Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File
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REVOLUTIONARY WAR PENSION
AND BOUNTY-LAND-WARRANT
APPLICATION FILES
Roll 324
Brandow, Nicholas-
Brant, Simeon

The National Archives
National Archives and Records Service
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National Archives Microfilm Publication
INTRODUCTION
On the rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced an estimated
80,000 pension and bounty-land-warrant application files based on the partici-
1900. The files are part of Record Group 15, Records of the Veterans
pation of American military, naval, and marine officers and enlisted men in the
Revolutionary War. Most of the records in the files are dated between 1800 and
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.
British colonies in North America provided pensions for disabled soldiers and
sailors. During and after the Revolutionary War, three principal types of pensions
were provided by the U. S. Government for servicemen and their dependents
. "Disability" or "invalid pensions" were awarded to servicemen for physical
disabilities incurred in the line of duty: ""service pensions"" to veterans who served
for specified periods of time; and “widows' pensions,” to women whose husbands
had been killed in the war or were veterans who had served for specified periods
of time.
On August 26, 1776, the first pension legislation for the American colonies
as a group was enacted. A resolution of the Continental Congress provided half
pay for officers and enlisted men, including those on warships and armed vessels.
who were disabled in the service of the United States and who were incapable of
earning a living. The half pay was to continue for the duration of the disability.
On May 15, 1778, another resolution provided half pay for 7 years after
the conclusion of the war to all military officers who remained in the Continental
service to the end of the war. Enlisted men who continued to serve for the
duration of the conflict were each to receive a gratuity of $80 after the war under the
terms of the same enactment. The first national pension legislation for
widows was a Continental Congress resolution of August 24, 1780, which offered
the prospect of half pay for 7 years to widows and orphans of officers who met
the requirements included in the terms of the resolution of May 15, 1778. On
October 21, 1780, the Continental Congress resolution of May 15, 1778, was
amended to provide half pay for life to officers after the war: but on March 22,
1783, the half-pay-for-life provision was changed to 5 years' full pay.
Pension legislation during the Revolutionary War was designed to
encourage enlistment and acceptance of commissions and to prevent desertion
and resignation. After the war, pensions became a form of reward for services
rendered. Both during and after the Revolution, the States as well as the U.S.
Government awarded pensions based on participation in the conflict. The records
reproduced in this microfilm publication pertain only to pensions granted or paid
pursuant to public and private acts of the U.S. Government. Public acts, under
-
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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 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 on 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 veteran was
limited to receiving only that part of a pension 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 Administration
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 regulations
as the President may direct."" The act of Congress approved March 23,
1792 (1 Stat. 244), which permitted the addition of new names to the existing
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 similarly 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 of 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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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 entitled to land. The
resolution specified that each noncommissioned officer and soldier should be
entitled to 100 acres, an ensign to 150 acres, 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. Widows 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. 8), extended 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 a 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 Bounty 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 known 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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Secretary of the Interior. Affidavits of witnesses testifying to service performed.
marriage records, and other forms of evidence were also forwarded by some
applicants. Property schedules were unnecessary as indigency was not a require
ment for the award of a Revolutionary War bounty-land warrant. A claimant
whose application was approved was issued a warrant for a specified number of
acres. He could then ""locate"" his warrant; that is, he could select the portion of
the public domain that he wished to have in exchange for his warrant. The
Treasury Department, and after 1849 the Interior Department, accepted the
warrants and issued patents to the land. Many recipients of Revolutionary War
bounty-land warrants did not choose to locate the warrants and to settle on the
public domain; instead, they remained in their old homes and sold the warrants.
Pension and Bounty-Land-Warrant
Application Files
Types of Files
The term ""files"" as used in this microfilm publication, denotes 10""x14"
envelopes containing applications or other records pertaining to claims for
pensions or bounty-land warrants; 10"" x 14"" cards summarizing information
about claimants for whom no original application papers exist; and 10"
14"" cards that serve as cross-references to envelopes and summary cards. A file
can therefore be a single card or it can be an envelope containing from 1 to 200 or
more pages of records. The typical file is an envelope containing about 30 pages
of records, consisting generally of the application or applications of one or more
claimants, other documents submitted as evidence of identity and service, and
papers showing actions taken by the Government concerning the claim or
claims. Each file pertains to one or more claims by one or more persons for
pensions or bounty-land warrants based on the service of a single person, usually
in the Revolution, although some files relate to claims based on post-
Before 1910 Revolutionary War pension application papers were folded
and placed in numbered paper jackets arranged in three series. One series was
reserved for approved applications of ""survivors."" as Revolutionary War veterans
were called. The second series held approved applications of widows, and the
third contained rejected applications of both survivors and widows. The series
were arranged by file numbers; therefore, in order to withdraw a specific pension
claim from a series, index books arranged by the first two letters of the surname
of a claimant had to be laboriously examined for the pertinent file number. To
eliminate the necessity of using the books and to protect the records from damage
caused by frequent unfolding and refolding, the Bureau of Pensions flattened and
refiled Revolutionary War pension application papers in a single series of
linen-lined envelopes arranged alphabetically by surname of veteran. The project
was completed in 1912. As part of the work, pension application papers of a
survivor and a widow were consolidated in a single envelope if the claims seemed
to be based on the service of the same person. Approved Revolutionary War
bounty-land-warrant application papers were also flattened and consolidated with
or interfiled among, pension application papers at this time previously, they had been
maintained apart from the pension claims. The records reproduced in this
microfilm publication are from the one large series of Revolutionary War pension
and bounty-land-warrant application files that resulted from the flat-filing project.
Revolutionary War service.
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Survivors' pension application files in the series have headings normally
consisting of the name of the State or organization for which a veteran served, his
name; and the letter "S" for survivor, followed by a file number. A file of this
type ordinarily contains one or more post-1800 approved applications of a
veteran for an invalid or service pension. The file may also contain affidavits by
other veterans or persons testifying to the service or disability claimed.
documentary evidence of service submitted by the applicant, such as a
commission or a discharge certificate; printed briefs summarizing the service
claimed; property schedules; paper jackets formerly used to hold application
papers before the flat-filing project of 1910-12; certified copies of the veteran's
service record provided by State officials; powers of attorney; letters from
attorneys, Congressmen, and other interested persons relating to the progress of
the claim; letters from genealogists and other researchers seeking information
available in pension papers, and copies of replies from the Pension Office, the
Bureau of Pensions, or the Veterans Administration concerning such inquiries. 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. Applications and related records submitted
after 1800 are occasionally missing from survivors' and other types of files because
papers were sometimes returned to applicants by the Pension Office.
Widows' pension application files have headings usually consisting of the
name of the State or organization for which a veteran served his name, his
widow's name; and the letter ""W"" for widow, followed by a file number. Usually
only a widow's given name appears on an envelope, but if she remarried, her
second husband's surname is also included, with the notation ""Former
Widow."" A widow's pension application file may contain records normally found
in a survivor's file, especially if the widow's file is a consolidation of her papers
and those of the pensioned veteran who had been her husband. Whether a
widow's file represents such a consolidation or relates only to pension claims
made by her, it will generally contain one or more approved post-1800
applications for a pension made by the widow. Incorporated in or attached to
some widows' applications is a copy of a marriage record made by a town clerk, a
clergyman, or a justice of the peace. Sometimes family-record pages from Bibles
and other books were also submitted by a widow as proof of marriage.
Rejected pension application files have headings usually consisting of the
name of the State or organization for which a veteran served his name the name of
his widow if the file relates to an application or applications submitted by her
and the letter ""R"" for rejected, followed by a file number. Each of these files
normally contains one or more post-1800 rejected pension applications that were
submitted by a veteran, his widow, or an heir, and that were based on the
Revolutionary War service of the former serviceman. The ""R"" symbol on the
face of the envelope usually indicates that the latest application in the file was
rejected. There may be one or more approved pension applications in the file.
however, if they were approved before the last application was rejected.
Pre-1800 disability-pension application files are envelopes that have
headings generally consisting of the name of the State or organization for which a
veteran served, his name, and the file symbol ""Dis. No Papers."" The symbol
indicates that a veteran's original disability-pension application and related papers
are not extant, presumably as a result of the War Department fire of November
1800. In place of the missing papers, most of the files contain one or more small
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Nonselected Records
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Selected Records
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Nonselected Records
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Selected Records
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Nonselected Records
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Selected Records
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Nonselected Records