Need some help, please. My wife has some very old copies from PA Historical & Museum Commission. It appears they were made from negative microfiche/micro film. They are barely readable. They are a militia return of the 3rd Battalion, 9th Company from Rapho Township for March 1778. We find that the Captain of the Company (Captain Abraham Ferry) was the same man that was a Hession in the 1st Division of von Knyphausen Regiment. >From other records, we understand some of these Hession soldiers were captured at the Battle of Trenton. My wife's ancestor was Conrad Deal (Diehl/Thiel). He was in the same Hession Regiment. We know Conrad was put out on the farm of Henry Krum--and later married Henry's Neice. Conrad Deal is also listed in the militia return of Captain Ferry's 9th Company. Our questions. 1. Was this 9th Militia Company in service to the Revolutionary forces? 2. Would such a Militia be commanded by an ex-Hession--with some previous Hession prisoners in the militia? 3. Can we obtain a better copy, preferably transcribed/typed of the militia return--which we understand is in " RG-4 Records of the Comptroller General's Office" and recently in the PA Historical & Museum Commission-Division of Archives and Manuscripts, Harrisburg. 4. In the record we have, there appears to be notations for each member; such as, "wilin", "not wilin", and "absent". We assume wilin was meant to be willing. Also, there are hashmarks in front of some of the men's names. Could this be how many times that individual participated? We would appreciate any help we can get. Thank you, Robert Hart Keggan Lt Col USAF Retired **************Life should be easier. So should your homepage. Try the NEW AOL.com. (http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp&icid=aolcom40vanity&ncid=emlcntaolcom00000002)