Using
Revolutionary War Pension Files to Find Family Information
Jean Nudd, Archivist
Daniel
Ide was born in Westminster, Vermont in 1783.[1]
A check of genealogies found an Ide genealogy
which listed an Ichabod Ide who lived in Westminster, Vermont in the
mid-1700s. Ichabod had lots of sons who could have fathered Daniel but
there was no Daniel listed in any of the family groups for Ichabod’s
children.[2] A search of the Vermont vital record microfilm at
the Berkshire Athenaeum also failed to find a Daniel Ide other than his
death record and birth records of his children.
Revolutionary War pension files can be a gold mine of information for
genealogists searching for Revolutionary War era ancestors. There are
quite a few under Ide since it was a prolific family in colonial
Massachusetts. Fortunately for my research, there was a pension file for
Israel Ide, one of Ichabod’s sons, who lived in Vermont. At first glance,
this pension file might not have been searched since Israel Ide served
from Massachusetts. A look at the pages within the pension file, however,
showed that Israel left Westminster, Vermont and traveled to Cambridge,
Massachusetts to sign on with Captain Wood’s Regiment where his brother
Ichabod and several cousins were already serving. A thorough check of the
pension file found an affidavit almost at the end of the file from one
Daniel Ide where he stated
I Daniel Ide of Coventry in the County of
Orleans and State of Vermont
aged
Fifty-six years depose and say that I am a Son to Israel and
Martha Ide who
formerly lived in Westminster in this State and afterwards
lived in Coventry
aforesaid – I further State my Father the said Israel Ide died
on the 9th day of
October 1822 since which my Mother the said Martha Ide has
ever continued
a Widow [Daniel Ide][3]
Daniel swore to the affidavit on March 1, 1839. Daniel gave his age as
56 years so his year of birth would be 1783. As well as connecting
generations for me, the file also gives me Israel’s death information.
Once I connected Daniel to Israel, between the Ide genealogy and the
Massachusetts vital records books, I had my Ide family back to the
original immigrant, Nicholas Ide, born about 1620 in Ide, England who died
in Rehoboth,
Massachusetts in 1690.[4]
The only unfortunate thing is that the pension did not give me any further
information on Martha Miller Ide, Daniel’s mother.
I
only wish her father was John Miller, born in Claverack, Columbia County,
New York on September 5. 1760. According to a letter from the War
Department to Mrs. Mary Miller Mallory contained in John’s file, he was
the son of Andrew Miller, enlisted while a resident of Greenbush, NY,
moved from Greenbush to Columbia in Herkimer County around 1791, married
Anna Dorothea Kerner (born Jan. 29, 1767) on April 12, 1784 in Greenbush,
and died Nov. 29, 1838 in Columbia, New York. His children’s names and
dates of birth are also listed in his pension file.[5]
Not
every Revolutionary War soldier received a pension. And the pension and
bounty-land warrant application files contain mostly the records of
enlisted men, not officers. The first pension act, Aug. 26, 1776, allowed
pensions for soldiers and sailors, injured in the service of the colonies,
who were therefore incapable of earning a living. To encourage officers
and enlisted men to serve for the duration of the conflict, the
Continental Congress passed a resolution on May 15, 1778 allowing half-pay
for all officers and a set gratuity of $80 to all enlisted men who
remained in service to the end of the war. On August 24, 1780, the
Continental Congress passed the first act offering pensions to widows and
orphans of Revolutionary War soldiers.
During the war, pensions were used to encourage enlistment and acceptance
of commissions and to prevent desertion and resignation. After the war,
they became a form of reward for services rendered. States as well as the
Federal government offered and awarded pensions based on participation in
the Revolutionary War. National Archives microfilm publication M804,
however, only contains the records of pensions granted or paid by the U.S.
Federal government. It wasn’t until 1818 that Congress passed a pension
law granting pensions to Revolutionary War veterans for service where no
disabilities resulted. These pensions, based on financial need, were for
life and resulted in a larger than anticipated number of pensions leading
to financial difficulties for the young nation so Congress amended the
1818 law in 1820 and again in 1822. The most liberal pension legislation
was enacted in 1832 giving full pay for life to officers and enlisted men
who had served for two or more years and partial pay for service of six
months to two years.[6]
All
pension files in M804 contain a 10”x14” envelope (if the pension still
exists) or a 10”x14” card summarizing the information about a claimant (if
the pension no longer exists). So a file may contain either a single card
or an envelope containing from 1 to 200 (or more) pages of records. A
typical file is an envelope with around 30 pages of records consisting of
an application or applications of one or more claimants (veteran, widow,
orphan, etc.); other documents submitted as evidence of identity and
service, and papers showing actions taken by the Government concerning the
claim(s).[7]
Different types of pensions contain some of the same records, such as
applications or affidavits, as well as different types of records, such as
marriage records. There are basically three types of pensions; survivor;
widow; or invalid. A fire in the War Department on November 8, 1800,
apparently destroyed all Revolutionary War pension and bounty land warrant
applications and related papers submitted before that date.[8]
Survivors’ pension envelopes have headings containing the name of the
state or organization in which the veteran served, his name, other names
he was known by, and the letter “S” (for survivor) followed by a file
number. These files are usually for post-1800 invalid or survivor
pensions. The file may contain affidavits testifying to the
veteran’s service or disability claimed; documentary evidence of service
submitted by the applicant such as a commission or discharge certificate;
printed briefs summarizing the service claimed; property schedules;
certified copies from State officials verifying applicants service record;
letters from attorneys, Congressmen and other interested parties relating
to the progress of the application; and letters from genealogists and
researchers seeking information with responses from the Pension Office,
the Bureau of Pensions or the Veterans Administration.[9]
William Nudd’s survivor pension number S11151, contains a card giving the
pension roll where his pension was recorded, including information on his
service as a private in Col. Mooney’s Co., in the New Hampshire line.
According to the card, he was awarded a pension of $35.44 per annum and
his certificate of pension was issued Nov. 12, 1832 and sent to S.I.
Tibbets, Ossipee, Strafford County, New Hampshire. The file also includes
a “Declaration in Order to Obtain the Benefit of the Act of Congress
passed July 7, 1832” listing William’s age as 69, and specific information
on his Revolutionary War service, giving his enlistment place as
Greenland, New Hampshire and listing several six months enlistments and
stations in Rhode Island, New Jersey and New York at various times during
the conflict. The pre-printed form, “Brief in the Case of,” that provides
spaces for answers to questions such as “How old is he” and “In what
battles was he engaged?,” is also found in William’s file. Affidavits
from William’s long-time acquaintances giving support for his case are
also found in his file. By pension standards, his is quite a small file
at around a dozen pages.[10]
Widows’ pension application files envelopes have headings consisting of
the state or organizations in which the veteran served; his name and his
widow’s name; and the letter “W” for widow followed by the file number.
Only the widow’s given name will appear on the envelope unless she
remarried in which case another surname will also be included with the
notation “Former Widow.” The file may contain records normally found
in the survivor’s file especially if the widow’s file is a consolidation
of the survivor’s application and the widow’s application. A
veteran’s pension application normally gives his age or date of birth, his
residence, and sometimes his birthplace. Property schedules often
give names and ages of a veteran’s wife and children. The application of
the widow seeking a pension or a bounty-land warrant may give her age,
residence, maiden name, date and place of marriage, and the date and place
of her husband’s death. In some widows’ pension application
files is a copy of a marriage record from the town clerk, a clergyman, or
a justice of the peace as proof of marriage. Sometimes family-record
pages from Bibles and other books were also submitted by a widow as proof
of marriage.[11]
Rosilla
Hill filed for a pension under her husband, Jonathan Hill’s service,
application number W16291. While his service was from Massachusetts,
Rosilla filed for a pension in Winchester, New
Hampshire. The file includes, as in William Nudd’s file, the card listing
the state roll where Rosilla was recorded with the annual payment of
$99.55. Affidavits in the folder include one from Lydia Coombs who stated
that she was the sister of Jonathan Hill, that she lived in Douglas,
Massachusetts at the same time they were married although she did not
attend the ceremony, that Rosilla and Jonathan had lived together until
his death, and that they had twelve children. In Rosilla’s declaration,
she states that she is a resident of Winchester, New Hampshire; that
Jonathan was a soldier in the first eight months of 1775; that they were
married in May, 1775 at Douglas, Massachusetts, by Elder Adam Stracter;
that Jonathan was a substitute for Benjamin Robbins of Douglas and a one
month substitute for George Brown of Colcester, Rhode Island; and lastly
that Jonathan died in Winchester, New Hampshire on the 26 day of November
1830.
An
affidavit from Wm. Dudley, town clerk of
Douglas, Massachusetts, states
that he is unable to locate in “the town records any evidence of an
alleged marriage between Mr. Anthony Combs and Miss Lydia Hill and also
the marriage between Mr. Jonathan Hill and Miss Rosillah Combs.” However,
he did find the intention of marriage for Jonathan and Rosillah published
in Douglas on the fifteenth day of July 1776. There are several letters of inquiry
in the file and responses from the War Department. The file also tells
us that Rosilla was 80 years old when she received her pension in 1839
and that Jonathan Hill received a
Bounty Land
warrant #4339, issued Feb. 23, 1797 and given to William Blanchard.[12]
Revolutionary War pension files are one of the easier Federal records for
researchers to use because they are arranged in full alphabetical order by
surname of veteran. Within surnames, the files are arranged
alphabetically by given name and then alphabetically by state of service.
The
Revolutionary War pension and bounty-land warrant application files
contain many 18th century documents such as commissions,
discharges, deeds, wills, diaries, journals, muster rolls, newspaper
clippings, letters, marriage certificates and family bible pages. These
contemporary documents are too numerous for the National Archives to
inventory and describe them all; however, approximately 70 journals,
diaries, and account books in the records were inventoried and a detailed
descriptive list was compiled.
[13]
The
inventory is available in full in the descriptive pamphlet for M804.
NARA included in this inventory items that were more than one page in
length. Most of the items were written by the veteran but some were
written by fathers, wives, daughters, or sons of veterans. The time
span of these items is from as early as 1685 and as late as 1853 but most
items date from 1774 to 1781. The value of these items is more for
the soldiers’ perspectives than genealogical information. Here’s a
list of the veterans included in this inventory:
From
Connecticut: Thomas Bradford; Aaron Hart; Matthew Jackson; Simeon Lyman;
Ephraim Lyon; John McCall; James Morris; Thomas Pierpoint; William
Steevens; Lemuel Storrs; Jonathan Todd; and Robert Treat
From
Massachusetts: Elijah Baker; Phinehas Bemis; Reuben Childs; Isaiah Eaton;
William Farnsworth; Hezekiah Fay; Thomas Grafton; William Hamilton; Rufus
Houghton; Andrew Kettell; Jonathan Libby; Benjamin Lock; George Mason;
Joshua Mason; David Northey; Nahum Parker; Benjamin Pond; Joseph Roundey;
Levi Stedman; Jehiel Stewart; Nathan Stickney; Josiah Stone; Abner Weston;
Ammi White; Joseph White; and Joseph Wilder
From
New Hampshire: Samuel Chase; Daniel Kimball; Enoch Long; and John Spafford
From
New Jersey: Anthony Swain
From
New York: Henry Beckman Livingston and Samuel Millington
From
North Carolina: Daniel Teachey
From
Pennsylvania: Daniel Deall; David Denny; Abner Everett; and Jacob Ritter
From
Rhode Island: Jabez Whipple
From
South Carolina: Arthur Fairies
From
Virginia: Zachariah Mills; Alvin Montjoy; Robert Scott; Anthony Tinsley;
and George Toombs[14]
Revolutionary War pension application files have a lot to offer
genealogists. If you have a family you’ve lost track of around the
Revolutionary War, like the Ide family in Vermont, these records might
connect your line as it connected Daniel and Israel for me. The Hill file
also connected Jonathan Hill and Rosilla Coombs to Douglas, Massachusetts and gave me the
information I needed to find their parents. Since the files are in full
alphabetical order, they are easily searched. The entire microfilm
publication, M804, is available at the National Archives facilities in
Pittsfield,
Waltham and New York.
