REVOLUTIONARY WAR PENSIONS
(Please be aware this post was written in 2003 and published at that time in the Houston Chronicle (Houston, Texas) newspaper. Some of the news in this post, therefore, may not be current. Current and future posts on this blog may revisit and update news on this and other posts on this blog. If you have questions and/or suggestions, please send Mic a note using the comment page -Don’t forget to use the orange “subscribe” button to receive new posts-Thanks, Mic)
In today’s society retirement programs are anticipated and expected. Petitioners for pensions of the American Revolution, however, had to lobby Congress to get pension laws created, then they had to qualify. A number of pension laws were passed by Congress between the end of the Revolutionary War and the 1830’s. With each new law it was easier for a veteran to qualify.
In all cases a Revolutionary War veteran had to prove he served his country during the specific time-frame for a specific length of time. In addition he had to prove he was poor, destitute, disabled or unable to work.
Widows of Revolutionary veterans had to prove their husband’s service, had to prove she was married to him and that he was deceased. She also had to prove she was poor, destitute, unable to support herself and had no other means of support.
Revolutionary War pensions are a wonderful source of colorful first hand stories of military history telling how our nation was born and of biographical details about when and where a soldier was born and where he lived before and after the Revolution. They are also sad chronicles of tattered lives and despair. As depressing as they are to read they are a treasure chest of information when the pensioner is one’s own ancestor.
SEMINAR IN COPPERAS COVE
The West Bell Genealogical Society of Killeen and the Five Hills Genealogical Society of Copperas Cove will co-sponsor an all day Where Do I Go From Here? seminar. The seminar will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday April 5 at the Grace United Methodist Church, 101 West Avenue F, in Copperas Cove.
Speakers at the seminar will be Emily Anne Croom of Houston, George Ballentine and Anna Price of the Copperas Cove-Killeen area. For more information visit the BCGH website at ~http://www.rootsweb.com/~txwbgs/temp2.htm or contact George Ballentine at 254-542-7259 or by email at georgeballentine@yahoo.com .
GENEALOGY FAIR IN SUGAR LAND
The Alexander Hodge Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution is hosting a Genealogy Fair on Saturday April 12 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Sugar Land Community Center, 226 Matlage Way in Sugar Land. The Fair is free and open to anyone interested in genealogy.
Lance H. Salge, organizer of the fair and president of the Alexander Hodge chapter, says “this event is a great opportunity for the public to learn more about how to research their family tree and about the many genealogical and historical societies located in Houston metropolitan area.”
Over forty genealogical and historical societies will be on hand to help fair go-ers with answers to questions concerning their organization and genealogical research. In addition, four well known area speakers will conduct lectures about different facets of genealogical research. Included in the line-up of speakers will Mic Barnette, Paula Perkins Parke, Harriett Rasmussen and Wolfram M. Von-Maszewski.
For more information contact Lance Salge at 281-794-5860 or by email at salge@texas.net or visit the Alexander Hodge SAR website at http://www.sarhodgetx.org .
NEWS FROM THE BOOKSHELF
Heritage Quest has compiled a Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Index on CD-ROM. Extracted from National Archives Microfilm Series M805 this index contains over 90,000 entries for pensioners and their dependents.
The index contains the name of the soldier or his wife, state from where he served, his pension or bounty warrant application number and microfilm roll number. With the foregoing information one may easily locate the actual document or documents on microfilm.
The CD-ROM is available for $19.95 from Heritage Quest at http://www.heritagequest.com/ or by calling 800-760-2455.
