Review
Christine Rose has given us a succinct detailed account of the rather complex and little understood military bounty land records. Not only does she provide the historical context but she also presents the legislation which generated the records. She links the records to their finding aids in both published and on-line indexes and how to obtain copies of the original source material. As a renaissance genealogist she brings to the records a lifetime of experience using bounty land records, and genealogists are forever in her debt for her work. --Lloyd deWitt Bockstruck, MLS, FNGS, retired librarian, Dallas Public Library; lecturer, author
A much-needed comprehensive guide to this genealogically and historically fascinating body of records. --James L. Hansen, Reference Librarian, Wisconsin Historical Society Library
Christine Rose's Military Bounty Land, 1776-1855, is the most detailed and authoritative treatment of the subject available today. The work is exemplary of its genre. Bounty land was public domain land that the United States government granted to more than 550,000 veterans of war-time military service between 1776 and 1855, or to the veteran s widow or other heirs. Rose s text demonstrates convincingly her stated premise: these records hold a lot more information than one would expect. Describing them, she quotes frequently from the original legislation that created them. Step-by-step she explains the process of applying for bounty land, securing a warrant, and locating a particular tract. Then she discusses a variety of finding aids online, microfilm and paper to help researchers use this rich and fascinating source. What might have been a dry and clinical treatise is brought vividly to life through Rose s frequent introduction of specific examples of real-life veterans and their true stories. The book focuses particular attention where it is warranted, including an entire chapter on Virginia s unique situation and another on the thousands of unindexed bounty land warrant application files housed in the National Archives in Washington, D.C. An appendix reproduces in chronological order all of the acts of Congress pertaining to bounty land and an extensive bibliography directs researchers to other works that treat particular aspects of this topic. With this work, Christine Rose has made an outstanding contribution not only to genealogy, but to historical research of all kinds. --John P. Colletta, PH.d., instructor, author, lecturer
About the Author
The author is a popular nationally known lecturer and award-winning author. Her keen interest in and knowledge of military bounty land is reflected in this book. She is a Board-certified genealogist and a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists, is the reicipient of the Donald Lines Jacobus award, the Professional Achievement Award, and the Distinguished Service Award. She has authored fifteen books on genealogy related subjects, including Courthouse Research for Family Historians, Genealogical Proof Standard, Courthouse Indexes Illustrated, Nicknames Past and Present, and others, and is the co-author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Genealogy. This book on bounty land is written in an easy-to-understand format, and includes many illustrations and step-by-step instructions on how to locate and use the records. It will be readily seen that the value of these far under-used records is immense.
