Footnote’s “Rev War” Collection
Jan 6th, 2008 by sharbrough
Indian Treaties
“Indian treaties were made by the Continental Congress, by the Congress of the Confederation, and were continued under the US Constitution. This series of Indian treaties and related papers is arranged chronologically by date of signing of the treaty, and then numbered in that order.”
Link to Footnote’s Description: [link]
Size Factor. 10,048 pages, composing over a hundred treaties.
Interesting spotlight. Chippewa Indians make marks on treaty. [link] If these were my ancestors, seeing a mark they left would make me feel like I was connecting with them.
Cool Factor. I personally get a kick out of seeing the names of the tribes and their members. Beyond that, the pages are full of promises of peace and mutual respect. It’s a vision of a time when many cultures lived side by side in this land.
Prize Cases
Captured ships and cargoes were called “prizes.” I mentioned earlier that the courts and the congress were one and the same thing under the articles of confederation. One of the established courts was the “court of appeals in cases of capture.” Cases from colonial and state courts were appealed to this court, and its records are included here.
Link to Footnote’s Description [link]
Size Factor. 8671 pages.
Interesting spotlight. The first revolutionary war prize – the Brig Nancy. [link]
Cool Factor. The capture of war prizes was an important part of keeping the sea lanes safe, and providing materiel to the continentals.
Department of Disappointments. I wish that more customers would jump in and annotate or spotlight more cases in this publication.
Muster Rolls
According to the Footnote Catalog, “These documents include muster rolls, payrolls, strength returns, and other miscellaneous personnel, pay, and supply records of American Army units, 1775-83.”
Link to Footnote’s Description [link]
Size Factor. 103,690 pages. You’ll never finish reading them. You should start right away.
Interesting spotlight. A representative page showing a muster roll [link].
Cool Factor. Because Footnote keyed the names found on the list, making these handwritten records more accessible than ever before. In the past, researchers had to know what unit their ancestor served in. Today, they can search on the name.
[...] Elsewhere on this site you can find a description of the meeting where this topic was first discussed. It’s a story worth repeating because in my view, it was a fortunate accident. [link] [...]