1. by Beth Foulk

2. …as on the afternoon of that eventful day,
April 19th, Capt. Ebenezer Mason, with a
company of fifty-six men buckled on their
knapsacks, shouldered their muskets, and
before the set of sun were on the march for
Cambridge.

3.  Revolutionary War Timeline & Players
 Understanding Military Organizations
 Research Method
◦ Know Your Ancestor
◦ Did He Serve?
 Records
◦ Service Records
◦ Pension Records
◦ Revolutionary War Histories

4.  Duration of the War 1775- 1783
Timeline on www.ancestry.com

5. ◦ Colonists/Patriots/Rebels
 Allies: France, Poland,
Holland & Spain
◦ Great Britain
 Allies: American Loyalists
Germans (Hessians)
Library of Congress

6. Loyalists
Call me when
it’s over
Patriots

7. Who Served Where?

8. Militia
Non-Military
Support
Continental
Army
Loyalists
Call me when
it’s over
Patriots

9.  Established June 14, 1775
 Provide for the common defense
 Coordinate defense among the 13 colonies
 Larger scope of defensible territory
 may have to travel farther than militia
 Longer service periods than militia
 Age Requirement – 16 - 60

10.  Under George Washington
 Four Major Generals
 Artemas Ward, Charles Lee, Phillip Schuyler, Israel
Putnam
 Eight Brigadier Generals
 Seth Pomeroy, Richard Montgomery, David Wooster,
William Heath, Joseph Spencer, John Thomas, John
Sullivan, Nathanial Greene

11.  Responsibilities: Ordinary citizens providing
defense and emergency law enforcement
 Report: Under the command of state, county
or local officers
 Role: Minutemen, Infantry, Cavalry
 Service: Service periods can be days, weeks,
or months
 Age: Age Requirement – 16 - 30

12.  Continental Regiments
◦ Numbered – 1st, 16th
◦ Named – Lee’s Regiment, Patton’s Regiment
◦ Discipline – Corp of Invalids, Engineers, Artillery
 State Regiments
◦ Numbered – MA 3rd Regiment
◦ Numbered Militia – MA 3rd Regiment, Militia
◦ Named – Denny’s Command, Read’s Regiment,
Militia Simond’s Detachment, Militia

13.  Political and Governmental Offices
◦ Committee of Safety
◦ Committee of Correspondence
◦ Sons of Liberty
 Troop Support
◦ Food, Arms
◦ Uniforms ,Housing
◦ Transportation
Sons of Liberty Broadside 1765

15.  Know Your Ancestor
 Did He Serve?

17.  Know the Basics About Your Ancestor
◦ Birth Date & Place
◦ Marriage Date & Place
◦ Death Date & Place

18. Ancestor
 Age during conflict
 Birth date & place
 Death date & place
 Children
 Spouse's name
 Marriage Date & Place
 Residence
•James Watson
•Age: 23
•Birth: 7.20.1754, Spencer, MA
•Death: 4.17.1823, Spencer, MA
•Children: eight
•Spouse: Lucy Browning
•Marriage: 5.1.1777, Rutland, MA
•Residence: Spencer, MA

19. Find His Service, Rank, Unit, Force

20. ◦ Find Basic Military Service Identifiers
◦ Service
◦ Rank
◦ Unit
◦ Force

21.  1840 Census
 Pension Abstracts
 Lineage Society Records
 Grave Abstracts

23. Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files
D H White

27. Sons of the American Revolution Applications on www.ancestry.com

28.  Ancestors on whom members have based
their membership
 Pedigree Charts
 www.dar.org FREE

30.  WATSON, ROBERT
 Ancestor #: A122637
 Service: MASSACHUSETTS Rank: PRIVATE
 Birth: 5-28-1746 SPENCER MASSACHUSETTS
 Death: 1-20-1806 SPENCER MASSACHUSETTS
 Service Description:
 1) MINUTE MEN, CAPT EBENEZER MASON
2) LEX ALARM

31.  Applications - $10/paper
 Applications with Supporting Documentation
- $30/paper

32.  List of identified graves submitted in the
annual report to Congress
 Found in LexisNexis; available through
libraries
 Name, b. & d., cemetery, brief bio

33.  Watson, John, 1747, 1825 Old Center
Cemetery, Blandford, Sgt. In Cpt. Samuel
Sloper’s company, Col. David Moseley’s 3rd
Hampshire Regiment

34. www.ancestry.com

35. Did He Serve?
Service Records
Rev. War Histories
Pension & Bounty
Records
Know Your Ancestor

38.  Name
 Rank
 Time of engagement
 Time of discharge
 Time of service
 Rate per month
 Amount of wages
 Compensation for
miles traveled
 Total of wages,
rations, travel
 Provisions drawn
 Signature of recipient
www.ancestry.com

40.  Continental Army
 Militia, volunteers, and others who served with
the Continental Army
◦ the combined forces was known as the American Army
 Naval personnel
 Quartermaster General Department
 Commissary of Military Stores Department
www.ancestry.com

43. Record Abstracts
 Watson, John, Sergeant, Cpt. Samuel
Sloper’s (12th) co., Col. David Mosley’s (3rd
Hampshire Co.) regt. Entered service June
12, 1782; discharged June 17, 1782; service
6 days; company marched to Northampton
June 12, 1782 in support of the government
and was allowed horse rations.
www.ancestry.com

44.  State Archives or Adjutant General Office
◦ Indexes, pensions, bounty lands, privateers,
deserters, prisoners, rolls, lists, orders, discharges,
navy, bounties, enlistments
 State Adjutant Generals’ Office
◦ To Find the Right Repository:
 The Red Book
 The Source
 Revolutionary War Genealogy, George Schweitzer

47.  “I Joseph
Wheat…testify that
James Watson, now
deceased, enlisted
with me at the same
time and at the same
company…marched
to Roxbury…stationed
at Roxbury..”

48. Land given to soldiers for recruitment or
pension benefit for service.

50. Google “Military Reserves, 1778-1816”

51. www.ancestry.com

53. www.glorecords.blm.gov

54. www.ancestry.com

55. www.archives.gov

56.  States Issuing Bounty Land
◦ Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts,
New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South
Carolina, and Virginia
 States Issuing Bounty Land in OTHER states
◦ Massachusetts gave land in Maine
◦ North Carolina gave land in Tennessee
◦ Virginia gave land in Ohio & Kentucky

57. Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants
By Lloyd Bockstruck
www.ancestry.com

58.  Georgia Revolutionary Bounty Land Records, 1773 – 1785
 Old Kentucky Entries and Deeds
 Maryland Soldiers Entitled to Lands West of Fort Cumberland
 Ohio Military Land Warrants 1789 – 1801
 Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants in North Carolina
 Tennessee Land Entries: Military Bounty Land, Martin
Armstrong’s Office

59. A bill or law benefiting a
single individual or organization

63.  Individual Histories
 Regimental Histories
 Battle Histories
 State & Local Histories
 Group Histories
 Continental Army Histories

64.  Diaries
 Journals
 Travel Accounts
 Officer Biographies
Baldwin, Asa, s. of David senior, was a
gentleman of respectability, was often
chosen into town office, committee of
correspondence, and officer in the war of
the revolution, and major in the militia.
History of Spencer, MA

65.  Historical Register of
the Officers of the
Continental Army,
Heitman
www.ancestry.com

66. www.americanancestors.org

68.  “Minutemen who responded
to the Lexington Alarm: John
Ferguson, Lieut., David
Hamilton, Sergt. Silas Noble,
….”
 Hampton Co., MA History

69.  …as on the afternoon of that eventful day, April 19th,
Capt. Ebenezer Mason, with a company of fifty-six men
buckled on their knapsacks, shouldered their muskets,
and before the set of sun were on the march for
Cambridge. …Cpt. Ebenezer Mason; Lt, Abijah
Livermore, Ensign Joseph Livermore; Sgts, Benjamin
Bemis, Jr., William Green William White, Samuel Hall;
Cpl, Oliver Watson, Jonas Muzzy…Amos Whittemore,
Thomas Sprague, David Livermore, James Watson,
Robert Watson, Thomas Whittemore, Nathanial Loring,
Asa Whittemore…. History of Worcester County, MA

70. ◦ French
◦ Loyalists
◦ African-Americans
◦ Women

72.  Bound Books
 A Bibliography of American County Histories,
William Filby
 Online
◦ Books.google.com
◦ New England Historical & Genealogical Society
www.americanancestors.org
 Periodicals
◦ Finding Aid: PERSI (Heritage Quest)
◦ www.findmypast.com

73.  Know Your Ancestor
 Identify Service
 Research
◦ Service Records
◦ Pension Records & Bounty Land Records
◦ Private Relief Acts
◦ Revolutionary War Histories
 Have Fun!

74. beth@genealogydecoded.com
www.genealogydecoded.com