Guide to Native American Research

Representing federal correspondence and documents from the early republic, the Papers of the War Department contains over 2,000 documents pertaining to federal relations with more than forty Native American tribes. Finding a specific item on the site can be difficult without knowing the full scope of the collection or how individual documents are described. To assist researchers of Native American history, we compiled a list of nations and tribes, with all known variations of spelling, mentioned in the documents of the PWD (see below).

Community Transcription – Sixty-Four Months

August marked the sixty-fourth month since we opened the War Department archives to community transcription. We continue to receive regular requests for transcriber accounts. Here is a snapshot of transcription activity for the month:

Nineteen new transcribers signed up last month, and as of August 31, the total number of transcribers was 2,684. These new transcribers come from a variety of backgrounds and included genealogists, retired librarians, and university students and professors.

Community Transcription – Sixty-Three Months

July marked the sixty-third month since we opened the War Department archives to community transcription. We continue to receive regular requests for transcriber accounts. Here is a snapshot of transcription activity for the month:

Nineteen new transcribers signed up last month, and as of July 31, the total number of transcribers was 2,665. These new transcribers come from a variety of backgrounds and included genealogists, university students, members of Native American tribes, researchers, and a paleography enthusiast.

In Memory of Lt. Col. Ronald J. Martin, USMC, Retired

On July 14, 2016, the Rosenzweig Center lost Ronald J. Martin, a longtime and valuable member of our team, to his struggle with cancer. Ron came to the Center in 2008 to serve join the team of scholars editing the Papers of the War Department, 1784-1800, and was integral to our work with the National Park Service on the history of the War of 1812. He was an enthusiastic partner in our work to share early American history with the public, and we mourn his passing.

Transcribing Can Be An Unexpected Research Method

Community Transcription – Sixty-Two Months

June marked the sixty-second month since we opened the War Department archives to community transcription. We continue to receive regular requests for transcriber accounts. Here is a snapshot of transcription activity for the month:

Twenty-six new transcribers signed up last month, and as of June 30, the total number of transcribers was 2,646. These new transcribers come from a variety of backgrounds and included university students, genealogists, independent researchers, and public historians.

Community Transcription – Sixty-One Months

May marked the sixty-first month since we opened the War Department archives to community transcription. We continue to receive regular requests for transcriber accounts. Here is a snapshot of transcription activity for the month:

Seventeen new transcribers signed up last month, and as of May 31, the total number of transcribers was 2,620. These new transcribers come from a variety of backgrounds and included genealogists, independent scholars, and museum professionals.

Community Transcription – Sixty Months

April marked the sixtieth month since we opened the War Department archives to community transcription. We continue to receive regular requests for transcriber accounts. Here is a snapshot of transcription activity for the month:

Thirty-nine new transcribers signed up last month, and as of April 30, the total number of transcribers was 2,603. These new transcribers come from a variety of backgrounds and included students, genealogists, retired members of the military, and historians.

Community Transcription – Fifty-Nine Months

March seventeenth was the five year anniversary of community-sourced transcription, and March marked the fifty-ninth month since we opened the War Department archives to community transcription. We continue to receive regular requests for transcriber accounts. Here is a snapshot of transcription activity for the month:

Forty-one new transcribers signed up last month, and as of March 31, the total number of transcribers was 2,564. These new transcribers come from a variety of backgrounds and included genealogists, students, librarians, archivists, and members of the military,

Transcriber Interview: Scribe of Poland

As a part of our celebration of the fifth anniversary of community sourced transcription here at the PWD, we reached out to one of transcribers, Scribe of Poland (SofP), to ask her about her experience transcribing documents for the project. Hailing from northeastern Ohio, Scribe of Poland is an active and prolific transcriber.

PWD: How did you discover the PWD?

SofP: My interest in crowd-sourcing began when I was working on my family tree. To return the favor for data I garnered from FamilySearch, I started indexing and reviewing genealogical data for that group. My curiosity led me to search for other groups who were transcribing historical records and I found PWD.

Celebrate the Five Year Anniversary of Community Transcription!

March 17, 2016

For Immediate Release: Celebrate the Five Year Anniversary of Community Transcription with the Papers of the War Department

Celebrate the five year anniversary of community sourced transcription with the Papers of the War Department 1784-1800 (http://wardepartmentpapers.org). An ongoing innovative documentary editing project, the Papers of the War Department is comprised of 0ver 42,000 digitized manuscript documents made freely accessible on the web by the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (RRCHNM) (http://chnm.gmu.edu/). In 2011, RRCHNM embarked on the effort to engage the larger community of citizen historians in the process of transcribing these important documents. By transcribing the digitized manuscripts, users contribute to the collection’s usability and searchability. March 17, 2016 marks five years since the launch of the community transcription project  Papers of the War Department and we are delighted at its success thus far.

Community Transcription – Fifty-Eight Months

February was the fifty-eighth month since we opened the War Department archives to community transcription, and we continue to receive regular requests for transcriber accounts. Here is a snapshot of transcription activity for the month:

Thirty-eight new transcribers signed up last month, and as of February 29, the total number of transcribers was 2,523. These new transcribers come from a variety of backgrounds and included university students, members of the military, and genealogists.

The War Department in the Classroom

In this guest post, Zayna Bizri describes her approach to using the Papers of the War Department in the classroom and offers suggestions for those who wish to do the same. Bizri is a doctoral candidate in History at George Mason University; her dissertation is tentatively titled “Selling Her the Military: Recruiting Women into the Armed Forces in World War II”

In the Fall semester of 2015, I taught an upper-level undergraduate course, War and American Society, which focused on the connections between the military and the broader culture. I wanted my students working with primary sources as soon as possible, so I used the Papers of the War Department Project as part of a series of Workshop Days where they learned the day-to-day job of being a historian. The PWD project covered two Workshop Days.

Community Transcription – Fifty-Seven Months

January was the fifty-seventh month since we opened the War Department archives to community transcription, and we continue to receive regular requests for transcriber accounts. Here is a snapshot of transcription activity for the month:

Thirty-two new transcribers signed up last month, and as of January 31, the total number of transcribers was 2,485. These new transcribers come from a variety of backgrounds and included high school teachers, university professors, students, independent scholars, genealogists, and active and retired members of the military.

How to Transcribe Letterbooks

A letterbook is a bound collection of copies of letters sent and received by one person, usually organized chronologically. Clerks, who often had neat penmanship, were employed to create copies of their employer’s letters. Some early Americans wanted to utilize letterbooks when writing their memoirs; others simply found it useful and practical to have copies of their correspondence on hand. From a technological perspective, letterbooks were quite useful in the event that a person’s original correspondence got lost or, in the case of the War Department, fell victim to fire. From today’s perspective, a letterbook is akin to an email’s sent mail folder.

Community Transcription – Fifty-Six Months

December was the fifty-sixth month since we opened the War Department archives to community transcription, and we continue to receive regular requests for transcriber accounts. Here is a snapshot of transcription activity for the month:

As of December 31, we had 2,453 transcribers; we created twenty-two new accounts in December. These new transcribers included students at various levels, members of the Creek nation, as well as a self-described “History lover” and a “history bug”.  Our transcribers’ interests continue to be as varied as their backgrounds. One new transcriber is researching a historic site near their home, another is interested in the lives of the lesser-known officers and soldiers in the frontiers and borderlands of the early United States, and a third works at one of the historic sites which features prominently in our documentary collection.

Transcribe This: Williams Declines Promotion

Brigadier General Otho H. Williams explains his reasons for declining a promotion to Henry Knox in this letter dated May 6, 1792.

While Williams describes himself as “very highly complimented” by Knox’s favorable opinion and understands that “the President is pleased to entertain of my abilities,” he writes that he “could not… accept a command in the army, even if the President were to think me worthy of commanding in chief.” Williams writes that his health has been “extremely precarious” for two years and requires much care and attention. If he accepted the position, Williams believes that the happiness of his family would “be for a time suspended, if not sacrificed.” Williams also notes that he has in his charge “a number of orphan children” which engages his “integrity and affections,” who would also “lie neglected.” Williams asks to be excused for “declining the honor proposed to be conferred on me” and writes that when it is in his power “to render any efficient service to my Country I shall be most happy in the opportunity.”

Community Transcription – Fifty-Five Months

November was the fifty-fifth month since we opened the War Department archives to community transcription, and we continue to receive regular requests for transcriber accounts. Here is a snapshot of transcription activity for the month:

Forty-six new transcribers signed up last month, and as of November 30, the total number of transcribers was 2,431. These new transcribers come from a variety of backgrounds and included historians, teachers, writers, students, genealogists, and members of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Transcribe This: Coats, Vests, Overalls, Etc. Needed by Soldiers

This letter, authored by Stephen Rochefontaine, was written December 9, 1796 at West Point. Rochefontaine was writing to Samuel Hodgdon, who was in Philadelphia, regarding soldiers at West Point who are in need of items of clothing.

Rochefontaine requests clothing for corps who are still at West Point. He writes that “the season has become so inclement for 10 days past” and the men are suffering from want of clothing. The sergeants are in need of “coats, vests, overalls, and shirts,” while privates require “vests, overalls, shirts, socks, and shoes.” Musicians’ coats are also requested. The items of clothing are to be sent in the care of Lieutenant Drausy, but if he is not returning to West Point immediately, Rochefontaine asks that the clothing be sent before him. Captain Frye should also be notified, since he can inform Manning and Smith, the contractors, as “for in the hurry of business” the clothes “are sometimes remaining in the store forgot.”

Community Transcription – Fifty-Four Months

October was the fifty-fourth month since we opened the War Department archives to community transcription, and we continue to receive regular requests for transcriber accounts. Here is a snapshot of transcription activity for the month:

Twenty-three new transcribers signed up last month, and as of October 31, the total number of transcribers was 2,385. These new transcribers included university students, military historians, teachers, independent researchers, preservation society members, and affiliates of universities in Ireland and Australia.

Transcribe This: Confidential Act of Congress

This letter from Henry Knox to Beverley Randolph, Governor of Virginia, was written on March 10, 1791, and concerns confidential information resulting from Congress’s deliberations on protecting the frontier.

Knox writes to the Governor that an act has been proposed for “raising, and adding another regiment to the military establishment of the United States and for making further provision for the protection of the frontiers.” Knox requests that he does not let this information “out of your possession” since it has yet to be published through the proper channels. The government has not finished making arrangements necessary for the Act to be implemented, but the President has “authorized an expedition against the Wabash indians.” The troops will be raised in Kentucky and are to be made up of no more than seven hundred and fifty mounted volunteers who will be under the command of Brigadier General Charles Scott. John Brown is in charge of making the preparations.

Community Transcription – Fifty-Three Months

September was the fifty-third month since we opened the War Department archives to community transcription, and we continue to receive regular requests for transcriber accounts. Here is a snapshot of transcription activity for the month:

Seventy-seven new transcribers signed up last month, and as of September 30, the total number of transcribers was 2,362. These new transcribers included members of historical societies, historians, librarians, and a large number of university students.

Transcribe This: Hats for Artillerists

In this letter from November 1800, Samuel Hodgdon, the Commissary of Military Stores, writes to Israel Whelen, the Purveyor of Public Supplies, concerning an order of artillerists’ hats.

Hodgdon writes that after reading the store keeper’s report, he finds that “fifty three hats for Artillerists” are needed to complete the orders the store keeper has issued. Since returns from that corps are received every day that utilize that particular article of clothing, Hodgdon asks Whelen to purchase or procure the requested items, and place in the store as soon as possible “One hundred, answering to the Pattern” which Hodgdon will provide him.

Community Transcription – Fifty-Two Months

August was the fifty-second month since we opened the War Department archives to community transcription, and we continue to receive regular requests for transcriber accounts. Here is a snapshot of transcription activity for the month:

Fifteen new transcribers signed up last month, and as of August 31, the total number of transcribers was 2,285. These new transcribers included an affiliate of the Navy Museum in Madrid, university students, members of historical societies, and genealogists.

Community Transcription – Fifty-One Months

July was the fifty-first month since we opened the War Department archives to community transcription, and we continue to receive regular requests for transcriber accounts. Here is a snapshot of transcription activity for the month:

As of July 31, we had 2,270 users, with 23 new transcribers registered since the last update. Our community of transcribers has made 15,133 saves to War Department documents, which is 212 additional edits since the last update. We have had 256,310 total page views.