United States—Enlisted and Officer Muster Rolls and Rosters, 1916–1939 - Which date should I use?

jamesalanwalker1

I've read the the description about date input for this project multiple times but it is a little confusing. When I have full dates (i.e., month, day, and year) for some but not all individuals and a full-date (i.e., month, day, and year) on the top of the page, which date do I use? Do I use the full-date provided for each individual for those individuals, and the full-date at the top of the page for individuals that have no associated dates? Or, in this case, do I use the full-date at the top of the page for all individuals (since not all individuals have a full-date)? Or, do I use the full-dates for each individual for those with full-dates and input "blank" for those that do not have individual dates? The explanation provided is not clear as to what date to use in these situations where some have full-dates for individuals and some do not. Also, is my understanding correct that if the date is incomplete (e.g., states only the 14th or 15th or just the name of the month) and a full-date is provided at the top of the page, that I should use the full date at the top of the page instead of the incomplete dates associated with each individual. Is this understanding correct? Finally, my understanding is that we should never input a date (e.g., year) if that date is not provided. For example, if it only says the 15th, I should never assume that the month and the year are the same as the month and day provided at the top of the page. Is this understanding correct? Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

John Empoliti

Hi @jamesalanwalker1. Next time you have one of those situations, please Share your Batch (click the 3rd icon from the right) for specific advice. Below, at near the bottom of the comment, from the What to Remember About This Project section, are the essential instructions on dates. The Military Date Field Field Helps (question mark in a purple circle that appears when you click on a Field) also have their own versions of these. But first, right below are some comments on these:

(1) The gold standard for Military Dates in this Project is the 𝐄𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 for a soldier. If it is available, then we always use it for the Military Date Field (i.e. for the "military date") for a soldier. If an actual Enlistment Date is not available for a given soldier then we follow the rules below near the bottom, which I quoted, to determine what we will substitute for it as the Military Date for that soldier.

(2) When there is a date at the top for a Muster Roll or Monthly Roster (or Bi-Monthly Roster), then that date may be used as the Military Date 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞.

(3) When an actual Enlistment Date for a soldier is not available 𝐚𝐧𝐝 no Roster or Roll date is available, then we use the earliest of any other military dates associated with a given solder for the Military Date Field for that soldier.

(4) A Transfer Record (or Transfer Sheet - usually has a list of transfers on it) may have a fragment of a transfer date next to a soldier's name (maybe month/day), but if a full date can be found at the top or bottom of the page, then use that instead of the fragment.

Here are the quotes from the What To Remember About This Project section:

• If more than 1 𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 was given, use the earliest date (JE: for the Military Date field).
• The date at the top of a roster or roll may be used for all entries as the enlistment date (JE: they mean as the military date) if the entries don't contain their own individual 𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬.
• When multiple dates are present on the image, please choose the military date based on the following hierarchy:
  1. 𝐄𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞
  2. Muster Roll or Monthly Roster Date
  3. Any other applicable military date
• If there is a transfer record and each name has a day, such as "24th," or month or year, and there is a complete date recorded at the top or bottom of the page, use the complete date for each person on the record.