"FUGITIVE" Michigan Territory Militia Muster Rolls

[Cliff Krainik]

Subj: Michigan Militia Muster Rolls - with thanks
Date: 02/06/2003 9:49:43 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: Krainik
To: [e-mail] (Michael Knight)


Dear Mr. Knight:

Thank you for your email dated January 22nd informing me of the status of the search for the fugitive Michigan Territory Militia Rolls. Please forgive the delay in responding to your note - we have just returned from an extended stay in Florida only to be welcomed by a snowstorm!

I'd like you to know how much I appreciate your efforts in searching for the Michigan Militia documents.

I have a few questions -

1. Can you provide a copy of the index list indicating the militia regiments that should have been present in your holdings?

2. Would the conservation lab be persuaded to commit to the restoration of the Michigan Territorial documents if sufficient requests were to be filed with the proper department? The Old Lead Region Historical Society based in Ft. Atkinson, Wisconsin has an active interest in examining these documents. The members, both professional and amateur historians, deem the documents entrusted in your care to be of vital importance for a study of the Wisconsin Territorial era.

Please let me know what avenues I might pursue in order to have the documents stabilized and examined by researchers. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Cliff Krainik

[Cliff Krainik]

MISSING - Michigan Territory Militia Muster Rolls



Subj: Re: Michigan Militia Muster Rolls - with thanks
Date: 02/10/2003 7:57:07 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: [e-mail] (Michael Knight)
To: [e-mail]
CC: [e-mail] (Richard Peuser)

Dear Mr. Krainik,

Welcome back to the region and I hope you enjoyed your trip to Florida. I will try to reply to the questions you posed in your email.

1) I will be happy to mail you a copy of the brief index for early Indian War muster rolls if you provide me with you regular mail address (again).

2) I feel I must explain again in regards to the records for which you requested copies. The series of records are muster rolls for units from the early Indian Wars (Black Hawk War & Winnebago War included). Unfortunately, the regimental muster rolls for the Michigan Territory regiments are missing. We have been unable to locate those records within these record boxes. Thus, at this time, there are no records to copy for you in this regards. We continue to search for these records during the course of our daily business as the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is dedicated to tracking and preserving all records in our custody.

3) Your question regarding the number of requests influencing the NARA policy toward preservation of these records, in the hypothetical, is a fair one. In the perfect world scenario the NARA would prefer to process all the preservation and conservation work necessary on the 60 million plus records in our custody. However, this is impossible due to severe restrictions on resources, time, money, and personnel needed to successfully complete this work.

Generally, the Archives uses a variety of criteria for deciding how much of our limited conservation resources are committed to various series or individual records. This includes, but is not limited to, size and fragile condition of records in question, resources and staff needed to secure these records (especially space & money), rate of deterioration of records, rate of use by researchers and staff, and number of projects with resources already committed to them for the fiscal year. Additionally, due to resource limitations as well as the comprehensive renovation the Washington DC facility is undergoing, we no longer have a full equipped conservation lab here. Records requiring conservation work must be shipped by secured ground transport to our College Park facility. The College Park lab is responsible for most major conservation work for all our facilities across the nation.

In some cases, the NARA can partner with private or public institutions to have conservation work performed on specific records. However, this is often a matter of those institutions providing some of the FINANCIAL resources for this work. I have explained to you in our previous communications some of the ways this may occur.

Finally, I remind you this is merely an answer to a hypothetical question as we MUST LOCATE THE RECORDS YOU HAVE REQUESTED FIRST.

4) I have forwarded a copy of my file of our correspondence, this response to your most recent email, an index of the records currently missing, as well as the recommendation of the Senior Archivist who examined these records in detail, to the Assistant Chief of the Old Military and Civil Records Branch, Richard Peuser. Certainly, if the records are located in the future, Mr. Peuser will be responsible for authorizing the initial process of queuing those records for conservation work.

Thanks again for your inquiry.

Michael F. Knight
Old Military and Civil Records
NARA

[Marge Smith]

I guess the key is James Hanson at the Wisconsin Historical Society. If he copied the records, when and where did he find them.

I saw the Winnebago War Muster Rolls which I copied and will provide a copy for the website as soon as I get over my winter drearies.

Marge

[Larry Koschkee]

Hey there, Marge Smith, are you over your "winter drearies" yet?... the calendar does indicate it is spring. Perhaps one of the message board readers could prescribe an old home remedy "spring tonic" to help. ;D

I for one am looking forward to seeing the Winnebago War Muster Rolls you have recorded. Hope I am not coming across as pushy... just anxious.

Best regards,

Larry K.

[Larry Koschkee]

Marge...

Thanks for your efforts in bringing forth the Winnebago War Muster Rolls. They have already solved some historical questions I have had on pioneers in what is now Crawford and Grant Counties.

Best regards,

Larry Koschkee

[Cliff Krainik]

MARGE SMITH - YOU DONE GOOD!

Many thanks for your valuable contributions of the Winnebago War Chronology and the Michigan Territory Militia Muster Rolls. Your efforts are greatly appreciated.

Cliff Krainik

[jan]

Hello,
My great grandfather, Daniel Peterson, received 160 acres of land in Minnesota because of his participation in the Blackhawk War, in Captain (Grignon's ? ) Company in the Michigan Militia. I would like to know more.
Thanks so much

[georgefreemcdonald]

As this is an old thread I assume you all have cleared up the issue by now, but in case not, or for others who may not yet know, most of the muster-out rolls were misfiled for many years under "Iowa Militia", instead of Iowa County, Michigan Territory". They are available to view (transcripts) on the Wisconsin Historical Society website.