Making the Most of Muster Rolls

It’s no secret that military service generated records. When genealogists think of military records, the first type that usually comes to mind is pension records. Why? Because of all military records, the pension application doesn’t simply reveal a soldier’s military service; it also gives critical genealogical information about the applicant, who could be the soldier, his widow, his children, or other legal claimant to a military pension. In some cases, a pension file can contain applications by one or more of these persons.

The muster roll, however, is different, and often overlooked. This is because muster rolls are thought of as just lists of names of men who served in military units under certain officers, something akin to a schoolroom roll call. But they can be much more than that, and should be on your research checklist when you have ancestors who served in the military.

Before You Start

To use muster rolls to your best advantage, it’s important to know what they were used for, as that will determine their content. They don’t contain commonly sought genealogical information, such as birth, death, and marriage dates, or the names of spouses, children, or other family members. However, it doesn’t mean they’re not useful. Genealogy is not just about names, dates, and places on a family group sheet. Each record type you examine provides additional information about, and enables greater understanding of, an ancestor’s life, and muster rolls are no exception.

Purpose of Muster Rolls

In military organization, the term muster is the process or event of accounting for members in a military unit. When a unit is created, it’s “mustered in” and when disbanded, is “mustered out.” If a unit “musters” it’s generally to take account of officers and men who are present and who are not. The muster roll often includes the person’s rank and the dates they joined or left. A roll call is the reading aloud of the names on the muster roll and the responses, to determine who is present. Muster rolls were generated to show when and where a military unit was created, and who served in it. They are one type of record used in the assembling of soldier and sailor compiled service records. See Fig. 1.

Muster rolls were usually recorded in small military units such as companies and batteries, generally every two weeks or once a month. The frequency of musters varied depending on the war and a unit’s specific circumstances. Factors like battles, disease outbreaks, or even shortages of writing materials and postal services could delay the process. In addition to these routine intervals, musters were also conducted at significant moments such as when a unit was first organized, when it was disbanded, or when it merged with another. Both the Army and the Navy used muster rolls, though in naval records they were often called Crew Lists, which served the same purpose.

Sometimes a soldier not physically present was included on a muster roll, often because he was temporarily assigned elsewhere or had recently been killed or wounded in action, and the compiler wanted to document it. This was not standard procedure; muster rolls typically listed only those soldiers who were physically present at the time of muster.

What’s on a Muster Roll?

Common contents of muster rolls include:

• Personnel information: Names of enlisted personnel and officers, rank or ratings, and sometimes service members
• Service details: Dates of enlistment or reenlistment, assignments, and status (present, absent, sick, detached, discharged)
• Physical description and origin: Some from earlier wars (pre-20^th century) include age, hair and eye color, height, complexion, or birthplace
• Service events: Notes about promotions, deaths, desertions, discharges, courts-martial, wounds, hospitalizations
• Unit information: The unit or ship name, station, location at the time of muster
• Pay or bounty information: May include pay rates or pay and clothing accounts

Another benefit to examining muster rolls is finding names of other servicemen serving in your ancestor’s unit. This could reveal previously unknown relationships. Before World War I, family members and friends might serve in the same unit or regiments. You might be able to correlate relationships in a way that might not be possible using other records.

Changes Over Time

In the Revolutionary and early national periods, muster rolls were simple lists—often handwritten—of those present or absent in a company, battery, or aboard a ship, with minimal identifying data. Some rolls, called “descriptive lists,” record the names, birthplaces, residences, physical descriptions, and enlistment details for men in the company. By the Civil War, rolls and associated compiled service records included more detailed personal and service data (Fig. 2). The Civil War muster and descriptive roll gave the name, birthplace, age, occupation, physical description, and enlistment information of each soldier. In the 20^th century, especially during World War II and after, rolls included service numbers.

Where To Find Muster Rolls

Muster rolls are held at the National Archives, and you can search for them there as well as on some online genealogy websites, such as Ancestry, Fold3, MyHeritage, and FamilySearch.org. As mentioned earlier, they can be part of a soldier’s compiled service record. Most compiled service records contain several muster roll cards in chronological order, as the soldier was usually present for more than one muster. You can view these documents on Ancestry and Fold3 for free at Grapevine Library. If you have a Grapevine library card, you can view MyHeritage images remotely via the TexShare databases program; contact the library for more information. FamilySearch is a free site, accessible from anywhere, and requires only a free username and password for access to images.

The War Department didn’t compile military service records for soldiers in the Regular Army. If you have a Regular Army ancestor, start researching enlisted men in the Regular Army Enlistment Papers, 1798–1894 (Record Group 94, entry 91). This series is arranged alphabetically by name of soldier and generally shows the soldier’s name, place of enlistment, date, by whom enlisted, age, place of birth, occupation, personal description, regimental assignment, and certifications of the examining surgeon and recruiting officer. Soldiers usually have multiple enlistment papers if they served two or more enlistments.

Researchers should also consult the Register of Enlistments in the U. S. Army, 1798-1914 at FamilySearch (National Archives Microfilm Publication M233). This is arranged chronologically and thereunder alphabetically by first letter of surname. It usually shows name, military organization, physical description, age at enlistment, place of birth, enlistment information, discharge information, and remarks. For more detailed service information, consult unit muster rolls, which are arranged first by branch of service, then by regiment number, then alphabetically by company, troop, or battery, then chronologically. The muster rolls are found in Record Group 94, entry 53, Muster Rolls of Regular Army Organizations, 1784-October 31, 1912, and have not been digitized. Fig. 2 is an example of a Confederate muster roll; a Union roll contained the same kind of information.

To track an enlisted man’s navy service, consult the muster rolls and payrolls (Fig. 3). There are several series of bound volumes of muster rolls and payrolls of ships and stations. Muster rolls generally show the enlisted man’s name, ship or station on which he was serving, dates of service, and in some cases, the ship or station from which he had transferred. Payrolls generally show the enlisted man’s name, his station or rank, date of commencement of his service, and terms of service. Some navy muster rolls may contain descriptive information similar to those of the army. You should know where your person was stationed during the time period you’re researching in.

Generally, muster and pay rolls are arranged alphabetically by name of ship or station and thereunder chronologically. The United States, World War II Navy Muster Rolls images and index covering 1938-1949 are available at MyHeritage; the US Navy Muster Rolls images and index covering 1949-1971 are at Ancestry. Also check out this article on Muster Rolls of Naval Ships, 1860-1900, a finding aid on the National Archives web site.

To track a marine’s service, consult the Marine Corps muster rolls. The muster rolls, 1798–1940, are arranged chronologically by year and month, and thereunder by post, station, ship detachment, or unit. There are indexes in most volumes to the names of ships, stations, and units. A muster roll generally shows name of ship, station, or unit and provides name of officer or enlisted man, rank, date of enlistment or reenlistment, and if applicable, date of desertion or apprehension, sentence of court-martial (and the offense), injuries sustained or illness and type of treatment, and date of death or discharge. Depending on the date, you need to know the vessel on which the marine served, the unit he served in, or duty station. Marine Corps muster rolls have been reproduced on microfilm publication T1118, Muster Rolls of the U.S. Marine Corps, 1798–1902, and T977, Muster Rolls of Officers and Enlisted Men of the U.S. Marine Corps, 1893–1940. It may be helpful to first consult the FamilySearch Wiki article about Marine Corps muster rolls. The US Muster Rolls of the Marine Corps, 1798-1937 index and images are at FamilySearch (Fig. 3); US Marine Corps Muster Rolls, 1798-1958 index and images are at Ancestry.

Records relating to enlisted crew members of the Revenue Cutter/Coast Guard Service include muster rolls, payrolls, and shipping articles. They are textual records only and must be consulted at the National Archives, but you search the catalog using the term “muster rolls.”  In one series of muster rolls are unbound monthly reports, 1848–1910, arranged by name of vessel and thereunder chronologically. These are not indexed and must be searched only by name of vessel and the individual’s approximate service date. Muster rolls and payrolls show the name, and when appropriate, signature or mark of each crew member. Muster rolls for the Revenue Cutter Service/Coast Guard, 1833–1932, give the crew member’s name, rating, date and place of enlistment, place of birth, age, occupation, personal description, and number of days served during the reported month, along with notes if the crewman was detached, transferred, or discharged or if he deserted or died during the report period. The records are arranged alphabetically by name of vessel.

The US Enlisted and Officer Muster Rolls and Rosters at FamilySearch has an index and images of muster rolls of officers and enlisted men for multiple service branches covering 1916-1939. Check the FamilySearch Wiki article for more information.

You may also find muster rolls on state web sites. The Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls have been abstracted and made searchable by veteran’s name, unit and company, and veteran’s residence. The University of Florida Digital Collections hosts the digitized and searchable eleven-volume Florida Militia Muster Rolls, Seminole Indian Wars. Try searching the FamilySearch Wiki using a combination of “muster rolls,” “united states,” and/or the state name. You can also try a Google search using “muster rolls,” name of war, and state name.

Remember to include muster rolls in your list of military resources. They’re a lesser-known genealogical resource from which you may reap rich results.