Finding Original Revolutionary War Documents

Several websites such as www.ancestry.com, www.familysearch.org, and www.fold3.com have Revolutionary War index cards which are digitally indexed and easy to find. Some of these cards have lots of great information, such as the one for Deliverance Wilson.1 It lists the captain’s name, what town the captain was from, dates of service, and a description of what the company did in the 16 days referenced on the muster and pay roll.2

However, other Revolutionary War Index cards are much more vague, such as this one for William Holly that lists several manuscript numbers.3

Understanding Revolutionary War index cards can help get the most out of the research.

Creation of index cards

The beginning of a record set often has one or more typed up pages that describe the origin of the record set. Unfortunately, the Massachusetts index (where I found the index card for Deliverance Wilson) does not, so it is unclear exactly when they were created.

However, a different Revolutionary War index record does provide detail. The War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records was begun in 1894, and according to the information sheet, “the abstracts made from the original records were verified by a separate operation of comparison, and great care was taken to ensure that the abstracts and the indexes were accurate”.4 The creation of indexes likely began around 1894 and likely took several years, possibly decades, as items were added to the war records office.

The record for Deliverance Wilson came out of the Massachusetts Archives rather than the National Archives, but I suspect the indexes in Massachusetts were created about the same time. If the War Department wanted to gather all Revolutionary War records in one location, and a place like the Massachusetts Archives had Revolutionary War records, they may have wanted to keep their own original documents but follow the same guidelines the National Archives was using.

One great benefit of these index cards is they are just over a century old whereas the original records are nearly 250 years old. Older documents can be harder to read, ink bleeds and paper begins to crumble. If the original record has been microfilmed, the quality of the film used and the light used when filming will greatly affect the readability of the record.

While the indexes were likely double checked to ensure accuracy, I always like to look at the original documents. Some index cards include a detailed abstract and others only include a reference number. There are likely variations everywhere in between. Without looking at the original record, it is hard to know if an index card with a detailed abstract left out information that may be helpful to a researcher.

How do you find the original record?

To quote Judy Russell, “it depends.”5

Most Revolutionary War indexed cards have a number on them. That number is used to find the original record. However, the index card doesn’t necessarily identify what record collection the card is referring to. Several tips to locate the original collection are:

  • Look at the title of the index collection
  • Look at the source information
  • Look at the beginning of the images for pages describing the series
  • If using digitized microfilm on a website such as Family Search, read the description of the film.

The example above for William Holly came from the War Department Collection. Family Search has original records on microfilm which can be looked at with a FamilySearch account. The documents referencing William Holly are on the roll with the associated number. Documents are in numerical order.

The example I started with, for Deliverance Wilson, was from a Massachusetts collection. The index was found on FamilySearch searching Deliverance’s name in the record search. To find the original record the index was referencing, I used the “search catalog” function on FamilySearch, and used keywords to look for Revolutionary War files using “pay roll” and “muster” as search terms. The collection for Muster/Pay Rolls for Massachusetts popped up.

The index card for Deliverance Wilson references “volume 25 page 121”. I went to Volume 25 of the collection and found the image labeled 121. (It was split into two images, but only one image is shown below). The top of the page is hard to read and I am grateful for the index because it makes the dark image easier to read knowing what some of the words are! The original document shows all the people Deliverance was with for this assignment, which may or may not be useful for future research.6

Still Looking

While the two examples I gave above were pretty straightforward and easy to locate, there is no guarantee that will always be the case.

I have an index card from New Hampshire (also for Deliverance Wilson) that I still have not been able to locate the original for. The film identified the New Hampshire Archives and I found a transcript on their website. The transcript was published in 1889 and states the original was in Washington, DC in the Pension Bureau. I have been unable to locate any records from 1776 in the Pension and Record office, although I’m not sure that is the right place. Records of the Pension Bureau were transferred to the Veterans Administration. I have not yet investigated the Veterans Administration collections or record details. Hopefully I’ll find the original record one day. The transcript is very detailed, and I’m not sure the original will provide additional details, but I at least want to try to find it. I tend to spend a lot of time on goose hunts for my ancestors!

  1. Massachusetts Revolutionary War Index to Muster and Pay Roll, Deliverance Wilson; database with images, “Massachusetts, Revolutionary War, Index Cards to Muster Rolls, 1775-1783,” FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org: accessed 12 Feb 2023); citing Massachusetts State Archives, Boston. ↩

  2. I was conflicted on whether to use payroll as one word, or to keep it separated into two words as written in the document. I decided to stick with the form used in the original document and write pay roll as two words. This index is for a muster roll AND pay roll, written as just “Muster and Pay Roll” and the use of two words makes more sense since it is not just a payroll but a roll for both muster and pay. ↩

  3. Revolutionary War Reference Card for William Holly; non-indexed images, “Miscellaneous numbered records (The Manuscript File) in the War Department collection of Revolutionary War records, 1775-1790's,” FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org: accessed 12 Feb 2023); citing NARA Series M847, roll 16, Washington, D.C. ↩

  4. “U.S. Compiled Revolutionary War Military Service Records, 1775-1783”; database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 Feb 2023); citing NARA Roll Number 543, image 9 of 1501, Washington, DC. ↩

  5. Judy Russell, a well-known genealogist with a law degree, often responds to questions with the response “it depends,” a typical phrase in the legal world. ↩

  6. Massachusetts Revolutionary War Muster and Pay Roll for Deliverance Wilson, v. 25, p.121; unindexed digital images, “Muster/payrolls, and various papers (1763-1808) of the Revolutionary War [Massachusetts and Rhode Island],” FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org: accessed 12 Feb 2022); citing Massachusetts State Archives, Boston. ↩

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