New York State Adjutant General's Office Abstracts of World War I Military Service

Organized into five subseries: Subseries 1, Abstracts of World War I Military Service of Army Officers (ca. 28,644 cards); Subseries 2, Abstracts of World War I Military Service of Nurses (ca. 3,750 cards); Subseries 3, Abstracts of World War I Military Service of Enlisted Men (ca. 671,919 cards); Subseries 4, Abstracts of World War I Military Service of Sailors (ca. 88,675 cards); and Subseries 5, Abstracts of World War I Military Service of Marines (ca. 8,125 cards).

Arranged by subseries and therein alphabetical by last name.

These records were procured in 1920, by the Bureau of War Records, from the federal government pursuant to Chapter 75 of the Laws of 1919 which directed the Adjutant General, through the Bureau, to compile, collect, and preserve the "records and relics... relating to the wars in which the state participated." (See also Chapter 247 of the Laws of 1887, which established the Bureau as the "Bureau of Records of the War of the Rebellion.")

It should be noted that the Bureau discovered over time numerous errors in the transcription of the records provided by Washington that required correction. The Bureau made corrections to errors as they were found (see Annual Report of the Adjutant General, 1935, page 36).

The series consists of an abstract of military service for New York residents (men and women) who enlisted or who were inducted into the armed forces of the United States from 1917 through 1919. The record consists of a 4 x 6" card (or a 5 x 8" card for Navy personnel) for each individual.

The record for each individual provides the following data: name; serial/service number; designation as "white" or "colored"; residence; place and date of enlistment/induction; place of birth; organizations served in, with dates of assignments and transfers; dates of overseas service; wounds or other injuries received in action; date of separation/discharge (and place of separation for Navy personnel); and percent of disability at discharge.

For those who died while in service, date and cause of death, name and address of person notified of death, and relationship to the deceased are provided. Abstracts of service by women are included in subseries 2 (nurses) and, infrequently, in subseries 4 (naval service).

High resolution images of selected original documents in this series are available in State Archives Digital Collections.

The entire series is digitized and is available to New York State residents for free on Ancestry.com New York. You must sign up for a free account to access these records without a paid subscription. To learn more, go to How to Use Ancestry.com New York

13721 Abstracts of National Guard Service in World War I contains related service records.

B0814 Muster Rolls of New York National Guard Units that Served in the U.S. Army during World War I contains related service records.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.