Daily Life Databases | Census Databases | Wartime Databases | Postwar Databases
The Valley of the Shadow letters and diaries collection are completely searchable. Users may search the letters or the diaries by keyword, date, or subject.
The Valley of the Shadow newspaper transcriptions are fully indexed and completely searchable. Users may search article titles, summaries, and transcriptions in all the Valley papers by specific year or newspaper.
This database allows you to search the record books for churches in Augusta County, Virginia, and Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Church records tell us about the spiritual life of a community, and many churches kept careful records of their members, making notes of their marriages, births, baptisms, and deaths. Users may search either by county or church.
In Augusta's slave society, white people kept a close eye on free black people, who had to register with the county government. Those records have been transcribed by Katherine Bushman and generously made available for this archive. These sources are searchable using the "Find" function on your browser.
This database allows you to search the 1860 Augusta County Tax Records Census for Staunton, Virginia and the 1860 Franklin County Tax Records Census for Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. Users may search a number of the fields found in the agricultural census (such as name, occupation, and various tax amounts).
This database is a searchable index of fire insurance policies held by Staunton residents before the war.
This database allows you to search either the 1860 or 1870 U.S. Population Census in either Augusta County, Virginia, or Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Users may search basic information found in the census (name, age, sex, color, occupation, wealth, and birthplace), or use the advanced search to find more specific information (such as the dwelling number, rank in household, page number in the census record).
This database allows you to search the 1860 U.S. Agricultural Census in either Augusta County, Virginia, or Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Users may search all the information found in the agricultural census (such as name of owner, acreage, location of farm, and production values).
This database allows you to search the 1860 U.S. Manufacturing Census in either Augusta County, Virginia, or Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Users may search for basic information found in the manufacturing census (name of owner, name of business, location of business, and type of product produced), or use the advanced search to find more specific information (such as capital investment, information on workers, quantity and value of products produced, and page number in the census record).
In Augusta County, the slaveowner census counted the number of slaves, their gender and color, but did not record their names. Instead, the census recorded the owners' names. Users may search this database for all information contained in the slaveowner census, including employers of slaves and the location of plantations.
This database allows you to search the military dossiers of soldiers from Augusta County, Virginia, and Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Since this database does not include every man in the regiment or company, but only those from Augusta or Franklin, queries of regimental or company statistics should be treated as representative of what happened to soldiers from the two counties. Users may search a wide variety of categories (such as rank, regiment, enlistment date, enlistment age, and casualties).
This database contains the records relating to the military units Augusta County and Franklin County sent to the war, which are part of the approximately 1500 records in our the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion database. Users may explore the index of dates and authors or search the full text of the records.
This database offers detailed information about the movements of regiments from Franklin and Augusta counties. Users may search for information about specific battles, including the start and end dates, numbers killed and wounded, and weather conditions.
The image database contains over seven hundred photographs and magazine illustrations from the Civil War. Users may search for photographs of soldiers from Augusta and Franklin counties, scenes from battles that Augusta and Franklin units fought in, or magazine illustrations of the homefront and camp life. The database also contains a large collection of photographs and magazine illustrations of African American soldiers and civilians during the Civil War years.
The approximately 200 letters in the Freedmen's Bureau collection are fully text searchable. This search engine will do full-text searches within all the Valley letters, but you may also limit your search exclusively to the Freedmen's Bureau records. Users may also search the records by keyword, date, or subject.
After the war Pennsylvania established a claims commission to review petitions for claims along the border. A great majority of the claims came from the burning of Chamberburg. This database allows users to search 594 Chambersburg claims.
The 1890 U.S. Veterans Census Database allows users to search for information about veterans and widows from Augusta County, Virginia, and Franklin County, Pennsylvania, who were living in the two counties in 1890. Users may search by name, residence, rank during the war, regiment, and other criteria.
