The roster reproduced on this page is an authentic, original muster roll for Captain Jacob Hendershot's Company of the 1st Battalion of the Bedford County Militia during the year 1777. It is undoubtedly a duplicate of the muster roll in the possession of the Pennsylvania Archives.
The roster was discovered by, and is currently in the possession of Matt Reed, a collector of paper ephemera. It was part of a collection of papers (sight unseen) that he obtained at a public auction of the estate of Frank Brumbaugh at Alum Bank in Bedford County, Pennsylvania in December 2016. The document was, along with some other papers, stashed in a tin box on which Mr. Reed bid and won.
A comparison of this document with the transcription of a similar muster roll for Captain Hendershot's Company, included in the published Pennsylvania Archives, revealed that they were identical with the exception that one name ~ that of Patrick Sullivan ~ was included in the muster roll transcribed in the published Pennsylvania Archives, but is missing on this document. Sullivan's name appeared after that of Evan Jenkins in the copy in the possession of the Pennsylvania Archives. [ref: Pennsylvania Archives, 5th Series, Volume V, Pages 66-67]
I am sincerely grateful that Mr. Reed has permitted the document to be photographed and reproduced on this webpage. The county of Bedford owes Mr. Reed a debt of gratitude for his willingness to share the knowledge of the existence of this valuable American Revolutionary War document.
This page needs to be updated. Early in 2023, Mr. Reed sold the roster. It is now owned by Cole Rutkowski of Connecticut.
