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Litchfield County pension records

2010-236-0

 Collection
Identifier: 2010-236-0

Scope and Contents

On March 8th of 1818, Congress passed an Act of Provisions that allowed Revolutionary War Veterans to file a claim of their outstanding war pensions.  Included here are pension claims filed by the surviving veterans of Litchfield County (1820-1834). In some cases, veterans had to refile for their pensions in subsequent years and used additional supporting evidence and letters of witness to verify their service in the Revolutionary War. The Collection is comprised of three boxes of alphabetized file-folders. They are arranged by the last name of the individual who filed the claim and placed in sub-folders. In cases of multiple pension claims, the claims are filed by last name and then by the chronological order of the claim; all placed in a single sub-folder. Each Folder contains pension claims (1820-1834) made under oath at the Litchfield County Court by veterans who served in the Revolutionary War while residing in Litchfield County.  The description notes the many pension claims that include one or more letters of witness from either fellow veterans or an noted official who held a record of their service. Please note that the above pension claim folders with the last names: A-Y are described as "Handwritten pension claim," when they are not written on an official court form.  If the description of the pension claim is left blank, it designates them to be very brief and basic pensiom claims written on pension claim forms. Miscellaneous I and II (circa 1820s) contains unidentifiable fragments of pension claims and/or their accompanying notes. There are also ledgers that list each veteran-claimant and town they are from. These ledgers were later retyped into copies by the Litchfield Superior Court.

Dates

  • created: 1820-1834

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of this collection are in the public domain. There are no restrictions on use.

Extent

3.00 boxes

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

On March 8th of 1818, Congress passed an Act of Provisions that allowed Revolutionary War Veterans to file a claim of their outstanding war pensions.  Included here are pension claims filed by the surviving veterans of Litchfield County (1820-1834). In some cases, veterans had to refile for their pensions in subsequent years and used additional supporting evidence and letters of witness to verify their service in the Revolutionary War.

Arrangement Note

Arranged into three boxes of Revolutionary War Veteran Pension Claims that were made in Litchfield County.  Each claim is filed in alpahbetical order by the last name of the claimant.  The court list of veterans, as well as fragmented records and scraps are in the final two folders of Box 3.

Physical Access Requirements

Originals are available but must be handled carefully, due to their age and fragility. Use of a photocopier is only for the documents that are in good condition.

Custodial History

Very little conclusive custodial information/evidence.  The Litchfield County Court records show they donated records on 'Military Affairs' to The Litchfield Historical Society, circa 1953. The final two folders in Box 3 show  notes from a court house.

Processing Information

The collection was already arranged alphabetically by claimant, probably by an early curator of the Historical Society.  It required some re-housing to alleviate overcrowded boxes and folders.  The earlier arrangement was kept, though the collection size expanded as a result of rehousing.

Title
Litchfield County pension records
Status
Completed
Author
Justin Saxagne
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Litchfield Historical Society Repository

Contact:
7 South Street
P.O. Box 385
Litchfield CT 06759
860-567-4501
860-567-3565 (Fax)