What am I doing wrong? When I click on a find, I get a subscription thing -- is this one of those deals where you have to do the "free 14 day account thing"? aaaarrrrggghhh.
Also, does anyone know if what I can get at ancestry is the full shebang? The same thing that I could get at NARA, all the paperwork, I mean? or just a listing of that person as being in the military?
Nancy
Nancy,
You do have to set up a free account, with a user name and password. But this is not like the regular subscription where they charge you. I don't think that this is the same thing as the 14 day free trial, and then they charge you. For this, you don't have to give a credit card.There is a page that came up when I had to create a new password because I had forgotten mine, as usual. And, there, they gave information about costs, etc. to subscribe. I just went back and did the search I wanted, and it worked alright.
A few months ago, they had a similar offer on immigration records. I didn't have to give payment information then, either. If it comes to buying anything, these days, I can't. 8>))
I think, too, that it depends on what kind of records you are searching for, if this will help you very much.
I already have the originals to my uncle's WWII Army records, as well as a draft card for WWI for his father.
However, as I searched for just the surname, I found the draft cards for my grandfather's brothers, his brothers-in-law, some relatives that we had only discovered in recent years, and even some family friends and people I knew of from my hometown.
I learned of employment of my great-uncles, and it noted if they were married or not, and, sometimes, the next of kin's name. Also there were addresses, and if there was a disability.
I didn't find one grandfather's draft card, and I wondered why he didn't have one. Possibly, I thought, it was because he walked with his knees bent, as a result of a boyhood accident while cutting wood. But, there were other people who had a bad eye, or a bad leg, or who were listed as crippled, etc. who were given draft cards, according to what I found.
The WWII records for my uncle, gave some basic information, but not much. As I said, I have the records, so that problem is pretty well solved.
Some listings that you can find on these records, have a "lock" on them, so you have to subscribe to see them.
But, on other things, like land lotteries, you might find just a listing from a book, with an ancestor's name.
If you don't know what unit he was in, in the Civil War records, you might be able to find a little this way, or, perhaps, a listing that might lead you to a book.
As I said, it depends on what kind of information you are looking for as to what you might be able to get from this offer.
Personally, I was thrilled to find the draft cards from WWI. But, to find more information on my g-uncle who was in WWI, I would have to send for his records, I guess. Also, to get more on the g-grandfather who was in the Civil War, I will have to send for his records, as well. I did find my g-uncle's middle name, which I had not known. Most of what I know about him is on his tombstone or in photos.
This is what someone sent me, that I have been using.
Ancestry.com will offer FREE access to their collection of Military Records,
through June 6th.
Link search page at:
http://landing. ancestry. com/military/ collections. aspx?html= main&URL=military% 2fcollections. aspx%3fhtml%
Cecelia in Texas
What am I doing wrong? When I click on a find, I get a subscription
thing -- is this one of those deals where you have to do the "free 14 day
account thing"?
does anyone know if what I can get at ancestry is the full shebang?
Hi Nancy,
I know what you mean, it's that age old bait you up. I doubt very seriously if you will have the access you are wanting from ancestry. I am sure all you will get is just a paragraph (if that) of information such as his/her unit, where enlisted or mustered from, discharge data and location. It's very limited from what I have experienced.
Best to cough up the $37 bucks and requested the full pension record. It is amazing what information it has in it. I had one I bought for my ancestors and it had 247 pages of information, relatives things I would have never known. There is also a smaller package not as detailed depending if there were a pension filed for about $18 dollars. It takes about 2 weeks to receive the acknowledgement, then an additional 3-4 weeks for the document.
Mark
I had access and didn't need to sign up for any 14 days. I went to
ancestry.com Made sure I was on the HOME tab I the top row. Entered an
ancestor name. Hit Search. Then in the left column, Narrow your Search,
hit Military. It narrowed the answers to the Military records and I could
open any of them based on their FREE offering (through June 6th). No
trouble, no Fuss.
Give it a try. (When they say Free, they do mean Free) And if you check
their individual databases you will usually find a few which are free.
Click on the database and then search for free.
Clark
I did some searching tonight and there is 700+ pages, but I haven't figured out how to get the person, I am looking for without going page by page.
Maria
Thank you, I finally figured out that indeed I had to sign in. But I didn't find my dad yet!
Believe me, it is very worth sending for the Civil War paperwork -- We have about 4 sets of those and you often get tremendous information and a fascinating peek into their lives (like how they contracted some disease by lying around in a swamp for a week!).
Nancy