Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File R. 551, Eliakim Barnum, New York
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On this Eleventh day of September in the year of our Lord Eighteen Hundred and thirty two personally appeared in open court before Daniel Moseley Esquire Vice Chancellor of the fourth curcuit of the State of New York at a court of Chancery for main state now getting at the town and in the County oof Onondaga Eliakim Barnum a resident of the town of Martins County & state aforesaid aged Eighty Four years who being first duly sworn according to law doth on his oath made 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 served as herein Stated And First that he was born in Danbury Connecticut 21st August in the year 1748 and that he has no record of his age it was upon the town record which was burned when Danbury was burned and also upon his Bible which burnt that this declarent was living at South East in Duchess County State of New York when first called into service, that immediately after the battle of Concord a meeting was called of the Citizens and Judge Crane I delivered an oration on the subject of the colonies and at its close my Oldest Brother Joshua Barnum Myself and 6 or 8 others Volunteered to defend the County and furnished ourselves with One clothing &c and went to recruiting and practising in the Exercise about a month where we got about 40 men and met and chose officers and Joshua Barn was Chosen Captain William Murch first Lieutenant and myself second.
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Lieutenant and Jonathan Cram Ensign The Convention of the State of New York the setting at Poughkeepsie sanctioned our proceedings and sent as Commissions 1 they commissions were signed by Charles Thompson they were signed by a man by the now of secratory & Woodhull, and required me to obey the orders of the then Congress and any further Continental Congress, and this Declare was sworn before Judge Crane who was Chairman of the Committee of the town to hold himself in readiness to go at a moments warning in can of above or sudden invasion &c and also to seek out and inform against all such as should by their words or actions shew themselves to be reins of to the cause of liberty has commotion & it on date some time in September 1775 and continued to exorcise & said more men during that fall and kept watch for Tories Colonel Swarthout & Lieutenant Colonel Baily were our field officers in the course of the fall the this of Cann Pond and Tarrytown sent word to our captain that they were ready to meet him and his company, and we turned out immediately and went in pursuit of them but they fled and secreted themselves and after in a search of 3 days returned the next winter in January or 1st February the British ship of war Asia came and fired upon New York and we were called out to defend the City and went in February and returned in April having been gone better than Two Months Col Morgan came with his regiment of rifle Men & relieved us; while at New York We one night make an entrenchment on Govenor Island, when about home spent the nights in Guarding the corners of
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Roads and found our own provisions, that he service about a year as Second Lieutenant and on the Twentieth day of September 1776 was ordered by the Committee to go with 15-16 men adjoin Capt Thomas Storm at Fort Montgomery and went and found him there with part of a Company and also went with him to fort Constitution and we help build the Fort Capt Stones first Lieutenant not attending This Detour appointed to fill his place the Commission was from the same convention & signed by the Secretary but cannot recollect who he was, and dated in Sept 1776 & required his service 2 months and he served the time out and Major Mott came with a party from South East & relieved us. This Declare Then returned to his duty under the first Commission & living in sight of the Chairman of the Committee was called upon of when at home to go continually coursing wood in the day time and washing roads and public places in the night duty when about home was much harder than when stationed out. after he returned from Fort Constitution was sent with an association paper and was required to bring every man who would not sign it before the Committee and Carried 16 of them to Dover to one Drapers tario where the Committee was sitting when word came that the British had attacked Fort Montgomery he started and got a to Peter Will opposite the fort the fort had been surrendered and the Militia which have assembled at Peekskill had gone up to Fish kill when he followed and remained then a few days till the British went back
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and then returned. In the spring of 1777 My Brother was taken prisoner when the British came to Danbury I was out and came home at night found the old men waiting for me and the chairman of the Committee ordered M to go I found Nine men and started My company were mostly at the of an Fredicksburgh guarding the stores there, and we went in sight of Danbury and waited till the morning then could see the British in number about 3000-- in the town and at the same time saw a small collection on the hill opposite to me and went to them & found Col Bradley of New Fairfield with about a captains Company and said him on the town was then on five, the whigs houses were buried the tories houses were not burned and the British marched out and as they evacuated the town we went in the Joined Col Cook knowing the country took the lead and cut across and before the British and lay in ambush till they came up then find upon them & harassed them in this way until they got to Ridgefield when they encamped for the night while on the way we were over taken by Gene general Worcester he was killed having been out then 24 hours without tends got tined out and left them and went home being too weak to effect anything, until Bargain was taken the three kept the Country in such a continual turmoil that I was kept either scouting or watching when not stationed away so that I did not work for Myself Except a day or two at a time for about 2 years after the capture of
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A Burgoin the tories were not so troubling I was the only officer left of the minutes men in my neighborhood my Brother being a prisoner and March having been wounded I was required by the Committee to stay and be in readiness to go when called upon and frequently had to turn out during the remainder of the war and served more than 2 years but never had a written discharge This Deponent further states that --- And while he was living at South East he sold Stock for $2500-- in 1776 and took it in Continental money and Kept it relying upon the faith of Congress until they passed the law that $1. should redeem $40. and thereby became poor and Moved about the Close of the war he moved to Fredensburgh Duchess County lived the 5 years and from there moved to Charleston now Saratoga County lived the 5 or 6 years then Navodon to Bern Albany County lived the 30 years of and the last 10 years has lived in Mowlins his present place of residence --- And this Delour further states that he kept his Commissions aforesaid until the fall of 1830 in when he delivered them to Isaac W Brewster of Jamesville in the County of Onondaga afore said for the purpose of making an application to Congress in this Declams behalf for a pension same which he has not see them. That he is acquainted with Reed Daniel Marsh Deacon Thomas Banne Ephraim Salmon Jacob G Law Isaac W Brewster and others in his present neighborhood and who can testify as to his character for veracity and their belief of his services as a soldier of the revolution and that he knows of no person now living who
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knows of his service aforesaid or by whom he can prove the same and that he has no down entry evidence thereof - And he hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present and declares that his name a is not on the pension roll of any State Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid David Moseley Eliakim Barnum.