Why is history beneficial to genealogists? For one thing, history can help you understand the challenges and context in which your ancestors lived and possibly thrived. Just as important, history offers clues about elusive ancestors. Knowing that a smallpox epidemic occurred during the 1840s may explain why some youngster ancestors do not appear in the[…]Read more
Category: American History
“Revolutionary War Pension Records Restored, Consolidated, and Explained. Part One” By Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck
Editor’s Note: Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck’s groundbreaking book, Revolutionary War Pensions Awarded by State Governments 1775-1874, the General and Federal Governments Prior to 1814, and by Private Acts of Congress to 1905, identifies and recreates the Revolutionary War pension files generated prior to the disastrous fire in the War Department on 8 November 1800, and a[…]Read more
Little Known Events from our Revolutionary War
Did you know that African slaves’ knowledge of the power of smallpox vaccine helped to save many of Washington’s soldiers at Valley Forge? Or that a woman’s name appears on the first printing of the Declaration of Independence to bear the names of all the signatories? If not, you may want to pickup a copy[…]Read more
Find Ten Things Wrong with the Painting
Readers of this newsletter know that author Jack Crowder is a dedicated student of the American Revolution. In the last six months, we have published two of Jack’s books on the subject. In Women Patriots of the American Revolution, Jack Crowder highlights roughly 90 women who went beyond the norm in supporting America’s struggle for[…]Read more
U.S. Victory at Yorktown Not Preordained
The Treaty of Paris of 1783 ended the American Revolution; however, it was the British surrender to George Washington at Yorktown, Virginia, on October 19, 1781, that set the stage for American Independence. Indeed, Yorktown was the final decisive battle of the conflict, but nothing about it was preordained. For one thing, General Washington wanted[…]Read more
From Across the Spanish Empire: Spanish Soldiers Who Helped Win the American Revolutionary War, 1776-1783. [Arizona, California, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Texas Military Rosters] – By Leroy Martinez
Leroy Martinez’ book, From Across the Spanish Empire: Spanish Soldiers Who Helped Win the American Revolutionary War, 1776-1783, provides the first comprehensive list of Spanish soldiers who served in North America during the U.S. War for Independence. Separate chapters list those who served in Arizona, California, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Texas. In most cases Mr.[…]Read more
Memorial Day and the Civil War Roll of Honor
The Memorial Day holiday we celebrate commemorates the Americans who lost their lives in the service of their country. The origins of the Memorial Day holiday go back to the era of the American Civil War, and they are shrouded in some controversy. The U.S. National Park Service credits women of Columbus, Georgia, with “establishing”[…]Read more
NANCY HART, GEORGIA HEROINE OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
[av_image src=’https://genealogical.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2018-08-23-09-33-55.14837aef052df29b5598bac3dba81885c29ca254-223×300.jpg’ attachment=’5589′ attachment_size=’medium’ align=’right’ styling=” hover=’av-hover-grow’ link=’manually,https://library.genealogical.com/printpurchase/X7Qe1′ target=’_blank’ caption=’yes’ font_size=” appearance=’on-hover’ overlay_opacity=’0.4′ overlay_color=’#000000′ overlay_text_color=’#ffffff’ animation=’no-animation’ admin_preview_bg=” av_uid=’av-6bupis’] View Book Details [/av_image] The following account of Revolutionary War heroine Nancy Hart of Georgia is excerpted from our new book, Women Patriots of the American Revolution, by Jack Crowder. Mr. Crowder highlights about 90 women who[…]Read more
“Revolutionary War Pension Records Restored, Consolidated, and Explained. Part Two” By Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck
Editor’s Note: Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck’s groundbreaking book, Revolutionary War Pensions Awarded by State Governments 1775-1874, the General and Federal Governments Prior to 1814, and by Private Acts of Congress to 1905, identifies and recreates the Revolutionary War pension files generated prior to the disastrous fire in the War Department on 8 November 1800, and a[…]Read more
U.S. Naturalization History
Christina K. Schaefer’s magnificent reference, Guide to Naturalization Records in the United States, is a complete accounting of the location of U.S. naturalization records. Since the vast majority of original records are retained by local courts, the book provides a state-by-state and county-by-county inventory of naturalization records for all 50 states, U.S. territories, and Native[…]Read more
“African Americans in the American Revolution,” by Jack Crowder
At the time of the Revolutionary War about 20% of the colonial population were African American; the number of blacks that ultimately fought for the Americans side was estimated to be over 5,000. By the year 1779, sources indicate that 15% of the army was black. When the war began, George Washington was opposed to[…]Read more
Virginia Immigrants and Adventurers, 1607-1635: A Biographical Dictionary: Unprecedented Biographical Dictionary of Early Virginians
“On May 13, 1607, Virginia’s first colonists came ashore on what became known as Jamestown Island. The next day, they commenced establishing an outpost they called James Cittie or Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the United States. The 104 colonists were unaware that they had arrived at the close of the most severe[…]Read more