local level.

For More Information

• Family History Library has a healthy catalog of voter registration records also.
• Ancestry.com offers various Chicago Voter Registrations between 1888-1892, and California Voter Registers, 1866-1898 and 1900-1968. 
•  Be sure to reference Cyndi's Lists: Voters, PollBooks, Electoral Records: Locality Specific.

(Adopted from Should Genealogists Care About Voter Registers?; posted 6 Sep 2011)

Kathleen Brandt, a3Genealogy