The Admission Fee ($5) and Annual Dues ($3) should accompany the application. They will be returned if the applicant is not admitted.
The application must be presented in duplicate, upon the forms issued by the Society.
The record of the ancestors' service should be given fully but concisely.
It is not necessary to show the pedigree any farther back than the ancestor from whom eligibility is derived.
The Society does not accept Encyclopedias, Genealogical Works, or Town or County Histories, except such as contain Rosters as authorities for proofs of service.
In referring to printed works, the volume and page should be given.
Reference to authorities, in manuscript, must be accompanied by certified copies, and authentic family records must be submitted, if required.
Every application must be signed by the applicant, sworn to by him, and endorsed by two members of the Society.
When the applicant is not personally known to any member of the Society whom he can ask to recommend his application, he must submit to the Secretary, when he files his papers, the names of two reputable citizens of the State to whom he refers by permission.
When an applicant claims descent from more than one Revolutionary ancestor, then "Supplementary" applications must be made in duplicate for each ancestor.
Supplementary claims to be treated in form and procedure precisely as original applications. No extra cost for filing supplementary claims.
To begin to make a search for proofs, the applicant must first know the State the ancestor served from, and if possible the town and county; and in writing officials simply ask "for the military service of A.B., said to have been a soldier in the Revolutionary War," and they will inform you what rank they find and any other data the records show. Correspond with the following officials and others named in the various States, for certificates of military service.
The fee, if any be charged, should in all cases accompany the inquiry; and where no charge is made for research, the money will be refunded, if the name is not found.
VERMONT, - Write Gen. T.S. Peck, Adjutant-General, Montpelier. No charge for making research, but where name is found the charge for furnishing certificate is $1 to $3, according to amount of labor required.
NEW HAMPSHIRE, - Write Hon. Ezra S. Stearns, Secretary of State, Concord. Charges depend upon the number of references. Usually from
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$1.50 to $3. Abstracts include all Military Service that appears on Revolutionary War Rolls.
MASSACHUSETTS. - Write Hon. William M. Olin, Secretary of State, Boston. No charge for making research, but where name is found the charge is $1 for furnishing certificate.
RHODE ISLAND. - Write Hon. Charles P. Bennett, Secretary of State, Providence. No charge for making research, but where the name is found and a certificate furnished the charge is $1.50.
CONNECTICUT. - This State has published a very complete Roster containing 27,000 names, which volume is in the office of the Registrar of the IOWA SOCIETY, who will make no charge for research or furnishing copy for same.
NEW YORK. This State has published a Roster containing 40,000 names, which volume is in the hands of the IOWA SOCIETY, who will make no charge for research or furnishing certificate.
NEW JERSEY. this state has very complete records. Write Gen. William S. Stryker, Adjutant-General, Trenton. No charge for making research or furnishing certificate.
PENNSYLVANIA. Write Dr. William H. Egle, State Librarian, Harrisburg, enclosing $2, and a search will be made for the name. If found a certificate of service will be furnished for $1 more.
DELAWARE. Write Hon. John D. Hawkins, Secretary of State, Dover. The charge for furnishing records is two cents a line and $1 additional for certificate.
MARYLAND. - Write Hon. Philip D. Laird, Annapolis, Commissioner of the Land Office, who will make research for name for twenty-five cents, and seventy-five cents additional for furnishing certificate.
VIRGINIA. - The Revolutionary records in this State are very meagre, and it is very difficult to find data. They consist mainly of the records of Land Bounty Warrants, which were issued by the State to soldiers who had served three years or more. Write Mr. W. G. Stanard, 314 West Cary street, Richmond, a gentleman highly recommended, who has given considerable attention to tracing Virginia genealogies. He will make research of everything there is available at the State Capital to find the name, for which he charges $1, to be paid in advance. If he finds the name he will notify applicant, and will charge $1.50 more to furnish certificate.
NORTH CAROLINA, - The Revolutionary rolls of the State are very meagre. Mr. T. P. Jerman, Chief Clerk in the State Auditor's Department, Raleigh, will search for any name, and if found, will furnish a certificate of service for $5. No charge unless certificate is found.
SOUTH CAROLINA, - There are no Rosters in existence of the Revolutionary soldiers from this State, so far as known. The State has nothing. The New York Historical Society, 170 Second avenue, New York City, has a few volumes containing some Rosters of officers and privates, but very meagre.
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GEORGIA. - Write William Harden, Librarian Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, for information of Georgia soldiers. That Society has books and manuscripts which contain much useful information relating to the Revolutionary period.
Pensions
The government passed no general pension laws until 1818, when it granted to those who had served nine months or more in the Continental Army or Navy. In 1832 pensions were granted to all officers and soldiers, whether Continental, State, or Militia, who had served in one or more terms, a period of two years. If the applicants have reason to believe their ancestors drew a pension under these acts, they can get a record of their military service by writing the Honorable Commissioner of Pensions, at Washington. There is no cost for obtaining this data, and it takes about thirty days to get a reply.
The IOWA SOCIETY has an official list of the Pensioners drawing pensions June 1st, 1840, which can be consulted.
The IOWA SOCIETY has in the office of the Registrar "Heitman's Historical Register of the Officers of the Continental Army," which contains the names of about 10,000 officers, mostly of the Continental Army, very few names of officers of Militia or Minute-men. The volume is accepted as "Official," and the Registrar will examine it for any one desiring to see if their ancestor's name appears therein. Also, Pennsylvania Archives, Second Series, Volume X.
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