Pension application files for most War of 1812 veterans, however, will be found in the second series of pension files, i.e., those based on the acts of 1871 and 1878. These acts, based on length of service alone, relate mostly to militia veterans called to federal service. The 1871 act provided pensions to veterans who had served at least sixty days or to their widows if they had married before 1815.
The 1878 act provided pensions to those veterans, or their widows, who only served fourteen days. By the time these acts were passed, most applicants were widows or minors rather than veterans themselves. A typical file usually contains the soldier’s or widow’s application file, a statement of service usually provided by the Pension Bureau, and other papers prepared by the Third Auditor’s Office. Of the two, the widow’s or minor’s application is potentially the richest in genealogical information. This is because the widow had to provide proof of marriage, including the date or place of marriage, and usually the maiden name. Important data about marriages before 1815 found in some of the files may not be available anywhere else. Interfiled among these pensions in some cases are some bounty land application files. While the pension files are not on microfilm, an informative index showing much data has been microfilmed as Index to War of 1812 Pension Application Files (M313, 102 rolls). Supplementing the index is a remarried widow’s card index, which covers the period 1816 – 1860. The alphabetically arranged index cards show the new remarried name of the veteran’s widow and the former veteran’s name.
1840 Pensioners CensusThe information contained in this 1840 Pensioners Census database is a compilation of the data on the Revolutionary War pensioners gathered from the 1840 census returns. The information is organized by place - state, county, then township. It also lists the name and age of the veteran, and the name of the head of household with whom the pensioner resided on the census date.
War of 1812 – 1814
Alabama (hosted at US GenWeb Archives or USGenWeb War 1812 Project)
- Barbour County
- Claim of widow for pension, Dempsey Howell January 27 1878
- Claim of Widow For Bounty Land – Dempsey Howell January 27 1879
- Butler County
- John C.[Caldwell] Pickens Pension
- Calhoun County
- Cherokee County
- Choctaw County
- Clay County
- Horn, Joshua March 9 1878, Warof1812 – Pension 8th US Infantry
- Mitchell, John, Warof1812 – Pension
- Spears, Messer, Warof1812 – Pension
- Clarke County
- Cleburne County
- Coffee County
- Conecuh County
- Coosa County
- Dale County
- Dallas County
- Lawrence County
- Madison County
- Rochell, John September 29, 1814 – April 25, 1815, Battalion 7 (Perkins’) Mississippi Militia
- Marion County
- Widow’s Pension of Malinda Jeffreys, widow of William Jeffreys, War of 1812
- Pension Application of William Jeffreys, War of 1812
- Morgan County
- Deskins, Smith November 2, 1813, Warof1812 – Enlistment 2nd Reg’t Tennessee Volunteers Mounted Gunmen
- Pike County
- Randolph County
- Fowler, Samuel Warof1812 – Pension
- Lee, Temperance April 14, 1871, Pension Capt. John Hardcutt, Warof1812
- Jeremiah Nix, Pension 4th Regiment, Warof1812
- Tallapoosa County
- War of 1812 Pensioners, 1883 1883, Rosters
- Some Military Land Grants In Tallapoosa County Alabama For Soldiers Of The War Of 1812
- Walker County
- Winston County
Alabama Subscription Military Databases
- The General Society of the War of 1812, 1976 Bicentennial Supplement to the 1972 Register Robert Glenn Thurtle Editor – Free Index
- The Roster of the General Society of the War of 1812
- War of 1812 Papers, 1789-1815
- War of 1812 Pension Application Files Index, 1812-1815
- War of 1812 Service Records
- War of 1812, Prisoner of War Records, 1812-1815
- War of 1812: Miscellaneous Canadian Records
- Register of the General Society of the War of 1812