Women in Revolutionary War Era Records

Connie Potter will talk about “Women in Revolutionary War Era Records.” Although there are few records of women soldiers in the Revolution, the National Archives holds records that describes the lives of women both during and after the war.

Included in her talk is Barbara Syren, who fought briefly in Col. Oliver Spencer’s Regiment; the pension file of William and Mary Graham, who lived in upstate New York after the war; Esther Damon, who received a widow’s pension until 1811; and Sarah Townsend, who petitioned the Continental Congress for grievances against the British Navy. Potter’s lecture will include images of many of the records.  She will also explain how you can find the records online at local libraries and the Philadelphia Branch of the National Archives. She will leave time for questions and answers at the end of the lecture.

Constance Potter is retired from the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington.  At the Archives, she specialized in federal records of interest to genealogists and helped prepare for the openings of the 1920, 1930, and 1940 censuses.  She also lectured and wrote on a variety of topics including Women in the Revolutionary War, The Papers of the Continental Congress, Laura Ingalls Wilder in Federal records, the influence of weather on genealogy, and census records.

Now a volunteer at the National Archives, Potter is preparing a reference information paper on finding records for soldiers who fought in World War I.