Seeking Andersonville records & military records of John Shankland

Hi Julie,

Thank you for posting to the History Hub.

Military Unit:7th Infantry (3 Months, 1861)

Full Name:Shankland, John H

Company:I

Enlistment Rank:Pvt

Discharge Rank:Pvt

Conflict Period:Civil War (Union)

Branch:Union ArmyServed for:United States of America

Joe

Hi Julie

Welcome to History Hub.

What state did he join up with?

I was surprised to find this list....http://www.civilwarprisoners.com/search.php?database=andersonville

There was one Shankland in the Andersonville list. His  name was Bernard Shankland..click link below..is he a family member...there were two others with the name spelled Shanklin...You should check might be others spellings.

http://www.civilwarprisoners.com/searchresults.php?fname=&lname=shankland&regiment=&database=andersonville

He might be on the Fold3.com  military website...I don't have a subscription for that...they do give a 7 day free trial and then there is a fee after that of $7.95  a month

I found a family tree of the Shankland side of your family...researched back to the year 1500. Familysearch.org is a free website. you just need to join to search...for the... tree click the link below..to join go to https://www.familysearch.org/

family tree https://www.familysearch.org/tree/pedigree/landscape/KL7F-KRL

Please do not hesitate to ask if you need further assistance.

Alice Lane

Volunteer Researcher

Dear Ms. Goodwine,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

We searched the National Archives Catalog  and located the series Indexes to the Carded Records of Soldiers Who Served in Volunteer Organizations During the Civil War, 1899 - 1927 in the Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1762-1917 (Record Group 94) that includes two file units for individuals named John H. Shankland, both of whom served in I Company, 7th Illinois Infantry for three-month enlistments. We also located the series Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Volunteer Organizations During the American Civil War in the Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1762 - 1917 (Record Group 94) but were unable to locate a file for John H. Shankland. Unfortunately, the records for Illinois Volunteers have not been microfilmed or digitized. To request a copy of his non-digitized service record, please download the NATF Form 86, fill it out to the best of your knowledge, and mail the completed forms to the address listed on the form. Please include a copy of the file unit from the Index. You also may place your order online using eservices.archives.gov. For more information see Requesting Copies of Older (pre-WWI) Military Service Records.

We also located 15 series in Records of the Commissary General of Prisoners (Record Group 249) that contain records related to Union/Federal prisoners held in Andersonville Prison, Georgia. These records are not available online. For access to these series, please contact the National Archives at Washington, DC -Textual Reference (RDT1) via email at archives1reference@nara.gov.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to guidance received from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of NARA staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgement as well as a substantive response to your reference request from RTD1. Also, please note that the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has suspended reproduction and digitization services until further notice due to COVID-19. Orders will not be serviced until operations can resume safely. Once operations resume, document reproduction requests will be filled in the order in which they were received. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience.

We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your family research!

Julie,

What information in your possession would suggest that he was imprisoned? There are research lists of people you can search the only one that shows a name imprisoned at Andersonville is a Bernard Shankland from New York. Do you have any additional documentation suggesting he was there.

Found his pension card Co. I 7th Regiment of Illinois Infantry. He also served in the 92nd Ohio Regiment (aka VRC) or Veteran Reserve Corps. Here is widows pension dose Mary Shankland ring any bells?

Also here is were he is buried copy and paste link into your browser. It looks like Mary was his second wife and Ella was first wife both claimed pension cards so I think this is your relative. Bottom Card of pension record for Ella Shankland.

Additionally found map of Andersonville Prison

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/92651372/john-harvey-shankland

Hope this helps,

Elliot Schneider

Hi Julie,

I found a biography of your John Shankland in a book with the title Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois by Newton Batemand..1912..his bio is in the section on Sangamon County...Volume 3...page 1609. He was a prisoner at Andersonville..you can read the item, or the entire book, by clicking on the following link.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Historical_Encyclopedia_of_Illinois/_68yAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=john+shankland+and…

Alice Lane

Volunteer Researcher

Hi Julie,

Research on the Federal Side of the war is complicated, but research on the Rebel side in a little easier. The Nation Archives took on a project in 1968 to catalogue every scrape of paper in their files and elsewhere on the confederacy. The results was a book entitled "The Confederacy" a Guide to the Archives of the Government of the Confederate States of America. The second publication of this book was in 1986. Henry Putney Beers of the National Archives did a wonderful job of putting this resource together. In this book you will fine every source  on Andersonville Military Prison and where it is located. I would recommend this book as a starting point on your research on your family search.

Joe    

Julie,

Here is some additional information I found.

"In the death of John H. Shankland, which occurred June 21, 1909, Sangamon County lost one of it representative citizens, a man who had done much towards building up the town of Dawson, Ill., in more than one sense. He was a veteran of the Civil War, in which he received wounds, scars from which he carried to the time of his death. John H. Shankland was educated in Kentucky and during his boyhood days worked for his father on the home farm, but in 1856 came to Illinois and settled in Springfield, where he started to work as a carpenter and builder, a trade he had learned in his native State. In 1861, when the call came for 100-day volunteers, Mr. Shankland was one of the first to offer his services to the Union cause, enlisting in Company I, Seventh Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under Col. Babcock and Gen. John C. Cook, and after his time had expired he veteranized in the same company and regiment, enlisting for three years. He was First Sergeant of his company and took part in many battles, among them being Fort Donelson, Belmont, Shiloh and Corinth, at which latter battle he was wounded in the shoulder and jaw, and carried a bullet in his head all the rest of his life. He was taken prisoner by the Confederates May 7, 1864, and served eight months in the prisons at Andersonville, Cahaba and Florence. After being paroled July 7, 1865, Mr. Shankland was mustered out of the service at Washington, D.C., the 25th of the same month. After completing his services to his country, Mr. Shankland returned to Sangamon County and located in Dawson, where he followed the trade of carpenter until 1874, then went to Riverton, but two years later went back to Dawson, his home until his death. He also spent a little time engaged in farming. He served as Police Magistrate for sixteen years, was a Notary Public, and was School Director for twelve years consecutively at one time and for sixteen years consecutively at another...On December 29, 1877, Mr. Shankland was married in Dawson, Ill., to Mrs. Mary Constant Rinker, who was born September 25, 1839, the daughter of Jacob and Amelia (Crocker) Constant, {Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Sangamon County, Biographical, 1912,