Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File R. 5380, William Humphreys, New Jersey
Page 1

(3 - 1776)
SERVICE
New Jersey
Humphreys, William
NUMBER
R. 5380
CONTENTS
Page 2

Rejected
deserted 
See letter 25 March 33 to S. Haycraft
Elizabethtown, Ken.
J580
Page 3

Acts of July 14, 1862, and March 3, 1873. (struckthrough)
REJECTED (stamped on form)
5380
P.O.
William Humphrey
Service:
Enlisted:    , 18
Discharged:   , 18
Application filed:
Alleges:
Re-enlisted:
Attorney:
P.O.
Recognized.
Contract
Cert. of Dis. 
Searched for    , 18
Page 4

15628
Wm Humphreys
Kentucky

look on N.J. Roll
Deserter Oct 4. 77

Sam Haycroft
Elizabethtown KY
Page 5

BRIEF in the case of William Humphreys
County of Hardin in the State of Kentucky
(Act 7th June, 1832.)
1. Was the declaration made before a Court or a Judge? Court
2. If before a Judge, does it appear that the applicant is disabled by bodily infirmity?
3. How old is he? 78
4. State his service, as directed in the form annexed.
N.I. line
Period. 
enlisted In 17
Duration of Service. 
Years, 1.
Months, 6
Days.
---
Says he enlisted for three years after serving eighteen months
he hired a substitute and returned home
he never received a discharge
Rank.
As a 
Private
Names of General and Field Officers under whom he served.
Capt Geoghegan
Leut Dayton
Gen Maxfield 

5. In what battles was he engaged? Short hills, Brandywine, Germantown
6. Where did he reside when he entered the service? no stated
7. Is his statement supported by living witnesses, by documentary proof, by traditionary evidence, by incidental evidence, or by the rolls? traditionary
8. Are the papers defective as to form or authentication? and if so, in what respect? clergyman and citzen not certified to [struck out] 
correct

Certify that the foregoing statement and the answers agree with the evidence in the case above mentioned.

C C [not legible] Forrest
Examining Clerk.
Page 6

BRIEF objections to the admission of Pension
Claims, of which those answered in the negative, in red ink, will apply to the claim of
William Humphreys which require further proof or explanation.

I. Does the declaration show where the applicant resides? Yes
II. Did the declarant make the declaration in the county where he resides? Yes
III. If the applicant did not make the declaration in the county where he resides, is there any reason assigned for his not doing so?
IV. Has the declarant mentioned the period or periods of the war when he served? No
V. Has he mentioned with precision the length of his service, and the different grades in which he served, in language so definite as to enable the department to determine to what amout of pension he is entitled? No
VI. Has he given the names of the officers under whom he served, in conformity with the regulations? yes
VII. Has he made a relinquishment of every claim to any other pension than the one under the Act of June 7, 1832? yes
VIII. Has the Court given their opinion? yes
IX. Has the Clerk given his certificate? yes
X. Is the Clerk's seal affixed? And if so, has it a device or inscription by which it can be distinguished from any other seal? yes
Page 7

2
XI. Has the applicant obtained the evidence of a clergyman and another respectable citizen as to
their belief respecting his age and the general belief in his neighborhood relative to his revolutionary service? Yes
XII. If the clergyman's affidavit has not been produced, is there any reason assigned for not obtaining it?
XIII. If the applicant has no documentary evidence, and has not obtained the testimony of at least one living witness, has he stated in his declaration that such proof cannot be had? yes
XIV. +If the applicant's name is not found on the rolls of military service, has he produced a witness or witnesses as to his service?
If he has produced direct proof as to service, has the magistrate who administered the oath,
certified to the credibility of the witness or witnesses?
Has the proper officer certified to the official character and signature of the magistrate as the regulations direct?
XV. Does it appear from any of the papers that the witness was in such a situation, or of such an age, as to have a personal knowledge of the applicant's service?
XVI. +Are the papers authenticated as the regulations direct? yes
XVII. Are the seven interrogatories prescribed by the War Department answered satisfactorily? And, if not, which of them is not so answered? 1, 2, 5, 7
EXPLANATORY NOTES.
*QUERE V. In a case where the applicant cannot, by reason of the loss of memory, state precisely how long he served, he should amend his declaration by making an affidavit in the following words:
"Personally appeared before me, the undersigned, a Justice of the Peace, &c. A. B. who, being duly sworn, deposeth and saith, that, by reason of old age, and the consequent loss of memory, he cannot swear positively as to the precise length of his service, but according to the best of his recollection
he served not less than the periods mentioned below, and in the following grades; For ___ year
 ____ months, and ___ days, I served as a ___. For ___ months and ___ days, I served as a ___; and for such service I claim a pension.
Page 8

It is important in all cases to determine with precision the period for which each applicant served, and the particular rank he held, as the law directs the pension to be paid according to the grade of the pensioner and the length of his service. The use of the phrase about three or four months is too indefinite , and all such qualifying expressions are objectionable. Some persons who apply for pensions
merely state they served two years in the militia, &c. without specifying the tours; the names of the officers, and other particulars respecting their service. This form of a declaration is highly objection able. It must in every case be clearly shewn under what officers the applicant served; the duration of each term of engagement; the particular place or places where the service was performed; that the applicant served with an embodied corps called into service by competent authority; that he was either in the field or in garrison; and for the time during which the service was performed, he was not employed in any civil pursuit.
QUERE XIV. Proof of Service.
prove his service by two credible witnesses, who are required to set forth in their affidavits the time of the claimants entering the service, and the time and manner of his leaving the same, as well as the regiment, company, and line to which he belonged. The magistrate who may administer the oaths must certify to the credibility of the witnesses, and the official character and signature of the magistrate must be certified by the proper officer, under his seal of office.
QUERE XVI. Mode of authenticating papers.
In every instance where the certificate of the certifying officer who authenticates the papers is not written on the same sheet of paper which contains the affidavit, or other paper authenticated, the certificate
must be attached thereto by a piece of tape or narrow ribbon, the ends of which must pass
under the seal of office of the certifying officer, so as to prevent any paper from being improperly attached to the certificate.
In every case where the clerk of the court, or other certifying officer, has no public seal of
office, the certificate of a member of congress, proving the official character and signature of the certifying officer, should accompany the papers.
Page 9

William Humphreys
Declaration
15628
Page 10

State of Kentucky
Hardin County ⎬
On this 15th day of October 1832 personally appeared in open court William Humphreys a citizen of said county aged 78 years who being first duly sworn according to law doth make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the act of congress passed June 7th 1832

That he entered the service of the United States under the following named officers and [illegible] as herein stated 
About the begining of the revolutionary war
he enlisted under Captain Geoghegan in Morristown in the State of New Jersey - his Lietenant was named Marmaduke Curtis under  Colonel Dayton of the 3rd New Jersey regiment. Under his said officers from Morristown he was marched to Elizabethtown, thence to Amboy and Staten Island and to different parts of New Jusey.  He was also marched into the state of Pennsylvania & Delaware Was in the Battles of Short Hills, Brandywine & Germantown. his
General officer was by the name of [Maxfield]
who he believes commanded the New Jersey troops. He states that his term of enlistment was for the time of three years, that he served 18 months of that time & hired a substitute for the
Page 11

balance of the time He states that he never
received any written discharge from his officer, but upon his furnishing a substitute as before stated he was dismission by said officer He knows of no person by whom he can prove his sevices except Thomas Painter who lives in some part of the state of Illinois, the particular part unknown to him
Sworn to & subscribed the day & year [not legible]

Wm Humphreys [an X and states his mark]

[not legible] William H Potter Clergy residing in
Hardin County & John Haywood residing in 
the same County hereby certify that we are well aquainted with William Humphrey who has subscribed & sworn to the above declaration
that we believe him to be of the age stated 
by him on said declaration that he is reputed & believed in the neighborhood where
he resides to have been a soldier of the
revolution and that we concur in that belief 
William H Potter
John Haywood
Page 12

He said William Humphreys hereby [illegible]
 is every claim whatever to a pension or
annuity except the present & declares that his 
name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any state
Wm Humphreys[X with text his mark]

the court are of opinion for asking the questions
prescribed by the secretary of war and from
the certificate of Wm H. Potter & John Haywood  that the applicant Wm Humphreys did serve as stated by him

James W. Hall
David Burcham
Robt R Curtcher

I, Samuel Haycroft, Clerk of the Hardin County
Court in the State of Kentucky do hereby certify
that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court in the matter of the application of William Humphreys for a pension
In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal of said Office this 16th day of October 1832
Sam Haycraft Clk