reviewing Military monthly rosters

Rulan J Cook

I am reviewing Military monthly rosters, the indexer put as the enlistment date the monthly roster date which is incorrect. I have done hundreds of these, and there has always been a place to include the monthly roster date. This does not have a place for any other dates, so the record will be incomplete without a usable date. What should I do?

John Empoliti

Hi @Rulan J Cook

Please share your batch code or URL for the best answer. Click on the third icon from the right for this information.

You're probably working on US, Missouri, St. Louis—Military Records, 1916–1939, which uses the term "Enlistment" Date. Maybe you've worked for a while on parts of this project: United States—Enlisted and Officer Muster Rolls and Rosters, 1916–1939, where they use the broader term "Military" Date. Both projects would like the actual enlistment date but accept other military dates in a priority order. Here is the guidance from the Field Help for Military Month in the Missouri military project. You can see that if you don't find a date of higher priority for a given soldier, you may index the roster date (#4 in priority) in the "Enlistment" Date field for that soldier.

"Many types of events may have been recorded. In the enlistment fields, type information only about the following events, according to this priority list. (If multiple events were mentioned, use the one highest in the priority list.)

1. Date of enlistment.
2. Date of events indicated by words such as "appointed," "mustered," or "inducted."
3. Date of discharge or retirement.
4. Date when a roll was taken or roster was created.
5. Date when the soldier or sailor was wounded.

If multiple dates were recorded and you cannot determine if a date refers to one of the events in the above priority list, type the earliest date. The earliest date is typically closest to the date of first enlistment."