U.S., National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866-1938

The National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers was instituted following the Civil War. The purpose of these homes was to provide a place for disabled American soldiers and sailors to live. Admission to a home was voluntary and soldiers could request which home they wanted to live in. Since admission was voluntary, soldiers could also choose when they wanted to leave, both temporarily and permanently.

This database contains records from twelve National Homes. The majority of the records consist of historical registers, but other records included in this database are indexes to the historical registers, applications, admissions, deaths, burials, and hospital records.

The following is a list of the names of the twelve National Homes covered in this database as well as which records and years there are included for each:

• Bath Branch, Bath, New York – Historical Registers and Indexes to Historical Registers, 1876-1934; Register of Deaths and Index to Register of Deaths, 1879-1929


• Battle Mountain Sanitarium, Hot Springs, South Dakota – Historical Registers and Indexes to Historical Registers, 1907-1934


• Central Branch, Dayton, Ohio – Historical Registers and Indexes to Historical Registers, 1867-1935


• Danville Branch, Danville, Illinois – Historical Registers and Indexes to Historical Registers, 1898-1934


• Eastern Branch, Togus, Maine – Historical Registers and Indexes to Historical Registers, 1866-1934; Hospital Index, A-Z; Burials Records, 1892-1932; Death Records, 1893-1899


• Marion Branch, Marion, Indiana – Historical Registers and Indexes to Historical Registers, 1890-1931


• Mountain Branch, Johnson City, Tennessee – Historical Registers and Indexes to Historical Registers, 1903-1932


• Northwestern Branch, Milwaukee, Wisconsin – Historical Registers and Indexes to Historical Registers, 1867-1934


• Pacific Branch, Los Angeles, California – Historical Registers and Indexes to Historical Registers, 1888-1933


• Roseburg Branch, Roseburg, Oregon – Applicants, 1894-1918; Admissions 1908-1932; Deaths, 1894-1937


• Southern Branch, Hampton, Virginia – Historical Registers and Indexes to Historical Registers, 1871-1933


• Western Branch, Leavenworth, Kansas – Historical Registers and Indexes to Historical Registers, 1885-1934

About the Records:

The Historical Registers generally consist of four sections – Military History, Domestic History, Home History, and General Remarks. Some of the information recorded in these sections includes:

• Name of soldier
• Name of home or branch
• Date of admission
• Birthplace
• Rank
• Company and regiment
• Date and place of enlistment
• Date and place of discharge
• Physical description (height, complexion, eye and hair color)
• Occupation
• Marital status
• Religion

Names and a few other pieces of information have been keyed only from the historical registers. Therefore, these are the only records that are searchable using the search template above. Images of all of the records (historical registers, indexes to the historical registers, applications, admissions, deaths, burials, and hospital records) can be viewed by using the browse table below.

To learn more about National Homes, read the article Genealogy Notes: The National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers by Trevor K. Plante, published in Prologue: Quarterly of the National Archives and Records Administration, Spring 2004, Vol. 36, No. 1 (available online at: http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2004/spring/soldiers-home.html).

Updates:
1 Jul 2021: Information such as capture date, and date and place of enlistment and discharge were not previously keyed. This information was keyed and added to the collection. No new records were added.