Other Sources

The American Revolution

What is service?

The term service is commonly used by the Sons of the American Revolution and the Daughters of the American Revolution to describe what an ancestor might have done during the American Revolution.
Typically, ancestors born between the 1710s – in their sixties at the start of the War – and 1766 – a teenager at the end of the War – fall within the right age to have “service.” Ancestors normally served where they lived.
The Daughters of the American Revolution identifies four types of “Qualifying Service.” These categories are also a helpful way to discuss sources and our ancestors’ likely behavior during the American Revolution.
They are:

  • Signers of the Declaration of Independence
    o The National Archives has a list of signers at “Signers of the Declaration of Independence,” National Archives (https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/signers-factsheet).
  • Military Service: Service in the Continental Army or Navy; state Navy; or state or local militia.
    o With rare exceptions, ancestors with this service were generally between the ages of 16 and their late 40s. Men in their 50s and 60s may have been called out for attacks but typically would not serve for extended period.
    o Landed men generally served in the militia and not the Continental Army. Continental Line enlistments were much longer – 3 years was common – which would have been difficult for farmers without help.
    o Men of color did serve. Some units were integrated.
  • Civil Service: Holding an office in the American government on the local, state, or national level (which was considered treason, as it was open support of the Americans).
    o With rare exceptions, most office holders were white males between the ages of 30 and 70. Some were in their late 20s.
    o Office holding was tied to the ability to vote, which was determined by sex, race, and property holding.
  • Patriotic Service: All other forms of public support for the cause.
    o Common examples:
    • Payment of taxes in support of the cause.
    • Donation of supplies.
    • Swearing an oath.
    • Preaching a sermon in support of the cause.
    • Patriotic service is not restricted by age, gender, or race. However, service should be reasonable for the ancestor’s profile. In most cases, a woman would not pay taxes nor would a child.

How do you document service?

  • Muster rolls for those who saw military service beyond alarms can be found in:
  • Militia appointments, no matter the service, can be found in the Connecticut Archives collection:
    • An index for the latter may be found at https://libguides.ctstatelibrary.org/hg/ctarchives.
    • The collection itself has been largely digitized by FamilySearch. Find it by searching “Connecticut Archives” as a title in the catalog or through links from the state library finding aid.
  • Militia records: Some members of the militia would only have been called out for alarms when the British were believed to be in the area. These militia members would only appear on local, town level militia rolls.

Patriotic service:

  • Donations in support of the cause:
    • Some can be found in the Connecticut Archives collection:
      • An index for the latter may be found at https://libguides.ctstatelibrary.org/hg/ctarchives.
      • The collection itself has been largely digitized by FamilySearch but must be accessed at an affiliate. Find it by searching “Connecticut Archives” as a title in the catalog.
    • Others may be mentioned in the town meeting minutes.
  • Taxes: Note: To date, the payment of Connecticut taxes has not been used to qualify for DAR or SAR under patriotic service. Because authorization to use the money to fund the military generally occurred after payment, it’s unclear if the “annual” taxes would be accepted. The collection of the 1780 beef tax would qualify, as the authorization occurred before the tax was collected. In Connecticut, town assessors made “grand lists” instead of retaining lists of those who paid taxes that year. Grand lists are lists of those who hold property eligible to be taxed that year. To determine who paid taxes, you need to correlate the year’s grand list to the town meeting minutes. Those minutes will indicate any issues with collecting payment, any exemptions that might have been given, and how that year’s taxes were used. While grand lists were not always retained, those still extent can generally be found in the offices of the town clerk.

Public Office:

  • The Public records of the Colony of Connecticut and The Public Records of the State of Connecticut contain the proceedings of the state government, including who held public office and more.
  • Town meeting records: Note: Town office holding (elected positions) is considered qualifying service for the Sons of the American Revolution and the Daughters of the American Revolution, as it required a public declaration of support the Revolutionary cause. Town meeting records describe the function of the town, including who held town offices, how taxes were spent, and more. Offices and oaths were abstracted by Jolene Mullen in Connecticut Town Meeting Records During the American Revolution.

Manumission

In Connecticut, the documents manumitting – or legally freeing – a person held in slavery can be found in multiple record collections.

These are a few of the most common:

  • Town land records: Manumission records can generally be found in the grantor/grantee index with the enslaved person listed as the grantee (“buyer”).
    • Most Connecticut land records from this period have been digitized by FamilySearch and are accessible when in a FamilySearch affiliate.
      • To locate an affiliate, go to https://www.familysearch.org/en/ and click on the question mark in the upper right.
      • Click on “Find A Family History Center and FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries”.
      • Enter the zip code in the map search bar to find close affiliates.
    • Once at an affiliate, go to https://www.familysearch.org/en/
      • Log in using the buttons in the upper right. (Create an account if needed – they’re free!)
      • Click on “Search” and then “Catalog”.
      • Enter the location in the order state, county, town into the place search bar.
      • Click “Search.”
      • In the results list, click on land records.
      • Click on the result with town clerk as the author.
      • Use the grantor/grantee index to find the volume and page of the manumission.
  • Public Records of the Colony and State of Connecticut:
    • A person held in slavery could become the legal property of the state during the American Revolution due to confiscation.
    • Records of their manumission would be found in the Public Records:
  • Probate records: A person held in slavery could be legally freed by their enslaver at the time of their death.

Legislation regarding the support of people who had been held in slavery may create additional documentation of their lives. These records may or may not be held with the manumission. Some may appear in local manuscript collections.

1808, per the publication, passed in 1777:

Provided nevertheless, That if any master or owner of any servant or slave, shall apply to the selectmen of the town to which he belongs, for liberty and licence to emancipate or make free any such servant or slave, it shall be the duty of such selectmen to enquire into the age, abilities, circumstances and character of such servant or slave, and if they or the major part of them, shall be of the opinion that it is likely to be consistent with the real advantage of such servant or slave, and that it is probable that the servant or slave will be able to support his or her own person, and he or she is of good and peaceable life and conversation; such selectmen or the major part of them, shall give to the owner or master of such servant or slave, certificate under their hands, of their opinion in the premises, and that the master or owner of such servant or slave, hath liberty to emancipate and set at liberty such servant or slave. And if the master or owner of any servant or slave, shall, on receiving such certificate, emancipate and set at liberty such servant or slave. And if the master or owner of any servant or slave, shall, on receiving such certificate, emancipate and set at liberty such servant or slave, he his heirs, executors and administrators, shall be forever discharged from any charge or cost, which may be occasioned by maintaining or supporting the servant or slave, made free as aforesaid; any law, usage or custom, to the contrary notwithstanding.(The Public Statute Laws of the State of Connecticut Book I (Hartford: Hudson and Goodwin, 1808), 624-625; digital images, HathiTrust (https://hdl.handle.net/2027/nyp.33433009411053?urlappend=%3Bseq=773%3Bownerid=27021597768687286-863: accessed 2 Mar 2022).

1821:

If any master or owner of a slave is disposed to emancipate him, he may apply to any two of the civil authority, or to one of the civil authority, or two of the select-men of the town where he belongs, who, if they find such slave to be in good health, and not of a greater age than forty-five years, shall give to the owner or master, a certificate thereof, under their hands; provided they find on examination of the slave, that he is desirous to be made free; and if the master or owner shall, on receiving such certificate, emancipate such slave, he shall be discharged from any expense for his support, provided the letter of emancipation, and the certificate, shall be recorded in the records of the town where the master resides. (The Public Statute Laws of the State of Connecticut (Hartford: S.G. Goodrich, & Huntington & Hopkins, 1821),428-429; digital images, HathiTrust (https://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.hxt8s5?urlappend=%3Bseq=449%3Bownerid=27021597764313116-447: accessed 2 March 2022).