My trial subscription to footnote.com has turned up this entry from T289, Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900: Name of Soldier: Doe, John W.; Doe, William (alias); Bryant, John (alias) Service: late rank ---, Co. L, 7 Reg't U. S. Cav. Term of Service: enlisted June 9, 1876; discharged Jan. 29, 1877 Additional Services: Gen. Serv. U.S.A. & I 3 U. S. Inf.; seaman - U.S.S. Marion, Vermont & Independence Remarks: See Navy I. O. 14248 (There are in fact two more entries for him listing General Service and I 3 Infantry as the "Service.") I'm a CMSR newbie, and, as much as I want to exercise my credit card and start the 60-90 day turnaround clock ticking down, I'd like to get a couple of answers first, especially since the NARA FAQ states pretty plainly that I'm going to have to buy at least 3 separate CMSRs. What was "General Service"? (I couldn't cajole Google into giving me much useful) What is a Navy I.O.? (Another Google miss here) Does the liberal use of aliases suggest anything? Perhaps running away from home to join the service (he was born 1859, therefore 17 at the time, and yes, his name really is John Doe)?
R. Scanlon wrote: > Does the liberal use of aliases suggest anything? Perhaps > running away from home to join the service (he was born > 1859, therefore 17 at the time, and yes, his name really is > John Doe)? I don't know what happens to any of these between NARA and Ancestry.com I've found these in the CSRs at NARA: (a) mis-reading of a badly written name -- i.e., can't tell if it's a W or an M, so NARA wrote a card for both, each referring to the other. (b) the company clerk couldn't decide how to spell the name, so it's in the records as Malcom and Malcolm, both of which get a card and a cross-ref. (c) the soldier's name was John Malcolm, he's in there as John M, John Malcolm, and J Malcolm, each of which gets a card and a cross-ref to the others. ONCE and ONLY ONCE, I saw a Wm turn into W. M. and from there into William M. He wasn't _mine_ so I've no clue who he thought he was. (g) Cheryl