Dear Geanellen (gkuranko@sprynet.com) and Cousins, The New Jersey branch is has been researched at great length and much has been contained about them in Pennington Pedigrees. I am sure you will get many answers regarding this line. However, I am responding on the List so that others may know too about Revolutionary War soldiers and pension information. You asked a good question about which files might provide the most genealogical information. The answer is the Pension Files. Military files contain information about whether the soldier was in attendance, pay statements, provide general administrative kinds of information, and therefore are limited genealogically. There is information to be gleaned from Bounty Land Warrants, but again, it is limited. The pension records sometimes contain statements in the pensioner's own hand, and often in his own words. These can be quite thrilling to read and hold, as I have done. Most of the records are now on microfilm. From Ancestry's listing for National Archives searches.: "Guide to Genealogical Research in The National Archives," p.125 "During the Revolutionary War, Congress used pension legislation and the promise of free land to encourage enlistment and the acceptance of commissions. After the war, such legislation constituted a reward for service already rendered. As years passed and the number of Revolutionary War veterans, widows, and their heirs decreased, pensions became increasingly generous, and qualifications for pensions increasingly less stringent. Most Revolutionary War pension application files are in envelopes containing applications and other records pertaining to claims for pensions or bounty land warrants. They may also appear in the form of summary cards with information about claimants for whom no original application papers exist or cross-reference cards to envelopes and summary cards. "All of the contents of all of the files are reproduced on Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land-Warrant Application Files, M804, 2,670 rolls. An introduction to this microfilm publication is reproduced on each roll and is also printed in the accompanying descriptive pamphlet. This introduction contains an excellent explanation of the eligibility requirements of the various resolutions and acts of Congress, 17761878, establishing pensions for Revolutionary War service. Also explained are the symbols and numbers on the envelopes. Understanding the symbols is not essential to use the records, however, because the files are now arranged in alphabetical order. "A second microfilm publication, Selected Records From Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land-Warrant Application Files, M805, 898 rolls, reproduces all records from envelope files containing up to 10 pages of records, but only significant genealogical documents are microfilmed from larger files." Additionally, there are printed abstracts of the Revolutionary War Pension files. From this: John Penington, NJ Line, S3670, sol was b 3 Sep 1761 in Morris Co NJ & he lived in Somerset Co NJ at enl & he appl there 15 Aug 1832, sol d 21 Sep 1841 leaving a wid (not named), in 1853 the only surviving children were; James Pennington of Somerset Co NJ, William Pennington & Sarah Smith, in Aug 1832 sol's bro Ephraim Penington aged 65 was of Somerset Co NJ. I am going to be teaching a genealogy class at the local community college beginning tomorrow night and I am really excited over it, and have been assembling a lot of information for that and for my internet genealogy class. Let me know if you are interested. Good luck in your quest. It is so much fun. Your Cousin, Carolyn