You are here: Home > Rosters > Building a Master Roster

Latest Changes: 07Aug01 - split from docmulti.htm and expanded / 07Aug30 - add lists of delegates to Congress, soldiers of african descent /

No Master Roster Now Exists At present there are many different (usually state) lists of people who were in military service, paid a supply tax, loaned money to support the patriots, or served in the civilian governments that supported the Second Continental Congress. Unfortunately these often have inadequate documentation or lack a structure that would facilitate handling, searching, or merging. The closest we have come to this thus far in the on-line, searchable, SAR Database of Patriots, with 220,000 entries. Many members of the Sons of the American Revolution have expressed an interest in having a database that would allow listing of unit composition as a function of time, and we are now developing data structures to accomplish this task. We invite volunteers to submit data in the specified format so that (after review) we may post the submitted databases and merge the data into the nucleus of a master database. Guidelines for Submitting a Roster

Examples of Databases  Delegates to the Congresses 1774-1789: Names and Years for Service Source: "Encyclopedia of the American Revolution", by Mark M. Boatner III (Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg PA, 1994) pp 269-273. Delaware (First) Continental Regiment: Muster Roll for Feb 1780 has the name, company, and rank for 352 soldiers. This was converted to HMTL from the preferred format in an Excel file. Source: "The Revolutionary Soldiers of Delaware", by W. G. Whiteley - (Paper XIV of the Hist. Soc. of Delaware, 1896) - page 31 Public Service Claims in Greenbrier County VA [PDF] (mostly militia). The data in this format are not easily extracted for merging into the Master Roster. Source: submitted by James W. Faulkinbury (California Society SAR). New York Patriot Graves in Hempstead (Nassau County) with the name, birth and death dates, cemetery, and rank for 27 soldiers. This was converted to HMTL from the preferred format in an Excel file. Source: "SAR Revolutionary War Graves Register" (2000 edition), CD available from www.progenysoftware.com. Soldiers of African Descent in Plymouth County MA Names and Units [PDF files] Source: "Black [, Negro, and Mulatto] Soldiers of the Revolutionary War from Plymouth County [MA]"by Jeremy Bangs (Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plymouth MA, 1996)

Other Online Databases Compiled from Several Sources Battle of Camden SC:  Battleofcamden.org is compiling information from several sources to develop a verified list of the individuals present on both the U.S. and British sides at this battle on August 16, 1780. American troops (over 1,500 in 2005) [HTML file, has name, unit, and enlistment period] British troops [HTML file, has name, unit, and enlistment period] The Commander-in-Chief's Guard was drawn from many Continental regiments and participated in all the battles at which General George Washington was present. Roster of Washington's Life Guard [JPG file, not searchable]. It has the name, rank, state unit, birth/death dates, and service dates of the soldiers [Sons of Liberty Chap., CASSAR]

Go to Top of Page

Questions? Contact the Page Manager at