This week Geneanet.org is organizing a special week dedicated to the indexing of the US Navy’s Muster Rolls from the Civil War through the end of the century.

The US Navy Muster Rolls project consists of high-resolution scans by the US National Archives (NARA) of detailed lists of sailors taken on ships in the US Navy from the Civil War period (1861-1865) through the last years of the 19th century. The rolls include Americans and also English, Irish, Scottish, and even some Dutch sailors.

To contribute, just go to the collaborative indexing page, select “US Navy Muster Rolls” as the collection, choose the time you have available, and click on the red “Start indexing” button. The system will assign you a page or pages, reserved until you complete indexing.

You will see a high-resolution image from the muster rolls; just key in data in the column to the right: last name, first name, occupation, date of enlistment, nationality (place of birth), and age. If you are unsure about a handwritten name, check the “Ask for a review” box. To go to the next sailor, click the green “Add a person” button.

A number of Geneanet members have already indexed over 32,000 sailors from the muster rolls since the project launched in October 2022.

To start indexing, go to: https://en.geneanet.org/indexation/