Source Information

Sewell, Patricia and Cecilia Palin, eds.. U.S., World War I Mothers' Pilgrimage, 1929 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999.
Original data: Records Relating to Pilgrimages of Gold Star Mothers and Widows, 1930–1933. NAID: 6161915. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774–1985, Record Group 92. The National Archives in Washington, D.C.

About U.S., World War I Mothers' Pilgrimage, 1929

In the late 1920s the War Department of the United States compiled a list of mothers and widows of deceased soldiers killed in World War I and offered to send them to their loved one's final resting place in Europe. This database contains the names those women who were entitled to make the pilgrimage, as shown by department records on 15 November 1929. Each record provides the name of widow or mother, city and state of residence, and relationship to the deceased. Additionally, information regarding the decedent's name, rank, unit, and cemetery is provided. In a few cases the woman's surname and decedent's surname can be different, most likely due to an error in spelling in the original document. Providing information regarding nearly 11,000 mothers and widows, this database can be useful for Ancestry.com patrons seeking World War I veterans.

Two columns indicated whether the woman desired to make the pilgrimage in 1930 or "later." If the individual chose to travel after 1930, it was in 1931, 1932, or 1933.