Hi Sarah, >Does anyone HAVE information about EARLY PA >military list. Do you know how to get a correct answer for this question? Invest in a reference book. If you are a member of ancestry, you got theirs, assuming you can figure out how to find and use them on line (I can't!!). A hard copy really helps. "The Source" is probably the best guidebook to American genealogy. It includes a huge chapter on military records written by a recognized expert. Here is an important phrase: "recognized expert". This person does not spend their time on an email list but is busy preparing lectures, articles, and books, as well as researching for clients. The editors of "The Source" figured out who the experts were and had them write the chapters -- it's a no brainer for ourselves. We don't have to figure out the experts. The military chapter covers every state/colony. Read it as perhaps I missed something the last time I did and if you rely on me, you will be delayed in your research. A couple basics about colonial military outside of New England (which had a few extra wars and so some extra recs): we got the French and Indian War (Seven Years War to you Euros...) and we got the Revolution. We got a handful other conflicts but lets ignore those. So we got two wars, one mid 1700s and one 30 years or so later (ball parking it here). So who, generally speaking, served? Things were not too organized in the 1750s. You check with each colony. PA is unique in that it was settled by pacifists: Quakers. A little history of PA is useful to know. They didn't have standing army or militia at first. The inability or unwillingness of the gov in PHilly led to a lot of trouble and eventually the control of the gov passed from the Quakers to the Scotch Irish and others. So the majority of those fighting in PA were on the outskirts of civilization and Scotch Irish. The Quakers were pacifists, largely concentrated in the Philly area where they prayed and got rich (you can tell I am SI!). So what records were made for PA and what survive? That will be told to you in "The Source". A study of guides to PA military records and to F&I War records might also be worth it -- we all miss something. Having figure out what exists, you then have to find it. This is the next phase in a research project. You fire up www.familysearch.org and check the catelog. So anyway, records aren't great for the F&I War in PA, but much of what we do have is published in the published volumes of the PA Archives. The largest part of them is free on line. See our website http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~merle, that will take you to pages that explain EXACTLY what is in each vol. So the answer to your question is you go to our list webpage. Then you continue on. You check other military recs you may learn of in doing your research. You also will find tax lists, deeds, grants, and warrants, town records, a few church recs from the time. YOu can do a lot of work at ancestry an www.genealogy.com that include a number of key early PA resources. If you discover your ancestor lived say near Chambersburg, ie southern PA, recall that no one knew where the border with VA and MD were. Uncle George (happy Bday!) recruited from the northern VA/southern PA for his mission into Western PA. You can find records of men who went along, who dropped off, etc. If your man joined near a fort, chances are he lived near it. These records are KEY. Also most of the wills are abstracted and on line free at www.usgenweb.com for Cumberland Co and I think Lancaster too. Check them to see if your ancestor was a witness to a neighbor or brother. >I looked at the sites coming to the list and found some Robert Flemings but >were too late for our line. Eh??? This sounds to me like you are bottom feeding. You kjnow catfish? They lurk at the bottom and eat the dead crap that floats down. They are not particular. ANy crap they will eat. That's like people who surf the internet using compiled genealogy,much of which is wrong and almost none of which has sources so you can check to see if it is wrong. Don't do that. Check wills, deeds, military records, and censuses. >He was in Chester Co PA about 1733-67 then went I think the CHester wills are on line too(usgenweb) but I might be wrong. I've checked them. You also want to check PHilly wills (kept separately). And consider MD. IN researching individuals in Chester Co, you can find records in all these places, esp. in the early days when no one was sure where they were living. THey CTA'd by recording in all possible jurisdictions. The probates are also good to find (LDS for starters) as those dying who didn't leave wills are in th em. Your ancestor didn't die in PA but did he witness others' wills? Did he do inventories of estates? THis type of info will place him in a specific location in PA. >We are looking for any land grant or record with Robert Fleming about 1750- >inPA... Well then, order the warrant index to the PA grants from LDS or go to Harrisgburg or hire someone to do. The deeds are kept by county, so order the F index to Chester Co. They are in LDS. However visiting a library that has them is faster. There's a fair number of Fleming info in early PA. Besides your family, there was one of this name in Carlisle. One man died up in Canada on one of the F&I battles. Resaerched Flemings connected with an other surname for a client of mine. I would not restrict myself to an early timeframe. If a brother or father of your ancestor d. in PA it could be long after he left PA. Sometimes the wills say "My son Widget who resides in SC" or even the place in SC. IE, pretty dang good evidence linking your family in SC to a specific family in a specific place in PA. In working ona 'case' of a man b. around 1750 -- his father if in America, might not have died till 1820 or even 1830. So search wide. In this case I vacuumed up many F&I recs trying to find one man who might have been his da (adult in 1750 as he fathered a child) in PA, MD, and VA. THink daddie was in Ireland... Best of luck too! Linda Merle ________________________________________________________________ Sent via the WebMail system at mail.fea.net