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Re: Seeking hospital records for Merida Fortenberry & Elias Polk
Elliot Schneider Aug 30, 2020 4:54 PM (in response to Bettee Boyd)Bettee,
Found Elias Polk. Also found his headstone application, and widows pension. Please also follow this link and copy and paste in your web browser.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/41000320/elias-polk
Also found Merinda Fortenberry
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/16129860/merida-a_-fortenberry
Thanks,
Elliot
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Re: Seeking hospital records for Merida Fortenberry & Elias Polk
Susannah Brooks Aug 31, 2020 6:21 PM (in response to Bettee Boyd)According to the Guide to Federal Records https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/109.html#109.8 , Confederate Hospital records are in Record Group (RG) 109.8
You would have to find which hospitals they were in from their service records (available on Fold3.com) and then find the records at NARA in Washington DC in RG109.8.
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Re: Seeking hospital records for Merida Fortenberry & Elias Polk
Bettee Boyd Aug 31, 2020 7:46 PM (in response to Susannah Brooks)Susannah - thanks! bb
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Re: Seeking hospital records for Merida Fortenberry & Elias Polk
Joshua SchroederSep 4, 2020 1:57 PM (in response to Bettee Boyd)
1 person found this helpfulDear Ms. Boyd,
Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!
We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the series Record Books of Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Offices of the Confederate Government, 1874-1899 in the War Department Collection of Confederate Records (Record Group 109) that contains 10 file units & 3 items related to Confederate hospitals in Mississippi and 3 file units & 1 item related to Confederate hospitals in Tennessee. For access to these records, please contact the National Archives at Washington, D.C. - Textual Reference (RDT1) by 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 RDT1. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience.
We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your family research!
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Re: Seeking hospital records for Merida Fortenberry & Elias Polk
Bettee Boyd Sep 4, 2020 7:14 PM (in response to Joshua Schroeder)Joshua,
This is helpful info for me. My problem is that the story exists in oral tradition only - and we believe it to be true - but it does not give us dates or exact locations when Merida's mother traveled to N MS or TN to get him. I can find a general time he was in the army from his muster rolls, but that is all I have. Hopefully one day the Archives will be fully open again and I will feel safe to travel and research there.
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Re: Seeking hospital records for Merida Fortenberry & Elias Polk
Bettee Boyd Sep 12, 2020 7:26 PM (in response to Bettee Boyd)After spending some time on Fold 3, I was able to determine the approximate dates and places where Merida Fortenberry was hospitalized. I'm hoping to do the same with Elias Polk although his reason for leaving the army was different. He deserted to come home and help with the crops - then went back. He couldn't find his original unit so he was enrolled in another unit, leaving his desertion record intact for his first unit. It took a while to track this down as he had two sets of records, but I am satisfied this is what happened. It matches the family stories as well.