By Shelley K. Bishop - from Familytree Magazine
Use a variety of genealogy records to step by step trace
your Revolutionary War ancestry.
The fife and drums echo through many American families.
Whether to confirm a family story, join a patriotic lineage society or satisfy
your own curiosity, you may long to know more about your Revolutionary War
ancestry.
And if your forebears lived in America between 1775 and
1783, there’s a good chance one of them aided in the struggle for independence:
serving in the military, providing funds or supplies, or demonstrating
patriotism in a number of other ways. Discovering this part of your heritage can
be fascinating and rewarding.
Yet tracing your lineage back seven, eight, or more,
generations—plus finding evidence of your ancestor’s service—can be
challenging. Documenting relationships between people who lived two centuries
ago takes time and determination.
With the right tools, you can build a research ladder (rung
by sturdy rung) that reaches your Revolutionary-era ancestors. We’ll help you
determine what types of records to look for, plus how to explore and record
your ancestor’s story for future generations.
Where to Begin
Let’s start with a quick history reminder: The Revolutionary
War began in 1775 with the Battles of Lexington and Concord and ended in 1783
with the Treaty of Paris and the withdrawal of British forces. The fight for
independence involved all 13 colonies: Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia,
Maryland, Massachusetts (which included Maine), New Jersey, New York, New
Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina and
Virginia. Settlers in modern-day Vermont, Louisiana and frontier regions also
aided in the struggle.
In many families, however, the legacy of this long-ago
period has been lost. If that’s the case in your ancestry, investigate which
branches of your family tree will take you back to the 1770s in the United
States. (After all, you have 128 fifth-great-grandparents!) Focus your research
to lines that have been in the country since Colonial times, then choose one to
investigate first.
Examine family stories about Revolutionary ancestors, which
may have been passed down in oral or written form. Or maybe a grandparent or
cousin was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) or the
Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), which each require proof of a
genealogical lineage to a known patriot. Your goal, then, might be to confirm
and document your lineage to that specific person.
Building Your Ladder
As with any genealogical research, begin with yourself and
work backward in time, generation by generation, to construct your “ladder.”
You’re the first rung, and your parents are the second. If you’re following
your mother’s surname, her father is the third. Her father’s father is the
fourth, and so on.
As tempting as it might be, don’t try to work down the
ladder from a patriot you’ve found online and attempt to make the data fit your
family. Unless a close relative has already proven the lineage with the DAR or
SAR, you’re likely to encounter a faulty rung and your whole structure could
collapse.
For each generation, your goal is to document your ancestor
and his or her:
birth date and place
spouse’s name (including maiden name)
marriage date and place
death date and place
Remember that places are just as important as dates. Make
sure you’ve identified the right person and the right county or town. If there
are two people by that name in the area, you may need to research both to
determine which one is your ancestor.
You’ll also need evidence of the parent/child relationship
to link each generation to the one before it. That proof of parentage is the
vertical framework that connects the rungs of the ladder. You can’t attach a
rung without it.
To keep things simple, seek a record that directly states
the name, date, place, and/or relationship whenever possible. Vital records of
birth, marriage and death are ideal. Religious records, such as baptismal
registers, are also excellent sources, as are family Bible records from the
time period.
Other sources that often provide direct evidence of an event
or relationship include census records from 1880 to 1940, wills, probate
records and military records. You can use censuses from 1850 to 1870, which
name everyone but don’t indicate relationships, to estimate birth years and
infer a parent/child kinship.
If none of these records names a parent, consider other
sources that might imply a link between generations. Deed records, for example,
can indicate kinship when land was inherited. Tax records may show a father and
son paying taxes in the same place. Military records might reveal a father
served in a militia from the county where his daughter married.
You can find clues even in resources that don’t provide
direct documentation. Family histories, pedigree charts and online family trees
might outline a path for your search and suggest names and places to explore.
County histories can provide hints about where an ancestor came from, and local
or state lineage society applications can also be valuable guides.
Identifying Patriotic Service
Once you’ve built your ladder back to the Revolutionary War
period and have an ancestor rooted in a particular place, the next step is to
look for evidence of patriotic service. Service could take many forms. Some men
engaged in the fight for independence by:
serving in a local or state militia
serving in the Continental Army or Navy
furnishing a substitute for military service
assisting allies or defending the frontier
Others took up the mantle of civic duty for new governments
by:
serving as a town, county or state official
serving in a state or Continental assembly
joining a committee of safety or similar group
Many more men and women demonstrated their support for
American independence by acts of patriotism or sacrifice, such as:
signing petitions or oaths of allegiance
providing aid to the wounded
furnishing supplies or food to troops
paying special supply taxes
becoming refugees or prisoners of war
Genealogical Society Records
Track your Revolutionary War Ancestors
The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) host a
variety of searchable ancestor profiles and records. When you click a result,
you’ll view the individual’s documented service information, birth and death
data, name of spouse, descendants and related DAR applications.
How do you identify people who demonstrated these various
types of patriotism? A good place to begin is the Ancestor Search database in
the DAR’s Genealogical Research System. This includes all known patriots
established by DAR members. Enter your ancestor’s name, plus information about
his spouse’s name and/or state of birth, death or service.
If the database includes someone matching your criteria,
results will display the personal details and type of service. You can also
view a list of the person’s children from whom members have proven lineages.
Purchase a copy of a member’s application and supporting documentation (when
available) for a nominal fee to give you a helping hand with your research.
Although the SAR doesn’t offer a patriot index, Ancestry has
digitized and indexed “Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications,1889–1970.”
It’s important to note, though, that no lineage society has
a complete listing of everyone who contributed to the colonists’ efforts. If
you don’t find your ancestor’s name in DAR or SAR sources, you’ll need to dig a
little deeper to determine whether he or she participated. And regardless of
whether or not your ancestor is listed in these databases, you’ll want to
fact-check the documented lineages for yourself.
Military Records
Colonial men fought for independence at the local, state,
and Continental levels. In the process, they may have created service, pension,
bounty land, or other records. The National Archives’ guide to the American
Revolution provides a basic outline of these records.
Service records include rosters, muster rolls, payrolls, and
more. British forces destroyed many of these during the War of 1812 when they
burned Washington, DC, but surviving records were transcribed into compiled
military service records for each soldier and sailor. Fold3 has digitized these
as part of its Revolutionary War Collection, and FamilySearch has rosters for
six states. A collection titled “Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775–1783,” is online
at Ancestry, Fold3 and FamilySearch. Even if service records at the federal
level haven’t survived, you might find surviving militia lists or payment
records at the state level. Check state archives to see what resources are available.
Discover your patriot ancestry using military sources such
as pension records.
Fold3 has digitized and indexed Revolutionary War pension
files. They often contain valuable genealogical information in addition to
service and disability details. Thomas Carter’s pension file includes this
statement dated 16 August 1820, giving the ages of his wife and children and a
list of his property.
Pension records could exist for soldiers or their widows who
lived long enough to see pension laws enacted. FamilySearch, Fold3 and Ancestry
all host digitized Revolutionary pension files, and they contain more personal
details than service records (and sometimes name heirs). Pension rolls list the
names of all those receiving payments in a particular year. Final payment
vouchers usually indicate who received monies after a veteran’s death. Find a
master search box for Ancestry’s extensive collection of indexed Revolutionary
War records.
Bounty land records were created when soldiers or their
widows applied for land warrants based on military service. The fledgling US
government was land rich but cash poor, so it compensated veterans with public
land in frontier areas such as Ohio. Some veterans assigned (sold) their
warrants rather than relocating.
Start your search at the Bureau of Land Management’s General
Land Office (GLO) Records. Many bounty land files have been merged with online
pension records. However, a large collection of unindexed files is only
available in-person at the National Archives.
Other resources that indicate military service include the
1840 US census, which asked the age of Revolutionary War veterans, and indexes
to headstone applications and grave registrations. Keep in mind that grave
records will be found where the soldier died—not necessarily where he served.
Find Revolutionary resources on the FamilySearch Wiki.
Non-Military Sources
Unlike civil service, displays of loyalty and patriotic
contributions were not uniformly or widely recorded, and so few large databases
compile them.
One national resource is the American State Papers. Click
Browse American State Papers, then select Public Lands (eight volumes) or
Claims (one volume). Search the index of each volume to see if your ancestor
submitted a land or private property claim arising from the Revolutionary War.
The American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI), created
by the Godfrey Memorial Library and searchable online, is another place to look
for mention of your Revolutionary-era ancestors, including doctors and town
officials. The index is a finding-aid to family histories and published
records. Look for the original source of the entry in libraries or online.
Most non-military resources, however, were compiled at the
town, county or state level. Search for the following records for 1775 to 1783
in the place your ancestor lived:
supply tax records
claims or appeals for payment
oaths of allegiance or fidelity
committees of safety, correspondence or inspection
local government officials
If your ancestors hailed from the Northeast, for example,
explore the resources of the New England Historic Genealogical Society at
American Ancestors. Cyndi’s List has compiled links to a variety of resources
in the category “U.S. Military: American Revolution,” or you can search Google
for your ancestor’s state plus Revolutionary War records.
What’s Next?
Once you’ve documented your lineage and identified patriotic
service for your ancestor, congratulate yourself on a job well done. And if you
want to learn more about your family’s experiences, seek out local and state
histories to discover what was happening in their time and place.
Read unit and battle histories to understand your soldier’s
service. Online sources such as “American Revolutionary War 1775 to 1783” can
help. How did the War for Independence affect your family? Did they move as
land opened up to settlers after the war?
Consider various options to preserve and share what you’ve
found. The Broadway musical “Hamilton” has sparked renewed interest in Colonial
history. And people of all ages are eager to learn about their connections to
American independence. Perhaps you could write a short biographical sketch
about your Revolutionary War ancestor and give it to family members. Or maybe
you can publish your research in a blog, submit it to a genealogical society’s
newsletter, or publish a family history book.
Joining the DAR or SAR is another excellent way to preserve
your work, and offers the added benefit of meeting other people interested in
history and genealogy. Visit their websites to find a chapter in your area. And
if you’re struggling to document a particular piece of your lineage, members
may be able to help.
Most of all: Enjoy your journey into your family’s history
during the Revolutionary War—your personal link to the birth of this new
nation.
A version of this article originally appeared in the
July/August 2019 issue of Family Tree Magazine.
