Citizen Archivists and the Revolutionary War Pension Project

(L-R) Applications from the four Pension Acts. 1818 - William Post‘s application (S.34478), 1820 - Barne Ogden’s application on a Connecticut printed form (S.38279), 1832 - Joseph Lyon’s application (S.1054), and 1836 - Mary Casey’s application (W.3129).

National Archives and Records Administration

In celebration of the 250th anniversary of American independence, the National Archives and the National Park Service are collaborating on a special project to transcribe Case Files of Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Revolutionary War Service, ca. 1800 - ca. 1912. These Revolutionary War Pension Files consist of applications and other records pertaining to claims for pensions and bounty land warrants from 80,000 of America’s first veterans and their widows.

These records may contain valuable details about Revolutionary War veterans and their families, such as rank, unit, period of service, age, residence, date and place of marriage, and date and place of death of spouse. Also within these records, you may find copies of marriage or other family records, information pertaining to military activities or details about soldier’s lives, along with letters, diaries, or family trees.

Read more about these records and what you may find from the National Park Service's article Tips and a Guide for the Curious.

You are invited to help transcribe these records and uncover new stories from the Revolution. You could be the first person in 200 years to learn their stories!

Get started by registering as a volunteer with the National Archives. Add "NPS" to the beginning of your username to be counted as a National Park Service referral. For example, NPSRangerT.