IMPORTANT: Categories for 1776 Project - update

+20 votes
795 views

Hello fellow WikiTreers!  

Michael, Keith and I are working to set up the 1776 Project categories to fit within the framework of the Military and War Project.  Obviously, there will be some non-military categories that need to be developed, but the basic structure that is needed is:

<war>

<country or state>, <war>   for each country that is involved

<service branch>, <war> for each military branch of the <country> that is involved in the war

<unit>, <service branch>, <war>  down to the regiment/equivalent size, depending on the specific war/period, other size units might be included.

You will choose the most specific category your documentation supports. You will usually only use one category, so you can choose from one of the following examples, or from any of the battles and topics on https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:American_Revolution

For example, you could choose the most accurate/specific of the following military categories:

- American Revolution

--- United States of America, American Revolution

----- Connecticut, American Revolution

------- Connecticut Line, American Revolution

--------- 1st Connecticut Provincial Regiment (1775), Continental Army, American Revolution

--------- 2nd Connecticut Provincial Regiment (1775), Continental Army, American Revolution

------- Connecticut Militia, American Revolution

--------- 11th Regiment of Militia, Connecticut Militia, American Revolution        

-----Georgia, American Revolution

---------1st Georgia Regiment (1775), Continental Army, American Revolution

--------- 2nd Georgia Regiment (1776), Continental Army, American Revolution

------- Georgia Militia, American Revolution

----- Continental Navy, American Revolution

----- Continental Navy Ships, American Revolution

------- USS Bonhomme Richard (1765), Continental Navy, American Revolution

----- Continental Marines, American Revolution

--- Great Britain, American Revolution

-----  British Army, American Revolution

------- 1st Regiment of Foot, British Army, American Revolution

----- British Navy, American Revolution

--- France, American Revolution

--- Spain, American Revolution

Other categories can be taken from https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:American_Revolution

NOTE: Some of the categories on the American_Revolution list do not need the American Revolution delimiter.  For example, [[Category:Battle of King%27s Mountain]] comes up in a red color if you use the American Revolution. If your category comes up red, try deleting the American Revolution part of the code. 

To assign an ancestor to the 1776 Project and a category, you will use the {{1776|category=xxx}} format, such as:

{{​1776|category=American Founding Fathers}}

​{{​1776|category=Great Britain, American Revolution}}

{{1776|category=United States of America, American Revolution}} See above for military examples

{{1776|category=Patriots, American Revolution}}

{{1776|category=Civil Service, American Revolution}} 

{{1776|category=Loyalists, American Revolution}}  Those Loyalist who may have gone to Canada, the Bahamas or stayed in the USA, but are not ancestors of United Empire Loyalist Association of Canada members.

{{1776|category=United Empire Loyalists, American Revolution}} Only for Loyalists who are ancestors of United Empire Loyalist Association of Canada members

{{1776|category=Hessians, American Revolution}}

To assign only a category (and not the 1776 Project), such as adding an additional category to an ancestor’s profile, you will use the [[Category:xxx]] format.  For example:

[[Category:NSSAR Patriot Ancestors, American Revolution]] 

[[Category:Society of the Cincinnati, American Revolution]] 

[[Category:Sons of Liberty, American Revolution]] 

In practical application, for example, for http://services.dar.org/Public/DAR_Research/search_adb/?action=full&p_id=A119116, I would code him (above the == Biography == section) as:​  ​{{1776|category=Pennsylvania, American Revolution}}​ because I know he was an Ensign from Pennsylvania, but I don't know his military unit.

For http://services.dar.org/Public/DAR_Research/search_adb/?action=full&p_id=A123374, I would code him as {{1776|category=Rhode Island, American Revolution}}​ because I know he was a Sergeant from Rhode Island, but I don't know his military unit.​ If we knew he was in the Rhode Island Militia, we would code him {{1776|category=Rhode Island Militia, American Revolution}}​.

​Most people will get their information from the DAR and have to include the ​== ​Source​ ==​ citation approved by the DAR. That code is {{DAR-grs | Axxxxx | Patriot’s Name | Date the record was accessed}}

Separate from the DAR Source citation which goes in the == Sources == section, you can also apply the NSSAR template and add their insignia in a separate box.  The NSSAR code is:

{{NSSAR Patriot Ancestor | sar-number = P-xxxxxx | rank = Sergeant}} and it should be placed just above the == Biography == section. 

Please offer your constructive criticisms & possible fixes for this 1776 Project policy change on this thread. This will be copied to the Project as instructions for current and future members.

~~~~Editing, "Those Loyalist who may have gone to Canada, the Bahamas or stayed in the USA, but are not ancestors of United Empire Loyalist Association of Canada members."

~~~~Editing, categories Patriots, American Revolution and Civil Service, American Revolution​.  And added --- Spain, American Revolution

WikiTree profile: Ethan Smith
in Policy and Style by Kitty Smith G2G6 Pilot (638k points)
edited by Kitty Smith

A quick question:

For Loyalists, you list a category for: Those who did not go to Canada, but may have gone somewhere else like the Bahamas or stayed in the USA.

And you also list a category for United Empire Loyalists : Only for Loyalists who are ancestors of United Empire Loyalist Association of Canada members.

Most of my profiles are for Loyalists who ended up in Canada, but some of them don't have descendants who have completed all the steps required for membership in EULAC.

Shouldn't the first mentioned "Loyalist" category include these people who ended up in Canada, but are not necessarily EULAC approved?

 

Oh yeah,  I didn't think about that.  Just as all US Patriots are not listed in the Daughters of the American Revolution database, I am sure there are Canadian Loyalists who are not listed as United Empire Loyalists.  I will fix that note to say, "Those Loyalist who may have gone to Canada, the Bahamas or stayed in the USA, but are not ancestors of United Empire Loyalist Association of Canada members.

Does that cover it?  Thanks for the help.  

Yup, that covers it. Thanks.
Excellent, Kitty, Michael, and Keith. Thank you for your expedient action on this.  Very constructive and helpful!
Thank you! Great work.

Thinking back to my ignorance regarding the meaning of "Connecticut Line" (and now having verified that at least one of my ancestors did at least part of his service in a Connecticut Regiment of the Continental Army), I'm thinking that the name form "Connecticut Line, American Revolution" is not a good choice for a category name that will need to exist by itself on some people's profiles. (When planning a category structure, we may look at the whole hierarchy, but the names of individual categories need to be meaningful all by themselves.) I suggest a substitute name:

  •  Connecticut Line, Continental Army, American Revolution

6 Answers

+4 votes

The categories for military, non-military Patriots and non-military Civil Service are generally as used by the DAR and the SAR.  They are:

  • Military Service, such as participation in:

Army and Navy of the Continental Establishment

State Navy

State and Local Militia

Privateers

Military or Naval Service performed by French nationals in the American theater of war
 

  • Civil Service, under authority of Provisional or new State Governments:

    State Officials

    County and Town Officials (Town Clerk, Selectman, Juror, Town Treasurer, Judge, Sheriff, Constable, Jailer, Surveyor of Highways, Justice of the Peace, etc.)
     

  • Patriotic Service, which includes:

    Members of the Continental Congress, State Conventions, and Assemblies

    Membership in committees made necessary by the War, including service on committees which furthered the cause of the Colonies from April 1774, such as Committees of Correspondence, Inspection, and Safety, committees to care for soldier's families, etc.

    Signer of Oath of Fidelity and Support, Oath of Allegiance, etc.

    Members of the Boston Tea Party

    Defenders of Forts and Frontiers, and Signers of petitions addressed to and recognizing the authority of the Provisional and new State Governments

    Doctors, nurses, and others rendering aid to the wounded (other than their immediate families)

    Ministers who gave patriotic sermons and encouraged patriotic activity

    Furnishing a substitute for military service

    Prisoners of war or refugees from occupying forces

    Prisoners on the British ship Old Jersey or other prison ships

    Service in the Spanish Troops under Galvez or the Louisiana Militia after 24 December 1776

    Service performed by French nationals within the colonies or in Europe in support of the American cause

    Those who rendered material aid, in Spanish America, by supplying cattle for Galvez's forces after 24 December 1776

    Those who applied in Virginia for Certificates of Rights to land for settlement and those who were entitled to and were granted preemption rights

    Those who took the Oath of Fidelity to the Commonwealth of Virginia from October 1779 to 26 November 1783

    Those who rendered material aid such as furnishing supplies with or without remuneration, lending money to the Colonies, munitions makers, gunsmiths, etc.

by Kitty Smith G2G6 Pilot (638k points)

Kitty,

Thanks for your hard work and dedication with this.  This is a great solution to many of the problems that were identified on the other thread.

One comment, and I know this has already been discussed ad nauseam: the treatment of loyalists seems a bit incongruent to similar items.   My understanding, which could be wrong, is that the UEL is an association/lineage society for loyalists who relocated to Canada.  If so, shouldn't it be treated as a category like the DAR or SAR?

Also, I'm not sure on the dating protocol for ships but the USS Bonhomme Richard didn't exist until 1779 when John Paul Jones took command and renamed the ship which since 1765 was known as the Duc De Duras.  It sunk about 6 weeks after the name change.

Well, I guess we will need to rely on folks like you to edit the profiles for that ship and other details that I am unfamiliar with.

All of the {{1776|category=United Empire Loyalists, American Revolution}} formats can be used as a single [[Category:United Empire Loyalists, American Revolution]] and visa versa.

The {{1776|category=xxx}} format does two things. It adds the 1776 Project box and it adds the stated category. The [[Category:xxx]] format adds only the category.

Good questions, thanks!  

+6 votes

Thanks for starting this discussion, Kitty, and for providing so much detail on the plan for categorizing/recategorizing participants in the American Revolution. It looks like this structure probably has a sensible place for pretty much everyone who was involved in that war.

I expect to make sparing use of these categories. I am inclined to use these kinds of categories when I think that including a profile in a category will either (1) help me find profiles for other people who shared a common experience -- so I can possibly get clues about what it was they did -- or (2) help someone else find profiles, for the same sort or reason. Because I have limited understanding of the many of the descriptions of Revolutionary War service that I've read in sources, I am likely to want to use these categories, so I've been looking to see how I would or could use them for various profiles I've edited. Some comments, so far:

  • What does "Connecticut Line, American Revolution" refer to? Does "Line" refer to a subdivision of the Continental Army? Did every colony have a "Line"?
  • For several ancestors, the information I have on their wartime service is along the general lines of "corporal in Capt David Cady's company." Since I have no idea what this company was a unit of, I would happily use a category like "Connecticut, American Revolution." Maybe some day a knowledgeable person will provide additional detail.
  • I have edited several profiles for men who are said to have "turned out at the Lexington alarm" or "served in the Lexington alarms" or "served for five days at the time of the Lexington alarm." I generally can't tell if this means they were involved in the Battle of Lexington (some sources seem to have interpreted this kind of information that way) or if they marched on the town green with their neighbors for a few days after they received news of the battle, or something in between. In any event, I perceive involvement in the Lexington alarms as a significant event that gives useful information about an ancestor's commitment to the Revolutionary cause. I don't think this is a necessarily a good topic for a category, but I'd love it if someone more knowledgeable than I could create a free-space page about the Lexington alarm to help me understand the events. Has someone done this already?

I see value in a "recognition template" for Revolutionary War participants whose profiles don't need project protection or profile management by the 1776 project. I  say this after cogitating on an ancestor who helped form a committee of safety in early 1775, was an officer in a "regiment of foot" and later in a local militia, and was on the committee to procure lances; he doesn't need to be in every Rev War category he possibly could qualify for, but a template would be nice to symbolize his degree of involvement in the Revolution.

by Ellen Smith G2G Astronaut (1.5m points)

1. I don't know what a Connecticut Line was.  I assume a regiment in the Continental Army, but that is just my guess.  Maybe Keith knows?  

2. I agree totally.  The Connecticur, American Revolution will at least group all those with Connecticut service together.  I think most DAR records say state of service and maybe commanding officers, but not very often the name of the military unit.  Generally, I think you haveto look at original sources for that info.

3. We need a free space page for the Lexington alarm(s).  Volunteers?  

Very few profiles in the 1776 Project should be project protected. Requirements for project protection include, 

Four: They must be controversial or duplicated 

Project protection should be used only when profiles need protection — because they are commonly-shared, frequently-duplicated, subject to confusion, etc.

There must be some sort of controversy or duplication problem, or reasonable expectation that there will be.

 

 

Line refers to the way of warfare at the time.  the "regulars" were the Continental Line, which was made up of State supplied Regiments, and the state/county Militia made up the bulk of the other forces.

Since a state did not have a standing army, to provide a grouping of the regiments that it was supplying to the Continental Army, we are going to use <state> Line, American Revolution.  this also provides a base location for those people from that states identified as being a "regular", but the specific regiment is unknown.

When you see comments of turned out for the alarm, called up for XX action, etc, they usually indicates they were part of the militia.

 

Identification for ships at that time is by year of launching, to even though the USS Bon Homme RIchard was captured and renamed later, the launch date of the original ship is still used.

I recently discovered some ancestors who served on the Massachusettes Line so I had to research this concept.  I was confused because they were from New York?  As it turns out there were some Militia units that were sent to the line in other States and several units served over a wide range during the war.  It seems that some of these units were mixed, let by professional soldiers with some militia.  It has been a good history lesson for me!

Kitty, some statements I've read in recent G2G discussions indicated that the 1776 template is soon going to be restricted to project-protected and project-managed profiles. That's why I mentioned project-protection and project-management in my comment. Was I misinformed about this plan?

PPP will be applied only if requirement #4 is met on 1776 profiles.  I responded to that comment in the former thread with: 

However, I wish to add that application of the 1776 Project box does not remove you as the Profile Manager, correct?  It just adds the Project as an additional PM, right?  Of course, these are all Open profiles, so any WikiTreer can edit them anyway.  Do you forsee a time when the PM will be removed from these profiles?  If so, are the PMs put on the Trusted List for that profile?

and Abby responded:

As far as removing PMs, that's always been solely at the discretion of the project involved. We don't want really long lists of managers, so you may need to trim to trusted list only every once in awhile, but if you guys are otherwise comfortable with other PMs, absolutely leave them on. It's all about collaboration, so that makes the most sense.

Thanks for explaining, Kitty. Unlike the case with notables, royalty, Puritan Great Migration immigrants, New Netherland Settlers, etc.., I don't think that most of the Am. Revolution profiles I'm involved with need to have the 1776 project as one of the profile managers (and I'm very sure they don't need project protection). How much patriotic interest could there be in (for example) a man who reportedly served for about a month as a private in a Connecticut militia unit, when we don't know what he did or where he served during that month?

Or does the 1776 project have the noble ambition of becoming a backup manager for everyone who is recognized by the DAR or SAR as a patriot ancestor, or who could be recognized if a descendant were to apply to the society?

The 1776 Project is and always has been a place to honor the sacrifices of all who participated in the American Revolution.  Though many are DAR and SAR ancestors, from the beginning, this has been a means to honor all participants of all nationalities. Every little bit of effort should be recognized.

The 1776 Project box is the way we decided to post this bit of appreciation for the generations to come.  If a PM orphans a 1776 profile, it will still be on our watchlist and that is a good thing.  I feel very strongly that the 1776 Project is a place of appreciation and honor.  This task to categorize the ancestors recognized in the 1776 Project is simply to specify their service and location; to sort the thousands of profiles into smaller groups. Frankly, I see no reason to not put a deserving ancestor in the 1776 Project.  

As far as your one-month of service ancestor, you can contact the DAR Library to find out what that service was.  I saw the service record of my three-week service ancestor there.
Kitty, regarding your proposal for a Lexington Alarm free space page, I don't have the expertise to do it, but I was collecting references for my own (eventual) research (I have 2 profiles for men who responded). The potential sources include at least one contemporary account. From what I could tell, the information available may be detailed enough to develop casualty and participant lists. I'll be glad to share with whomever does the page.
Thank you, Susan.

I've found some answers to my questions about the "Lexington Alarm" on this webpage of the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Connecticut. That's an appropriate source because my puzzlement about the "alarm" was related to the fact that it is referenced in personal histories of people who lived in places (including Connecticut) too far from Lexington for them to have possibly been there for the battles of Lexington and Concord, nor for the ensuing British retreat to Boston.

The webpage I linked confirms my hunch that "Lexington Alarm" refers to colonists' actions in response to the news of the battle at Lexington. One tidbit on that page is the information that upon receiving news of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, Benedict Arnold marched a company of Connecticut militia men to Boston. I infer that the words "turned out at the Lexington alarm" refers to actions like marching to Boston with Benedict Arnold.

[EDITED]: More interesting sources:

Interesting, thanks for researching and sharing!
+5 votes

Template:NSDAR Patriot Ancestor adds {{1776|category=American Revolution Veterans}} to the profile. It is retired template and is used on 662 profiles

It has the Rank parameter used on most of the profiles you can see usage here. http://www.softdata.si/wt/Templ_20170625/Template_NSDAR_Patriot_Ancestor.htm

I can have the BOT replace the template with 1776 or delete it if 1776 is already present.

by Aleš Trtnik G2G6 Pilot (797k points)
Yes, thank you.  The DAR template should be replaced.  Thanks for watching out for us!
Hi Kitty!  Thanks for all the great work!

So, just for clarification, the broad term Patriotic Service will not be used as a category? Instead either these:

{{1776|category=Non-Military Patriots, American Revolution}}

{{1776|category=Non-Military, Civil Service, American Revolution}} ??

 

And are these ready to be used now?  Thanks again.
They are not ready now because we wanted your comments first.

I believe Patriotic Service will be listed as  non-military Patriots and non-military Civil Service (no comma), but I think Keith will need to address this question.  I hope he will be the one to set up the categories so they are ready to be used.

I think the categories will be 

{{1776|category=Patriots, American Revolution}}

{{1776|category=Non-Military Civil Service, American Revolution}} 

But maybe just {{1776|category=Civil Service, American Revolution}} to match {{1776|category=Patriots, American Revolution}}

+5 votes
In Regards : http://www.genealogyandfamilyhistory.com/chronology-of-spanish-troops-in-the-revolutionary-war/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spain_and_the_American_Revolutionary_War

http://www.southcoastsar.org/SpanishSoldiers.htm

I have French ancestors who fought in the American Revolution with the Spanish Forces and assisted George Rogers Clark in the American Revolution.  

C'est Bon Magnifique !
by Stanley Baraboo G2G Astronaut (1.4m points)

I think you would use non-military Patriots category for those men because they do not fit in colonial military units.  So maybe we need just name the category Patriots. Agreed? 

See DAR list above: 

Service in the Spanish Troops under Galvez or the Louisiana Militia after 24 December 1776

Service performed by French nationals within the colonies or in Europe in support of the American cause

Those who rendered material aid, in Spanish America, by supplying cattle for Galvez's forces after 24 December 1776

Hmm... The DAR may call those people "Patriots", but if they were members of a Spanish military force that fought in the American Revolution, I don't imagine that their descendants would necessarily think of them as Americans who rendered nonmilitary patriotic service.

Would Americans whose family members fought in the Spanish Civil War in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade want their relatives to be considered Spanish patriots who rendered nonmilitary service?
Right, I think we need to remove the word non-military.  That was my attempt to distinguish between military and non-military service at a glance, but clearly it needs to be just Patriots.
How about differentiating the Spanish, French, etc. participants who fought on or contributed to the side of the rebels "allies" or "patriot allies" or something similar? That would distinguish them from the American colonists and still link their contributions to the rebellion.

I added --- Spain, American Revolution as a category.

+5 votes

Thanks for all your hard work AND collaboration.  I have two comments:

1.  A few patriots who served in the American Revolution went to Canada.  Two of my ancestors fit in this category, and I'm still finding Canadian cousins through Wiki.  In one case, I've proven the line through the DAR (as a new child of a patriot) and will soon submit the information as a "new patriot".  

2.  Could a "bot" create a list of all the Wiki profiles that have 1776 or related?  I have no idea how large this list would be.  I've added "1776" or "DAR" for 15 to 20 patriots and the list keeps growing.  

On the plus side:  when people enter Wiki, or otherwise want to explore whether their ancestor could have served in the American Revolution, we could have a handy list.  It could be set up alphabetically, or by location, or...?

by Janine Barber G2G6 Pilot (227k points)
Hi Janine, I don't exactly understand your comments.  Maybe you can clarify your questions.  

1. Large numbers of veterans left where they were to move west or north after the Revo War. In this case, you would apply the category for where they served in the war, perhaps note in the == Bio == that they moved north to Canada, but remained a patriot.

2. I think all the https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:American_Revolution_Veterans will need to moved to https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:American_Revolution, but yes, a bot could be prepared.

3. The categories will separate the ancestor profiles by location or affiliation.

Kitty,

I've sourced many patriots recognized by the Daughters of the American Revolution.  None needed PPP status, so I never forwarded these profiles to a project leader.  A couple of examples:

Moses Ayer Sr(DAR Database Sourced)

Ebenezer Thayer Sr(DAR Database Sourced)

 James Gould(DAR Database Sourced) [1 thank-you received]

A "bot" could pick up all these.

I hope this clarifies my question.  Collaboration is a beautiful thing!

Grins, Janine

As I envision it, and I hope this will work for Keith, all the Profiles in https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:American_Revolution_Veterans will be merged into https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:American_Revolution.  Then we will have one big list of ancestor profiles that can be categorized into a better, more specific category.  As each profile is re-categorized, it will be removed from https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:American_Revolution, so eventually that category should have just a few profiles, or hopefully none.

janine, if you go to the template page, 

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Template:1776

at the bottom is a link  Profiles and pages using template 

select that and ity will list all profiles that have {{1776}}, and all variations of things passed to it , i.e.  {{1776|XX}}, so it is between 6500 and 7000 profiles right now.

+4 votes
Kitty,

 

I would recommend ensuring that we have categories for Spies and perhaps Couriers since much has been made in recent documentaries about How Washington would not have done so well without them.

Also under my 4th Great Grandfather, Giles (Parman-5), He is only listed as SGT, PA, in the DAR Patriot Index, so would this fall under the Militia or Regular Army? I find others in the index with the CL abbreviation (Continental Line) and some listed as just "pensioners".  So my understanding of what you are proposing is that everyone will have to recategorize all of their Rev. War veterans, and if we don't know for sure which new bucket they fit into, we would go with the next higher category?
by Ken Parman G2G6 Pilot (117k points)

We aren't really categorizing jobs so much as locations of servcie, so I think the spies and couriers would need to go in British, American Revolution or other appropriate category.

This example closely mirrors the example you offered:  "In practical application, for example, for http://services.dar.org/Public/DAR_Research/search_adb/?action=full&p_id=A119116, I would code him (above the == Biography == section) as:​  ​{{1776|category=Pennsylvania, American Revolution}}​ because I know he was an Ensign from Pennsylvania, but I don't know his military unit."

You said, "So my understanding of what you are proposing is that everyone will have to re-categorize all of their Rev. War veterans, and if we don't know for sure which new bucket they fit into, we would go with the next higher category?"  

Exactly right. This is necessary to break the huge American Revolution category into smaller, more representative groups of ancestors. Hopefully this will be a one-time deal that will not be necessary again. 

Do you have a tentative date when all this is supposed to go into effect? Seems like we'll all have a lot of work to do.
As soon as the categories are set up.  I do not know Keith's schedule.

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