West Point, Annapolis Records Now Online
In honor of Veterans Day, Ancestry.com has put online Military Academy and Naval Academy cadet records and applications from 1805 to 1908. These files will be available free through Sunday, November 14, after which they will be available by subscription. Not sure if there will be an additional fee, or if access to these new materials will be included in existing Ancestry subscriptions.
Entirely apart from being a tool for one’s own genealogy, I’ve found Ancestry to be a great resource for researching individual people more generally, what with its easy access to census records, birth and death notices, slave schedules, and so on. These additional West Point and Annapolis materials are a wonderful addition to Ancestry’s expanding scope. Can’t wait to dig in properly.
I’d be interested in seeing what records are available for Frederick Steele. Many of the units under his command were led by men who spoke fluent German and precious little English. I’ve got a deluxe subscription to Ancestry.com so my guess is that I’ll have access to this new online database.