Facts

An acre is a square measure of land containing 10 square chains, 160 square rods, or 43,560 square feet.

A Bounty Land Warrant is a gift of “bounty land” due to a person entitled by military service.

Bounty Land is public land given by the government to induce young men to join the military.  Applicable to soldiers prior to the Civil War.

Avoid the pitfalls of merging same-named people into one.  Assume that at least two people of the same name lived in a given town.  Land and tax records are important documents for sorting out people of the same name.  No two people owned the same property, nor would they be taxed on the same possessions.

The inaccuracy of early maps and land grants often created land disputes in New England's Colonial era.

You'll find land records in county courthouses except in New England states where you should find them in local town halls.

Military records subscription site Fold# has released a new collection of Navy Casually Reports, 1776-1941.

Pension files may contain birth date and place, and the names of the wife and children.

In the Virginia Militia, free males ages 18-50 were members unless exempted.  Each private was required to have a rifle or musket, a pound of lead and half a pound of powder.  A Company as supposed to consist of 40 to 64 men, who mustered 56 times a year for drill and training.

In Colonial days, men were eligible for service at age 16.