USA @ 250 AND NEW YORK: DISCOVERING LOCAL STORIES

1. New York in the Revolution as Colony and State, and its Supplement  help identify which units the veterans in your community would have served in.  In general, the regiments and companies were at first drawn from particular locations. 

• In addition to the Continental Army, find the local Militia regiments.  Every adult male was required to serve, so there are far more pay records and pension applications for your community's Militia than for the Continental Army.  This is a prime area for discovering local people, strategic places and events they were present for, and stories.

The New York State incinerated manuscripts: The published service lists and other transcriptions are the result of a multi-decade effort to gather the bits and pieces of pay documents, rosters, etc. and create a comprehensive list.  For New York, this effort was complicated by the massive fire at the New York State Archives in 1911. In many cases the published transcriptions of the originals are all that remain of the primary source records.

• One of the most important record groups to extract is the pension applications of your community's Continental Army and Militia veterans. Use National Archives Catalog, Fold3.com, Ancestry.com or other sources to find your pensions, using their names and/or commanding officer names.  
  • ALL able bodied men were eventually required to be enlisted as members of the local Militia if they were not in the Continental Army.  Militia pensions were not approved until 1832, after many of the veterans had passed away, but often their widows or children applied. Do not discount pensions marked "Rejected"; a lot of times the veterans didn't have necessary paperwork, being elderly and often poor.  Yet frequently when taken as a group,  the pensions of different men corroborate each other.
• There are pension deposition documents already transcribed in genealogical records, but they often omit important data such as the names and evidence of those who wrote or appeared in support a veterans' claim.  

The National Archives Catalog: Search words= revolutionary war (add a name or your location): https://catalog.archives.gov/

This site has transcriptions of many New York State pension applications, although only the initial deposition was transcribed, not the following support documents:  http://www.revwarpensions.com/

SAMPLE PENSION EXTRACTION TABLE:

Finding the actual manuscript image that the published service record was drawn from provides additional information.

Example: This audited pay record for Hathorn's militia gives us the names of the officers serving at the Battle of Minisink, rank, and their pay (or the total of their company's pay).

Source: Copies of accounts audited by the New York State Auditor General, Book A, image 11. New York State Archives.

NOTE: Many manuscript images are unindexed and you have to scroll through the whole set of images, as in this case.

There was a great deal of troop movement; if you cannot identify a diary or orderly book for your local unit, try searching other unit diaries or orderly books, with local place or person name.  You may find evidence of 'history marching through"  your community. Many diaries and orderly books have been published and are available in the three digital book data sites.  A partial list is at: https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Revolutionary_War_Unit_Histories

1. Once you have discovered an individual in a local unit in Fold3 or Ancestry, you can toggle to "filmstrip view" to scroll through the entries for that unit.
2. For the Revolutionary War Pensions, they are presented alphabetical by surname.  
3. Transcribe the pension documents in whole, or extract pertinent data in a table or spreadsheet.  Collect also the names of men who say they "served with"--- sometimes this is the only mention of that veteran's service there is.

1. Fold3.com (you can set up a FREE 7 day trial)

• Military records only; easier to navigate to a specific conflict.

2. New York Revolutionary War Pension Applications (Transcriptions)

3. United States Revolutionary War Payment Ledgers 1818-1872 (create a free account with Familysearch.org to view)

EXAMPLE:

PRINTED WORKS

New York in the Revolution has compiled unit lists.  These lists were brought together by borrowing and hand transcribing existing records that were in a number of different repositories.  Use the list as a starting point to find the primary source rosters, pension files, etc., if they still exist-- often the original document will give you a more complete picture.

Example: Roster of officers serving at the Battle of Minisink

Resource Guides:

Revolutionary War Military Records [Guide from New York Public Library]

Revolutionary War Pensions [Guide from the National Archives]