Looking for information about he Pennsylvania Volunteers? Flip through the pages of this valuable collection of books now - no traveling, no dusty and brittle pages to handle, no cost!
History of Pennsylvania Volunteers 1861-1865 (Civil War) - Select one:
Volume 4 - (119th Regiment thru 179th Regiment)
Volume 5 - (180th Regiment thru 215th Regiment and others) Includes Batteries A thru I, Colored Regiments, Independent Companies, Burial Record, and more.
You may also be able to find a book published for the specific regiment your ancestor was in. Here's how:
First, go to Archive.org, a priceless, yet free resource which contains millions of books, photos, movies, and recordings, all ready to access free of charge. (Donations are welcome on their site!)
Next, type a term in the search box and click "Go".
In this example, I searched "Pennsylvania Volunteers":
This search produced 610 results, as shown below. You can now see how the books are titled and add words to the search to narrow the results, if necessary. You can also narrow the results by selecting an option from the left column. For example, you may want to check off "texts" to search only for books containing the terms.
Notice, in some book titles, the regiment numbers are spelled out, and in some the numerical form is given. Here you can see an example. One is titled "History of the 121st regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers" and one is titled "History of the One Hundred and Fiftieth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, Second Regiment". Try both!
Archive.org is an excellent site, which has provided me with many valuable resources and information about the people and places of my roots. Do random searches, such as "Smith Family" or "Davis Genealogy" or "Davis history", and you may be surprised to find full volumes of your family's genealogy. Local histories may also contain biographies and histories about your ancestors. Try searching "Cumberland County history" or "Early Cumberland County" to find them. Book titles can vary, though, so if you have to, get creative using words like "settlement of Cumberland County" or "pioneers of Cumberland County".
Do you have other ideas about how Archive.org can help trace family history? Share your tips and ideas below!