# Rediscovering old family documents: my grandfather's WWI commission **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 10, 2008, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-old-family-documents-my-grandfathers-wwi-commission/452388 "2008-06-10T01:06:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-old-family-documents-my-grandfathers-wwi-commission/452388/1 "2008-06-10T01:06:08Z")
I was at my mother’s place over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend and we started poking about in some old boxes hidden away at the back of a cupboard. We turned up a few interesting bits and pieces, including the document, signed by King George V, commissioning my paternal grandfather into the [AIF](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Australian_Imperial_Force) in 1914. We’ve decided that it definitely has to be preserved and framed. Isn’t it great when these types of old family records come to light again? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-old-family-documents-my-grandfathers-wwi-commission/452388/2 "2008-06-10T01:29:52Z")
Completely cool. I discovered my mother’s “passport” to Alaska from WWII. My father was working up here after all dependents were evacuated following Pearl Harbor. To come up for a visit, one had to have approval from the Army and a passage document with a photo. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-old-family-documents-my-grandfathers-wwi-commission/452388/3 "2008-06-10T03:03:58Z")
My mother has my her grandfather’s naturalization certificate framed and hanging on her wall, and a WWII bond that her grandmother had bought. One of these days, we should find out how much it’s worth just for grins and giggles. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-old-family-documents-my-grandfathers-wwi-commission/452388/4 "2008-06-10T03:20:17Z")
I love old stuff like this. I think my brother’s got our grandfather’s WWI commission. We’ve got his Degree of Pharmaceutical Chemist, KS State, 1909, and his MD from Creighton, 1913. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-old-family-documents-my-grandfathers-wwi-commission/452388/5 "2008-06-10T03:48:00Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] We’ve got his Degree of Pharmaceutical Chemist, KS State, 1909, and his MD from Creighton, 1913. [/QUOTE] We’ve got my other grandfather’s medical degrees from Sydney Uni framed up on the wall. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-old-family-documents-my-grandfathers-wwi-commission/452388/6 "2008-06-10T04:39:36Z")
I found a few interesting documents online while researching my genealogy. [On this page](http://brookenelson.com/genealogy/nelsonhistory.html) I have posted the ship’s register with my great-grandfather’s family’s names from when they immigrated from Sweden in 1903; I have the pages with their names from the 1920 and 1930 Census, and a copy of my great-grandfather’s WWII draft registration card from 1942. I found all these on [Ancestry.com](http://Ancestry.com). ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-old-family-documents-my-grandfathers-wwi-commission/452388/7 "2008-06-10T05:29:10Z")
My grandfather was an indentured orphan – he was sent from New York, where he was abandoned as an infant, to live with a Nebraska farm family till he turned 21, at which point they turned him loose in the world with $200 and a new suit of clothes. My cousin is the designated keeper of his indenture papers. Needless to say, that’s a treasured family document! ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-old-family-documents-my-grandfathers-wwi-commission/452388/8 "2008-06-10T08:12:23Z")
There’s a [painting of the badge](http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r139/quartz-quill/WW1/?action=view¤t=Australiaforever.jpg) of the AIF in my grandmother’s album - she was a doctor - done by a (initials unreadable) McKay, no 1423. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-old-family-documents-my-grandfathers-wwi-commission/452388/9 "2008-06-10T14:42:21Z")
When my mother’s cousin was shot down over Guadalcanal, the family received a signed letter from the President about his death - we have that framed in our dining room along with his Purple Heart, and other medals. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-old-family-documents-my-grandfathers-wwi-commission/452388/10 "2008-06-10T19:00:29Z")
I think the absolute coolest thing I found during my genealogy research was my great-grandfather’s military file from the Civil War. Normally, these files just contain mustering records, etc. But this one was special. My g-grandfather and g-grandmother had divorced, it seems, and he had ended up committing suicide years later. When my g-grandmother applied for his pension, she was told she had to provide either a marriage certificate (which she didn’t have), or would have to give a deposition and obtain similar depositions from people who knew of their relationship. All of the depositions were in his file, but the gold medal of the lot was g-grandmother’s. It detailed their entire life together, and provided a wealth of genealogy information, including places, dates, names, etc. Turns out they lived for a time in Devil’s Lake, ND when it was still largely Indian Territory. The document led to many other findings and I ended up writing a comprehensive story line about their lives to pass on to my own children, complete with photos of his Civil War company, and a letter from him about his capture at Bull Run. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2008, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rediscovering-old-family-documents-my-grandfathers-wwi-commission/452388/11 "2008-06-10T22:22:48Z")
we’ve got a pay stub from when mother-in-law worked in the oval office…for JFK.