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When tracing 20th-century ancestors, the World War I era can be surprisingly quiet. Many states didn’t yet have strong civil registration systems, and federal census records from the 1910s and 1920s can be incomplete or hard to navigate. That makes the Ohio Soldiers in World War I Military Records Index a crucial genealogical research tool.
This collection centers on The Official Roster of Ohio Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines in the World War, 1917–1918, a monumental 23-volume set that documents approximately 250,000 Ohioans who served during the Great War. With complete page images for every volume, the index allows you to locate your ancestor by name and unit and see the exact page where their service is recorded.
For many researchers, this may be the only surviving wartime document that connects a relative to their service in World War I.
What You’ll Find Inside
The roster includes more than just names. Many entries list the branch of service, unit designation, date of enlistment, rank, home address, and date and reason for discharge. If your ancestor died in service, that’s often noted, along with the place and cause of death.
The roster covers:
- Soldiers in the U.S. Army and National Guard
- Sailors in the U.S. Navy
- Marines and naval aviators
- Nurses and medical corps members
- Ohioans who enlisted out of state but requested to be recorded under Ohio
It’s a sweeping record of statewide military involvement and includes individuals from every county. Whether your ancestor lived in Cleveland, Dayton, Cincinnati, or a small farming town, there’s a good chance they appear in this resource.
Why It Matters for Genealogy
The World War I period often falls into a documentation gap. It came after the 1900 census but before the Social Security system and before states required uniform birth and death records. The draft registration cards from 1917–1918 are helpful but don’t confirm service—just eligibility.
That’s why this roster is so useful. It confirms actual military service and often provides enough identifying information to connect the entry to other records—like birth certificates, marriage records, or census listings.
If you’re building out a family tree and have a relative born between 1880 and 1900, this collection is a strong place to look for military ties and community connections.
Using the Index
This is not a searchable database in the modern sense—it functions as a name index that links directly to scanned pages from the original volumes. Once you locate your ancestor in the index, you can view their official roster entry as it was published just after the war.
In addition to confirming service, you can use the information to locate:
- Draft registration cards
- Birth and death certificates
- 1900 and 1910 census listings
- VA pension files (if they lived long enough to apply)
- Burial information and headstone applications
In short, this index serves as both a confirmation of service and a springboard to building a deeper family history narrative.