Greetings list!

Some of you might be interested to know that there is also information available on War of 1812 claims.  Contained within the American State Papers, Records of Congress, are private and public claims made as a result of the war.  Some are for pensions, others for destruction of property by the British.  In many cases, the accompanying documentation is extensive.  You must look in the Congressional indexes under "Private Claims," as well as "War of 1812," since the index is somewhat arbitrary.  Unfortunately, to my knowledge, these records are not on-line; however, they are available on microfiche at dozens of locations across the country, typically in state libraries or large university libraries (I know there's a set at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore).  You can contact the Library of Congress and they can tell you the nearest repository to your home.

If you have a forefather that fought in the War of 1812, or was living in an area that was impacted by the British, it's worth a look.  One caveat: many private damage claims were not filed until after 1824, when the law was amended to broaden the scope of qualifying claims; even claims filed soon after the war often dragged on for decades, so be throrough in your search.  I've worked with claims that took 30 years to settle --- all of the principals were dead by the time it was done!

kathy

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