Correspondence relating to certificates of Revolutionary War service, 1818-1881 (bulk 1843-1847)

ArchivalResource

Massachusetts. Office of the Secretary of State. Correspondence relating to certificates of Revolutionary War service, 1818-1881 (bulk 1843-1847)

Correspondence relating to certificates of Revolutionary War service, 1818-1881 (bulk 1843-1847)

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/658216832

A federal act of June 7, 1832 provided Revolutionary War veterans who had served at least two years a pension for life. Those who had served less than two years, but not less than six months, were eligible for partial pensions. Applicants did not need to demonstrate need, and money due from the last payment until the date of death of a pensioner could be collected by the widow or children. The act required applicants to produce an official certificate confirming service. As custodian of the state's Revolutionary War records, the Massachusetts state secretary and his clerks were responsible for searching muster rolls and other records and issuing certificates. Series consists of incoming correspondence relating to certificates and confirmation of military service information needed for federal pension applications, Records of a more administrative nature include ongoing correspondence from the Pension Office in Washington relating to the sharing of records, application procedures, and information on specific cases. There is a copy of the official list of records loaned to the federal pension office in 1836 and returned to Massachusetts in 1843. The state secretary's role as record holder is reflected in correspondence including queries about the indexing and completeness of the records, and correspondence regarding records to be donated or made available for copying, as per various resolves. (See: Muster rolls of the Revolutionary War ((M-Ar)57X)). Series also contains various lists, manuscript copies of original Revolutionary War records, 1775-1782, used in pension research. This is one of a set of record series relating to Massachusetts Revolutionary War and other early military pension and bounty payments. For a complete list see: Massachusetts Revolutionary War pension/bounty records. Additional background materials relating to such records are pending at the repository website, including list of records as noted above, lists of documents in Revolutionary War muster rolls and Eastern Lands papers, list of Massachusetts Revolutionary War pension/bounty laws, and Federal pension law timeline. There is also an onsite collection of these and other documents at the Archives reference desk.

0.7 cubic ft. (2 doc. boxes)

Commonwealth of Massachusetts State Archives