Fellow List Members, I thought I would share a recent find, that I hope you will find interesting. A couple years ago a cousin gave me pictures of a rather distinguished looking soldier in the U.S. Army. He remembered his mother giving it to him and telling him it was a relative on the Dolan side. I sent the picture to the U.S. Army Military History Institute, in Carlisle, and asked for all the information they could give me based on the uniforms. Their reply framed the time of service from about 1900 to 1934 and stated he was a First Sgt. in the Third Division, of the U.S. Army Engineers. The 1900 Census shows a John Dolan, my grandfather's brother, occupation listed as 'Sailor'. I have a picture of my grandfather when he was about 30 and he was a dead ringer for the gentleman in the picture. I figured that the picture was of John, but how do I prove it? I showed the picture to an Aunt and she immediately said it was a 'Dolan'. However, she didn't pin it down at the time. A few months later I received a Christmas card, with a note, saying the picture was her father's brother. This was backed-up a bit later when my cousin called and said he thought his mother told him it was her father's brother. Last month my wife and I were in Washington D.C. for a reunion of the ship I was on while serving in the Navy. While there I spent more than a couple hours doing research at the National Archives. One of the things I looked for were any Army records I could find for a John Dolan. I was not given much hope, I was told most records in that time frame had been destroyed by a fire in St. Louis. One archivist suggested I check enlistment records. I submitted a request for any enlistment records for a John Dolan. Well, there were a lot more John Dolans than I ever expected. I started on the first box, after looking carefully at a half dozen records, I felt I better scan them quickly, or I would never finish. I scanned the next one and picked-up another. I thought no, I'd better look at that again. Boy, was that a good decision. A closer look revealed my John Dolan. Without getting into too much detail here is an outline of his military career. He enlisted in May of 1900 in the Marines (Sailor). When he re-enlisted it was into the U.S. Army. His records show he served at; Fort Slocum N.Y., Fort Monroe, Va., Fort Leavenworth, Kan. And Fort Sam Houston, Tx. Some of his efficiency reports are listed and it seems, for the most part, he was a damn good soldier. However, one can't serve in the U.S. Army thirty-some years without incident. In 1911 he was stationed at Fort Sam Houston, in San Antonio, Texas. It appears John may have gone on a 3 day 'toot' and was AWOL. As a result he was court martialed. He pleaded guilty and was fined $14. The record indicates the prosecuting officer was one Captain Douglas McArthur. My guess is that this is the 'Douglas McArthur'; I'll have to confirm that in timee. Needless to say my search into John's past is just beginning. Notice in the attached picture that John wears a wedding band...hmmm. I tried to send a picture, but the post was rejected. It's seems attachments are against the rules...probably a good idea. Jim Dolan

Jim I found your search for John Dolan very interesting particularly about the enlistment records. I was interested in finding my great uncle's Harry (Henry) 'Yi' Jones service record. According to his obituary which Iva Hanson kindly found for me, 'He was a veteran of World War II and the Korean conflict, having served in the Marines.' I looked for sources on how to get this information on the web and continually came across the fact that the vast majority of these records were destroyed as you said by fire. My question is to what extent? What are my chances of finding anything like your super find in the enlistment records? Would be grateful for your thoughts. Glen Jenkins Swansea Wales --- Jim Dolan <jimdolan@clarityconnect.com> wrote: > Fellow List Members, > > I thought I would share a recent find, that I hope > you will find interesting. > > A couple years ago a cousin gave me pictures of a > rather distinguished > looking soldier in the U.S. Army. He remembered his > mother giving it to him > and telling him it was a relative on the Dolan side. > I sent the picture to > the U.S. Army Military History Institute, in > Carlisle, and asked for all > the information they could give me based on the > uniforms. Their reply > framed the time of service from about 1900 to 1934 > and stated he was a > First Sgt. in the Third Division, of the U.S. Army > Engineers. > > The 1900 Census shows a John Dolan, my grandfather's > brother, occupation > listed as 'Sailor'. I have a picture of my > grandfather when he was about 30 > and he was a dead ringer for the gentleman in the > picture. I figured that > the picture was of John, but how do I prove it? > > I showed the picture to an Aunt and she immediately > said it was a 'Dolan'. > However, she didn't pin it down at the time. A few > months later I received > a Christmas card, with a note, saying the picture > was her father's brother. > This was backed-up a bit later when my cousin called > and said he thought > his mother told him it was her father's brother. > > Last month my wife and I were in Washington D.C. for > a reunion of the ship > I was on while serving in the Navy. While there I > spent more than a couple > hours doing research at the National Archives. One > of the things I looked > for were any Army records I could find for a John > Dolan. I was not given > much hope, I was told most records in that time > frame had been destroyed by > a fire in St. Louis. One archivist suggested I check > enlistment records. I > submitted a request for any enlistment records for a > John Dolan. Well, > there were a lot more John Dolans than I ever > expected. > > I started on the first box, after looking carefully > at a half dozen > records, I felt I better scan them quickly, or I > would never finish. I > scanned the next one and picked-up another. I > thought no, I'd better look > at that again. Boy, was that a good decision. A > closer look revealed my > John Dolan. > > Without getting into too much detail here is an > outline of his military > career. He enlisted in May of 1900 in the Marines > (Sailor). When he > re-enlisted it was into the U.S. Army. His records > show he served at; Fort > Slocum N.Y., Fort Monroe, Va., Fort Leavenworth, > Kan. And Fort Sam Houston, > Tx. Some of his efficiency reports are listed and it > seems, for the most > part, he was a damn good soldier. However, one can't > serve in the U.S. Army > thirty-some years without incident. > > In 1911 he was stationed at Fort Sam Houston, in San > Antonio, Texas. It > appears John may have gone on a 3 day 'toot' and was > AWOL. As a result he > was court martialed. He pleaded guilty and was fined > $14. The record > indicates the prosecuting officer was one Captain > Douglas McArthur. My > guess is that this is the 'Douglas McArthur'; I'll > have to confirm that in > timee. > > Needless to say my search into John's past is just > beginning. Notice in the > attached picture that John wears a wedding > band...hmmm. > > I tried to send a picture, but the post was > rejected. It's seems > attachments are against the rules...probably a good > idea. > > Jim Dolan > > > ==== PALACKAW Mailing List ==== > Visit the Genealogical Research Society of > Northeastern PA http://www.cfrobbins.com/grsnp/ > To unsubscribe: > http://www.rootsweb.com/~palackaw/index.html#MailingList > ____________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.co.uk address at http://mail.yahoo.co.uk or your free @yahoo.ie address at http://mail.yahoo.ie