Transcribed and submitted by Dorothy Falk
Page layouts and html coding by Gene Wheeler
Illinois State legislation passed in 1861 required township assessors to compile lists of able-bodied male residents from the ages of 18 through 45. (See "AN ACT to amend Chapter 70 of Revised Statutes, entitled "Militia") Within townships were two categories of eligible young men. The voluntary militia consisted of those individuals who had organized themselves into companies and elected officers for the purpose of military enlistment. Voluntary militia lists give the township of residence, soldier's name, age, birthplace, occupation, if they had already entered the service and appropriate remarks. The reserve militia, on the other hand, was composed of those eligible men who chose not to volunteer but who were liable to being drafted. Reserve militia lists generally provide township and men's names only. These lists were composed over 1861-1863.
The President called for 300,000 men to be inducted into military service with an order issued August 4, 1862 and the War Department established regulations for the enrollment and drafting of these men. The resulting record was an 1862 federal census conducted by enrolling officers of the men eligible for drafting.
As usual, the names were transcribed as spelled on the document, the way I saw it. Three brothers' surnames might be spelled one way, the fourth brother might be spelled a different way. The capital L and the capital S were hard to tell apart. The small n and the small u were impossible to tell apart.
Sources:
The description of this census is from the book "Descriptive Inventory of the Archives of the State of Illinois", paragraph 301.029. The Belleville Public Library has a copy in ACR 016.353 IL.
The actual military census starts on microfilm Roll #1-12422, and continues on #1012423, Military Census and Military Rolls. The first roll is at MICRO StC, 353.6 WA in the Belleville Public Library. Both rolls are available through any local lending library from the Illinois State Library and at Family History Centers throughout the world.
Transcribed by Dorothy Falk, transcription copyrighted by Dorothy Falk, Gene Wheeler, and Dianna Williams, December 2000. May be used freely by genealogy researchers, not for commercial reproduction.
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