Did your fourth great-grandfather apply for a Revolutionary War pension that was granted in 1818, only to be removed from the rolls in 1820? What happened? On March 18, 1818 (3 Stat. 410), the U. S. Congress agreed to grant pensions to Revolutionary War veterans for service from which no disabilities resulted. Officers and enlisted men were eligible under the terms of the 1818 act if they had served in a Continental military organization or in the U. S. naval service (including the Marines) for 9 months or until the end of the war. Pensions granted under this act were to continue for life.
Carol Darrow
The service-pension act of 1818 resulted in a great number of applications, many of which were approved. However, financial difficulties and charges that applicants were feigning poverty to obtain benefits caused Congress to enact remedial legislation on May 1, 1820 (3 Stat. 569). The new law required every pensioner receiving payments under the 1818 act, and every would-be pensioner, to submit a certified schedule of his estate and income to the Secretary of War who was authorized to remove those persons he believed were not in need of assistance. Thousands who had been approved were then removed from the pension rolls. The next opportunity to apply for a pension simply for service occurred in 1832. (Source: https://sites.rootsweb.com/~fayfamily/pensions.html)
Changes in the law affect records ranging from marriage records, bounty land grants, tax records, census taking, immigration and naturalization. What may seem confusing about a record – why did they have a marriage bond instead of a marriage license – is usually clarified if you Google a specific topic, location and year. Records are based on the requirements in the law. Checking the law in the state and time of a record can help you unravel a mystery in your family.
~ Carol Cooke Darrow teaches beginning genealogy at the Central Denver Public Library on the 2nd Sat. each month and volunteers at the library on Tues. from 10 – 1 pm.