Norwich bulletin., 1915-02-25
PLEA FOR $3.o00 TO
 COPY SOLDIERS RECORDS
Made by Connecticut D. A, R. Before
 Appropriations Con1mittee.


 ~ Twelve ladies representing the Con- necticut Daughters of the American Revolution. were at the hearing before the committee on appropriations at the state capitol at Hartford Wednesday afternoon, in advocacy of the special act making an appropriation of $S,0OO for obtaining copies of pension rec ordS of Revolutionary soldiers from Connecticut Mrs. George N. Alinors of Waterford chairman of the pen sion records committee of the Con necticut Daughters of the American Revolution, was the first to address the committee and she spoke as fol- lows:
 There are in the pension building at Washington between seventy and eighty thousand pension records of soldiers who served in the Revolution. We do not know exactly how many of these belong to Connecticut but in a general way we can estimate, accord ing to the number of troops places in the field Patriotic Connecticut fur nisned about one seventh of the force, so probably about one seventh of the pension records belong to Connecticut, say 10000. These records are really chronicles of the Revolutionary war and their value is inestimable since they contain information nowhere else to be found.
 Among them are original commis- sions of officers. original muster rolls, original pay rolls receipts, orders, and diaries: journals kept by soldiers which show movements of troops and the soldiers own stories of the events in which they participated.
 In cases where the original muster rolls could not be found, the govern ment allowed a man to prove his ser vice by credible witnesses, who served with him. There are many of these and they contain not only the sol dier's own statement of service, but also the testimony of men who served with hirn-sometines the only proof of the witness service as well as the applicant.
 Then there is the soldiers birth rec ord, and in cases of widow pensions, marriage records. family records, sometimes two and three generations; frequent Bible records, pages taken outright from family Bibles and at tached to papers to prove birth, mar riage or death. These records con- tain. as 1 said before, inestipable his torical and genealogical information.
 We enjoy today the blessings of a free country and institutions which these Revolutionary soldiers made possible for us and let us not forget the debt we owe to them. One of the least of these debts is to preserve to posterity these records of their ser vice.
 I know our state is in a condition where economy is necessary but sometimes spending money is econ omy. l believe it is in this case for these records are liable to be lost because of their age the paper Is crunbling. ink fading, and they are in danger Of being destroyed by. careless handling and by fire. as clerks are allowed to smoke in the rooms in which they are kept. and GTer fa ct, that was responsible for the burning of the capital in Albany a, few years ago.
 Realizing the great value of preserv- ing these records, the Connec tfeut D. A. R. feel justified in petitioning this honorable body to appropriate the sum of S3,000 to have these records. so vital to the history of Connecticut copied and placed on file in our state library.
 Mrs John L. Fueu Of Hartford. state regent said these records should be preserved by the state as they are of great value and upon which the historian depends for reliable infor- nation. She referred to the recently discovered facts in relation to the life Of Nathan Hale that were found writ ten on the hack of an officers cornn1is- sion Although the records are of value. to prove lineage and ancestry they are of broader value for the com pletion of state history. These rec ords belong to Connecticut as we'll as 10 the country The original cannot be replaced and they may not only be destroyed by fire, but by the mere handling on account of their great age Rhode Island, realizing the value of these records, has made appropI.ia : ton for this purpose and Connecticut should he equally as enterprising Copies of these records should be in the state library for the benefit of all the people of the state.
 State Librarian Goddard said there was no place where all these Revolu- tionary records are accessible. The federal collection is not complete and there are many in the state library that are Hot~in Washington. but with the aid of the photostat exch anges can We can swap photostat copies with the general government and libraries and museums throughout the world and the appropriation is asked for that purpose.
 The clerk of the committee asked Mrs. Minor if the S3,0Oo asked for would complete the work. She replied that based. upon the appropriation for the work on the part of Rhode Island the sum would be adequate and that it was not intended as 8, wedge for. future state appropriation,
 
 New Britain.-The Stats Record Manners and comma III ei.s of the T<zd1y