Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File
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NATIONAL ARCHIVES MICROFILM PUBLICATIONS
Microcopy No. 804

REVOLUTIONARY WAR PENSION
AND BOUNTY-LAND-WARRANT
APPLICATION FILES

Roll 2

Abbot, George -
Abbot, William

THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS SERVICE
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

WASHINGTON: 1969
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INTRODUCTION

On the rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced an estimated 80,000 pension and bounty-land-warrant application files based on the participation of American military, naval, and marine officers and enlisted men between 1800 and 1900. The files are part of Record Group 15, Records of the Veterans Administration.

Pension and Bounty-Land-Warrant Legislation
 and Administration Relating to Participation in the Revolutionary War

Pension Legislation

For more than a century before the beginning of the Revolutionary war
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which the majority of such pensions were authorized, encompassed large classes of veterans or their dependents who met common eligibility requirements. Private acts concerned specific individuals whose special services or circumstances merited consideration, but who could not be awarded pensions under existing public acts. 

On September 29, 1789 (1 Stat. 95), the First Congress of the United States passed an act which provided that invalid pensions previously paid by the States, pursuant to resolutions of the Continental Congress should be continued and paid for 1 year by the newly established Federal Government.  Subsequent legislation often extended the time limit.  An act of Congress approved March 23, 1792 (1 Stat. 243), permitted veterans not already receiving invalid pensions under resolutions of the Continental Congress to apply for them directly to the Federal Government. On April 10, 1806 (2 Stat. 376), the scope of earlier invalid-pension laws pertaining to Revolutionary War servicemen was extended to make veterans of State troops and militia service eligible for Federal pensions.  The act superseded all previous Revolutionary War invalid-pension legislation. 

Before 1818 national pension laws concerning veterans of the Revolution (with the exception of the Continental Congress resolution of May 15, 1778, granting half pay to officers for service alone) specified disability or death of a serviceman as the basis for a pension award. Not until March 18, 1818 (3 Stat. 410), did the U.S. Congress grant pensions to Revolutionary War veterans for service from which no disabilities resulted.  Officers and enlisted men in need of assistance were eligible under the terms of the 1818 act if they had served in a Continental military organization or in the U.S. naval service (including the Marines) for 9 months or until the end of the war.  Pensions granted under this act were to continue for life. 

The service-pension act of 1818 resulted in a great number of applications, many of which were approved.  Congress had to appropriate greater sums than ever before for Revolutionary War pension payments. Financial difficulties and charges that applicants were feigning poverty to obtain benefits under the terms of the act caused Congress to enact remedial legislation on May 1, 1820 (3 Stat. 569).  The new law required every pensioner receiving payments under the 1818 act, and every would-be pensioner, to submit a certified schedule of his estate and income to the Secretary of War.  The Secretary was authorized to remove from the pension list the names of those persons who, in his opinion, were not in need of assistance.  Within a few years the total of Revolutionary War service pensioners was reduced by several thousand.  An act of Congress approved on March 1, 1823 (3 Stat. 782), resulted in the restoration of pensions to many whose names had been removed under the terms of the 1820 legislation, but who subsequently proved their need for aid. 

Congress passed another service-pension act of May 15, 1828 (4 Stat. 269), which granted full pay for life to surviving officers and enlisted men of the Revolutionary War who were eligible for benefits under the terms of the Continental Congress resolution of May 15, 1778, as amended. 

The last and most liberal of the service-pension acts benefiting Revolutionary War veterans was passed on June 7, 1832 (4 Stat. 529), and extended to more persons the provisions of the law of May 15, 1828. The act provided that
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Every officer or enlisted man who had served at least 2 years in the Continental
Line or State troops, volunteers or militia, was eligible for a pension of full pay 
for life. Naval and marine officers and enlisted men were also included.  Veterans
who had served less than 2 years, but not less than 6 months, were eligible for 
pensions of less than full pay.  Neither the act of 1832 nor the one of 1828
required applicants to demonstrate need.  Under the act of 1832 money due from 
the last payment until the date of death of a pensioner could be collected by his
widow or by his children.
The time limit for making claims under the Continental Congress
resolution of August 24, 1780, which promised half-pay pensions to widows and
orphans of some officers, expired in 1794.  For many years thereafter, unless a 
private act of Congress, was introduced on her behalf, a widow of a verteran was
limited to receiving only that part of a pensin that remained unpaid at the time
of her husband
s death.  By an act of Congress approved July 4, 1836, (5 Stat. 
128), some widows of Revolutionary War veterans were again permitted, as a class 
under public law, to apply for pensions.  The act provided that the widow of any
veteran who had performed service as specified in the pension act of June 7,
1832, was eligible to receive the pension that might have been allowed the veteran
under the terms of that act, if the widow had married the veteran before the
expiration of his last period of service.  An act of July 7, 1838, (5 Stat.303),
granted 5- \year pensions to widows whose marriages had taken place before
January 1, 1794.  These pensions were continued by acts of March 3, 1843, (5
Stat. 647); June 17, 1844 (5 Stat. 680); and February 2, 1848 (9 Stat. 210).
On July 29, 1848 (9 Stat. 265), Congress provided life pensions for 
widows of veterans who were married before January 2, 1800.  All restrictions
pertaining to the date of marriage were removed by acts of February 3, 1853, (10 
Stat. 154), and February 28, 1855 (10 Stat. 616).  On March 9, 1878 (20 Stat.
29), widows of Revolutionary War soldiers who had served for as few as 14 days,
or were in any engagement, were declared eligible for life pensions.
Pension Administrations
During the Revolution and in the period between the conclusion of the
war and the establishment of the Federal Government, administration of the
pension laws enacted by the Continental Congress was left largely to the
Individual States.  The act of Congress approved  September 29, 1789 (1 Stat. 95)
which provided for the continuance of such pensions by the newly established 
Federal Government, stipulated only that they should be paid "under such regu-
lations as the President...may direct."  tEht act of Congress approved March 23,
1792 (1 Stat. 244), which permitted the addition of new names to the exist-
ing list of Revolutionary War pensioners, specified that the Secretary of War
was to administer its provisions.  For most of the period between 1793 and 1819, Congress reserved to itself the power of final decision with respect to the
allowance of claims.  Thus an act of February 28, 1793 (1 Stat. 325), required the
Secretary of War to send lists of claims to the Congress for action.  The 
service-pension act of March 18, 1818 (3 Stat. 410), gave the Secretary of War the 
authority to approve applications submitted under that law, and by an act of
March 3, 1819 (3 Stat. 528), he was militarily empowered to place invalids on the
pension list without prior Congressional approval.
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Within the Office of the Secretary of War, pension matters were handled as early as 1810 by a unit called the Office of Military Bounty Lands and Pensions. Between 1810 and 1815 the unit was also referred to as the Section or
Branch) of Military Bounty Lands and Pensions. In 1815 the Branch was divided into two units: a Pension Bureau and a Land Warrant Bureau; after 1816 the Pension Bureau was generally referred to as the Pension Office. Not until March 2, 1833 (4 Stat. 622), did Congress formally provide for the appointment of a
Commissioner of Pensions to execute pension laws under the general direction of the Secretary of War. When an act of Congress provided for the establishment of the Department of the Interior on March 3, 1849 (9 Stat. 395), the Pension Office was transferred to it. On July 21, 1930, by Executive Order 5398, the Bureau of Pensions (formerly called the Pension Office) was consolidated with other agencies also serving veterans, and the Veterans Administration, an independent executive agency, was established. 

Two pension acts pertaining to Revolutionary War servicemen were not initially administered by the Pension Office. Responsibility for executing the provisions of the act of May 15, 1828 (4 Stat. 270), was vested in the Secretary of
the Treasury until authority was transferred to the War Department on March 3, 1835 (4 Stat. 779). The Secretary of the Treasury was also named to administer the act of June 7, 1832 (4 Stat. 530), but a Congressional resolution on June 28, 1832 (4 Stat. 605), relieved him of that function and transferred it to the Secretary of War.

Application procedures followed by would-be pensioners varied according to the acts under which benefits were sought. Generally the process required an applicant to appear before a court of record in the State of his or her residence to describe under oath the service for which a pension was claimed. A widow of a
veteran was required to provide information concerning the date and place of her
marriage. The application statement or "declaration," as it was usually called,
with such supporting papers as property schedules, marriage records, and
affidavits of witnesses, was certified by the court and forwarded to the official, usually the Secretary of War or the Commissioner of Pensions, responsible for administering the specific act under which the claim was being made. An applicant was subsequently notified that his application had been approved,
rejected, or put aside pending the submission of additional proof of eligibility. If an applicant was eligible, his name was placed on the pension list. Payments were usually made semiannually through pension agents of the Federal Government in the States. An applicant rejected under the terms of an earlier pension act often
reapplied for benefits under later, more liberal laws.
Bounty-Land-Warrant Legislation
Bounty-land warrants rights to free land in the public domain--were granted under acts of the Continental Congress and of the Federal Government to veterans and to heirs of veterans for Revolutionary War service of specified periods of time. The promise of bounty land during the Revolutionary War was
another inducement to enter and remain in service; after the war, bounty-land grants became a form of reward. Most warrants were issued to servicemen or their heirs who met common eligibility standards established by public acts passed between 1776 and 1856. Some warrants were issued to individuals as a result of private acts passed by Congress. States also granted bounty land to Revolutionary
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NATIONAL ARCHIVES MICROFILM PUBLICATIONS
War veterans, but the records reproduced in this microfilm publication pertain only to bounty-land warrants made available under acts of the U.S. Government.

On September 16, 1776, the Continental Congress passed a resolution that provided for granting land to officers and soldiers who engaged in military service and continued to serve until the end of the war.  Representatives of officers and soldiers who might be slain by the enemy were also entitles to land.  The resolution specified that each noncommissioned officer and soldier should be entitled to 100 acres, and ensign to 150acres, each lieutenant to 200 acres and other officers to proportionate amounts of land up to 500 acres for a colonel.  By a resolution of August 12, 1780, the provision was extended to include generals, and the grant was to be 850 acres for a brigadier general and 1,,100 acres for a major general,  The resolution of September 16, 1776, was the basic law under which Revolutionary War veterans were granted bounty-land warrants by the Federal Government until 1855, although numerous acts were passed in the interval providing claimants with additional time in which to apply for or to locate warrants.

On March 3, 1855 (10 Stat. 701), the U.S. Congress went beyond merely satisfying the former pledge of the Continental Congress and authorized the issuance of bounty-land warrants for 160 acres to soldiers, irrespective of rank, who had served for as few as 14 days in the Revolution or had taken part in any battle.  Windows and minor children of such veterans were also eligible.  An individual who had received a warrant under previous bounty-land legislation was limited by the act to receiving a second warrant for only such additional acreage as would total 160 acres. An act of May 14, 1856 (11 Stat. 9), exte3nded the benefits of the 1855 act to include Revolutionary War naval and marine officers, enlisted men, and their widows and minor children.

Bounty-Land-Warrant Administration

On July 9, 1788, a supplement to aa Continental Congress land ordinance of May 20, 1785, authorized the Secretary at War to issue bounty-land warrants to eligible veterans of the Revolutionary War or to their assigns or legal representatives.  When the First U.S. Congress authorized the establishment of a Department of War in the newly formed Federal Government on August 7 1789 (1 Stat. 50), the Secretary of War was given the responsibility of issuing bounty-land warrants. By 1810 the Office of Military Lands and Pensions had been formed within the Office of the Secretary of War to examine claims and to issue warrants.  In 1815 the pension and bounty-land duties of the War Department were assigned to separate bureaus, and bounty-land matters were handled thereafter by an administrative unit know successively as the Land Warrant Bureau, the Section of Bounty Lands, and the Bounty Land Office.  On November 1, 1841, the Secretary of War placed the bounty-land functions under the direction of the  Commissioner of Pensions.  This arrangement was formally authorized by an act of Congress approved January 20, 1843 (5 Stat. 597). The laws relating to the granting of bounty-land warrants were administered by the Department of the Interior after the Pension Office was transferred to that Department in 1849.

Depending upon the period in which a claim was made, claimants for bounty-land warrants based on Revolutionary War service sent applications for adjudication to either the Secretary of War, the Commissioner of Pensions, or the

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