For Veterans Day, I wanted to look at the family behind a Revolutionary War service record. Rosilla Hill applied for a pension based on her husband Jonathan’s service. She gave a date and place for their wedding. A town clerk searched for the marriage and came back with a different kind of record and a different year. I’d read those pages side by side before choosing a date for the family tree.
The National Archives describes the case in its guide to using Revolutionary War pension files. Rosilla’s application is file W16291. Her declaration, a statement from Jonathan’s sister, and a town clerk’s search each answer a different question.
Start With Rosilla’s Own Account
Rosilla said she and Jonathan married in Douglas, Massachusetts, in May 1775. She named the minister and said Jonathan died in Winchester, New Hampshire, on November 26, 1830. Winchester was also where she lived when she made her declaration.
I’d note who gave the information and when. Rosilla was describing a wedding she remembered from many years earlier. The details give me places and names to search. I’d keep the marriage date in my notes as the date she reported.
Read What the Witness Actually Knew
Jonathan’s sister Lydia Coombs gave an affidavit. She said she lived in Douglas around the time the couple married, and that Jonathan and Rosilla lived together until his death and had 12 children. She also said she did not attend the wedding. You can see Lydia’s affidavit in the National Archives Catalog.
Lydia gives me a relationship I can follow. She identifies herself as Jonathan’s sister, which opens a line of research into their parents. Her statement also gives me a reason to look for a large household across two places. I’d keep her knowledge of the family separate from what she could say about the ceremony.
Put the Two Dates Side by Side
William Dudley, the Douglas town clerk, reported that he could find no record of the marriage. He did find a marriage intention for Jonathan Hill and Rosillah Combs published on July 15, 1776. I’d preserve those spellings, since a search for Rosilla alone might miss the entry.
The intention records a plan to marry. Rosilla’s 1775 date comes from her own account of the wedding. I’d enter both items in my research notes with their sources and keep the exact wedding date open. From there, I’d look for surviving Douglas church records and any other papers connected with the minister or the two families.
Give Each Page Its Own Line
When I find a pension file, I write down the file number, the person who supplied each statement, and the date and place of the event it describes. Then I put the records in order. A widow’s declaration can tell me what she remembered. A clerk’s search can tell me what was on the books. A witness can point me toward relatives I hadn’t thought to look for.
Rosilla’s case leaves me with two dates and several useful leads. I can follow the family in Douglas and Winchester while keeping the question of the wedding date open.
Read the Entire Pension File
When I open a pension file, I like to make a quick inventory before I settle on an answer. I list the applicant’s declaration, witness statements, letters from clerks, and any copies or extracts that go with them. I record the image number or another way to get back to each page. An index can get me to the file, but the person I need may appear only as a witness. Lydia Coombs is the reason I’d keep reading after I found Rosilla’s account. A relative’s statement can point to people and places the application’s opening pages barely mention.
I’d also mark where a document ends. A signature on a second page can tell me whose words I’ve been reading, and a clerk’s certification can explain where a copy came from. If I find a typed extract or a later summary beside a handwritten declaration, I keep a note for both. A useful summary can point me to the answer quickly. The earlier page lets me check how the name was spelled, who supplied the information, and whether a phrase such as “about that time” was lost in the retelling.
Search Douglas for Two Different Records
With this family, I’d search the marriage intention and a record of the ceremony as separate events. I’d begin with Douglas and look at the surrounding entries. How does the town label a notice of intent? Does it record an actual ceremony in the same book or in another one? I’d write down the heading of the section and the date attached to each item. If I find only the July 1776 intention, I can cite that entry for what it records and continue looking for the ceremony.
I’d also search Jonathan and Rosilla separately. The clerk’s spelling “Rosillah Combs” is worth keeping in a search log beside the spelling I use in the article. I’d try both forms of her given name and check variants of the surname. If I locate a church register, I’d start with the minister and town Rosilla named, then find out which years the register covers. A gap in the surviving pages changes the meaning of an unsuccessful search. I’d record that gap so a later researcher can see the difference between a book I searched and a book I could never examine.
Follow Lydia’s Clues into Other Records
For Lydia’s affidavit, I’d copy the words she used for her relationship to Jonathan and make a separate note of how she said she knew about the marriage. Those details lead to different searches. One takes me toward probate, church, or town records for Jonathan’s family. The other takes me back to the couple, their location, and anyone else who might have known them. If I find another person with Lydia’s married surname, I’d look for a record that actually connects that person to her household before treating the name as a clue.
My working note for this case would keep the two dates visible. Rosilla recalled a marriage in May 1775. Dudley reported an intention dated July 15, 1776. I’d cite each document, leave the ceremony date open, and describe the next record I hope to find. If I later locate a church entry or an original town return, I can compare it with both statements. That approach also helps when I share the tree with family. They can see the records that led me to the question and pick up the search without having to guess which date I trusted.
Learn More
- Ancestral Findings guide to Revolutionary War pension records
- National Archives guide to pension and bounty-land applications
Featured image credit — Lydia Coombs’s affidavit in Jonathan Hill’s Revolutionary War pension file W16291. National Archives, NAID 54876474. Public domain.
