Seeking Final Payment Voucher for David Briggs

Dear Ms. Rea,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the record series Index to Final Pension Payment Vouchers, 1818 - 1864 in the Records of the Accounting Officers of the Department of the Treasury (Record Group 217).  A full color image of the index card you located is available in the file Bri, Image 76.  This series is an index to the record series Selected Final Payment Vouchers, 1818 - 1864 in Record Group 217. Only the vouchers for Georgia and Delaware have been digitized and uploaded for this series.  To request information about non-digitized vouchers, please contact the National Archives at Washington, DC - Textual Reference (RDT1) at Archives1reference@nara.gov.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to guidance received from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of NARA staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgement as well as a substantive response to your reference request from RDT1. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience.

We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your family research!

Jessica,

Here is some information on Revolutionary War pensioners from Maine. Not seeing David on here did he or his spouse file from a different state? I noticed that he served in the Massachusetts  during Revolutionary War

Rohde Island:

Crarys Regiment, 1777-1779

Pension Ledgers for David Briggs:

Margaret Briggs Pension Legers:

Mass Muster rolls:

Hope this helps,

Elliot Schneider

Jessica,

Also found this information has well to confirm the reason behind the star.

Selected Final Payment Vouchers, 1818–1864

If an index card with a star is found, the researcher should next request the veteran's final payment voucher file from the Selected Final Pension Payment Vouchers, 1818–64 (RG 217, Inventory 14, Series 722). The records in this series were culled by Archives staff in the early 1960s from the voluminous Settled Accounts of Pension Agents, apparently to make servicing reference requests for these records easier.8 The records typically consist of the paperwork relating to the last pension payment made to the pensioner, or to the surviving widow, or to the pensioner's heirs. The widow or heirs could collect the amount owed to the pensioner upon death by submitting an affidavit identifying the pensioner, date of death, and relationship to the pensioner. Likewise a power of attorney would be signed and submitted if a third party personally visited the pension agent to collect the funds.

For Example many veterans without a widow, or for widow pensioners, the final payment voucher file includes an authoritative list of their surviving children. For example, the file for Dinah Chamberlain, widow of Wyatt Chamberlain, identifies six children—Calvin C. Chamberlain, Zadock B. Chamberlain, Wyatt Chamberlain, Israel Chamberlain, Lucy Whalen, and Charlotte Phelps—and includes their places of residence.9 Sometimes the widow or heirs did not collect the arrears if the amount was too small to warrant the trouble or expense involved, particularly if the pensioner's heirs lived far away from each other.

Hope this helps,

Elliot Schneider