Fires That Cause Genealogical Anguish

1. 1921 fire that destroyed the 1890 Census. Most of my ancestors got here in the 1860's or 1870's, so that Census would have provided good information on many of my immigrant relatives. This fire led to the creation of the National Archives to protect documents like these.

2. 1973 fire that destroyed 80% of records of Army soldiers discharged November 1, 1912, to January 1, 1960. That time period, of course, includes both World Wars. This affects three of my ancestors.

On a related note, I am told that a family member had a box of old photos and documents that was ruined in a flood. This causes me the most anguish, because I don't know what was even in the box and I have few old photos of that branch of the family. Aargh.