American Revolution - Genealogy Resources, Revolutionary War Records, Ancestors, Revolutionary War Genealogy

American Revolution Genealogy Resources

Trace the Revolutionary War ancestors in your family tree with this guide to the American Revolution, including military service records, pension files, maps, military actions and battles, history, pictures and more.

Finding Your Patriot: Basic Sources for Starting Revolutionary War Research

Successfully engaging in military research is often an important part of a genealogical endeavor, and it certainly ranks among the most interesting. Finding a revolutionary war ancestor holds special appeal for many people because of the prestige of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution and the satisfaction of having an ancestor who participated in the struggle which helped create the freedoms we enjoy today.

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In beginning Revolutionary War research, it is important to review the basics regarding military records. Specifically, recall the major types of military records, review what kinds of information can be obtained from each, and then begin to apply that knowledge to the Revolutionary War era.

There are four major types of military records: service records, pension records (including bounty land), claim records, and military histories. Service records, in the most general sense, are any documents that indicate that a particular person or persons served in one of the branches of the armed services. Most individuals think of muster rolls first when looking for an example of a service record. Pension records are the documents that relate to payment by the government for military service rendered or disability suffered as a result of military engagement. Disability suffered can include loss of life, in which case a person's spouse or dependents would file for the pension. Claim records are those documents generated when individuals make claims against the government for loss of real or personal property as a result of military actions or engagements, or for compensation due because of military activity. Military histories are those monographs, daybooks, and diaries, which chronicle the people and events surrounding a particular engagement or war. They can be as specific as the particular battles and hardships of a regiment as seen through the eyes of an individual soldier, or as general as the history of an entire campaign or war.

While a myriad of primary and secondary sources are available for researching in the Revolutionary War era, considering some of the larger and more accessible record groups and publications for the major record types or classes of records is a prudent manner in which to begin searching for a patriot ancestor. Indeed, some military experts claim that the overwhelming majority of revolutionary war participants are referenced in some fashion in at least one of the following four sources. These four sources, incidentally, correspond quite nicely to the four major types of military records.

The first source to consult is the DAR Patriot Index (Washington, D.C.: National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, 1994, Centennial Edition). This publication contains data for both men and women who provided service to the patriots' cause between 1774 and 1783. The service and identity of these individuals have been documented by the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution from 1890 to 1990. In an alphabetical listing, a researcher can obtain nativity and death data for the principle parties as well as information on spouse, rank, area of service, and the state for which the patriots served or where they lived. When military service is not indicated, abbreviations for civil service (e.g., sheriff, juror, town clerk, etc.) or patriotic service (a smith who provided services to the military, legislator, furnishing a substitute, etc.) are given. For a soldier who received a revolutionary war pension, the abbreviation "PNSR" appears after his name; if a soldier's children received a pension, the abbreviation "CPNS" is used; if a soldier's widow received a pension, the abbreviation "WPNS" is used. In some important respects, the DAR Patriot Index is a type of service record index for the Revolutionary War.

The second source to consult is an index to the pensions given for Revolutionary War service. There are two major indexes one can consult: the Index of Revolutionary War Pension Applications (Washington, D.C.: National Genealogical Society, 1966) and the "Genealogical Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files" (Waynesboro, TN: The National Historical Publishing Company, 1991-92). The older publication, the Index of Revolutionary War Pension Applications, is available in many libraries and record repositories and is an easy-to-use, quick reference work to determine whatever pension papers are available for a potential ancestor. In addition to the veteran's name is the state for which the person served or where he lived as well as bounty land warrant (LBWt), survivor (S), widow (W), or rejected (R) pension numbers. With this information, you can request and view the actual pension papers microfilmed by the National Archives. The newer publication, the Genealogical Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files, is an alphabetical listing of genealogical abstracts taken from the National Archives microfilm publication entitled Selected Records from the Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Applications Files (record series M805). This four-volume publication goes a bit further than the general index mentioned above, in that it provides actual data from the pension files. The first three volumes of the work have, in alphabetical order by principal party, the abstracted genealogical data from the revolutionary war applicants' files, while the fourth volume is an every-name index to the other three. These abstracts include references to Virginia half-pay claims as well as to state pension and bounty land.

The third source, a source for checking claim records for the Revolutionary War, is entitled Pierce's Register (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1973). Originally published as a government document in 1915 and subtitled a Register of the Certificates Issued by John Pierce, Esquire, Paymaster General and Commissioner of Army Accounts for the United States, to Officers and Soldiers of the Continental Army under Act of July 4, 1783, this work provides the certificate number, the veteran to whom the certificate was issued, and the amount of the claim. While you might be initially disturbed by the apparent lack of personal or identifying information, browsing the prefatory material will uncover a table of certificate numbers. In many instances, this table will provide much more identifying data. A couple of examples are given below.

No. of Certificate..................To Whom Issued 1930-1936..............................Officers of Van Heers' Regiment, paid to December, 1783. 22639-25331...........................First Regiment and Old Third of New Jersey, under Col. Albert Ogden, paid to November 4, 1783; John Blair, agent. 27564-31208...........................First Regiment, Massachusetts, Col. J. Vose; Eggleston, paymaster, agent.

The fourth source to consult when attempting to locate data on a potential revolutionary war ancestor is what some might call a "sleeper"—a source you will probably not stumble across when conducting military research. Indeed, it is a source which does not have the words military, revolutionary war, pension, or service in its title. It is simply called The American Genealogical—Biographical Index to American Genealogical, Biographical and Local History Materials (Middletown, Conn.: The Godfrey Memorial Library, 1952-) searchable at Ancestry.com. Along with that, however, you can find some real Revolutionary War treasures. Originally published as The American Genealogical Index and still known in many circles as the Rider Index after its original editor, Fremont Rider, this work indexes New England family, church, and town histories; county and town histories of other eastern states; and numerous revolutionary war related publications. Among the Revolutionary War titles indexed in this multivolume source (more than 180 volumes in its reprinted form) you can find compilations such a Historical Register of Virginians in the Revolution, Soldiers, Sailors, 1775-1783; Rolls and Lists of Connecticut Men in the Revolution, 1775-1783; Muster and Payrolls of the Revolutionary War, 1775-1783 (from the collections of the New York Historical Society); and 600 Revolutionary Soldiers Living in Georgia in 1827-8, to mention a few. This multivolume work indexes every name in the compilations it covers.

Hence, when beginning to search for that patriot ancestor using the DAR Patriot Index, either of the two indexes to Revolutionary War pension and bounty land applications—Pierce's Register and The American Genealogical-Biographical Index to American Genealogical, Biographical and Local History Materials—will provide access to a significant number of service, pension, claim, and history records and compilations. It is a wonderful way to begin Revolutionary War research.

While the four categories of military records are significant, it would be a disservice not to mention at least some of the records and compilations that might be classed in an "other" category.

A number of quite excellent guides to military records in general and Revolutionary War records in particular are rather widely available to researchers. One of the best of these guides is a publication entitled U.S. Military Records: A Guide to Federal and State Sources, Colonial America to the Present by James C. Neagles (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1994). This work not only provides meaningful descriptions and examples of numerous military records, it is of great assistance in locating those records for the purposes of personal research inspection. The first part of the text, devoted to record definition and description, is richly illustrated with copies of actual documents. The rest of this work is devoted to assisting the researcher in uncovering and using the resources of the National Archives and its regional branches, other research centers within and outside the Washington, D.C., area, and a detailed listing of state resources. It is a most worthwhile publication.

A much smaller but still useful publication is the research outline published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) Family History Library in Salt Lake City. It is simply called "U.S. Military Records." This thirty-nine page compilation contains very concise and well-written descriptions of the various types of military records as well as lists of significant primary and secondary source documents. Just browsing through this research outline will provide the researcher with many suggestions on possible sources of Revolutionary War materials and information. It is reminiscent of county- and state-specific publications that are often titled Revolutionary War Soldiers Buried in. . .; it provides information about unit histories and mentions lineage society records that can be most useful.

The National Archives has published a work entitled Military Service Records: A Select Catalog of National Archives Microfilm Publications (Washington, D.C.: National Archives Trust Fund Board, 1985). Available from companies that provide National Archives microfilm, this book lists significant record groups available to the genealogist searching Revolutionary War records. Along with the specific sets, the publication often provides brief but useful descriptions of the record groups. Particularly useful are those descriptions which allow the researcher to know what kind of personal, identifying information may be found through the Internet, at www.nara.gov. While this Internet site may be a bit challenging to use, it contains some fairly current lists of resources.

The United States federal government has published tens of thousands of reports and documents through the Government Printing Office (GPO). Many of these documents contain substantial historical data, particularly in the area of military operations, soldiers, veterans, and financial obligations (e.g., pensions). Some examples of government documents which could have a positive impact on revolutionary war research include Calendar of the Correspondence of George Washington, Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, With the Continental Congress (LC.2:W27/3); Engineers of Independence: A Documentary History of the Army Engineers in the American Revolution (D103.43:870-1-6); and Publications on the American Revolution Available from the Library of Congress (LD1.12/2:R 32/3).

Government documents are valuable for a number of reasons. The first is the sheer volume of records published by the federal government. Second, the superintendent of federal government documents maintains a unique cataloging system whereby government documents, without regard to their location in a particular library or region of the country, are cataloged in a prescribed manner. This means that a specific title will bear the same call number (called a SUDOC number) no matter what library has obtained copies of it. Third, many public and university libraries serve as federal government document repositories. That puts many of these documents as close as a local library. And finally, the amount of detail present in some government documents almost defies belief. For example, volume 9 of a government publication entitled Naval Documents of the American Revolution (D207.12:9) covers a two-month period in 1777 and is more than 1,000 pages in length.

The genealogist researching a potential Revolutionary War ancestor must take advantage of the many fine publications and services of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution at 1776 D Street in Washington, D.C. While containing much more than revolutionary-era materials, the society's library makes a special effort to collect heavily in this early time period of the United States. Their deep collection is complemented by an extremely knowledgeable staff. In 1993, the NSDAR Library started publishing an informative newsletter entitled Continental Columns. Besides highlighting some useful collections extant at the library, it contains very helpful bibliographies, e.g., women in the revolution. It is typically distributed with the DAR Magazine four times a year.

This article describes significant basic sources for finding your patriot ancestor. Many more interesting sources can be found at your local library and on the Internet. Give them both a try.

Curt Witcher is the department manager for the Historical Genealogy Department of the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana; adjunct professor in Indiana University's Continuing Education Program; and a genealogical instructor and lecturer. He is the past president of the Federation of Genealogical Societies, and is currently the national volunteer coordinator for the Civil War Soldiers & Sailors Project. He has also written articles for Ancestry Magazine, FGS's FORUM, and other genealogical publications. He is the co-editor of PERSI with Michael B. Clegg.