Decoding Secret Societies: Finding Your Female Fraternal Ancestors

The United States Postal Service can trace its roots to 1775 to the Second Continental Congress; where Benjamin Franklin was appointed the first Postmaster General. Officially created in 1792; and elevated to a cabinet department in 1872; and changed in 1971 to an official Government agency. These records are an overlooked genealogical source to locate family members who may have worked with the postal system.

Were your ancestors members of the Masons? Did your family have membership with the I.O.O.F. or another secret society. Discover the rich history and genealogical material that await with membership records, historical research, and photographs of family who may have belonged to one or more of these secret societies.

Corporal Joseph King born on July 4 1776 served during the War of 1812. This cases study follows King before, during, and long after the war ends to his death in 1877.

Organized in Chicago, IL in 1917 by citizens who believed the United States Department of Justice was understaffed and not up to the task of fighting against espionage. They grew to a volunteer force of more than 250,000 members. The APL was given absolute power to stop ordinary citizens in the streets by checking whether men were legally registered for draft, or were sympathetic to the Germans, or those unregistered aliens living in the United States. Long believed to be a pseudo-patriotic organization. The APL documented both members and their activities in rich genealogical and historical details at the time the United States entered World War I.

The history of the draft and conscripting men for military service in the United States dates back to the days of the Revolutionary War. Individual colonies were given the authority to draft men that were called up for militia service. It wasn’t until the Civil War that the first national legislation in 1862 was passed that would enact a national draft. Since then, several Selective Service Acts in 1917, 1940, 1948, and 1967 that have account for men who would serve their country in times of crisis or emergency.

Tens of thousands of young men came together to serve in the vanguard of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal program. Discover some of your ancestors who may have worked and served in the Civilian Conservation Corps from 1933 to 1942. The New Deal era in American History has many great resources that have been untapped for years, and seldom used by genealogists and family historians.

The city of Philadelphia dates back to October 27, 1682 when William Penn laid out plans to construct a magnificent city. Records available to genealogists stretch back to the seventeenth century when the city was first founded. The area grew very quickly, and by the time of the Revolutionary War…

The Merchant Marines have always played a pivotal and important role in American history. Without their efforts and sacrifice the wars of the twentieth century could have turned out very differently. A series of acts passed by Congress in 1916, 1920, and 1936 would officially organize the Merchant Marines into…

The passage of the Social Security Act of 1935 during the height the new deal era and the great depression would provide stability to our nation. By decoding the meaning of the series of numbers, ordering the applications of the social security cards, and understanding how delayed births played an…