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Original
Applications by Will Graves (as of March 2022) A number of users of this site have asked how they can obtain photocopies of the original pension applications from which the posted transcripts were made. As far as we are aware, there are 5 ways to obtain copies of the applications as follows: 1. For a fee, the National Archives (NA) will copy a pension file. The person requesting the copy must fill out a request form provided by the NA. For specifics on getting a copy of the required form and file from the NA, see its website at http://www.archives.gov/. It is our experience that the cost of obtaining copies via this method exceed by some measure the cost of joining Fold3.com. 2. The National Archives has recently put the federal pension and bounty land records online for free. To access those records, click on https://catalog.archives.gov/search?q=*:*&f.ancestorNaIds=300022&sort=naIdSort%20asc and in the search box in the upper left-hand portion of the page type the name of the soldier being searched in quotation marks. For common names, the results are not particularly precise, so you may have to scroll down to find the specific individual of interest. 3. Many libraries and archives have microfilm versions of the pension applications. There are microfilm readers (equipment with which microfilm is viewed) that can copy the image from the microfilm. The National Archives made two different sets of microfilm. One set (consisting of thousands of rolls of microfilm) is denominated NARA M805 and contains only the 'Selected Records' portion of each pension file. The other set (also consisting of even more thousands of rolls of microfilm) is denominated NARA M804 and contains the entire contents of each pension file. 4. HeritageQuest Online (HQ) has been acquired by
Ancestry.com. It now provides access
online to the NARA M804 digital images of the entire pension files at its
website. Individuals, however, cannot
subscribe directly to HQ. Its service is only available through institutions
such as universities and public libraries. A large number of public libraries
subscribe to HQ and make it available to holders of their library cards.
Check your local library to see if it offers access to HQ. Some libraries
offer access to HQ online allowing their card holders the convenience of
accessing HQ from their home computers.' 5. Fold3.com, (F#) a private, subscription service (and now owned by Ancestry.com), has posted on the Internet digital images of all of the Revolutionary War pension applications taken from NARA M804. In addition, F3 has several other compilations of documents relating to the Revolutionary War, including the Virginia Half Pay claims for both the Army and Navy taken from NARA M910. For current subscription information for F3, see its website at Fold3.com. F3 allows subscribers to download digital images of individual pages of pension applications one page at a time. We have been informed that some public libraries and other institutional libraries are providing access to Fold3.com free to their card holders or members. You should check with the libraries of which you are a card holder or member to see if it provides such access to Fold3.com. 6. Ancestry.com/ now provides access to the file pension files. Images can be downloaded on a page-by-page basis. NOTE: Please do not request copies of the digital images of the pension applications from this site. Being a volunteer operation which provides access to its site free of charge to its users, we are not equipped to handle such requests. Those interested in obtaining copies of the original pension application of a particular claimant should pursue one of the options listed above. There may be other options, but the ones listed above are the only ones of which we are currently aware. |
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Researchers will note that in the vast majority of cases, pension and bounty land file numbers will be preceded by "S," "R," "W, "BLWt." or "Dis. No Papers." On occasion we are asked what these designations signify. These designations were assigned when the files were re-catalogued so as to arrange them in alphabetical order by surname of the veteran. The process of re-cataloguing the applications was completed in 1912. Here is a table that explains our understanding of these designations:
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The National Archives has a descriptive pamphlet formatted as an 82-page pdf file which explains the Pension and Bounty Land records in great detail. That pdf file can be downloaded for free at the Fold3.com web site at NARA Descriptive Pamphlet on Rev War Pensions.
As to the number of federal pension applications and bounty land claims transcribed and posted on this website as indexed by the state in which the claimant first began service during the Revolutionary War, they break down as follows: Georgia veterans: 368; North Carolina veterans: 3,011; South Carolina veterans: 1,376; and Virginia veterans: 4,714. These numbers were compiled using Fold3.com’s indices and do not include a small number of claims for which Fold3.com was unable to determine the state in which the veteran first initiated military service. Those applications, however, have been read and the applications filed by veterans of the Southern Campaigns are included in the database posted on this website. In addition, there are a small number of pension files which are only found in the local county court records and which never made it into the federal pension records. As and when those local court records are found and provided to us for transcription, they are included in this database.
In addition to the official file designations set forth in the table above, researchers will encounter in this database transcriptions bearing designations "GA," "MD", "NC," "SC," "VA," "VAS" or "SCS" followed by a number. Such designations were assigned by me to indicate that these documents are not in the Federal files. Most are applications that can be found in local court records but for some reason unknown to me never made it into the Federal pension files. The exceptions are the designation (1) "VAS" which designates records found in the online digital image collection of the Virginia State Library; (2) "SCS" which designates records found in the online digital image collection of the South Carolina Department of Archives and History and (3) “SC” which designates records found in the South Carolina Audited Accounts which are now also available online in the South Carolina Department of Archives and History records. Leon and I felt that since these records are available online and contain information relating to veterans whose services might otherwise go unknown to researchers, we would expand the database to include transcriptions of records found those sources.