I've written on this earlier, but I'm still wondering. The War of 1812 militias, as far as I know, were made up of volunteers. There was no draft for militias, was there? The man I'm researching as my 4th g-grandfather has a payroll stub dated Aug. 23, 1812. A second stub is dated Aug. 26, 1812 (3 days later) and the notation is made that he is a substitute for another. These men were not related. If this was a volunteer militia (Ohio), why would a man need a substitute? Would money have exchanged hands? The families likely knew each other for years. The first record in Ohio Co. WV for my g-grandfather's family is 1788. The other family was there in 1777. Does anyone know of substitutes that were not related or know of a similar situation? I'm just trying to figure this out. Karen Ermutlu

Karen wrote: >I've written on this earlier, but I'm still wondering. The War of 1812 militias, as far as I know, were made up of volunteers. There was no draft for militias, was there? Yes there was a draft. The federal government toyed with the idea, but didn't think it was constitutional. So they just required each of the states to supply a certain number of soldiers. So the states each had their own draft to fill quotas. My [3?4?] gr-grandfather PRIER was drafted on Staten Island, NY in the fall of 1814. i don't think there were exemptions at that point, as he was 26 years old and had a six month old, a 3 and a 4 yr old. As far as I have been able to tell, Capt. Oakley's company of Col. Connor's Richmond County Bn never left Staten Island, but it seems that most of its members were drafted & served from Sept to Dec.. [I've also found some substitutes among their members] > >The man I'm researching as my 4th g-grandfather has a payroll stub dated Aug. 23, 1812. A second stub is dated Aug. 26, 1812 (3 days later) and the notation is made that he is a substitute for another. These men were not related. > >If this was a volunteer militia (Ohio), why would a man need a substitute? Would money have exchanged hands? The families likely knew each other for years. The first record in Ohio Co. WV for my g-grandfather's family is 1788. The other family was there in 1777. > >Does anyone know of substitutes that were not related or know of a similar situation? I don't remember if it was in 1812 pensions, or in RevWar pensions that I've read, but I have seen substitutes for brothers, friends, and employers. Jim