Exact Proof: Little-Known and Never-Used Military Records

Unless your ancestor was exempt, he served in the military for some period of his life regardless of where he lived or what time period his life covered. My dad was exempt from World War II because he worked for the D&RGW Railroad repairing special equipment on freight cars. And the military needed those railroad cars to transport troops and trucks for the war effort. My dad was in a “protected” occupation.

If your ancestor was a taxman, a clergyman, a college president, an only surviving son( Civil War on), a veteran with children under age 10 (Korean War), in a “protected” occupation (RR worker, longshoreman, chemist) or disabled “with banty legs” (Rev War) or even flat feet (Korean War), a miller, iron worker, physician, or engineer he could be exempt. Lists of exempts or substitutes will identify him.

In Colonial times and following the Revolutionary War, the availability of extensive bounty lands in the South led your Tennessee and North Carolina ancestors to claim military service–even if they did not serve; or, even if they served on the wrong side; or, even if they served in the wrong state!

Dr. A.B. Pruitt’s land records abstracts and consolidated indexes are a new printed database of major significance! If your ancestor is found in Tennessee early–there are two North Carolina Military Reserves, one in East Tennessee created in 1780 before the war was over and one in Middle Tennessee created in 1783 immediately after the war.

Dr. Pruitt has indexed all the parts of the military bounty land claims records for North Carolina, including the investigations of fraud. And now for the first time, you can spot your ancestor; then, using the claim number and the related document numbers, you can track your ancestor from Tennessee back to his home county in North Carolina with exact proof. The claim numbers are the same in the records in both states. If your ancestor dies, his heirs inherit his claim numbers. Even if your ancestor was originally from Maryland or from Virginia or from Pennsylvania, if he claims military service from North Carolina, you can prove him with exact proof! What a great time it is to be searching for those difficult-to-find-ancestors in Tennessee.

Add to your research list these works by Dr. A.B. Pruitt: Index of People and Places in North Carolina Land Warrants, 1735-1774. N.P.: A. B. Pruitt, 2004. Land warrants from the Crown Land Office abstracted and printed in 11 volumes and articles, 1984-1996. The original documents are filed in the N.C. State Archives in Raleigh. Each entry uses the warrant number to identify the documents.

_______. Index to North Carolina Land Entries, 1778-1795. N.P.: A.B. Pruitt, 2001. Includes entries abstracted and printed by various compilers, 1971-2001.

_______. Glasgow Land Fraud Papers, 1783-1800. 2 vols. Privately printed by the author 1988-93. Watch for multiple indexes in both volumes. Very important work.

_______. Tennessee Land Entries: John Armstong’s Office. Pt 1: Land Entries. Pt 2: Land Surveys and Indexes. 1780-1800. By the author, 1995.

_______. Tennessee Land Entries: Military Bounty Land, Martin Armstrong’s Office, 1783-97. 7 vols. 1. Location Book (#3138-4839). Includes important introduction. Be sure to read it. 2. Location Book (#5572-7490, 2754-3111). 3. Warrants, First Series (#1-2500), 1783-85. 4. Warrants, First Series (#2501-5312), 1785-97. 5. William Christmas’s Office, Warrants Second Series (#1-1242), 1799-1841. 6. and 7. Every name Indexes.

Sources used in these volumes: Eleven never before available records series stored in the North Carolina State Archives. For a complete list of these little-known and never- used sources, see Arlene H. Eakle, Tennessee and Kentucky–Twin Gateways to the South: A New Research Guide. 2006. The Genealogical Institute, P.O. Box 129, Tremonton UT 84337. 1-800-377-6058. Special blog price, $19.97.

Next episode: Report from the Field: TN-KY and AL, 28 August 2006. Remember I will be gone from 14 August through 28 August and perhaps a little longer depending upon how long it takes me to do the research I have been contracted by you to do. The News Sheet will continue. I won’t be available to answer questions or emails. You can send them and I will respond when I return. (I don’t yet have a laptop–I’m really a novice at computer! Ugh! And learning fast.)

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One Response to Exact Proof: Little-Known and Never-Used Military Records

  1. arlene says:

    I had a request for the address of A. Bruce Pruitt from Dr. Donald J. Martin who did the research to locate it: A. B. Pruitt, Box 815, Whitakers NC 27891. Some of you may be interested in getting his publications list and ordering the above works. They are well worth the price. Many Thanks Don. Arlene Eakle

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