A note about household numbers

Back when we first began doing the VCC projects, our rules for assigning household numbers were a little different. The screens do not require that one person/individual/head of household/PID have the same household number across census decades. So John might be HH 1 in 1910 and HH 2 in 1920.

We figured out that this is a nightmare for inputting and checking work. We changed the rules so that the household number (with occasional exceptions that you're all familiar with) follows the individual across decades.

The first soldiers we worked on were from Ohio (RecId numbers begin with 24), so you might have noticed that individuals have multiple household numbers. This might be confusing. While you're checking the work that was previously done, please make sure you change the household numbers so that they conform to our current rules. So John will be HH1 in both 1910 and 1920. If you have trouble figuring it out, please email us (Sandy and me) and ask for assistance.

Let me know if you have questions.

Always search for death information

We've had some recent confusion about death information. Since I don't think we had a rule about it before, we are making one now.

It has always been the case that if the soldier and his family moved out of the country, you don't search for the census. Many of you don't have international Ancestry accounts, and our screens are not designed for foreign census information. This is still our rule.

The Death screen isn't patterned after one document. There are many different types of death records, and both foreign and domestic records can be entered on the screen. Even if you don't have an international Ancestry account, you can still search for foreign death records on Find a Grave and Family Search. ALWAYS do this.

Rule: Always search for the death records for the soldier, his spouse, and his children regardless of whether they were in the US when they died. 

Death information is the only source of health data we currently have for the soldiers' spouses and children. So, it is important that we collect it whenever possible.

Please check HH0

This is just a reminder that you need to check household 0. In addition to checking that the finds are correct, please check the inputting. Some of this information was entered many years ago, and the rules have changed. Please bring the information up to our current standard.

Where does the Mil Info about spouses and children come from? - Part 2

There are several documents in the pension, in addition to the family circulars, that provide information about veterans' spouses and children. A few are listed below. Sorry if I forgot any.

• Dependent pension applications. After the soldier dies, widows and children can apply for pensions. In her application, the widow might provide information about the children. Additionally, if she receives a pension. A pension drop card with her death date might be included. Minor children and those with disabilities could apply for a pension. A child might be dropped from the pension roles upon turning 16.
• Affidavits, letters, depositions.These documents are included in a pension because someone is trying to provide evidence in support of an application. These can be written by many different people and might include information for spouses and children depending on the nature of the document. Occasionally, a soldier is living with an adult child, often a daughter. She might write letters on the veteran's behalf or make claims to be reimbursed for money she spent for the soldier. This, along with family circulars, is where we might find a daughter's married name.
• Marriage certificates. This will provide information about the soldier's spouse. Some certificates have more information than others, but it's reliable information when included.

Much of the information about spouses and children provided in the pension is reliable as it is provided by the soldier or his spouse or comes from official document. We do occasionally get discrepant or incorrect data, but this information is generally accurate and useful.

Where does the Mil Info about spouses and children come from? - Part 1

Recently, I got a question asking for an explanation of where the spouse and child information comes from that are found in the Mil Info screen. I think I'll split the answer into two posts in case it gets a little long.

The primary source for spouse and child information in the pension record is what we call a family circular. In 1898 and 1915, the pension bureau sent the veterans on the pension roles a questionnaire seeking family information. Both family circulars have information about the spouse such as her maiden name and marriage date. It also lists any of the soldier's previous marriages. If the veteran's first wife died, he might mention her death date on the family circular.

The two family circulars differ slightly in their questions about the veteran's children. The 1898, circular asks, "Have you any children living? If so, state their names and the dates of their birth." Therefore, only living children will be listed. The 1915, circular asks the veteran to, "State the names and dates of birth of all your children, living or dead." So, if the veteran lives to 1915, this circular might list more children than the 1898 circular.

This information is provided by the veteran to the pension bureau. Please note, that the circulars do not ask for the child's gender. The pension inputter inferred the gender of each child based on the name given. These circulars are also where we often get the living/dead date. If the child is listed on the 1898 circular, then we know the child was alive in 1898. If the child is listed on the 1915 circular, but not on the 1898, then we can infer that the child was dead by 1898.

This is where we get most of the information about spouses and children. A few other sources will be discussed in the next post.

Progress report as of October 5

Progress report as of October 5, 2016

	Project 1	Project 2 - USCT
	n = 8,500	n = 4,500
Total soldiers complete	4388	1521
Soldiers completed during last week	74	8
Soldiers w/o children (to be removed from sample)	435	268
% of completed soldiers w/o children	9.9	17.6
Soldiers with children complete	3953	1253
% with children complete	46.5	27.8

Thanks for responding

Thanks to those of you who responded to my email about important information in a timely fashion. The following individuals can add 30 minutes to their next time sheet, because they were the first to respond.

• Janice
• Robin
• Metse
• Stacy
• Zach
• Michelle

There are six people instead of five because they all responded at close to the same time.