Don't Overlook Rev. War Pension Applications
These Records Can Be a Fount of Family Information
Sep 20, 2008
This is non-textbook history told by people who participated in the events they describe.
United States laws providing pensions were passed decades after the war ended at a time when most soldiers were past age 60. Often their widows applied.
The National Archives has these pension applications and it is possible to get copies of those relating to individual ancestors.
Pension Applications Provide Family Data
The pension records of the National Archives are based on service in the armed forces of the United States between 1775 and 1916. Pension application files usually provide the most genealogical information. They often contain supporting documents such as: narratives of events during service, marriage certificates, birth records, death certificates, pages from family Bibles, family letters, depositions of witnesses, affidavits, discharge papers and other supporting evidence.
Many Revolutionary War soldiers also qualified for bounty land. Sometimes these records are with the pension applications, but not always. Remember to look for both.
Bounty Land Applications
Bounty land warrant application files in the National Archives relate to claims based on wartime service between 1775 and March 3, 1855. If your ancestor served in the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, early Indian Wars, or the Mexican War, a search of these records may be worthwhile. Bounty land records often contain documents similar to those in pension files, with lots of genealogical information.
Case Study Demonstrates Value of Military Records
Here is an example of what was contained in one Revolutionary War pension application.
James Rice first applied in 1818, giving his age as 63 and location as Bracken Co., KY. He applied again in 1823, stating his wife was "a very weakly woman" between age 45 and 47, that his son Michael was about 12 and his other children were Anetta, about 9, Betsy, about 7 or 8, Cornelius, between 5 and 6, and Parthena, about 2.
His application notes that he enlisted at the King William County courthouse in Virginia, served at the battles of Brandywine and Germantown and spent the winter of 1776-77 (actually was 1777-78) with Washington's troops at Valley Forge.
His final application was made in 1833, from Brown Co., OH, noting his name had been on the Kentucky pension roll, but that he has just moved to Franklin Twp., OH. He reports he had no land in Kentucky and that his son, Philip, is giving him a small piece of land and building him a house to live in the rest of his life.
Here we have discovered where in Virginia James Rice was from, the names and approximate ages of several of his children, and the family's migration path from Virginia into Kentucky and on to Ohio!
Particularly valuable are the pension applications filed by soldiers’ widows. They have to prove when and where they married the soldier. These, too, often show family migration patterns.
How to Obtain Records
The National Archives has records stored in facilities nationwide. The Revolutionary War records, however, are stored at the original main facility located at 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20408-0001. The research entrance is on Pennsylvania Ave. The entrance to the Rotunda, where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are on display, is on Constitution Ave.
Records can be ordered online if you register as a user and pay by credit card. You can also go online and request blank order forms to fill out and send in with your payment.
The National Archives offers an in-depth online article describing all its military records and how to access them.
Sources: The National Archives Directory, the National Archives website and the Rice Family Book Project.
 |
 |
 |
