In the early decades of the 19th century many aging Revolutionary War veterans lived in poverty. Congress, in an attempt to provide for those who had served their country, passed a landmark act granting pensions to impoverished veterans of the Revolutionary War in 1818. The act was significant in that it granted fixed lifetime pensions not just to officers, but to enlisted men as well. The result was a surge of over 20,000 applications.

There were so many applications that Congress passed an amendment to the pension act in 1820 that required applicants to submit schedules of their property to prove need. The amended act also allowed the Secretary of War to strike those from the pension list that he determined did not qualify. Over 5,000 names were dropped from the rolls.

Connecticut veterans whose pensions were revoked could, through their local county or superior courts, challenge the ruling of the Secretary of War by submitting assessments of their property by a disinterested third party and sworn testimony. The collection of pension applications in the Connecticut State Archives is almost entirely this kind of document.

These applications usually contain a service record for the veteran in question, as well as information about his property, debts, occupation, and dependent family. The listing of family, which often included the names and ages of the veteran’s wife and children, is especially valuable for genealogical research.

There are about 500 entries in this index, which covers pension applications made from 1820 to the 1850s. Enter the information you have for each field below, or search by keyword. The name of the court and the box number for the original document is listed for researchers who want to examine it.

People may request a copy of a file by contacting the staff of the History & Genealogy Unit by telephone (860) 757-6580 or email. When requesting a copy of a record, please include the name of the individual, date, and the specific court. Please understand that some files are extremely fragile and may not be able to be reproduced and/or read with ease.

For more information about the judicial records stored at the Connecticut State Library, please see the on-line guide to Connecticut State Archives Record Group 003, Judicial Records.