United States Naval Enlistment Rendezvous - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
A rendezvous was the recruiting station where the men enlisted in the Navy. Officers at the rendezvous kept a record of each man enlisted and reported the information weekly to the Navy Department. These documents are known as the “weekly returns of rendezvous reports.”

The largest number of enlistments occurred during the Civil War. The number of men in uniform for these years is estimated at between 26,000 and 51,000.

This collection consists of these enlistment registers. The original records are located in the National Archives Record Group 24 (NARA publication M1953): Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel. The records were microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah in 2003.

They are arranged in the following order:


 * Volume
 * Chronologically by week
 * Name of naval rendezvous
 * Date of enlistment

The indexes to these records, both arranged alphabetically, are available on microfilm from the National Archives in the following publications:


 * T1098, Index to Rendezvous Reports, Before and After the Civil War, 1846–1861, 1865–1884
 * T1099, Index to Rendezvous Reports, Civil War, 1861–1865

Citation for This Collection
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Suggested citation format for a record in this collection.

Record Content
The registers include the following information:




 * Name of naval rendezvous
 * Name of sailor
 * Date and term of enlistment
 * Previous naval service
 * Place of birth
 * Age
 * Occupation
 * Personal description

How to Use the Record
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Compare the information in the record to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct person. You may need to compare the information of more than one person to make this determination.

When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family. This information will often lead you to other records.

For example:


 * Death dates may lead to death certificates, mortuary, or burial records.
 * Use the age to calculate an approximate birth date.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the residence or place of birth of the deceased to locate census, church, and land records.

You may also find these search tips helpful:


 * Compile the entries for every person who has the same surname as the deceased; this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual.
 * Continue to search the records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives who may have been seeking the pension.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.

For additional information see the wiki article: Steps for research in United States Military Records.

Related Websites
National Archives Publication: “Navy”

Related Wiki Articles

 * Union Service Records
 * US Military Branches
 * U.S, Navy

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
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Citation Example for a Record Found in This Collection
"United States, Naval Enlistment Rendezvous, 1855-1891'" database and digital images  FamilySearch (https://ds.familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XG3H-KNY : accessed 02 Aug 2012), Henry Newman, 1862, age 20; Citing Naval Records, FHL microfilm 00,276; National Archives, Washington D.C., United States.