Objectors to war have descendants, too

Cindy Freed at the group blog In-Depth Genealogist calls attention to a Civil War database of Pennsylvanians whose religious convictions prevented them from accepting a draft to serve in the Union army. Her title ("Bet You've Never Researched This") may grate on those with lots of Quaker ancestors, or those from the German Brethren churches who took a similar stand. But her title does reflect an ambivalence in genealogy between honoring individual service and sacrifice in war, on one hand, and support of war in general, on the other. (An earlier post along these lines is here.)

Additional sources for more recent conscientious objectors can be found in National Archives Record Group 163, "Selective Service System (World War I), 1917-1939," and Record Group 147, "Records of the Selective Service System 1940-," and in various federal court records.





Cindy Freed, "Bet You've Never Researched This," The In-Depth Genealogist, posted 6 May 2012 (http://www.theindepthgenealogist.com/?p=6448 : accessed 6 May 2012).


Harold Henderson, "Objectors to war have descendants, too," Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog, posted 6 May 2012 (http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com : accessed [access date]). [Please feel free to link to the specific post if you prefer.] 

Theses, we got theses

OhioLINK has more going on than the Morgan bibliography. That's just one of 26 databases they have available to the general public. Another is the Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, making advanced-student studies from Ohio colleges and universities searchable and available for free full-text download. Some of the interesting titles I spotted in a very incomplete survey:

Roberts, Edward Earl. Camp Chase. Degree: Master of Arts, History, 1940, Ohio State University

Johnson, Susan Allyn. Industrial voyagers: a case study of Appalachian migration to Akron, Ohio: 1900-1940. Degree: Doctor of Philosophy, History, 2006, Ohio State University

McFarland, Morgan J. The Watery World: The Country of the Illinois, 1699-1778. Degree: PhD, Arts and Sciences : History, 2005, University of Cincinnati

Grundy, Martha Paxson. "In the world but not of it": Quaker faith and the dominant culture, Middletown Meeting, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 1750-1850. Degree: Doctor of Philosophy, History, 1990, Case Western Reserve University

McVey, H. B. The Military Operations in the Upper Ohio Valley During the Revolutionary War 1774-1781. Degree: Master of Arts, History, 1928, Ohio State University

Cunningham, Connie K. ECHOES FROM HENDERSON HALL: THE HISTORY OF ONE PIONEER FAMILY SETTLING IN THE OHIO VALLEY. Degree: Masters in Education, Education, 2006, Marietta College

Quakers and federal cases on line at the Indiana Historical Society

The April issue of the Indiana Historical Society's Genealogy and Family History E-Newsletter is out. Contents include a plug for IHS's August 15-16 conference in Indianapolis, "Midwestern Roots," with an impressive program I can't do justice to right now.

There's also a table of contents for the forthcoming issue of The Hoosier Genealogist: Connections, and a pointer to the Society's ongoing Abstracts of the Records of the Society of Friends in Indiana, AKA the Quaker Records abstraction project, edited by Ruth Dorrel and Thomas D. Hamm. The first two volumes came out in print but the third is gradually appearing on line. This material isn't for casual browsing, but if you have Friends in your family tree it may be quite rewarding. Currently up are items from Hancock, Henry, Madison, and Rush counties.

The key URL to keep an eye on is IHS's Online Family History Publications. As of now the other publication listed there is the 23-page Name Index to the U.S. District Court Order Book, District of Indiana, 1817-1833, compiled by Doria Lynch.