In This Article
His Story
Isaac Annis was a Revolutionary War soldier whose surviving federal pension records identify him as a private associated with Scammell’s regiment. His recorded service extended from December 1780 through December 31, 1783, placing him among the men who served during the final years of America’s struggle for independence.
Although his name appears in the Revolutionary War pension records, relatively little can yet be established about his personal life. His birthplace, parents, marriage, children, death, and burial have not been securely identified from the surviving documents examined for this biography.
What makes Annis particularly interesting is not simply the record of his military service, but a historical mystery that remained unresolved more than 150 years after the Revolution began.
In 1935, a Massachusetts researcher named Charles G. Fairman contacted the federal government seeking to determine whether several Revolutionary War records naming Isaac Annis referred to the same man. The records involved Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont, and the available pension transcriptions do not provide a definitive answer.
For this reason, the biography distinguishes between the service recorded in Annis’s federal pension index and other potentially related records. The identity of the pensioner must be established before those additional records can safely be used to reconstruct his family history.
A Soldier in the Closing Years of the Revolution
By December 1780, the American Revolution had entered its sixth year. The Continental Army had survived years of difficult campaigns, supply shortages, and uncertain military fortunes. British forces remained active in several regions, and the struggle for American independence was far from settled.
It was during this period that Isaac Annis’s pension index places the beginning of his Revolutionary War service.
The index identifies him as a private and records December 1780 as the beginning of his service. It does not establish the exact day of enlistment, the location where he joined the army, or the name of his immediate company commander.
Privates formed the foundation of the Continental Army. They carried out the daily responsibilities of military service, including drilling, marching, guarding military positions, maintaining equipment, and performing duties assigned by their officers.
The surviving index does not provide a personal description of Annis’s experiences or identify specific battles in which he participated. His service must therefore be understood within the broader military circumstances of the period without attributing undocumented events to him.
Service Associated with Scammell’s Regiment
The pension index identifies Isaac Annis as a private in “Scammels Regt.” It also contains a separate notation describing his reported service as belonging to the “4th Massts [Massachusetts] line.”
These two descriptions create an important question about his precise military assignment. Revolutionary War regiments underwent changes in organization and designation, and the surviving index does not provide enough information to explain the apparent difference.
Alexander Scammell was a New Hampshire officer who served in the Continental Army and became its adjutant general. He was mortally wounded during the Yorktown campaign in 1781.
Although the regiment’s name provides historical context, it does not establish that Isaac Annis personally served under Scammell at Yorktown or took part in that battle.
The reference to the Fourth Massachusetts Line is also significant because it raises the possibility of service in a Massachusetts unit. However, the full pension declaration and contemporary muster rolls would need to be examined before a specific regiment could be assigned with confidence.
Until those records are reviewed, both descriptions are preserved as they appear in the pension index rather than being combined into a single unsupported military history.
The War Draws to a Close
According to the pension index, Annis’s recorded period of service continued until December 31, 1783.
During these years, the Revolution moved toward its conclusion. The American and French victory at Yorktown in October 1781 weakened Britain’s ability to continue major offensive operations, although the war did not end immediately.
American soldiers remained in service while peace negotiations proceeded. The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, formally recognized the independence of the United States.
For soldiers still serving, the end of major fighting did not necessarily mean an immediate return home. The army continued to address military obligations, discharges, compensation, and the transition to peacetime.
Annis’s recorded service end date falls after the signing of the peace treaty. However, the available index does not establish where he was stationed during the final months of the war or describe the circumstances of his discharge.
A Pension Claim in 1818
More than three decades after the Revolution, Isaac Annis appeared in the federal pension records under the Act of March 18, 1818.
This legislation provided pensions to qualifying Revolutionary War veterans of the Continental Army who were in reduced financial circumstances. It represented a significant expansion of federal recognition for veterans who had served during the struggle for independence.
Annis’s pension index includes the date April 7, 1818, together with an abbreviated administrative notation concerning admission. The transcription does not establish whether this date represents the filing of his application, an administrative action, or the issuance of a final certificate.
Another index card identifies his pension file as number 45506 and associates the claim with the Act of March 18, 1818.
The transcribed records do not establish the amount of any pension payment, his occupation after the war, or his financial circumstances at the time of the application.
For many veterans, pension applications became the principal surviving evidence of their military service. In Annis’s case, the index provides an important outline, but the full personal account remains to be recovered from the original file.
Historical Research Alert: Which Isaac Annis?
An unresolved historical identification
Several Revolutionary War records name a soldier called Isaac Annis, but the evidence reviewed does not establish that they all concern the same individual. Until the records can be connected through contemporary documentation, details from those separate references should not be combined into one biography or family tree.
This is the principal research question associated with Isaac Annis’s pension file.
On August 24, 1935, Charles G. Fairman of Springfield, Massachusetts, wrote to the Veterans’ Administration seeking information about Isaac Annis.
Fairman had encountered several records that appeared potentially related but could not determine whether they identified one man or several different individuals.
One reference was an entry in an 1820 pension list for a man whose name Fairman read as Isaac Appis of New Hampshire. Fairman suspected that the name might actually have been Isaac Annis.
He also identified an Isaac Annis on the payroll of Captain William Smith of Fairlee, Vermont, in 1781, along with another reference to an Isaac Annis serving in Captain Jacob Marston’s company during 1780–1781.
Additional references involved men named Isaac Annis associated with Tewksbury and Bradford, Massachusetts.
Fairman wanted to know whether these records referred to the same Revolutionary War soldier. He specifically requested information about the man’s parents, birthplace, approximate birth and death dates, and residence when he last received a pension payment.
The transcribed pension pages do not include a definitive response resolving these questions.
Consequently, the Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont references remain possible research leads rather than verified episodes in the life of the pensioner represented by file number 45506.
The uncertainty also affects genealogical research. Without securely identifying which Isaac Annis served in which unit and lived in which community, there is a serious risk of assigning the wrong parents, spouse, children, or descendants to the Revolutionary War veteran.
Fairman’s correspondence demonstrates that this was already recognized as a historical problem in 1935. It remains an important question for anyone researching the Annis family today.
From His Account
Service preserved in a federal pension index
The surviving pension index identifies Isaac Annis as a private associated with Scammell’s regiment and records service beginning in December 1780 and ending December 31, 1783.
The index also preserves the notation “4th Massts [Massachusetts] line,” attributed to Annis’s own description of his service.
These entries provide evidence of the military history recorded in his pension case, but they do not supply a complete personal declaration or resolve the question of his precise regimental affiliation.
Source note: This section paraphrases the surviving pension index. It should not be read as a verbatim account written or spoken by Isaac Annis.
Military Service
| Conflict | American Revolutionary War |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch | Continental Army, according to pension classification |
| Rank | Private |
| Regiment | Scammell’s Regiment, according to pension index |
| Additional Unit Description | Fourth Massachusetts Line, also noted in pension index |
| Service Beginning | December 1780 |
| Service Ending | December 31, 1783 |
| Known Battles | None individually verified |
| Pension Law | Act of March 18, 1818 |
| Pension Date Noted | April 7, 1818 |
| Pension File | No. 45506 |
| National Archives ID | 53829012 |
Military record caution: The regiment descriptions and service dates above are drawn from a pension index. The original declaration and contemporary military rolls have not yet been used to resolve the difference between Scammell’s Regiment and the Fourth Massachusetts Line.
Later Life & Burial
The available pension transcriptions provide little information about Isaac Annis’s civilian life after the American Revolution.
His federal pension case establishes that his military service was recorded in connection with the legislation of March 18, 1818. However, the surviving index does not securely identify his residence at the time of the claim or describe his occupation and household.
In his 1935 inquiry, Charles G. Fairman specifically sought to determine where Annis lived when he last received a pension payment. That question suggests the information was not readily established from the records available to the researcher.
No death date has been verified for the pensioner represented by file number 45506, and no burial location has been securely connected to him.
Future examination of pension payment registers, final payment vouchers, death records, probate files, and cemetery inscriptions may help establish the final years of his life.
Family & Descendants
Parents and Early Family
The pension index does not identify Isaac Annis’s parents or birthplace.
Charles G. Fairman’s 1935 inquiry specifically asked whether the government possessed information about the soldier’s parentage and place of birth. The transcribed pages do not provide an answer.
Although Fairman mentioned men named Isaac Annis associated with Tewksbury and Bradford, Massachusetts, those references cannot yet be securely connected to the pensioner.
No parents have therefore been assigned to Isaac Annis in this biography.
Marriage and Children
The surviving transcribed pension materials do not identify a wife or children of Isaac Annis.
No marriage date, spouse’s name, or documented parent-child relationship has been established from the records reviewed.
Because the soldier’s identity remains unresolved, family relationships found in other Annis genealogies should not be assigned to him without a reliable connection through contemporary records.
Descendants
No line of descendants has been verified for the Isaac Annis represented by this pension file.
Establishing a descendant line requires more than locating a person with the same name in a family tree. The soldier must first be connected to a documented residence, marriage, and children through reliable records.
Until that connection is established, any proposed descendants should be regarded as unconfirmed.
Research Priority & Unresolved Questions
Priority: Establish the identity of the Revolutionary War pensioner Isaac Annis.
The most important unresolved issue is whether military and genealogical records from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont refer to the same soldier or to several men who shared the name Isaac Annis.
Questions requiring further documentation:
- Who were the parents of the Isaac Annis represented by pension file 45506?
- When and where was he born?
- Where did he live when he enlisted and when he applied for a pension?
- How do the references to Scammell’s Regiment and the Fourth Massachusetts Line relate to one another?
- Was he the same Isaac Annis who appeared in the Vermont military records discussed by Charles G. Fairman?
- Did he marry, and can any children or descendants be established?
- When and where did he die, and where was he buried?
Most useful records to investigate: the complete federal pension application, Revolutionary War muster and pay rolls, state military records, pension payment registers, Massachusetts and New Hampshire vital records, Vermont military documents, and probate records.
Reader contribution: Researchers or descendants who possess original records connecting Isaac Annis to a particular family or community are encouraged to share those findings with The Yost Post. Documentary evidence is especially valuable because it may help distinguish between individuals with the same name and prevent incorrect family connections from being repeated.
Original Sources & Historical Note
1. Isaac Annis — Revolutionary War Pension File
National Archives Identifier: 53829012.
Federal pension file containing index records and later correspondence associated with Isaac Annis.
View the National Archives record
2. Revolutionary War Pension File Index — No. 45506
Identifies Isaac Annis as a Revolutionary War private and associates his claim with the Act of March 18, 1818.
View the original pension index card
3. Military Service and Pension Index
Records Annis as a private associated with Scammell’s Regiment, preserves the Fourth Massachusetts Line notation, and lists service from December 1780 to December 31, 1783.
View the original military index
4. Charles G. Fairman to the Veterans’ Administration — August 24, 1935
Correspondence discussing possible references to Isaac Annis in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont, and requesting clarification of his identity and family origins.
View the original correspondence
5. National Archives — Revolutionary War Pension Research
Background information about Revolutionary War pension legislation and the kinds of records that may survive in pension applications.
Read the National Archives research guide
6. National Archives — Revolutionary War Military Research
Guidance for locating Revolutionary War compiled military service records, muster rolls, and related documentation that may help establish Annis’s regiment and identity.
Explore Revolutionary War military records
Historical Note
This biography is based primarily on the pension index and 1935 correspondence associated with National Archives Identifier 53829012. The available transcriptions do not contain a complete firsthand declaration by Isaac Annis.
Military service: The pension index records service from December 1780 through December 31, 1783, and identifies Annis as a private associated with Scammell’s Regiment. A separate notation references the Fourth Massachusetts Line. The precise relationship between these descriptions has not been established.
Battles: No specific battle participation has been independently verified. Events discussed in the narrative provide historical context and should not be interpreted as proof that Annis personally participated in them.
Pension: The index identifies pension file 45506 and references the Act of March 18, 1818. The full circumstances of his application and any payments require further examination.
Identity: A 1935 inquiry by Charles G. Fairman raises questions about whether several Revolutionary War records naming Isaac Annis concern the same individual. This remains the central unresolved research issue.
Family: Parents, spouse, children, and descendants have not been verified for the pensioner identified in this file. Possible family connections from other records have not been adopted without supporting evidence.
Death and burial: Neither a death date nor a burial location has been securely established.
Portrait disclosure: The accompanying portrait is a modern historical interpretation, not an authenticated likeness of Isaac Annis. The image’s officer-style clothing should not be taken as evidence of military rank; the pension index identifies him as a private.