TWO REVOLUTIONARY PENSION BOOKS Two recently published books will be of interest to researchers looking into ancestors who may have served in the Revolution. The more interesting but more limited of the two is ``The Pension Lists of 1792-1795,'' compiled by Murtie June Clark, a veteran at such compilations. Because two fires in Washington in the year 1800 destroyed most of the then-existing Revolutionary pension records, much data on soldiers is missing. However, by searching various Congressional reports, Ms. Clark was able to uncover information on many hundreds of soldiers. In many cases the reports provide more informative data than most such pension lists or indexes in publication. In the reports of invalid pension claims, the book lists by state the veteran's name, town of residence, rank, regiment or company, and ``remarks'' about the claim. These may contain some fascinating information. For instance, William Jones of Norwich, Conn., who served as a marine aboard the ship Oliver Cromwell, was ``wounded by grape shot in his thigh in Apr 1778, at sea about 60 leagues from the island of Antigua in an engagement with the British ship Admiral Keppell; the Oliver Cromwell was not a continental vessel; the claimant was resident in Nova Scotia from the close of the war until lately. No evidence of a disability; three-fourths pension.'' Would that we could all uncover such interesting details of our 18th Century ancestors! The book contains other useful lists, such as continental officers who died in service or were killed in action before May 28, 1778, and pensions allowed by Congress under the Act for the Relief of Disabled Soldiers and Seamen (from records found in ``Laws of the United States of America,'' between 1789 to 1815). The introduction does not specify how many soldiers' records are reported. However, there's a complete index, and from that I estimated more than 2,700 names are cited. Considerably more names are found in ``The Pension List of 1820'' -- some 16,000 of them. These are all the soldiers who were receiving money under an 1818 law that granted pensions to any soldier who had served nine months or more in the Revolutionary Army and was in indigent circumstances. Earlier lists of pensioners had included only people injured or disabled in service, and this is said to be the most complete list of those who had served in the Revolution that had been published to that time. It is, in fact, simply a fancy photocopy of a 672-page typeset ``letter,'' listing all the pensioners by state or territory in which they were living in 1820. In most cases the only information given is the person's name, rank, and the ``line'' -- usually a state -- from which the person enlisted. This is handy for tracing some vets back to their home states if those were previously unknown. The mere fact of the names being on the record indicates, too, that further data may be on file in the National Archives. Applications, supporting letters, records, and other information may be available. The 1820 publication was not indexed. However, Mrs. Clark was commissioned to do this volume, and the result is a 75-page index. This is particularly handy not only because names in the original list are arranged by state or territory, but also because they were not completely alphabetized within those lists. While surnames were alphabetical by first letter, that was the end of the alphabetizing effort, and you will find Martin Crook, Joseph Cutler, Jonathan Clemens, Joseph Carley, etc., one after another. Both these hardbound volumes have been put out by Genealogical Publishing Company, and should be available in better libraries or through genealogical societies. They may be ordered directly from the publisher at $21.50 for The Pension Lists of 1792-95 and $40 for The Pension List of 1820 plus $2.50 P&H from Dept. SM, 1001 North Calvert Street, Baltimore, Md., 21202-3897 (or 1-800-727-6687). The same publisher offers other pension-related titles, including the ``Index to U.S. Invalid Pension Records 1801-1815'' by Mrs. Clark (1991), and ``A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services...'' of 1840, indexed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (1989). --J.F.S. 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � This file is from The Source of Magic, Ridgefield CT � � 203-431-4687, source for genealogy, radio, & Windows � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴�