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How to Get Revolutionary War Ancestor Recognition

I have a Revolutionary War Ancestor who is buried in a small private plot on the side of a field. Although there is a (fallen) stone, his grave isn't marked with a war marker. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can do the following:

1. Repair the 2 or 3 stones in this small private cemetery; or

2. Ensure that the grave receives a proper Revolutionary War marker? This will undoubtedly require proving that the individual (Nicholas Weiser, sometimes Viser or Weser) was in the Revolutionary War. I've found some evidence, but I would appreciate any suggestions for how to go about this process.

It is important to me that Nicholas receive proper recognition for his efforts in the War. Thank you for your time!

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Permalink Reply by Sherry Hightower on July 9, 2009 at 6:00am

Blaine

What are the dates on the headstone? Do you know what unit he was in?

Permalink Reply by Blaine Bettinger on July 9, 2009 at 6:43am

Here is some of the information I have about Nicholas:

Nicholas Weiser, b. 1745, d. 20 Jan. 1813 married Margaretha Walrad(t)

Nicholas is listed as 'Wiser' living in Canajoharie, Montgomery County, NY, in the 1790 census (Canajoharie, Montgomery County, New York, page 65). Living in the household are 1 male over the age of 16, 3 males under the age of 16, and 5 females.

"Rachel Weiser was a daughter of Nicholas Weiser and Margaret Walrad, his wife. They were from the Mohawk valley in Montgomery County, NY, but settled in Ellisburg early in the present century. Nicholas Weiser was a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and famous as a scout, and was greatly feared by the Indians and tories." (Source: E. R. Ellis, MD, "Biographical Sketches of Richard Ellis - the First Settler of Ashfield, Mass., and his Descendants.", (Detroit, Michigan, 1888).)

From William H. Pickard who donated the Pension Papers of John Henry Genter [posted online at by the Fort Klock Restoration Project, NY] :
"At the time of the expedition to the West, Capt, Nicholas Waser (Weiser), Lieut. Bradt, Peter Bradt & others who previous to the war were obliged to leave their farms residing at Springfield during the war & well acquainted with the rout through the woods, from Springfield to Otsego Lake, Capt. Waser (Weiser) at the head, with tools to work in opening a road from Springfield down to the lake, a communication for carrying boats and baggage from the Mohawk River, a distance of at least 20 miles and for the section of Genl. Sullivans army under the Command of Genl. James Clinton army to march to Otsego Lake, and claimant says that they were (authorized?) and ordered to be well armed and acquipt, to guard against Indian Spies and British Tories, while at the opening of the road."

The Militia of Tryon County (Tryon County Comprised the present Counties of Fultom, Montgomery, Ontario, Herkimer, Otsego, Tioga and Hamilton.): 1st BATTALION (Canajoharie), 9th Company, Capt., Nicholas Weser. (Source: "Documents Relating to The Colonial History of the State of New York." Edited by Berthold Fernow, Volume XV. State Archives, Vol. I, Albany N.Y. Wood Parsons and Company, Printers, 1887.

Permalink Reply by Blaine Bettinger on July 9, 2009 at 10:47am

Thank you Claude, I will definitely look into this!

Permalink Reply by Midge Frazel on July 9, 2009 at 2:15pm

I am a Member of the DAR and I tried to find him in the members only database with several spellings. Just because he wasn't listed doesn't men he did not serve. This database holds the records for those who have claimed him as an ancestor. I will try looking him up in the Revolutionary War records at Footnote.com tomorrow.

I am on vacation this week so if you don't hear from me, please remind me!

Midge

Permalink Reply by Midge Frazel on July 10, 2009 at 2:08pm

Yes, he served as Nicholas Weser. If you contact me directly I will send you all that I found, which is not very much but at least he's listed.

midgef@midgefrazel.net

Permalink Reply by Bob Thomas on July 11, 2009 at 8:39am

I will be happy to help with your membership to the SAR. It is something that I do on a full time basis. You will become a member through an Alabamna Chapter but will be able to transfer to a local chapter should you find one. I do this full time and fill out the application for you. It appears we have a number of people who will help with the documentation. For the SAR we need only prove the blood line whereas the DAR requires both parents. I also looked in the DAR database and did not fine him but there appears to be enough evidence to prove his service.
Bob Thomas

Permalink Reply by Michael Gallagher on July 22, 2009 at 2:48pm

Bob,
It seems that the playing field isn't level full-time versus part-time. I would recommend that Baline join his home or a nearby State Society since it is more direct and would seem more likely to interest and retain him.

Permalink Reply by Ada Nelson on July 11, 2009 at 11:30am

There is an excellent article by Dick Eastman that includes the basics on researching your Revolutionary War ancestors. It includes a link to the free SAR online database: http://www.rsar.org/rosters/findpatr.htm.

The article is at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2009/07/revolutionar... The DAR also has a free patriot lookup service where you can request information: http://www.dar.org/natsociety/pi_lookup.cfm.Howevever, only those patriots claimed by members are listed in the DAR database.

Permalink Reply by patsy adkins on July 12, 2009 at 9:09pm

The first thing to do is to get in contact with a local DAR Chapter and tell them about the person's whose grave you want done. I know that you have to fill out forums etc to get this done properly. Plus you have prove that he fought in the Rev War.
What state and county is he located?
patsy

Permalink Reply by Michael Gallagher on July 22, 2009 at 2:46pm

What evidence of service do you have? Does the stone present identify him enough to match him with war records? The SAR, SR, DAR, American Legion, or DVA may mark it.

Permalink Reply by James Michael Scrape on July 24, 2009 at 7:59pm

I am a member of the SAR. My first grandfather that proved was Benjamin Towler who served on the Virginia Line. I made a visit to my local court house and picked an application at the Veterans Adminstration, I found wher Benjamin was laid to rest and filled the appilcation out and about 2 months later they sent me a stone to put down, I have done this for several grandfathers. The Stones are furnished at no cost if you have the needed documents.

Permalink Reply by Cheryl W. Terry on July 30, 2009 at 7:22pm

Hopefully, I can help

I own a cemetery, and am on a committee for another one. Some of the older stones have broken. In that case, we built cages out of metal, and made a brace and re positioned the tombstone. If it was a white tombstone, or even a gray color, we took clorox bleach and put it in a spray bottle and sprayed the tombstone to clean it. On a hot day you can spray the stone and leave it. We mix it half water, half clorox. The combination of the sun and bleach will make the stone readable again. Then, if it is in really bad shape, we take the info from the stone and have a new flat marker made. Those are only about $100.00, and will augment what is already there.

As for records. The best place to look is your local genealogy library. Make sure you have copies of the cover page of every document. DAR books have a lot of the patriots listed. But, a warning, to my knowledge neither DAR nor SAR like things off the internet very much, so be careful what you get from online. They much prefer documents that come out of books. Also, on the proper burial. Contact your local DAR and SAR organizations and see if they will help with the expense of putting up a new monument. I know DAR does that quite often, but am not sure about SAR.

Hope this helps.
Cheryl

How to Get Revolutionary War Ancestor Recognition

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