I generally advise anyone with a relative who lived during the era in which Revolutionary War pensions were granted to search those pensions at Fold3.com for that relative. That’s because the pension images there have a full name index and there are more individuals listed in those pensions than just veterans and their widows.
Of course the references that provide the most information are those to individuals who provided testimony about the veteran’s service, his widow’s marriage to the veteran, or other facts directly related to the veteran and his family.
There are also individuals referenced who were not even living during the Revolutionary War and did not even know the veteran or his wife–like this reference from the Revolutionary War pension file for John Sledd and his widow, Charity. From the time of their marriage, the Sledds lived in Henrico, Hanover, and Louisa counties in Virginia.
And Charity could not find a record of her marriage. Because of that a letter is in the file dated 26 September 1839 from W. H. Roake, claiming to the great-grandson of a Parson Henry, whom Charity Sledd claimed officiated at her wedding after the Revolutionary War. Roake claimed that he had no record of the wedding and that the records of the Hanover court contained no mention of it either.
The first name of the great-grandfather of Roake is not included, but it may be referenced elsewhere in the pension application. It may be possible to determine the probable first name of Parson Henry by searching contemporary records, local published histories in the Hanover County area, performing Google searches, etc.
Further research would need to be done to determine the specific connection between Roake and Henry. It would seem reasonable that Roake had “good knowledge” of his great-grandfather’s name, but whether he actually remembered the man is another matter entirely and would have to be determined based on when each was born and died.
But the reminder here is that there individuals who had nothing directly to do with a pension claim can be mentioned in a file. And they may have not even been living at the time of the war. And they may never have even known the applicant.
Just a few things to think about.
Readers can search the Revolutionary War pensions at Fold3.com.
Keep in mind that some documents are difficult to read and names may be spelled in a variety of ways.
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