History of the GAR card file for Iowa

GAR Bibliographic Card File - history

The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization for Union soldiers of the Civil War. Iowa organized a State Department of the GAR. Amy Noll, Secretary of the Iowa Dept. of the GAR, compiled a list of all the GAR posts in Iowa and within each post created individual 5x8 inch cards for each post member. These card are available on microfilm at the State Historical Society of Iowa, the Iowa Genealogical Society, and the Family History Library.

Sources:

Amy Noll used post records, military rosters, reports of Adjutant Generals, pension and service records, newspapers, and correspondence from surviving relatives to create these cards.

Information on the cards:

Each card may contain the following information: name, residence, occupation, date of birth and place, date of death and place, place of burial, enlistment and discharge dates, war record, father and mother’s names, names of spouse and children, GAR post information, and sources, HOWEVER; much of this information was not obtained (see examples below).