OVERVIEW
Before the American revolution, colonial settlers engaged in various conflicts with European powers and Native American tribes. Unlike later conflicts, there is no national repository for records of military service in these colonial wars, which include the following:
- 1636-1638: Pequot War
- 1675-1676: King Phillip's War
- 1689-1697: King William's War
- 1702-1713: Queen Anne's War
- 1722-1725: Dummer's War
- 1739-1748: War of Jenkin's Ear
- 1744-1748: King George's War
- 1752-1763: French and Indian War
- 1774: Lord Dunmore's War
Surviving records (primarily local muster rolls) are scattered in state archives and local historical societies of the original colonies (Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia). A quick google search for colonial militia records turned up a few results, including Colonial Militia Collection, Rhode Island Historical Society and Militia Resource Guide 1682-1815, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. For additional resources, including those at NYPL, see the Resources by Conflict and Veterans and Lineage Societies boxes, below.
Additional records may be available in the National Archives of National Archive of Great Britain.
RESOURCES BY CONFLICT
ONLINE RESOURCES:
- Pequot War, 1637 -- Family Search Research wiki article
RESOURCES AT NYPL:
- Genealogical sources
- Histories and background information
For additional titles, try browsing our online catalog with the following subject headings:
- Pequot War Indians Of North America Wars 1636 1638
- Pequot War, 1636-1638 -- History
- Pequot War, 1636-1638
ONLINE RESOURCES:
- King Philip's War, 1675-1676, Family Search Research wiki article
RESOURCES AT NYPL:
The following publications include lists of participant and deaths:
- A rabble in arms : Massachusetts towns and militiamen during King Philip's War / Kyle F. Zelner.
- available at home to NYPL cardholders
- Soldiers in King Philip's War; being a critical account of that war, with a concise history of the Indian wars of New England from 1620-1677, official lists of the soldiers of Massachusetts colony serving in Philip's War, and sketches of the principal officers, copies of ancient documents and records relating to the war, also lists of the Narraganset grantees of the united colonies, Massachusetts, Plymouth and Connecticut.
- available online at HathiTrust
- King Philip's War based on the archives and records of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Rhode Island and Connecticut, and contemporary letters and accounts, with biographical and topographical notes, by George W. Ellis and John E. Morris
- The history of Philip's war : commonly called the great Indian war of 1675-1676 : also of the French and Indian wars at the eastward in 1689, 1690, 1692, 1696, and 1704 / by Thomas Church ; with numerous notes ; also, an appendix by Samuel G. Drake.
- available online at HathiTrust
For additional titles, try browsing our online catalog with the subject heading King Philip's War, 1675-1676.
ONLINE RESOURCES:
- King William's War, 1689-1697, Family Search Research wiki article
RESOURCES AT NYPL:
To identify relevant titles, try browsing our online catalog with the subject heading King Williams War 1689 1697 United States History.
ONLINE RESOURCES:
- Queen Anne's War 1702 to 1713, Family Search Research wiki article
RESOURCES AT NYPL:
- Roll and journal of Connecticut service in Queen Anne's war, 1710-1711; ed. for the Acorn club ...
- Massachusetts officers and soldiers, 1702-1722 : Queen Anne's War to Dummer's War / edited by Mary E. Donahue.
- A Muster roll of Capt. David Pigeons company of New-England troops, during its being at Annapolis Royal, in Her Majesties service, from the 10th of October 1710. to the 10th of October 1711 [electronic resource].
For additional titles, try browsing our online catalog with the subject heading United States -- History -- Queen Anne's War, 1702-1713.
ONLINE RESOURCES:
- War of Jenkins' Ear, 1739–1748, Family Search Research wiki article
RESOURCES AT NYPL:
RESOURCES AT NYPL:
- Rhode Island privateers in King George's war, 1739-1748, by Howard M. Chapin ...
- The muster rolls of three companies enlisted by the colony of Rhode Island in May, 1746 : for an expedition against Canada proposed by Great Britain / Issued at the general court of the Society of colonial wars in the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, by its governor, George Leander Shepley, esquire, and the Council of the society, August 19, 1915.
- available online at Internet Archive
- Delaware archives [electronic resource] / published by the Public Archives Commission of Delaware by authority.
- includes Delaware regimental histories from this conflict
For additional titles, try browsing our online catalog with the subject heading United States History King George's War, 1744-1748
ONLINE RESOURCES:
RESOURCES AT NYPL:
- Muster rolls of New York provincial troops. 1755-1764 / Edward F. DeLancey, editor.
- British officers serving in America. 1754-1774. Comp. from the "army lists" by Worthington Chauncey Ford ...
- A calendar of the warrants for land in Kentucky, granted for service in the French and Indian War. Abstracted by Philip Fall Taylor.
- A list of Rhode Island soldiers & sailors in the old French and Indian War, 1755-1762, by Howard M. Chapin.
- Massachusetts officers and soldiers in the French and Indian Wars, 1755-1756 / edited by K. David Goss and David Zarowin.
- Petersham's soldiers in the French and Indian Wars / by Ruth M. Coolidge (soldiers from Petersham, MA)
- Red coats and yellow fever : Rhode Island troops at the Siege of Havana, 1762 / transcribed with an introduction by Bruce Campbell MacGunnigle.
- Rolls of Connecticut men in the French and Indian War, 1755-1762 / [edited by Albert C. Bates].
- Scottish soldiers in colonial America / by David Dobson.
- Watertown soldiers in the colonial wars and the American revolution, compiled by G. Frederick Robinson and Albert Harrison Hall.
- Westchester County, New York and the French & Indian Wars, 1755-1762 : muster rolls / Fred C. Haacker.
For additional titles, try browsing our online catalog with the subject heading United States -- History -- French and Indian War, 1754-1763.
ONLINE RESOURCES:
- Lord Dunmore's War, 1774, Family Search Research wiki article
RESOURCES AT NYPL:
For additional titles, try browsing our online catalog with the subject heading Lord Dunmore's War, 1774.
VETERANS AND LINEAGE SOCIETIES
If your ancestor served in a colonial war, it may be worth contacting the following Veterans and Lineage Societies to see if they have any relevant records:
- General Society of Colonial Wars (there are also local state societies, including Society of Colonial Wars in the State of New York)
- Family Search holds microfilm copies of lineage and other records of the General Society of Colonial Wars, which can be viewed at a Family History Center or FamilySearch Affiliate library; for catalog record, see Lineage records, no. 1-14199, 1607-1967; supplemental records, 1-13850, 1607-1967; register of members
- National Society of The Colonial Dames of America
- National Society Daughters of Colonial Wars
NYPL holds a few titles relating to these organizations, including the following:
- An index of ancestors and roll of members of the Society of Colonial Wars. The honor roll, services of members of the Society during the World War, 1917-1918 (also available online through HathiTrust)
- A first supplement to the 1922 Index of ancestors and roll of members of the general Society of Colonial Wars
- Update ... to a second supplement to 1922 Index of ancestors and roll of members, General Society of Colonial Wars.
- The Muster roll : record book of the General Society of Colonial Wars.
To find additional titles, try browsing our catalog with the following subject headings: