Do you have a Michigan ancestor who may have served in World War I? Is that service an unsolved mystery in your family history research? If so, you may know how difficult it can be to piece together a military history, given that a large number of records were destroyed in a 1973 fire at the National Archives Military Personnel Records Center.[1] The Archives of Michigan may be able to help you solve your mystery.
In 1921, the Michigan legislature passed a bill that provided for a payment of $15.00 per month of service to the state’s World War I veterans and nurses.[2] The state took out a $30 million loan to finance the bonus payments, and all payments were made by the end of 1932. Veterans had to apply to receive a payment, and their applications had to include their name, address, serial number, residence when they entered the service, date reporting for active duty, date of final separation and a certified copy of discharge papers or evidence of honest and faithful service if they hadn’t yet been discharged.[3]
The federal government issued service summaries for veterans to all state adjutant generals to help state-level officials validate applications under bonus programs like Michigan’s. According to the Report of the Adjutant General of the Army to the Secretary of War for the 1921 fiscal year, “the execution of this stupendous piece of work involve[d] the preparation of detailed statements of service of approximately 4,496,000 officers, field clerks and enlisted men.”[4]
[1] <a href=”http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/fire-1973.html” target=”_blank”>The 1973 Fire: National Personnel Records Center</a>
[2] An applicant’s period of service had to occur between April 6, 1917 and November 11, 1919.
[3] Michigan Department of Military Affairs, Record Group 84-107, Box 176, Folder 21.
[4] <a href=”https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=m7dBAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&authuser=0&hl=en_GB&pg=GBS.PP1″ target=”_blank”>Report of the Adjutant General…, 1920/21</a>
Let's walk through an example of the research above. These statement of service cards for Army, Navy and Marine veterans are available at the Archives of Michigan. The backs of the cards are stamped with claim numbers, which can be used to find the amount of money a veteran received and when the application was approved. In the example shown here, you can see that Abraham Sinaberg was born in Au Sable, Michigan, enlisted on May 28, 1918 and served overseas from October 1917 to April 1919 (Continue clicking on an images to view it at a larger size.). The back of the card is stamped with claim number 6438. The ledger book shows that Sinaberg was given credit for eleven months of service and received a payment of $165. If you’re curious (as I was), that would be approximately $2,200 today.
