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 53
Ammon, Christopher -
Amyx, Matthew

[stamp with Eagle] THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE UNITED STATES 1934
THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS SERVICE
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
WASHINGTON: 1969
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warrant was delivered or assigned. The original application papers were apparently
destroyed in 1800. The cards were compiled by the National Archives from
entries in three registers of bounty-land warrants issued to enlisted men before
November 8, 1800. Sometimes a card was placed in an envelope containing
pension application papers based on the service of the same soldier. In such a case
the warrant number on the card was added to the heading on the envelope.

Bounty-land-warrant applications submitted pursuant to the act of March 3,
1855, and approved were interfiled among or consolidated with pension
application papers as part of the Bureau of Pension's flat-filing project of
1910-12. The files in which these approved applications may usually be found
have been described in the paragraph concerning approved bounty-land-warrant
applications submitted after November 8, 1800. Most bounty-land-warrant
applications submitted in accordance with the act of 1855 and rejected are in
manila envelopes, the headings of which generally consist of the name of the State
or organization for which a veteran served, his name, the symbol “B. L. Reg." (or
"Rej.") for bounty-land register, the register entry number assigned to the
application, and the year 1855 (sometimes written "55"). The face of each
envelope also has a section containing military service information. The rejected
applications are similar in content to those that were approved, but paper jackets
accompanying rejected applications do not show warrant numbers. Some of the
rejected bounty-land-warrant applications were placed in envelopes containing
pension application papers based on service of the same veteran.

Consolidated files of pension and bounty-land-warrant applications and
related papers are numerous, and the contents vary. Almost any combination of
two or more pension and bounty-land-warrant files already described may have
been consolidated. Frequently, a widow's approved pension application papers,
which normally comprise a "W" file, are consolidated with approved 
bounty-land-warrant application papers relating to a claim made by her under the act of
1855. The resultant consolidated file bears a heading that includes both "W" and
"B. L. Wt." symbols and numbers. Approved pension applications of veterans
were consolidated with approved 
bounty-land-warrant applications of veterans or
their heirs to form files with headings consisting of "S" and "B. L. Wt.” symbols
and numbers. Rejected pension application files may also contain approved or
rejected bounty-land-warrant application papers.

"Former Widow" cross-reference cards are another type of file unit
reproduced in this microfilm publication. The cards normally show the name of
the State or organization for which a veteran served, his name, the surname his
former widow acquired upon remarriage, the symbol and number of the file
(usually a "W" file) in which pension or 
bounty-land-warrant application papers
or information can be found, and the notation "Former Widow." These
cross-reference cards are arranged by the surname of the former widow's latest
husband, not by the surname of the veteran for whose service a pension or
bounty-land warrant was claimed.

Cross-reference cards also exist for variant spellings of a veteran's name. A
card generally gives the name of the State or organization for which a veteran
served, the spelling of his name by which that card is arranged, the spelling by
which the file containing papers or information relating to his service is arranged,
and the symbol and number of the latter file.

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There are files with headings different from those already described whose
contents reflect such differences. Some files, for instance, are labeled ""Not Rev."
or "Not Rev. War" and contain pension or bounty-land-warrant application
papers based on post-Revolutionary War service. The service period is usually
shown on the face of the file. A number of pension files are overprinted with the
statement "This Envelope Includes FINAL PAYMENT VOUCHER Received from
GAO." Such vouchers, which were removed from a separate series of General
Accounting Office records, sometimes give the date and place of death of a
pensioner and names of heirs.

Some pension application files reproduced in this microcopy have headings
that include instructions to "See N.A. Acc. No. 874" followed by a number
between 050000 and 050201, the name of the veteran, and the notation "Half
Pay" or "Not Half Pay." These instructions refer to a separate series of pension
application files that are also in Record Group 15. The records in these files
relate mainly to claims made by heirs under an act of Congress approved July 5,
1832 (4 Stat. 563), which provided half-pay pensions for Virginia veterans of the
Revolutionary War, and to claims made by heirs for arrears due veterans of
Virginia and other States under other pension acts. The files in this separate series
were transferred from the Adjutant General's Office of the War Department to
the National Archives in 1941 and are not reproduced in this microfilm
publication. Abstracts of their contents are in Gaius Marcus Brumbaugh,
Revolutionary War Records, Volume I Virginia (Washington, 1936).

A few other pension application files in this microcopy have headings that
include instructions to ""See N.A. Acc. No. 837 Virginia State Navy " followed
by the name of the veteran and the notation "YS File Va. Half Pay." The
instructions refer to another small series of Revolutionary War pension application
files in the same record group. The contents of these additional files relate
mainly to half-pay pension claims of heirs of Virginia State Navy officers under the
act of July 5, 1832. The "YS" files, so designated by the Department of the
Navy in accordance with a Navy classification scheme, were sent to the National
Archives in 1941 by the Office of Naval Records and Library. The files have not
been microfilmed or abstracted. All files for Revolutionary War claimants in both
the "YS" and the Adjutant General's Office series are referred to in the headings
of related files reproduced in this microfilm publication.

Records Withdrawn From the Files

Between 1894 and 1913 several types of records were withdrawn from
Revolutionary War pension and bounty-land-warrant application files and sent by
the Bureau of Pensions to other Departments or Agencies of the Federal
Government. The records were generally documents of historical value dated
1775-83. Between September 6, 1894, and January 16, 1913, muster rolls,
payrolls, returns, orders, and miscellaneous personnel lists and papers were sent to
the War Department pursuant to acts of Congress approved July 27, 1892 (27
Stat. 275), and August 18, 1894 (28 Stat. 403). On March 22, 1907, some lists of
names of seamen taken from the files were sent to the Navy Department in
accordance with an act of June 29, 1906 (34 Stat. 579). Diaries, journals, orderly
books, account books, and other bound records removed from files were
transferred to the Library of Congress on February 9, 1909, under the terms of an
act of February 25, 1903 (32 Stat. 865). There are cross-reference slips in the
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files to describe the records that were transferred and to indicate the Government
Department or Agency to which they were sent.

Informational Value of Records
in the Files

The records contain both historical and genealogical information. Historical
information pertaining to the organization of military units, movement of
troops, details of battles and campaigns, and activities of individuals may be
obtained from application statements of veterans; from affidavits of witnesses;
and from the muster roll, diary, order, or orderly book that was occasionally
submitted as proof of service and was not sent by the Bureau of Pensions to
another Government Department or Agency. Naval and privateer operations are
documented by applications, affidavits, and orders in some files based on service
at sea. A few files contain letters written to or by soldiers and sailors during the
Revolutionary War, which give firsthand accounts of military, naval, and civil
events and conditions. Furloughs, passes, pay receipts, enlistment papers,
discharges, commissions, warrants, and other original records of the period
1775-83 are also in some of the files.

Genealogical information is usually available in a file containing original
application papers. A veteran's pension application normally gives in addition to
his former rank, unit, and period of service his age or date of birth, his residence,
and sometimes his birthplace. Property schedules often give names and ages of a
veteran's wife and children. The application of a widow seeking a pension or a
bounty-land warrant may give her age, residence, maiden name, date and place of
her marriage, and date and place of death of her husband. A copy of a marriage
record made by a town clerk, a clergyman, or a justice of the peace often
accompanied the widow's pension application. Application papers submitted by
children and other heirs or dependents seeking pensions or bounty-land warrants
generally contain information about their ages and residences. Family-record
pages from Bibles and other books submitted by pension and bounty-land-warrant
applicants give the dates of birth, marriage, and death of family members. In a
few pension files are final payment vouchers that sometimes contain information
about the date and place of a pensioner's death and names of heirs.

Arrangement and Selection of
Files and Records

Each file that is a single 10"" x 14"" summary or cross-reference card and all
envelope files in the series of Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land-Warrant Application Files have been reproduced in this microfilm publication. 
The files, with the exception of "Former Widow" cross-reference cards, are
arranged in alphabetical order by the surname of the veteran. When two or more
veterans have the same surname and given name, the further arrangement of the
files based on their service is generally alphabetical by the name of the State or
organization for which a veteran served, or by the word "Continental,” “Navy."
or some other service designation placed in the heading of some files above or
before the name of a State. "Former Widow" cross-reference cards are arranged
by the surname that the former widow acquired upon remarriage.

Within files, the records are unarranged. However, in each envelope file
containing more than 10 pages of records, the more significant genealogical
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documents were filmed first, preceded by a target headed ""SELECTED
RECORDS.” The documents may include pension applications, jackets showing
the act under which pension payments were made, bounty-land-warrant applications, jackets showing the warrant numbers of warrants granted, property
schedules, family-record pages from Bibles or other books, copies of marriage
records, and final payment vouchers. All remaining documents in that file were
filmed after a target headed ""NONSELECTED RECORDS."" No distinction was
made between selected and nonselected records in filming the envelope files that
contained 10 or fewer pages of records; these files can be recognized by a star
next to the veteran's surname in the heading.

The ""SELECTED RECORDS"" in files containing more than 10 pages of
records, except those portions of them having no apparent genealogical value
(such as attestations or endorsements), have also been reproduced in another
microfilm publication, Selected Records From Revolutionary War Pension and
Bounty-Land-Warrant Application Files (Microcopy 805). Records in files containing
10 or fewer pages of records were reproduced in Microcopy 805 in their
entirety, as were all files that consist of a single 10" x 14" summary or
cross-reference card. Upon request and for a fee. the National Archives can
provide reproductions of the genealogical records filmed in whole or in part in
Microcopy 805 relating to a specific veteran or other claimant.

Related Records and Sources
of Information

Also in Record Group 15 are letterbooks, registers, and other administrative
records of the Pension Office and its successors relating to Revolutionary War
pension and bounty-land-warrant applications. Bounty-land warrants are in
Record Group 49, Records of the Bureau of Land Management. Pension payment
books and final payment vouchers are in Record Group 217, Records of the
United States General Accounting Office. Correspondence of the Secretary of
War and of the Secretary of the Interior concerning their supervision of pension
and bounty-land-warrant matters is in Record Group 107, Records of the Office
of the Secretary of War, and in Record Group 48, Records of the Office of the
Secretary of the Interior.

Military service records for Revolutionary War soldiers are in Record
Group 93, War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records. Naval and
marine personnel records are in Record Group 45, Naval Records Collection of
the Office of Naval Records and Library, and Record Group 127, Records of the
United States Marine Corps. For additional records of Revolutionary War service
and for records of applications made to individual States for pensions or
bounty land, researchers should communicate with State archival agencies.

The names of most of the servicemen for whom there are pension or
bounty-land-warrant application files reproduced in this microfilm publication are
listed in Max E. Hoyt, et al, Index of Revolutionary War Pension Applications
(Washington, 1966). Information of a general historical nature concerning
pension and bounty-land-warrant legislation and administration is available in
Gustavus A. Weber, The Bureau of Pensions (Baltimore, 1923); Gustavus A. Weber 
and Laurence F. Schmeckebier, The Veterans Administration, Its History,
Activities and Organization (Washington, 1934); William H. Glasson, History of
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Military Pensions in the United States (New York, 1900), and Federal 
Military Pensions in the United States (New York, 1918); and Payson J. Treat,
The National Land System 1785-1820 (New York, 1910). Many of the laws
relating to pensions and bounty-land warrants granted for Revolutionary War
service, and regulations established by the Secretaries of War, the Treasury, and
the Interior for administering them, are compiled in Robert Mayo and Ferdinand
Moulton, Army and Navy Pension Laws, and Bounty Land Laws of the United 
States...From 1776 to 1852 (Washington, 1852).
These introductory remarks were written by Howard H. Wehmann.

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