18 August 2007

Virgil White's Revolutionary Abstracts versus Footnote.com

Virgil White published a wonderful collection Genealogical Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files in 1990 (the National Historical Publishing Company, Waynesboro, Tennessee). However, even if you have used these abstracts, you still need to search the Revolutionary War pension images that are being added to the database at Footnote.com.
I reviewed White's abstract for the pension of Elam/Alam Blain. The abstract mentions widow Catharine and daughter Polly, but does not mention the individuals who provided affidavits or the fact that one of the affidavits was given by a son-in-law. I originally thought I had never looked in White for the "correct" spelling of Wickiser, but now realize that I had not overlooked it. White's compilation is wonderful, but users should be aware that due to limitations of time, he was unable to include every reference in his work. Had I only used White's Abstracts, I would have not located the Wickiser reference and not learned the maiden name of Catherine Wickiser.