One year ago, the National Archives and the National Parks Service began an ambitious project for America250 – adding transcriptions of 83,000 Revolutionary War pension files to the catalog. The files contain over 2.5 million pages! So far, nearly 65,000 pages have been transcribed by 3,400 volunteer Citizen Archivists, and 1,800 files have been completely transcribed. Now as we approach the one year anniversary of the project, we’re beginning the next phase, a tagging mission that will improve accessibility for all our users - and you don’t even have to read cursive to do it! Read on to learn more.
A chart of battles, leaders, and congresses during the Revolutionary War, National Archives Identifier 532885
In those 65,000 pages, we’ve learned a lot about the experiences and lives of the men who fought the American Revolution. Veterans had to prove they had served for a minimum of six months, but most had lost their discharge papers by the time Congress passed the first pension act in 1818 (if they had ever even received one). In place of that, they recounted their wartime experiences. They list who they served under, where they marched, and what battles they fought. They talk about their wounds and their sicknesses. Overall, they tell stories of the Revolution that you might not have heard before.
George Holman was an orphaned teenager in 1776, when he moved with his uncle to a valley of the Kentucky River. He mainly fought Native American allies of the British. He was captured with some other men while transporting salt beef to Louisville. The Native Americans held him for three years before he escaped. Holman went on to fight in the War of 1812 and died at the age of 106.
Old Fort at Boonesborough, 1775, National Archives Identifier 135801616
Many men served in militias, enlisting for a few months or even weeks at a time while the Tories were in the area. Jacob Hickman was even allowed to return home every other week to care for his farm.
We also read quite a bit about their lives after the war. The Act of 1820 only allowed pensions for men who were in need of assistance. The pension applications in response to this act often list the veteran’s household possessions or give some details of their infirmities and the needs of their families. Since they were all applying decades after the war, many have moved from the place they initially enlisted. Reading about their mobility is like seeing the westward expansion in real time. Men from Virginia move into Kentucky. Families in New England move into upstate New York and Ohio.
Principal Highways of the United States in 1775, National Archives Identifier 205740318
Any of our volunteers will tell you that reading these original documents is challenging at times, even for people used to reading cursive. Handwriting was different in the early 19th century compared to what many of us learned in school. The “long s” is perhaps the most common letter that trips people up. The image below shows the word “Congress” with a long s followed by a more familiar short s. There’s no need to indicate the long s in the transcription. This should be transcribed as “Congress.”
Detail from page 4 of Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S. 31139, James Howard, Va., National Archives Identifier 54936188
People writing out long passages by hand used many abbreviations. These are also legal documents, and then as now, certain phrases of “legalese” are prevalent, such as “to wit,” “aforesaid,” and “thereunto.” Also, spelling was not standardized in the early 19th century nor was there universal public schooling. Poor General Lord Cornwallis wins the prize for most mangled name (in addition to losing the war).
Cornwallis spelled as “Corn Wallce,” detail from page 14 ofRevolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File W. 29726, for John Jordan, Georgia, National Archives Identifier 144088204
Cornwallis spelled as “Cornwallas,” detail from Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S. 41667, Jacob Humphrys, Va., National Archives Identifier 54961448
Cornwallis called “Lord Wallace,” detail from page 6 of Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File W. 1106, Edward Wade, N.H., National Archives Identifier 111474799
Introducing the Revolutionary War Pension Files Tagging Mission
If you’ve been curious about the Revolutionary War pensions but were intimidated by the handwriting, we now have an opportunity for you to contribute. This month we’re launching the second part of our project - adding tags to the transcribed files. We’re looking for people to read the files and add tags to help identify National Park Service sites associated with them. You can also add names of people mentioned and common topics of interest to researchers such as the Sea Service, prisoners, and Valley Forge.
Kings Mountain National Military Park Additional Battles Map, Project Years 2004-2012, National Archives Identifier 33754260
We hope you’ll take this opportunity to discover the stories of America’s first veterans!
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Our catalog developers often add new code to the catalog. In order for that new code to take effect, you need to log out of the catalog. Once you log back in, the problem should have cleared up. If it doesn’t, you can contact us at catalog@nara.gov.
The Log out button is located in the upper right corner of the catalog screen.
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