American Revolutionary War pension files can contain a variety of submitted materials to support a claim. This sampler comes from the pension file for John and Lucy (Chapel) Demoss. Not all submissions are this decorative, but one never knows what one may find. Revolutionary War pensions are available from the National Archives or online at Fold3.com.
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3 Responses
Michael – I would like to add that when one is requesting a copy of a Revolutionary Pension File it is important that you state in that request “please send me the full and complete” Pension file for Name of Pensioner and his widow (make sure if she has remarried that you include all known surnames. I do this on all of my requests and it does make a big difference in how much of that file you will receive.
That’s a very good point, Patricia
Also look at Rejected Revolutionary Pension Applications. I found compelling evidence toward a connection to an ancestor. My belief is that it was quite likely the ancestor did contribute as a soldier but probably ‘sold’ his proof, as his brother stated in his own testimony on his own application that he sold his discharge papers as ‘currency’. (Makes one wonder how many people received military land warrants based on someone else’s service discharge papers that had been ‘bought’). My ancestor’s brother just happened to have living witnesses to give testimony toward his claims that he actually participated in the war and he was granted a pension. My ancestor’s death date is unknown and the actual application was made by an attorney, hired by his children on behalf of his widow, long after any witnesses and the husband and brother had passed away. She had also relocated from Pennsylvania to Iowa at the time of the application and indicates being unaware of eligibility until then. The application was even championed by a state senator but consistently denied due to lack of proof or witnesses that knew him to be a Rev War Soldier. The widow died during the appeal process and the case was closed as rejected.