Hi all. The following I found on the American Revolution list. There have been many inquiries about land grants and lotteries, the how-to's, what if's, where, who and when, I thought it might be revealing of where to look in reference to from whence they originated, and so I forwarded the following. It can still be confusing to me, even after 5 years of diligent search for ancestors and their migrations from place to place, and WHY they moved! A lot had to deal with where the new land awards for service, etc. were. Hope this helps some. Carole ----- Original Message ----- From: <Farns10th@aol.com> To: <AMERICAN-REVOLUTION-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, October 05, 2000 4:57 PM Subject: [A-REV] Classes of Rev. War Pensioners > Revolutionary War > > Classes of Revolutionary pensioners > > Invalid pensioners. The first national U. S. pension law passed Aug. 26, 1776 > promised half pay for life or during disability to every officer, soldier or > sailor, losing a limb or being so disabled in the service of the U. S. as to > be incapable of earning a livelihood. Proportionate relief was promised to > such as were partially disabled. Apr. 23, 1782, it was enacted that > Continental soldiers who were sick or wounded and unfit for duty were to be > discharged and be pensioned at the rate of five dollars per month. An act > passed June 7, 1785, further provided that when so disabled as to be unable > to earn a livelihood, commissioned officers should be allowed a half pay > pension and noncommissioned officers and privates five dollars a month, > proportionate rates being allowed for partial disability. > This act was afterwards amended to include later disability resulting from > wounds, to include state troops and militia as well as Continentals, and the > rates were somewhat increased. > > Invalid pensioners surviving at the dates of the service pension acts of 1818 > and 1832 usually found it advantageous to secure entry under them. > > Half pay, or commutation pensioners As a result of Washington's appeal at a > time when the depreciation of the continental currency and the gloomy outlook > in the field were preventing the re-enlistment of many officers and men at > the termination of their periods of service, Congress on May 15, 1778, voted > to all American commissioned officers who should continue in service to the > close of the war half pay for seven years after its conclusion; to all common > soldiers who served to the end of the war a gratuity of eighty dollars. As > these measures failed to secure the full results expected, Washington again > appealed to Congress, which on Oct. 21, 1780, voted that all officers who > should continue in service to the end of the war, should receive half pay for > life. These measures are believed to have been of the utmost importance in > keeping the army together till the end of the struggle, but they were > immensely unpopular, especially in New England, while opposition to Congress > was very strong. > To the irritation aroused in the officers' minds at the suspicion that > Congress intended to repudiate these obligations were attributable their > "Memorial to Congress" of Dec. 1782 and the more celebrated "Newburgh > addresses" of March, 1783. > > Washington once more prepared an urgent appeal for recognition of the army's > claims, and on 'March 22, 1783, Congress adopted a compromise known as the > "Commutation act," substituting for the half pay for life, five years full > pay in money or interest bearing securities. > > As the Confederation had no funds, the officers received not money but > "commutation certificates," but with no provision for paying principal or > interest, these depreciated like the continental currency and soon came into > the hands of speculators who profited when the first Congress under the > Constitution provided for the refunding of these certificates. > > The survivors of this group and their friends felt that justice had not been > done and petitions were introduced into Congress from time to time until in > May 15, 1828, just 50 years after the original act, a measure was passed > giving full pay for life, beginning Mar. 3, i826, to the surviving officers > of the Continental line who had been entitled to half pay under the act of > 178o, and the same allowance was made to the noncommissioned officers and > privates entitled to receive the gratuity of eighty dollars promised in 1780. > This act was executed by the Secretary of the Treasury rather than by the > Secretary of War, who administered the other pension laws until in 1835 it > was transferred from the former to the latter office. > > Service pensioners March 18, 1818, was passed the first service pension act, > which provided that every resident of the U. S. who had served in the > Revolutionary war until its close or for the term of 9 months or longer, at > any period of the war, on the Continental establishment or navy, and who was > by reason of his reduced circumstances in need of assistance, should receive > a pension; if an officer, twenty dollars a month, if a private eight dollars. > Claimants were required to give up invalid and all other pensions. So many > frauds were perpetrated under this act that in 1820 Congress required of all > pensioners under the act, sworn schedules of their property and income, and > under this ruling thousands of names were stricken from the rolls. > In June, 1832, a still more sweeping service pension measure became law. It > granted to all who had completed a total service of two years in Continental > line, state troops or militia, or the navy, and who were not entitled to > pensions under the Commutation law of 1824, full pay according to rank, to > commence May 15, 1828, and not to exceed a captain's pay. All who had > completed a service of not less than six months were to receive the same > proportion of their full pay that their service bore to two years. Here again > enormous frauds were unearthed. > > Widows and Orphans Aug. 24, 1780, Congress extended the half pay for 7 years > to the widows or orphan children of officers who had died or should die in > the service. This act was renewed under the Constitution in 1792 but nothing > further was done till 1836 when provision was made that if any soldier who > would be entitled to a pension under the service act of 1832 (see preceding > paragraph) died leaving a widow whose marriage took place before the > expiration of his service, she might receive his pension as long as she might > remain unmarried. Varied later acts were passed supplementing and extending > the above. > > Source: Sprague's Journal of Maine History > Vol. V > November, December, January 1917-18 > No. 4 pages 191-193 > An Alphabetical Index of Revolutionary Pensioners Lining in Maine. Complied > by Charles A. Flagg, Librarian, Bangor, (Maine) Public Library. > Published by John Francis Sprague, Dover, ME > > US GenWeb Archives Project Notice: > > In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the internet, > data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains > on all copied material. These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any > format for profit, nor for commercial presentation by any other organization. > > http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/pensions/revwar/classes.htm > > ______________________________