In 2015, the National Park Service (NPS) and Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) formed a partnership to complete the U.S.-Mexican War Database. FGS promoted the project at their national conference and on their website and assigned a member, Mrs. Pat Rand, to work directly with the NPS.
Former FGS president Joshua Taylor, MA, MLS fully supported this project and kept in contact with Palo Alto during his tenure.
Contributors
During the War, each state had its own method of taking and preserving records of enlistment. Some states preserved these records. In other states, county historical and genealogical societies have taken the initiative to preserve these records. Unfortunately, some records are lost to the annals of history.
Finding this information was a daunting task. Fortunately, many people went above and beyond to ensure the memory of these veterans live on. We are extremely grateful for the valuable contributions courtesy of:
- Steven Butlero
- Descendants of Mexican War Veterans
- Crawford County Arkansas Genealogical Society
- Anya Grosenbaugh, State Archives of Florida
- John M. Trowbridge, Historian, Kentucky National Guard
- Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
- Marietta Museum of History
- Nodaway County Historical Society, Maryville, Missouri
- Pike County Historical Society
- New Jersey State Archives, New Jersey Department of State
- Major William Carraway, Historian, Georgia Army National Guard
- Middle Georgia Archives, Washington Memorial Library, Macon, Georgia
- J. M. Felihkatubbe, County Coordinator, Sevier County ARGenWeb Project
- Laura Anderson, Senior Historian, Mormon Battalion Association
- Martín Paredes
- Donna Bennett, Associate Director of Collection & Resource Services, Ina Dillard Russell Library, Georgia College & State University
- Georgia Historical Society
- Craig R. Scott, CG, FUGA
- Laura Anderson, Senior Historian Mormon Battalion Association
- Genealogy Society of Boone County and Central Missouri
- Thomas Heard Robertson, Jr.
- Marjorie Waterfieldo Grace White
- Fred Delap of Kansas, Illinois
- Kevin Henson, Midland, Michigan
- Rob Peecher, History’s Footnotes
- Elmer Dickson, Kendall County, Illinois
- University of Michigan
- Randy P. Lucas
- North Carolina State Archives, Military Collection
Volunteers
Over four years, Pat Rand spent thousands of hours recruiting and training volunteers for the methodical task of entering data. After training, Mrs. Rand sent volunteers documents listing soldiers in a particular unit or state. Some lists only had lists of names and were easy to process. Others contained details such as service dates, general remarks, and even their occupation. Mrs. Rand recruited and trained more volunteers to check for accuracy.The database exists because these volunteers dedicated thousands of hours doing a tedious task.
It is with great pleasure that we acknowledge and thank:
| Truman Adkins |
Maggi Andrews |
Meghan Bailey |
| Debbie Baker |
Mark Boone |
Barbara Brown |
| Frank Chase |
Barbara Coakley |
Karin Coppernoll |
| Shirley A Curley |
John DeAngelo |
Donna Diehl |
| Rena Donze |
Fran Ellsworth |
Tomye Folts-Zettner |
| Janice Fritsch |
Lois Gilbert |
Patricia Gillespie |
| Colleen Greene |
Kathleen Gregory |
Maridell Hahn |
| Lynn Hall |
Nancy Hendrickson |
Mary Virginia Jacobs |
| Frank Jastrzembski |
Suzanne Johnston |
Chris Klemmer |
| Laura Kovarik |
Dana Leeds |
Linda Lowe |
| Janet Malloy |
Christine Martinez |
Cricket McGinnis |
| Marta Metcalf |
Doug Meyer |
Tammy Murphy |
| Ken Nelson |
Betty Nottling |
Denise Olson |
| Mary Lynn Sedivec |
Bob Silva |
Jolene Smith |
| Linda Sparks |
Peggy Stumpf |
Cari Taplin |
| Jeff Vaillant |
Cheryle Wadsworth |
Freida Wallach |
| Andy Weaver |
Betty Weaver |
Dona Weber |
| Randy Whited |
Linda Zolinsky |
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In 2016, David Davenport contacted Palo Alto for information about U.S.-Mexican War sailors. Upon discovering the park did not have any documents, he offered to add them into database.Mr. Davenport used a microfilm reader to search for, transcribe, and entered Marine Corps records from seven microfilm reels. In addition, he transcribed the original 2nd New York Regiment enlistment rolls.
