Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File R. 4912, Thomas Herbert, New Jersey
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New Jersey

Herbert, Thomas

N. 4912
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Important

Index not
duplicated elsewhere

Thomas Herbert
R. 4912

Refected [Reflected]

Samuel S. Denny Esquire

Clerk

Circlerites

Pickaway Courts
Ohio

See letter 13 April 1823
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No. 17151

Thomas Herbert of Pickaway County Ohio

4912

refer to Mrs. Eomards

The narative [narrative] altogether
is too improbable to
be granted & therefore a 
pension cannot be granted.

Special letter

Samuel S Denny 8 of
Pickaway County Ohio
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BRIEF in the case of Thomas Herbert County of 
Pickaway in the State of Ohio
(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?  no

3. How old is he?  78 years

4.  State his service, as directed in the form annexed.

[table follows with 4 columns; column headings as follows:]
(1) Period.   In 
(2) Duration of Service. {sub-headings:  a.  Years, b. Months, c. Days.
(3) Rank.   As a
(4) Names of General and Field Officers
under whom he served.
Gen.

[text beneath column headings:]
(1) Vol. - 1775, ol. - ", " -
(2) a. -, -, 2 -  b. 1, 1.  c. [blank]
[written across first 2 columns:]. This applicant states that after the expiration of said term of 2 years, he served as a militia man, until the close of the war &c. under command of - }
(3) private, private, private, private }
(4) Cap. H. Smock, Col. Asher Holmes; Cap. B. Smock, Col. Asher Holmes; Cap. Saml Dennis
[end of table]

5. In what battles was he engaged? none, several skirmishes

6.  Where did he reside when he entered the service?     {blank] County New Jersey.

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? Correct

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

Richd Key Watts
Examining Clerk.
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The State of Ohio Pickaway County SS
On this 26th day of October One thousand eight hundred and thirty two personally appeared in Open Court, Thomas Herbert, 
who is a resident of said County of Pickaway in the State of Ohio Aged 78 years on the 3d day of December 1831 who being duly sworn
according to law doth on his Oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the provisions made by the act of Congress passed June 7th 1832, That about two years before the Battle of Lexington in April 1775 this affiant was a resident of the State of New Jersey, at that time there was a requisition (from what [illegible] this affiant cannot say) for a company of man to guard the Coast of the Atlantic at Sandy Hook, and about 25 miles each way on the Coast from that point, Affiant volunteered for the first month in that service under Horrice Smock as Captain, Col. Asher Holmes commd, the next month affiant was absent from the service by Virtue of an arrangement by the Gov. that the Militia should be divided and stand guard for one month, Only at a time, when the other half should be called into service for a month, and those on duty discharged, Affiant entered the service again as a Militia man after a months absence, Under Capt Barns Smock, Col. Asher Holmes, Affiant was then absent for one month, and was then
taken under the command of Samuel Dennis to guard the Same Coast for two years in Succession ['to guard the Coast' crossed out] during this time Affiant was not in any regular engagement, but was in more than fifty Skirmishes with the tories and English, and different places along the shore, after the expiration of the said two years, affiant removed about 16 miles east and from that time served as a militia man, and was out every night from that time until the close of the Revolutionary War as a guard or Scout (as it was then called) except a few evening when sick, under the command of Capt Stephen Flemming, Col. Holmes Still in command until 1783.  In the year 1790 this affiant removed to Shrewsberry in New Jersey, and removed to Green County Pa. the next year, in 1816 affiant removed to the State of Ohio & has lived in this County 25 years this month, affiant further states that he has no documentary evidence and that he knows of no person whose testimony he can
procure who can testify to the performance of this service
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I hereby relinquish all and every claim whatever to a pension or Annuity except the present, and declare that my name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any State in the United States.
Thomas Herbert

Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid
S.S. Denny Clk

We ['David Kinnear' crossed out] Moses Jones, and Jeremiah Morris, Residents of the County of Pickaway aforesaid do hereby certify that we are well acquainted with the above named Thomas Herbert, who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration that we believe him to be as old as he has above stated, that he is reputed and believed in the neighbourhood where he resides to have been a soldier of the Revolution and that we concur in that Opinion.
Jeremiah Morris
Moses Jones

Sworn to and Subscribed in open Court the day and year aforesaid
S.S. Denny Clk

And the said Court do hereby declare their opinion after the investigation of the matter and after putting the Interrogatories prescribed by the War Department, that the above named applicant was a Revolutionary Soldier and served as he states, and the Court further certifies that it appears to them that the said Moses James and Jeremiah Morris who Signed the above certificate are resident of Pickaway
County, and that both of said Witnesses are Credible persons, and that their statements are entitled to Credit.
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Thomas Herbert
17150

Free

The Department of War
Washington City
District of
Columbia
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The State of Ohio Pickaway County Court of Common Pleas October Term AD 1832

I Saml. S. Denny Clerk of said Court do hereby Certify that the foregoing Contains the Original proceedings of the said Court in the application of Thomas Herbert for a pension.

In testimony Whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal of Office this 26th day of October A D 1882.
S.S. Denny Clerk
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['Acts of July 14 1862 and March 8, 1870' crossed out]

REJECTED
4912               OW
P.O. __________
Thomas Herbert
Service: of Pickaway Co. Ohio
age 78 Dec. 3 1831-

Enlisted: N.J. Militia ___, 18
Discharged: _________, 18

Application filed: _________, 18

Alleges: __________________
Re-enlisted: _______________

Attorney: _________________
P. O. _____________________
___ Recognized. ______ Contract
___ Cert. of Dis.   Searched for _______, 18
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BRIEF objections to the admission of Pension Claims, of which those answered in the negative, in red ink, will apply to the claim of
Thomas Herbert which require further proof or explanation.

1. 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? Yes

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 amou[n]t of pension he is entitled?  yes

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
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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?   No Clergimans certificate Witness

XII. If the clergyman's affidavit has not been produced, is there any reason assigned for not obtaining it?  No

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?
yes
------------------------
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 [blank] year [blank] months, and [blank] days, I served as a [blank]. For  [blank] months and [blank] days, I served as a [blank]; and for such service I claim a pension.
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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 objectionable. It must in every case be clearly shown 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.
In a case where the name of the applicant is not found on the records of the Department, he must prove his service by two credible witnesses, who are required to set forth in their  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
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.