1812 Pension Files, Some Headway But Still Taking Ridiculously Long

    

     I continue waiting for those War of 1812 pension files.  The work seems to be progressing, as of today there are 2,211,532 digitized pages, 648 more than yesterday -- but who's counting?  We are up to the surname Rowe so hopefully by the end of the month or early November we may see the S surnames beginning to come online.  Unfortunately I'm waiting for the V surnames.  The S and T names may take awhile but I'm hopeful by early next year I will be able to look at the Vincent applications.

     A few years ago when digitizing had virtually stopped  I ordered my fourth great-grandfather John Vincent's file from NARA.  It confirmed his regiment was the 29th NY Infantry and his enlistment date of 10 August 1813.  It also answered many questions like the date of his death, 27 February 1814, and revealed he died at Plattsburgh, NY of disease.  I'm waiting to get a look at the other Vincents who appear in the pension index.  Specifically John I. Vincent who was probably the John Vincent from Halfmoon in Saratoga County, NY who enlisted a year after my John.  Many Ancestry family trees have John I. married to Mary Clement, but he wasn't.  Mary Clement married my John Vincent.  That was spelled out in the pension file I ordered which was in the widow Mary's name.  It contained the date of their marriage at Halfmoon and witnesses including Mary's brother John Clement.  

     Also, John I. was named in his father Jeremiah's will written in 1821, seven years after my John's death in an Army hospital during the frigid northern New York winter.  The few account I've found of conditions in the Army camp that winter of 1814 paint an abysmal picture, terrible weather with much illness among the soldiers.

     I may well be disappointed by the file when I finally lay eyes on it if it even exists.  I know John I. survived the war and pensions based on service rather than death or disability were not granted until 1871 when he would have been quite elderly or deceased, but I'm hoping there may be some clue in those files as to who my John was; like where he was born and who his parents were.  Both John Vincent's were living in Saratoga County, NY when they enlisted and were quite possibly related.  Or perhaps an unknown brother had a file?  As noted above, I will probably be disappointed but I have to check.  I've exhausted every other record I can think of to search...