Can some one help me understand why a soldier in the Rev. (or spouse) would NOT have applied for or gotten either a pension or a land bounty warrant. Would there be some other post war compensation that they could have gotten in lieu of these? Thanx, Don Dickason Genealogy interest in: Dickason, Hamilton, Cadwallader, Himes, Garrett, Wisely, Steinberg, Blair, Lindsay, Zahn, Borchward(t), Biesterfeldt, Brand(t)

Hello Don, I may be mistaken, but I seem to recall reading that pensions did not actually become available until long after the war. Lots of the veterans died in the several years just following the conflict. As other respondents noted, remote location or pride may have prevented some from filing for benefits. I had been hoping for a pension file for my own ancestor, Samuel Osbun/Osborn/Osburn (spouse Sarah Holmes), as it has been very difficult finding anything on him. He is in the DAR's Patriot Index, but further study led me to the conclusion that, when application for membership was made based upon Samuel's service the DAR's requirements were rather lax, to put it kindly. It seems to come down to family legend, more or less, as to just in what capacity Samuel served. His name is hardly unique, which only complicates matters. Samuel died in 1832, but his wife Sarah lived another ten years. I do not know why she did not apply for benefits as a widow of a veteran. I am left to assume that her needs were met by immediate family members. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that my Loyalist ancestors appear much better documented than my Patriot Samuel. Perhaps I should be grateful in just knowing his name and that of his wife. Best regards, Tom Osborn California

Hi, In order to get a pension you had to live until 1832 when Congress established a pension program. Many of the soldiers of the revolution had already died. There was a program prior to 1832 but it was for those killed or maimed in the war so not everyone qualified. I don't now if there was a separate program for those who served in the Continental Line. As for bounty land, I'm not sure what someone would have had to do to qualify but many served in the militia, a tour of duty might be two or three months so I'm not sure if they qualified. Some might if they served multiply tours but I'm not sure. Jim Dickason31@aol.com wrote: > > Can some one help me understand why a soldier in the Rev. (or spouse) would > NOT have applied for or gotten either a pension or a land bounty warrant. > Would there be some other post war compensation that they could have gotten > in lieu of these? > > Thanx, > > Don Dickason > Genealogy interest in: > Dickason, Hamilton, Cadwallader, Himes, Garrett, > Wisely, Steinberg, Blair, Lindsay, Zahn, Borchward(t), Biesterfeldt, Brand(t) > > ==== AMERICAN-REVOLUTION Mailing List ==== > > ============================== > Search over 1 Billion names at Ancestry.com! > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist1.asp -- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Conestoga Area Historical Society Web Page =-= Stokes Family Web Page http://www.rootsweb.com/~pacahs/index.htm =-= http://home.supernet.com/~jlstokes =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-