Federal Revolutionary War Invalid Pension Claims, 1792-1795

As early as 1776, the Continental Congress authorized the provision of pensions to veterans who were “disabled in the service of the United States of America” and thereby rendered “incapable afterwards of getting a livelihood.” Veterans typically applied to district courts where district judges evaluated their deservingness of support and their particular “degrees” of disability (one quarter, one half, and so on) which corresponded with their pension amounts.

District courts then transmitted veterans’ information and district judges’ decisions to the War Department for approval. This dataset is comprised of lists compiled by the Secretary of War and communicated to the United States Congress. These lists were later included in the American State Papers (Claims, Volume 1).