Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S. 24117, James Clark, Penn.
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(8-1776)
SERVICE
Penn.
Clark, James
NUMBER S.24117
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6593

Pennsylvania
James Clark.
of Huntington in the State of Penna who was a Ensign in the compy commanded by Captain Anderson of the ____ commanded by Barthomew __ in the Pa line for 2 years - 

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Inscribed on the Roll of Penna. at the rate of 240 Dollars _____ Cents per annum, to commence on the 4th day of March, 1831.

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Certificate of Pension issued the 2d day of March, 1833 and sent Hon. L.D. Crawford, H.R.

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Arrears to the 4th of Sept 1832             360
Semi-anl. allowance ending 4 Mar: 33   120
                                                                _____
                                                               480

Revolutionary Claim, 
Act June 7, 1832.
Recorded by Nathan Rice   Clerk
Book D  Vol. 6  Page 51
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James Clarke
19168
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State of Pennsylvania
County of Huntington

ss

On this Sixteenth day of november in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty two, Personally appeared in the open Court before the Honorable Thomas Burnside Esquire President & his associate Judges of the Court of Common Pleas of the County of Huntington aforesaid, now sitting, James Clark a resident of Franklin Township in the County of Huntington & State of Pennsylvania aforesaid aged seventy six or seventy seven years, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth, on his oath, 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 served as herein stated, to wit. In the month of May or June in the year 1776 he entered said service as an Ensign of a Company of Pennsylvania Commanded by Captain Evan Anderson, Lieutenant Daniel Bowen, in the Battalion Commanded by Colonel John Bartholomew, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Thomas, in the Brigade or Division commanded by General Thomas Mifflin. The he marched in the month aforesaid from East Caln Township in the County of Chester  & State of Pennsylvania aforesaid (where he then resided) to Perth Amboy in the State of New Jersey, where they were stationed to prevent the British from coming from Staten Island into Jersey to forage and obtain supplies for their troops, and also to prevent the Tories or persons disaffected to the United States from supplying the British with food &c. From Perth Amboy we were marched to Philadelphia, where we were paid off & discharged. As near as he can recollect he served at this time a tour of duty of three months. ["three months" underlined] In this service we marched from Chester County as aforesaid, first to Philadelphia where we lay two or three weeks getting the necessary equipments for service, from thence went aboard shallops or water craft up to Trenton in Jersey, from thence marched to Princeton & lay in the college at that place for several days, from thence marched to a small town called Kingston, from thence to Brunswick, from thence to Perth Amboy, where we were engaged in service until we were marched to Philadelphia as aforesaid discharged. we were ordered out at this time by our Colonel of the Battalion aforesaid. by what authority they called us out I dont know - A short time after I came home from the Service aforesaid (I think not more than two weeks after, & hardly that ) I was drafted as an Ensign in a Company of  Pennsylvania Militia Commanded
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by Captain Mordecai Morgan & Lieutenant Samuel Miles, in the Battalion Commanded by Colonel John Hannum, Lieutenant Colonel Taylor, and Major Hartman, and was marched, directly after the notification of the Draft, to Billingsport in the State of New Jersey on the Bank of the Delaware, where we were put under the command of General Roberdeau & assisted in building a fort there. In going on this service or tour, we rendevouzed at what was then called old Chester, where we went aboard of vessels, & went up to Billlingport, where, after serving not less than three months, we were paid off, allowed our travelling expenses home, & discharged. The next tour of Service was in the winter or late in the fall of the same year, in a company of Pennsylvania Militia Commanded by Captain Evan Anderson, Lieutenant Daniel Bowen and David Christy, & myself Ensign. We went after the Tories & disaffected persons to a place called Darby in Chester County aforesaid, from thence we marched to Blue Ball & Boons Dam, whilst there the Tories and disaffected persons, came upon us by surprise in the nighttime, a skirmish ensued, they left the ground & we retreated down towards old Chester, to Springfield meeting house, & remained there two or three days, from thence went to Radnor Rocks, where we set out from on this tour, & encamped & remained there the most of the time, until discharged. We spend I think about two months in this Service. The next tour I served was in a volunteer troop of horse, made up & commanded by Captain Samuel Vandelier, 1st Lieutenant William Denny, 2d Lieutenant James Denny, & myself as Cornet elected by the Company. We marched from the white horse tavern (my residence at that time being about three or four miles from there) below Downington in Chester County aforesaid, I think in the winter of 1776-77 perhaps in the month of January 1777 to Wilmington on the Delaware, from thence to Dover, from thence to New Castle, from thence to Warwick, from thence to Dover, from thence to Nanticoke River, after Tories, negroes, and disaffected persons, from thence to Lewistown at the Capes of Delaware, from thence returned to Dover, where we laid six or seven weeks or two months occasionally scouring the Country, from thence returned home to the white horse, where we were joined by General Morgans Riflemen, and remained there until some time in the summer, being the summer of 1777 & whilst at that place we heard of the British fleet coming up Chesapeake Bay, and were ordered out to reconnoiter, & went down near the head of Elk, where we discovered the British had landed and were burning, plundering & destroying houses, mills etc from thence we marched to a place called Grays Hill,  where a pretty smart skirmish ensued, our troops gave way, and the British pursued to a place called Couch's mill, from thence we retreated to Wilmington, & remained there two or three days, from
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thence marched in the night to Chads Ford on the Brandywine where we arrived just about day light, went across the Brandywine to reconnoiter, went up a hill, through a woods, & came into the end of a lane, where we were fired upon by the British from the cornfields on both sides of the lane, we were ordered to charge upon them, which we did, & had five or six of our men killed, several horses & men wounded, & I received a small wound in my left leg, supposed to be a buck shot which passes through my leg. In this skirmish we took and brought to the American Army thirty seven prisoners - from thence were ordered & went to Gibbs fording on the Brandywine where we remained all day watching the ford to prevent the British from crossing, until after night when we were ordered to retreat, which we did to Marcus Hook, from thence to Chester, from thence to Derby, from thence to the Common at Philadelphia, from thence to the Trap on the Schuylkill where we lay some time& were engaged in reconnoitering & cutting off supplies from the British. After we broke up camp at the Trap marched to the white horse, where we were joined some time after by Morgans Riflemen, and Captain Lee's Troop of horse where, and at the Spread Eagle near Philadelphia we lay all winter, (1777-78) - whilst we lay at the Spread Eagle a rich man of the name of Rankin from York Town, we were informed was bringing up flour & bacon to convey to the British, we pursued & overtook him close to the line of British sentries, & took five wagons from him loaded with flour & bacon etc - we were frequently in Service in General Potter & Smallwoods Brigades, in cases of emergency. After the British left Philadelphia in June 1778, we marched from the Spread Eagle to Philadelphia, from thence to Trenton, from thence to Mount Holly, in Jersey, where we got ahead of the British, from thence to Monmouth, where a battle ensued, between the British & Americans, we were kept cutting off supplies, taking up stragglers, & sometimes skirmishing, & not engaged in the main Battle,  from thence the British went to New York, we went to Brunswick, where we lay some time, from thence home or it may be went from Brunswick to Trenton, lay some time there & from thence home. The whole time of my service in the foot & horse, I think was about twenty eight months, to wit eight months in the foot service & twenty months in the horse. That he was born in the town of Lancaster and State of Pennsylvania but cannot tell the year. That he has no record of his age. That when he entered the Service of Country, he was living in East Caln Township in the County of Chester & State of Pennsylvania - Since the Revolutionary War he has lived in Morgan Town in Berks County Penn & from that went to York County near Abbottstown - from thence to a place called Marsh Creek in said County & from thence to the County of Huntingdon Penns aforesaid where he now resides & has resided ever since. He received an Ensigns Commission signed by General Mifflin & also a Cornets Commission signed by the same person. Had them many years after he came to Huntingdon County. They are now lost or destroyed some how or other & cannot be found. That he is known by David R. Porter & Thomas Johnston Esq. late Citizens of his present neighborhood, whom he offers to testify as to his character for veracity & belief of his services as a soldier
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of the Revolution. That he has no documentary evidence  & knows of no person, whose testimony can be procured by him, who can testify to his services. He hereby relinquishes every claim  whatever to a pension or annuity except the present, and declares that his name is not on the Pension Role of the Agency of any State - Sworn to & Subscribed this day & year aforementioned.  
D. R. Porter Prob
James Clark


We David R. Porter & Thomas Johnston both late of Franklin Township & now residing in the Borough of Huntingdon & County of Huntingdon - do hereby Certify that we are well acquainted with James Clark who has Subscribed and Sworn to the foregoing Declaration, that we believe him to be seventy six or seven years of age. 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 opinion. Sworn & Subscribed the day & year aforesaid.

Thomas Johnston
D.R. Porter

T. Burnside P. Judge

Questions by the Court
 1. Where & in what year were you born?
ans. Born in the Town of Lancaster Penna, cant tell the year -
2. Have you any Record of your age, if so where is it?
ans. Have no Record of my age, nor never had
3. Where were you living when called into Service, where have you lived since the Revolutionary War & where to you now live?
Ans. Lived when called into service at East Caln Township, Chester County Penna since the war at Morgan Town, Berks County Penna near Abbottstown in York County, on Marsh Creek in said County & Huntingdon County Penn where I now reside -
4. How were you called into Service?
ans. Drafted & as a Volunteer
5. State the names of some of the Regular officers who were with the troops where you served. Such continental or militia Regiments as you recollect, and the General Circumstances of your Service?
ans. Col Smallwood, Col Morgan, Capt. Lee were with the troops where I served and also Col. Proctor. I don't recollect the names of any other regiments continental or militia at present - General circumstances as stated within. I knew Lord Stirling.
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perfectly well.

6. Did you receive a discharge, or did you every receive a Commission, if so, by whom signed & what has become of it-
ans. Never received a written discharge. Had two commissions signed by General Mifflin, one as Ensign and the other as Cornet, had them many years after I came to Huntingdon County, they are now lost or destroyed & cannot be found

7. State the names of persons to whom you are known in your present neighborhood & who can testify as to your character for veracity & belief of your services as a soldier of the Revolution-
ans. George Davis Esq, George Thompson, George Mattern, Charles Montgomery, Thomas Montgomery, James Travis, Evan Crane, Robert Elder, William Ingram, Anthony Shorb, John Lyon Esq., John Stonebraker & David R Porter & Thomas Johnston Esq. late of that neighborhood & now of Huntingdon -

//signature// James Clark

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 mentioned applicant was a revolutionary soldier and served as he states. And the Court further certifies that it appears to them that David R. Porter & Thomas Johnston Esquires are residents of the place by them stated in their Certificate, and that their statement is entitled to full Credit-

//signatures// 
Thomas Burnside
Joseph McCune

Judges

I David R. Porter, the Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas aforesaid, do hereby testify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court in the matter of the application of James Clark for a Pension. In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand & seal of office this sixteenth day of November A.D. 1832.

//signature// D. R. Porter  Proby