1. Get his military file from NARA. 2. He should be listed with his parents in the 1850 census so start there. The children will appear in most indexes (for that year) which will get you to the entry for the family. Notice who were the neighbors as those people may prove to be relatives when you do get more information. Each census had different criteria so you will find it helpful to read the criteria which is often in the front of the census whether it be on film or in a hardbound book. The 1850 census is the first one that listed all of the members of the household. The 1890 census is missing. The 1930 census is the last census which has been published for public use. 3. Once you find out who his parents were, check land records and tax records, business records in the court house, local histories of the area in which they lived, marriage records. Often marriage records will be available long before birth and death records. If you are able to determine what church denomination they attended, look for church records. Often records of births, deaths and marriages will be in church records when they were not yet required for state vital records. 4. Don't overlook checking the criminal records, JP courts on up. It is amazing who appears in them! Civil court suits involving the family can often provide a terrific context of your family's life. Good Luck Loretta ----- Original Message ----- From: "Anne Pemberton" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2007 2:53 PM Subject: [VA-HIST] Fw: Amos Smith-Battle of Five Forks Can anyone help with where this person needs to go to access the information on her ancestor? Thanks, Anne Anne Pemberton [log in to unmask] http://www.erols.com/apembert http://www.educationalsynthesis.org ----- Original Message ----- From: Purcell To: [log in to unmask] Sent: Sunday, May 27, 2007 3:03 PM Subject: Amos Smith-Battle of Five Forks Ann, My great-grandfather, Amos Smith of Co "A" 7th Maryland Volunteer Infantry, was wounded at Gravelly Run on April 1, 1865 during the Baattle of Five Forks, he died on April 5, 1865 and is buried at City Pont National Cemetery, Hopewell, VA. Amos was born in Belmont Co., Ohio on 21 Jan 1829. I have no record of his parents or siblings, do you possibly know anywhere I might go to find out anything about him. I remember my parents throwing away all of his letters when I was a child, so I never had a chance to read them. James E. Purcell Diane Purcell [log in to unmask]