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HeritageQuest Online: Revolutionary War

Browsing the Revolutionary War Era Records

Instead of searching, you may wish to browse the collection by name. Use the "Browse this collection" drop-down menus to select a range of surnames and then narrow the list using the subsequent boxes. When you locate a specific grouping, click the link to start reviewing the files in that small group. The Interactive Image Viewer will then load and display the first record within that year and state. Use the filmstrip tool at the bottom of the page to move between images.

Revolutionary War Era Records Search Tips

The Revolutionary War collection contains pension and bounty-land warrant application files for over 80,000 service men and their widows and dependents regarding active military service during the Revolutionary War (beginning August 1776) and ongoing service through the War of 1812.  

The search page for this collection provides the following fields for you to construct a search query:

  • First & Middle Name
  • Last Name
  • Lived In Location
  • Any Event Year
  • Any Event Location
  • Keyword
  • Second Applicant Application State (Note: Servicemen and their widows/dependents did not always live in the location in which they served. It was common for men to travel across state lines to enlist and serve with other family members, moving back home after their service. Widows commonly moved to live with family after the serviceman passed away, therefore filing for widow's pension in a different state than the serviceman served.)

Use wildcard and truncation symbols (* , ?) to assist with spelling and sound variations (e.g., Sam* will locate instances of Sam, Sammie, Samuel, Samantha, etc. while Hans?n will identify variant forms including Hanson, Hansen, Hansin, or Hansan among others). 

There are no required fields, so you may execute a search using any combination of fields you wish. For example, maybe you are interested in locating records about a particular location to learn more about it's history. Use the Location field and/or the Keyword field to find titles that are about or reference that location.

NOTE: All fields on this page will display Exact and Similar matching options after data has been entered into the field. Location matching options differ from the name matching. 

Revolutionary War Era Records Search Page

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