Good morning! I received this yesterday. I hope it helps someone find some missing relatives. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FAMILY TREE FINDERS Tuesday - 21 September 1999 Canadian Refugee and Volunteer Warrants Perhaps overlooked by researchers are the refugee warrants for those Canadians that offered assistance to the American colonies during the American Revolution. Many of these Canadians may have been able to trace their own connection back to those colonies. In fact those living in the New England colonies had begun to migrate northerly in the hopes of acquiring more land. This was because the Proclamation of 1763 prevented them from moving westward past the Appalachian Mountains. After the American Revolution, land was a major commodity that the newly formed U.S. Government used as a repayment for a variety of services offered by soldiers and others who helped win the war. Land for the Canadian Refugee Warrants was set aside in the Ohio River Survey in Ranges 16 through 22. These ranges were divided into half-sections. Those who received this land were primarily from Nova Scotia and Quebec, however, if your had ancestors in New Brunswick, you will want to investigate these warrants, as New Brunswick was created out of Nova Scotia. The present day counties included in these ranges encompasses part of Fairfield, Franklin, Licking, and Perry counties. The lots were drawn in a lottery style. Like others who received land warrants in Ohio, some of those who received refugee warrants sold them to land speculators. One of the most informative papers included in these land warrant files is the Powers of attorney. These often indicate the residence of the claimant offering you a clue to where they were residing in the 1800s. The Volunteer Warrants were offered for volunteer service during the War of 1812. Those entitled to these warrants were living primarily in Genessee and Nigara counties in New York. The land for these warrants was located in the Vincennes Land District in Indiana Territory. Like the refugees warrants, are likely to include a power of attorney. However, these files also include correspondence, the tract location, the county of residence in New York when the warrant was issued. Also included in the file will be information as to the rank, and regiment of the volunteer. The records for both the refugee and volunteer warrants are located at the National Archives in Washington, DC. An index of the Canadian refugee warrants can be found in Clifford Neal Smith's "Federal Land Series, Volume One" which can be found at many libraries with genealogy sections. Rhonda R. McClure rhondam@sodamail.com If you know someone who is interested in genealogy, please forward this entire message to them! _________________________________________________ To subscribe to Family Tree Finders, send a blank e-mail message to: join-family-tree-finders@gt.sodamail.com At the site you can change your address, cancel or join: http://207.153.204.247/cgi-bin/gt/login.html