Alexander Jameson RevWar: Some New Hampshire Jamesons

Determining the facts surrounding any Jameson's Revolutionary War service is made difficult by the fact of several identical names from the same place and at a similar time of service. The biggest problem is determining which is which (who is who), especially with the various spellings (Jameson, Jamison, etc.) found on different records.

The principal surviving records in the National Archives directly pertaining to these men fall into two categories: (1) Individual Service Records, which are mostly made up of Muster Rolls and Payroll Records and (2) Pension Records. Although the Pension Records generally seem to include the most information, probably because of the nature of the narrative of the application process, they also seem to be the least reliable for that same reason. There is often little or no official government information in these documents about the solider or his service apart from the outcome of the pension applied for and it's details or denials. All the information about the soldier, his service, the surviving descendants and the applicants is supplied by the applicants. The Individual Service Records on the other hand are usually sparse. They contain only very basic information such as name, date of enlistment, intended duration, unit and sometimes commander, discharge or death and occasionally some payroll information. What they do have is official and is about as close to fact as we can get. Muster Rolls vary in usefulness as they are infrequent and usually incomplete. They are akin to a printed roll call and can only be taken as a stand alone snapshot of a specific time and place. However they can be useful as a fill in to a soldiers overall data as to who they served with and sometimes where.

There were two Alexander Jameson's living in New Hampshire during the time of the Revolutionary War. Both from our Jameson family. One was the son of Hugh Jameson (1713-1790) who lived in Dunbarton, and the other was the son of Hugh's brother Thomas Jameson (1709-1764). Alexander (son of Thomas) was born in Londonderry in 1758, but was living in Antrim, NH starting in the early 1770's. Alexander (son of Hugh) was born and living in Dunbarton at the time of his service.

There are several documents and references for service from men named Alexander Jamesons during the Revolutionary War in New Hampshire. Here is what we know about that:

According to Individual Service Record #166 (J) (NARA Publication # M881): (PayRoll Records) Private in Capt. Peter Clark's Co., in Col. Daniel Moore's Regiment of Volunteers of the New Hampshire Regiment, which marched from Lyndborough, NH, Sept 1777 and joined the Northern Continental Army at Bennington. He joined Sept 30, 1777 and was discharged Oct 26, 1777. His time in service was 27 days for which he was paid 4 pd 1, plus travel and rations, total paid was 7, 10, 2. - PDF here

According to Individual Service Record #167 (J) (NARA Publication # M881): (PayRoll Records) Private in Capt. John Duncan's Co., in Col. Daniel Moore's New Hampshire Regiment which marched from Bedford, NH, Sept 1777 and joined the Northern Continental Army at Beningtown (sic). He joined Sept 29, 1777 and was discharged Oct 25, 1777. His time in service was 27 days for which he was paid 4, 10, plus travel and rations, total paid was 6, 16, 9. - Document here - PDF here

According to Individual Service Record #918 (J) - R.&P., 431.372 (NARA Publication # M881): (PayRoll Records) Sergeant in Captain Jonas Kidder’s Comp., in Colonel Moses Nichol’s Regiment of Militia, raised by the State of New Hampshire to join the Continental Army at West Point. Enlisted July 6, 1780 and served until October 24, 1780. His time in service was 3 months and 19 days. He was in Camp Highlands on September 27, 1780. - PDF here

Here is our analysis on who served where and when:

The first two records (# 166 & 167, above) are service records for almost exactly the same time, from the same general area and for service in the same place. These are undoubtedly a result for a call to arms for what became the Battle of Bennington and the Battle of Saratoga in 1777. The first record (#166), as well as the third record (#918), are according to E.O. Jameson[1] in "The Jamesons in America" p.420, for an Alexander Jameson (living in Antrim at that time), who was a first cousin of Alexander Jameson (living in Dunbarton at that time). The second record (#167) is a legitimate separate record proving service of another Alexander, undoubtedly Alexander Jameson (son of Hugh) - as there were two and only two known Alexander Jamesons in that area at that time. This is further confirmed by two listings for Alexander Jamesons in the "Participants in Battles of Saratoga," which was compiled from "The State of New Hampshire - Rolls of the Soldiers of the Revolutionary War, May 1777 to 1780."[2]

Notes: No mention of any service in "The Jamesons in America" Alexander Jameson (son of Hugh), however the narrative on him is sparse in that book.

A study of New Hampshire maps shows that Alexander Jameson (son of Hugh), who was living in Dunbarton, NH, at the time was closer to Bedford than to Lyndborough and more likely to have marched from that location. Where as, the other Alexander Jameson (son of Thomas), then living in Antrim, NH, was closer to Lyndborough and therefore more likely to have marched from there - map here. This would support the theory that Alexander Jameson (son of Hugh) was a Revolutionary War soldier according to record 167 and that the other Alexander Jameson (son of Thomas) from record 166, as E.O.Jameson lists in his book. It should be noted, to avoid possible confusion, that Captain John's Duncan's Company marched from both Bedford and Antrim, NH, as shown in record #167, but that the Alexander of that record specifically marched from Bedford.

Other issues, complications and known inaccuracies:

There are several DAR records regarding (son of Hugh) Alexander Jameson (DAR Ancestor #A061607), linking him to the first (#166) and third (#918) records. These include 2 (#'s 2654, p.234, Martha Jameson Stone; and #2901, p.315, Mary Jameson) from the 1897 DAR Lineage book. Both of these members are related to the SAR member John A. Jameson above (Martha a niece and Mary a daughter) and both share the same (and incorrect - it is not Col. David Morris but in fact Col. Daniel Moore's Regiment) information. The inaccuracy is probably a result of a time before copy machines or any good way of viewing the records other than the originals, save hand written transcriptions. After all David and Daniel are close as is Morris and Moore's. Besides the fact there was no known David Morris Regiment in that war anyhow. It is also logical that the mistake was made by the earlier SAR record, then compounded by using it when making application for the second. It is also logical to assume, perhaps wishfully, that the these were war records were to be associated with Alexander Jameson (son of Hugh) given the difficulty in finding the records in the first place and the absence of any evidence to the contrary at that time (E.O.Jameson's book[S2] with accreditation to the other Alexander Jameson (son of Thomas) had not yet been published).

No pension application(s) have been found for any Alexander Jameson from service in the Revolutionary War.

[1]	E.O.Jameson gives, on page 423 of "The Jamesons in America" the following references for the war service attributed to this Alexander Jameson: New Hampshire Rev. Rolls, Vol II, pp. 351, 342, 362; Vol. III, pp.140, 161.
[2]	[S61] New Hampshire State Papers - "Rolls of the Soldiers in the Revolutionary War," Isaac W. Hammond - Volume 15 p.351 [4-224], 353 [4-225], 362 [4-249].

Alexander Jameson Revolutionary War Study