Pension Records

• Want to know more about your Revolutionary War ancestor, then search for a pension record. These documents are chock-full of personal details such as names of family members and financial status. Friends and neighbors also testified on behalf of applicants providing you with insights into their social circle. The veterans gave testimony of their service, battles they participated in and the names of men they served with. For instance, William Hutchings of Maine  didn’t apply for a pension until 1832 and his father vouched for his service. The documents in his record include the amount of pension he received ($21.66 per year) and that he received an increase under a Special Act of Congress in 1865. You can read his personal declaration in support of his pension application which outlines his life during and after the war. Hutchings lived until 1866.
• If your ancestor lived until 1840 and applied for a pension for military service up to that point then it’s likely they appear in the 1840 Census of Pensioners . You’ll find the name of the person collecting the pension, their age and where they live. If they lived after 1840 then there is a chance these individuals posed for a photographic portrait. Shiny, reflective daguerreotypes were introduced to the United States in 1839.

Service Details

• Not everyone applied for a pension. Look for service details of your patriot ancestor by searching the U.S. Compiled Revolutionary War Military Service Records, 1775-1783 or the U.S. Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783 . These muster rolls are indexed and you can view the original images on digital copies of the National Archives microfilm.

When you finish searching the bountiful resources available for the Revolutionary War period, you’ll know a lot more about your family that lived during those tumultuous years.  Let me know what you’ve found.  I love hearing success stories!

The Last Muster

The odds of you actually having a photograph or other image of that Revolutionary War period ancestor hasn’t been calculated because no one knows how many of the men and women who lived during that period actually sat for a portrait—photographic or painted. I’ve found more than two hundred photos or artwork based on images and the search continues. You can participate too.  See my Last Muster Project page for details.

The post Revolutionary War Roots on Ancestry.com appeared first on Maureen Taylor.

Are the people in your family pictures old enough to be part of the Revolutionary War generation?

It’s not unlikely.  Many of the images in my Last Muster series of books, have come from private family collections. Do you have a picture of someone who fits the following categories?

Patriots, soldiers and loyalist adults: Anyone who was an adult during the American Revolution would have been at least 80 years old by the advent of photography. Several veterans appeared in Reverend Elias Hillard ‘s Last Men of the Revolution in the 1860s, but thousands of men applied for pensions after the War.

Children: Anyone who was a child during the American Revolution would have been in his late 50s or older when they had their picture taken beginning in the 1840s.

Wives and widows: The last surviving widow of a Revolutionary soldier died in 1906! Esther Sumner married Noah Damon when she was 21 and he was 75. Finding pictures of wives and widows means looking at pictures taken anywhere from 1840 to the early 1900s.

If you think you do, please contact me at photodetective@maureentaylor.com

I have put together a free download of 5 Revolutionary War-Related Activities that you can explore. Click the button below to get your copy.

Download “5 Revolutionary War-Related Activities”

You can buy your copy of The Last Muster books by clicking here.

The post Looking for the Revolutionary War Generation In Your Family Photos appeared first on Maureen Taylor.