I have a personal copy of the following book:
Index to Residents of the Grand Army Home for Veterans, 1887-1937
This work was compiled in 2008 by state of Wisconsin employees, Abbie Norderhaug and Katy Marty.
To the best of my knowledge, the only other copy of this book is held in the Wisconsin Veterans Museum Research Center in Madison. The call number there is:
Ref
UB
384
.W5
I5
The index contains approximately 5,200 names of veterans and their spouses, widows, (and a few) mothers. Keep in mind that the Veterans Home in King was the only state veterans’ home to admit women as members.
If you have been searching for a Wisconsin ancestor who served in the Civil War or who was married to a Civil War veteran, and they “disappeared” from their local community later in life – no death record, no burial or headstone – perhaps they became members of the GAR Home in King (Waupaca County).
Tip: If your ancestor is buried at the GAR Home Cemetery (Central Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery) and he served in the Civil War or she was married to a Civil War veteran – they were also members of the GAR Home. Before the 1940s, you had to be a current or former members of the Home to be buried in this cemetery.
[Over the years, I have heard from several genealogists who had been searching for an ancestor for years and years – only to find them buried in the GAR Home Cemetery. I created dozens and dozens of FindAGrave memorials for wives and widows of Civil War veterans. Before these memorial were created, it was almost impossible to confirm these ladies’ burials at King, because they do not appear in the “de facto” burial listing – VA National Gravesite Locator.]
The index is sorted in two different ways:
- Alphabetically by last name of the member
- Alphabetically by previous residence
(residence at the time of application to the Home)
For each member, the index contains the following information:
- Last Name
- First Name, Middle Initial
- Sex
- Previous Residence
- Application Number
- Date Application was Approved
Caveats: From my own experience, this index is not complete, in at least these ways:
- Some veterans/spouses were temporarily admitted to the Home while their application was pending review by the Home’s Board of Trustees. They do not appear in the index – even if they lived and died at the Home – because their application was never officially approved.
- The end date of “1937” is probably inexact. I could not find a few members who were at the Home in 1935-1936, so members who came to the home during the mid-1930s may be missing.
- A few members may be missing simply because this was a huge undertaking – gathering info from individual applications, some of which were over 100 years old. Also, it could be presumed that a few application files could be missing from the collection.
Requesting a Look-Up:
- No charge.
- Send me an email with the name of the veteran and/or spouse and their previous residence, if you know it.
- My email address can be found in the upper right hand corner of the main page of this website – click on the word “CONTACT”.
- Unless I am traveling or otherwise occupied, I should be able to respond within 1 business day.