New York State Secretary of State Military Patents

This series consists of records of land grants by letters patent for military service. Grants were made to individuals holding land bounty rights originally issued to commissioned officers and private soldiers who served in New York Continental regiments during the Revolutionary War.

The series, State Military Patents, also includes records of land grants to demobilize British officers and private soldiers who had served in America in the Great War for Empire.

Militia officers and privates were not eligible for these land grants, but men drafted into the Continental Line from the militia (Levies) were.  Additionally, many of the grantees were assignees who had purchased rights from soldiers.

Lands granted during the period 1764-1775 were primarily located in the Champlain Valley and the upper Susquehanna Valley while lands granted in the period 1790-1797 were typically located in the new Military Tract in central New York State.

Military patent for David Wooster

Identifier
NYSA_A0447-79_V1_p157
Description
Land patent granting a tract along the shores of Lake Champlain to French and Indian War veteran, David Wooster. Wooster would go on to serve as a Brigadier General of the Continental Army and participated in the ill-fated Invasion of Québec during the Revolutionary War, October 11th, 1765.
Source 
New York State Archives. New York (State). Secretary of State. Military patents. A0447-79.
Rights 
New York State Archives
Learning Activities

Excerpt from a copy of the Royal Proclamation of 1763

Identifier
NYSA_A0447-79_V1_intro1-7_intro2
Description
Excerpt from a copy of the Royal Proclamation of 1763. Written in the immediate aftermath of the French and Indian War, this proclamation sets out to organize the lands acquired by the British during the conflict. Four new colonial governments were established by the document (Québec, East Florida, West Florida, and Grenada) and a large portion of land west of the Appalachian Mountains was set aside as an Indian Reserve, much to the chagrin of land hungry settlers, February 2nd, 1764.
Source 
New York State Archives. New York (State). Secretary of State. Military patents. A0447-79.
Rights 
New York State Archives
Learning Activities

Military patent for Jonathan Ryles

Identifier
NYSA_A0447-79_V3_p01
Description
Military patent for Jonathan Ryles, June 9th, 1774.
Source 
New York State Archives. New York (State). Secretary of State. Military patents. A0447-79.
Rights 
New York State Archives
Learning Activities

First page of the index for volume 2 of military patents

Identifier
NYSA_A0447-79_V2_p731
Description
First page of the index for volume 2 of military patents, c. 1774.
Source 
New York State Archives. New York (State). Secretary of State. Military patents. A0447-79.
Rights 
New York State Archives
Learning Activities

Military patent for William Maxwell

Identifier
NYSA_A0447-79_V3_p53
Description
Military patent for William Maxwell, June 12th, 1775, an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He led troops in Canada, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania and is most famous as the first commanding officer of the Continental Army's light infantry corps, known as "Maxwell's Brigade" - a mobile, light infantry unit designed for scouting missions and for skirmishing with enemy forces. He joined the military during the French and Indian War, fighting at Fort Ticonderoga on July 8th, 1758. Maxwell would serve as an Ensign in Colonel John Johnston's New Jersey Regiment and then as a Lieutenant under Colonel Peter Schulyer.
Source 
New York State Archives. New York (State). Secretary of State. Military patents. A0447-79.
Rights 
New York State Archives
Learning Activities