Some Revolutionary War Records

 It's necessary, from time to time, to do a little background reading in order to be able to continue researching a particular individual or family line.  Usually, it's something historical and geographical.  Most of my families were in the State of New York early on.  Recently, I bought a copy of:

New York in the Revolution as Colony and State

I thought that these records, or some information about them, might be of interest.

The full title is: New York in the Revolution as Colony and State: These records were discovered, arranged and classified by James A. Roberts, Comptroller, in 1897.

Today, this has been reprinted so the print is sometimes iffy and the included illustrations are pretty terrible.  But, it's a very interesting and valuable anthology of records for military service during the Revolution. "...quantities of forgotten papers relating to the services performed by New York in the Revolutionary war.  These papers, long since detached from their original file packages, were ... scattered through great masses of old vouchers and files."  "These papers contain the muster and pay rolls of different organizations,...."  "Nor do the names contained in this volume in probability comprise all of those from New York who performed service in that great struggle.  Cases exist in which records of a full guota of field, staff and line officers for a regiment have been found, but no enlisted men."  Apparently, also, officers were known to have taken records home with them.  Then, of course, over time records were lost, burnt, misplaced and have not yet been recovered.

The introductory chapters give some historical background of the records and military operations during the Revolution.  I will post snippits of those from time to time.  At this point, it's important to post this description of how the military was organized at that time because it explains the organization of the records:  "The military forces of the Colony and State during the revolutionary struggle, were divided into three classes.

    The Line, which regiments were in the United States service under General Washington.  There were also regiments of artillery and an organization of "Green Mountain Boys" in the Line.

    The Levies;  which were drafts from the different militia regiments, and from the people direct as well, and which could be called upon to serve outside the State during their entire term.

    The Militia; which then, as now, could only be called oiut of the State for three months at a time."

There were also mentioned, four privateers - ships - in the service and pay of the State.

    "Associated Exempts were a unique class and were authorized by an act of April 3, 1778."

They were composed of "all persons" younger than 60 who had civil or military commissions (not defined) and could be, apparently, conscripted but not reappointed to their former position; and all persons between the ages of 50 and 60.  Note the word persons, but I suspect men was meant.

There's more description of these divisions and classes and more detail but I run the risk of copyright infringement and boring all of you with those details.  There were certain types of occupations that were required to be included like printers, ferrymen and millers.  Explanations of what a man had to do if unable to comply with conscription.  Regular rations were rum, sugar and tea in varying amounts depending on rank.  There is a scale of pay, according to rank, which I will probably post in the future, but it was not always in money and, so it says, "As late as 1784, a large majority of the soldiers were still unpaid for their services...."  Later, various acts were passed providing "Land Rights" to compensate those who served.  I will also post that in a later blog, as well as the description of what each soldier was required to provide for himself in order to serve.  There's also a very interesting definition of the militia which helps define the 2nd amendment that everyone is feels so strongly about.

The bulk of the book is previously mentioned a collection of rosters of officers and soldiers in each division (Line, Levy and Militia) and regiment that was found by the Comptroller, James Roberts, and published in 1897.

I will periodically, post lists of names from these but only those names related to my families (related by blood, marriage or adoption), (again, copyright law).  And, only surnames, officers and, where given, enlisted or conscripted, in most cases except when I find a name that may, in fact be a specific individual in my family tree, in which case, I will cite the entire name and who it might be in the tree.  In all cases, without further research, it's impossible, from these list to know if any of these men are related to my families.  Certainly, finding certain names, what unit they were in and, after research on individual units, may open new information about individuals and family lines. I will use the spelling used in my family regardless of how the name is written in the roster, assuming a great deal.  And, I'm not reading carefully each and every name but looking quickly for familiar surnames; the book is several hundred pages.  If you see a name and would like to know more about that individual, in that unit, you can email me @ familytracker@yahoo.com with the unit and surname and I'll tell you what I find in the list.

So, first:

The Line, 1st Regiment:  Swartwout, Van Waggoner, Baptiste, Bailey, Barnhart, Bevins, Butler/Buttler, Chace/Chase, Crandle, Currie/Curry, Darling, Dougherty, Ferris, Hayden, Hendrickson, Hoyt, Odell, Platner, Swartwout, Vanatta/Vanatten, Ward, Wormouth.

Remember, my spelling, not necessarily the spelling in the list.

Much more to go....

Quick Genealogy Etiquette Tips

Researching family history is a people activity.  Working with people means being courteous.  So, here are a couple of tips I picked up, made up, along the way:

1.  When you send a letter of inquiry to someone, please include a self-addressed, STAMPED, envelope.  It's not entirely necessary but you might be more likely to get a response and a quicker one.

2.  Always thank people for any information, documents, photos, etc. they may send/give you, even if you haven't asked, and even if they aren't exactly what you're looking for.  It takes time, at least a little effort and attention, and even sometimes money, to do the research.  "Official" documents in my area of research are now between $10 to $25 dollars.

3.  Ask, don't demand.

4.  Share.  It's not only your family.  What you find belongs to the family as much as to you.

5.  Don't share information about living people without asking for their permission to do so.

6.  If you want something: a document, a photo from somebody that you know they have, be willing to pay something for a copy.  Why should anyone reproduce something for you at their expense.  Or, trade something for it.

Now, a big one.  What if you find out you're related to someone you know and really don't like?  Well, a fact is a fact.  Blood relative or only by marriage?  In any case, it doesn't mean anything has to change.  It doesn't mean you have to invite them for dinner.  It just means you're related.  If it's a problem for you, let it be.  Get over it.  And, expand your view and accept what's true and that what's true isn't always what you like.

Another big one.  What if you know something about a family member, maybe more than one, that could be a problem, something maybe they don't know, something sad, something salacious, something painful?  It can be difficult to keep a secret.  It can be a test of your strength, your integrity, your ethics.  Why let it out?  Why tell anyone?  Now, if it's something current and criminal -- I can't tell you what's best; maybe talk to a lawyer....  Otherwise, best to keep it to yourself; take it to your grave.

Finally, try not to be a pest about the family history.  I know I can be.  It occupies a lot of my time and I find it very interesting and enjoyable so sometimes I get frustrated that everyone doesn't feel the same but I try to accept that that's not the case for everyone.  Sometimes, though, we have to ask questions several times because memories are never perfect and, if we let a little time pass and ask a question again, we might get a little more information the next time.

That's it for now.

The Vandermark family cemetery

I'm not sure if I posted about this before and I'm not going to look so here's the story of how my immediate family found out about the cemetery.

First, a little background.  The Vandemarks, Beismers and Hogancamps owned a substantial amount of land in Debruce, in what is now a water shed and near the state fish hatchery.  It appears that the state seized a lot of land in the area, under eminent domain, for the water shed and the fish hatchery.  The cemetery is in the water shed, although, parcels have been sold off around the cemetery and one owner blocks his driveway which is the best access to the cemetery; or did that last time I was there which was some time ago.

My niece, Amy Panioli, was on a conservation camp, or something like that and they were discussing the waste of land, as a resource and visited an abandoned cemetery.  Oddly, the Henry family cemetery is on the road below the Vandemark family cemetery and you have to hike up a small hill to get to the Vandemark Cemetery.  In any case, they were, apparently standing in the midst of the Vandermark cemetery while having this conversation about waste of land for cemeteries; not interested at this point in that discussion.  Amy turned around and, lo and behold, there were headstones with her great grandfather's surname on them.

She came home and told her mother, my sister, and our mother who called me and we all went to the cemetery.  My mother got emotional because her favorite uncle, her Uncle Howard Beismer, is buried there and she never knew where he was buried.

Since the cemetery is legally considered abandoned (nobody in the family is taking care of it), the town mows it at least twice a year and ANYBODY can be buried there.  I had tried for a few years to get a family cemetery association formed around the cemetery to prevent anymore non-family burials there.  I would like to be buried there, if I'm buried; I haven't decided yet.  I know Uncle Harold was interested in that.  It requires at least 6 board members.  The association is registered with the state and accepts full responsibility for the upkeep of the cemetery and has full authority over what happens in the cemetery.  There are upkeep rules from the state, so some expense.  I was never able to get the required 6 people together.  So, as it stands, the cemetery is legally abandoned and ANYBODY can be buried there.

I love the story.  It was an exciting couple of weeks around our discovery of the cemetery.

I hope to get up there sometime to clean up some stones.