Civil War Soldiers' Graves Online Database

The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was the largest fraternal organization for Union veterans. It was a very active organization in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Only Union veterans were permitted to join the GAR. As the members aged and then died, the organization eventually disappeared. However, it was replaced by the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, with membership restricted to descendants of Union Civil War veterans. The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War inherited most of the records of the national GAR organization, as well as many of the records of local chapters (called "encampments").

The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) now has created its Grave Registration Project to document the final resting places of BOTH Union and Confederate Civil War veterans. The fully-searchable database is available online and is free for everyone. I had an opportunity to use the database this week.

The SUVCW web site can be found at http://www.suvcw.org. Strangely, you have to hunt a bit to find the database of Civil War graves. It doesn't seem to be listed on the site's home page. I found it eventually, but you can save yourself some time if you go directly to http://www.suvcwdb.org/home/search.php?action=search. The web site says that a free registration is required before you can access the database. However, when I eventually found the database, there was no page shown for registration. I simply started searching, and everything worked perfectly for me. I never did register. Perhaps SUVCW will change that after reading this article.

The main search form has a lot of fields to fill in: first name, last name, birth date, death date, Union or Confederate, unit, state, branch, company or ship, rank, cemetery name and location, and more. You simply fill in whatever information you have and leave the remaining fields blank. Click on SEARCH, and the database will return a list of all entries that match your search criteria.

I entered my own surname into the Last Name field and left all the other fields blank. I clicked on SEARCH, and about three seconds later the web site returned a list of 137 matches. I was especially intrigued by one entry: a man who also shares my first name as well as last name. I'll use him as an example of the information available in this database:

Last Name: Eastman
First Name: Richard
Middle Name: K
Birth: 07-Jan-1832
Death: 05-Feb-1899
Age: 67
Civil War: Union
Unit Designation: 31
Branch: Infantry
State: Ohio
Company/Ship: F
If federal, State From:
Rank: Corporal
Enlisted 19-Sep-1861
Discharged: 20-Jul-1865
Cemetery Name: Ohio Soldier's & Sailors' Home Cemetery
Lot: 5
Section: G
Grave Number: 8
Cemetery Street: Columbus Avenue
City: Sandusky
County: Erie
State/Country: Ohio
GAR Post:
Dept. of:

In addition, the database indicates that this soldier had a military-issued headstone and that the cemetery burial records had been checked.

As you can see, the above entry had quite a bit of information. However, there is a place for text notes, and in this man's record the text notes were blank. I looked around a bit more for others and found some entries had extensive text notes.

For instance, here are the notes for George E. Eastman of Company E, 9th Maine Infantry:

Residence: Cornish, Me. Born: Cornish, Me. Age at enlistment; 18, Mustered US Service Sept 22, 1861. Re-enlisted  Jan 1,1864.  POW Sept 29, 1864 at Chaffin's Farm,Va. Died of starvation April 9, 1865. Stone at Riverside Cemetery, SR 25, Cornish, Me.

The records in this database were obtained from many sources, and it is believed that some number of veterans' records have not yet been found. If you have new information not yet in the database, you can submit it online. However, if you have updated or additional information concerning previously submitted registrations, you should submit that information to the National Graves Registration Officer. Details may be found at http://www.suvcwdb.org/home/about.php.

While this database was created by and is maintained by the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, the database lists Confederate as well as Union soldiers. There are fewer Confederates listed. The reasons are two-fold: (1.) because the organization collected only Union veterans' information in its earlier years and (2.) because record keeping was not as well organized among the Confederates. The SUVCW is keenly interested in adding more information about Confederate graves.

This is a great database for anyone researching Civil War ancestry. If you are not sure of the origins of your ancestor, there is a good chance that you can find his place of birth as well as place of enlistment in the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War Grave Registration Project. To search the database at no charge, go to http://www.suvcwdb.org/home/search.php?action=search.

Comments

[D Lohr]

> I never did register. Perhaps SUVCW will change that after reading this article.

You do not need to register to search the database, only to add new graves or update existing ones.

"There are two sections/areas in the online program:

● Public Area (for viewing/searching only)
● Submitter Area (for those with approved accounts and allowed to enter registrations)"
LINK http://www.suvcwdb.org/home/about.php

[Doris Radcliffe]

I plugged in all info for 3Union ancestors and was rewarded with a 0 found for all. Not much help.

[Barbara Rice]

I agree with Doris - I posted ancestors and uncles - with variant spellings for the Germans, and found none of them.

[Tim]

I got some strange results. I did a search with both the first and last names. The one person found was not the one I was looking for. Then I did a search with just the last name (the same last name as the first search) and of the 26 people found, not only was the one I was looking for not listed, but neither was the one that was found in the first search.

[rdhughes]

I looked for four and found three. The three found all had survived the war. The one not found died in battle during the war, which leaves me wondering if deaths during the war aren't all catalogued.

[Connie]

I too didn't find any of the nine names I used, not one name. I would have thought out of nine names I would of at least found one.

This site doesn't hold much creditability with me.

[Nancy Edwards]

Looked for 2 known soldiers and couldn't find either one.

[Mahlon Erickson]

You must remember that the SUVCW Graves Registration database is still in its "infancy". We have about 375,000 total entries in the database. There are about 4 million men who served in the war. So we have only a small fraction entered at this point. I personally am in the process of entering 1200 veterans buried in one county in Ohio. But my entering must be done after my main job and after my part time jobs.

If you were checkin for your ancestor and he was not there, you can register to enter information. If/when you are approved, you can then enter your relative's info and others also. Or if you do not want to have to do that, e-mail me the information on your ancestor and I will enter it for you.

Sincerely,

Mahlon Erickson
National Graves Registration Committee member
SUVCW

[Linda Radtke]

Today I registered, was approved within the hour, and was able to submit all the Civil War burials in my local cemetery. About 1/2 had already been submitted and I was able to learn their war dates & other info and by the time I finished, about 1/2 of the previously unsubmitted ones had been approved. Great idea! I'm expecting that tomorrow the rest may be approved.

[carol Donahue]

I am searching for any records or info on past members of GAR post # 19 Philadelphia,Pa.as my great grandfather Charles Mieg was a member of that post.I have a photo of him in full gar uniform .I have been to the museum on Griscom St.where they make a copy of his picture.The problem I'm having is I can't seem to find out who his wife was.I have his mil.records and pension records but it just say's his wife was dead.No name etc.it tells his two daughters names.my last resort was the GAR but I can't seem to get any info on past Gar members.If you know of anyone who can help me I would be ever so greatful.thank you for your time ... Carol Donahue

[LAURA BRANHAM]

I NEED HELP FINDING MY GGRANDFATHERS GRAVE. HIS NAME WAS DAVID BELL HE WAS FROM KY. HE WAS BORN IN 1815 AND DIED ON SEPT 20 1864. THEY SAY HES BURIED AT BELLS BRANCH BUT THERE IS NO RECORD PLEASE HELP ME FIND HIS GRAVE IF AT ALL POSSIBLE THANK LAURA

[Stephen Siemsen]

What makes the SUVCW database unique from others that provide information on Civil War veterans is the inclusion of the gravesite. I have four Civil War ancestors and I can search several databases and obtain their units, enlistment dates, whether they were wounded or POWs, etc., BUT these databases do not tell me where they are buried. The VA has done a great job of listing the veterans buried in their cemeteries, but what if your ancestor is buried elsewhere? Someday someone will go out to a small rural cemetery and enter the CW veterans buried there into SUVCW database and I will know where great granddaddy who fought with Sherman is buried. In the meantime, I am entering the final resting places of dozens of CW veterans buried in my county in Arizona. This gravesite information is also used to obtain veterans headstones for the many CW vets who still rest in unmarked graves!