Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File R. 98, Seth Allen, Mass.
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Service: Mass
Allen, Seth
Abigail
Number: R. 98
Page 8

5943
Abigail Allen
Hon. V. D. Davis
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State of Maine
Cumberland, SS.
Clerks Office, Supreme Judicial Court
Portland, April 29th A.D. 1853

I, Charles C Harmon,
Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court,
In and for said County of Cumberland, certify that Arthur McArthur Jr is an Active Justice of the Peace, within and for the County of York as appears by the paper hereto annexed; that he is Duly Qualified to act as such; that his commission is dated January 5 A.D. 1852 and will expire January 5 A.D. 1859

That the following signature, purporting to be his is genuine. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand affixed the Seal of the Supreme Judicial Court, for said State, the day and year first above written.

C. C. Harmon, Clerk.
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State of Maine
County of York, SS.
Court of Probate
September, Special term, A.D. 1850

Be it remembered, that on the eighteenth day of September, A.D. 1850, it was satisfactorily proved in open Court, being a Court of record, that Seth Allen, late of Sumner in the county of Oxford, in said State, who was refuted to have been a Revolutionary Soldier, died at said Sumner on the twenty seventh day of July, A.D. 1802, leaving a widow by the name of Abigail Allen, who remained his widow and unmarried to the time of her death; and that she died at said Sumner on the twenty sixth day of June, A.D. 1842; and that Abigail A. Robinson, William Allen and Henry A. Allen are the children and only surviving children of said Abigail Allen and Seth Allen deceased. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name and affixed the seal of said Court, this eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and fifty three.
Joshua Herrick 
Register of the Court of Probate for York County
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And I further Certify, That, before search made for evidence of said facts, the application hereto annexed was filed in this Office, in the form in which the same now appears; that the search was made by myself and my clerks alone; and that said application, and the certificate above set forth, contain all the facts and circumstances within my knowledge, pertaining to the case 
In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto affixed the Seal of the Commonwealth, the date above written 
John C. Perry 
Secretary of the Commonwealth.
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I Moses Thompson of Middleborough in the County of Plymouth in the State of Massachusetts do testify and say
In June in the year of our Lord Seventeen hundred and eighty I enlisted into the Con-tinental Servase from the Town of Halifax in said county for the term of six months, and went from said Halifax in July of the same year to Springfield in said state and from thence to West Point in the state of New York and was there under the Command of Capt Coggeshall of Westons Regament and after a few weeks went into the State of New Jersey and joined the Light infantry under the Command of Layfayette, for the summer Campaign, and ret-urnd to West Point before my six months expired.
At the same time that I enlisted into said servace Seth Allen of said Halifax enlisted into the Conti-nental Servace for the term of six months and went on to West Point with me - after our arrival at West Point said Allin went into another company or Regiment from the one that I was in - 
I understood that said Allen enlisted again into the Continental Servace.
Moses Thompson [signature]

Plymouth / September 18th 1838
Personally appeared ^ Mose Thomson a credable witness and made oath that the above deposition  him subscribed is just + true
Before Mr Joshua Eddy Jus. Pub
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I John B. Thomas Clerk of the Supreme
Judicial Court for the County of Plymouth
in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, here
by certify, that there is deposited in this
office a Manuscript Book purporting [sic] to be Re-
cords kept by Nathaniel Goodwin late of
the Town of Plymouth in said County,
deceased, during the Revolutionary War,
as Military Superintendent of said County,
and that the following is a true extract
from the same in words & figures, viz.

“A description list of men raised for 6 months
for the Continental Army, and march’d to Spring-
field - Pr virtue of R[illegible] of Genl Assembly
of State Massachusetts Bay of 5th & 23d June 1780.
Col. Cotton’s Regt. 1st.,
and I further certify
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that under the foregoing head, and opposite
to the Town of Halifax are nine names, and
the last name stands as follows, viz.
Complexion eye  Stature ft-in.
"Seth Allen dark 18 5.5"
And I further certify certify [crossed out] that the entries
above are in the handwriting of the said
Nathenial Goodwin.

In testimony whereof I have
hereunto set my hand & affixed the seal
of the Supreme Judicial Court on the thirteenth
day of November in the year one thousand
eight hundred and thirty eight.
Jno B Thomas [signature]
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Tree [?]

Hon J L Edwards
War Department
Pension office
Washington City
D6

Ea Sumner )
Feb 19 )

Feb 27 1840 [this line and the two below were written perpendicular to address]

D6

A.Allen
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East Sumner Feb 15 1840
Hon J L Edwards Sir
Yours of Jan 18, was duly reced [sic], in which you state
that the claim of Abigail Allen has never been asserted for the
services of Seth Allen for more than one term to wit for
6 months. If that be the fact I can only say that it was
intended to put in a claim for service from June, 1780
to the close of the war. I was absent when Judge
Rawson took her declaration, of course cannot[crossed out] could not
know what was set forth in the claim. In consequence
of this fact I have thought it my duty to make the inquiry
whether if another claim should be presented for the
whole term of service from June 1780 to the close of the
war, the rolls would be examined: I am aware that you
state[crossed out] intimate the necessity of specifying in a particular
manner, the service, in order to furnish data for examining
the rolls: but this I am unable to do, further than has already
been done. And I did [underlined] expect [underlined], that the deposition of
Mr Cushing Allen, & Moses Thompson would be sufficient,
especially [crossed out] to insure an examination of the rolls, inasmuch
as much the Secretary of Massachusetts informed S F Brown Esq
that you had promised [underlined] to examine the rolls if they should
not be returned to Boston.
The evidence, I doubt not, is in your office & I wish respectfully
to say that to me it seems peculiarly hard that a poor
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Widow, should be unable to obtain the allowance of her claim
when the Government have evidence in their possession
necessary to substantiate it. If your rules for the examination of
claims will not permit you to examine the rolls any
further than the data is furnished, will you allow Hon
Mr Parris to have access to rolls and examine therein, if I can
secure his service therefor.
I wish not to ask for any improper [underlined] indulgence in this
case, nor can I percieve [sic] any impropriety in the request
which I have presented.

Will you have the goodness to inform me whether Mr
Parris can be permitted to search the rolls, that I may
take measures to obtain his assistance soon.

I am very respectfully,
Yr most Obt Sert, Zury Robinson

Hon J L Edwards Washington
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free[?]
Hon J L Edwards
War Department
Pension Office
Washington City
D6

Jan 16 1840 
D6.
Maine
A.Allen
[appears perpendicularly to the other information]

Ea Sumner )
Jan 8 )
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East Sumner Jan 6, 1840
Hon J L Edwards Dear Sir
I had the honor a few weeks since, to receive a
communication from you, by the hand of Levi Stowell Esq
of Paris, concerning the case of Mrs Abigail Allen of
Sumner, who applied to the War Department for a pension
under the Act of July 8 1838. Perhaps I ought not to trouble
you any further on the case. But knowing as I do the
merits of the case, I cannot forbear to present it to your con-
sideration. I am not about to ask you to grant any favor
inconsistent with your official duties, I trust. I wish however
to solicit your candid consideration of the facts connected
with this case. They are the following to wit. In June 1780 Seth
Allen of Halifax enlisted in the service for 6 months, as shown
by the deposition of Moses Thompson, who also testified that
he understood that he enlisted again. Mr Cushing Allen in
his deposition states that his brother enlisted for 3 years on
during war, and that he served accordingly, as he distinctly
recollects of his returning home on furlough several times,
which would not have been the case had his brother served only
6 months. The foregoing facts are well known by relatives of Seth
Allen and also by his neighbors. There is not a doubt that the said
Seth Allen enlisted first for 6 months and subsequently for 3 years
on during the war. I would now most respectfully ask your
further consideration of the following statement. When I first
set about investigating this case with a view to obtain the
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evidence necessary to establish the claim of Mrs Allen, I went to
the Secretary's office of the Secretary of Mass. hoping to find the
Rolls of the Massachusetts troops there, in this I was disappointed.
The Secretary informed me that the rolls had been taken to your
office at Washington to be copied, and would be returned the
following winter or spring. He therefore avised [?] me to wait
their return, when there opportunity to examine them.
I accordingly postponed any further examina [crossed out] search for a
number of months confidently expecting the return of the rolls,
and this expectation was not a little heightened, when I
subsequently wrote to the Secretary in ganury [sic] last to
know whether rolls had been returned, or would be soon. I
received for answer that the Commissioner of Pensions
had promised to return them last April. In the month
of June last S F Brown Esq went to Boston and called on
the Secretary of the State hoping to find the rolls returned;
but was told that the rolls would remain in your
office. The Secretary further stated to Mr Brown the he had
been to Washington and had a consultation with Mr Edwards
respecting the rolls, and that Mr Edwards had promised
that if the rolls should remain at Washington, he would
faithfully examine them for the evidence they might contai
-n in favor of any claimant. ['Mr Edwards...claimant' underlined] With these assurances Mrs
Allen thought best to present her claims, fiercely believing
that she should have the benefits of whatever evidence might
be borne on the rolls, but thus far she has been disappointed
that the evidence necessary to establish her claim is on
the rolls, there cannot be a doubt, and I beg leave to
mention one fact in support of this opinion.
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Mr Ebenezer Ingly of Machiash informs me that he enlisted
at the same time with Seth Allen, and subsequently again,
and that he obtains a pension on the evidence borne on the
rolls now in your office, although he obtained his pension before
they were taken there, Mr Ingly says he doubts not but the
several enlistments of Seth Allen might be found on said rolls,
as he found the second of the several enlistments that he
made.
Perhaps I have already taxed your patience too much, and
ought to stop. I will not trouble you more than to
respectfully, yet earnestly appeal to you in behalf a
poor destitute widow 73 years old; who is now suffering
for the necessaries of life having been bereft of her hus [edge of page is cut to reveal page behind]
and ob[crossed out] obliged to struggle hard to sustain he orphan fr [missing edge]
till they might support themselves, and support [missing edge]
declining years. But alas; in this has she been [illegible]
disappointed, one son having lost his life in the army
on our northern frontier in the last war, another
having unfortunately contracted habits of dissopation [sic], so
she is left without support in her last days, unless her
claim for a pension can be allowed.
I hope you will pardon me for pressing this matter
upon your consideration, and I will trouble ^you no further
than to respectfully request you to investigate the ^case so far
as you can consistently with your official duty, and no
further. May I receive an answer from you, that a poor
widow may not remain in suspence [sic].
Hon J L Edwards
Yours &c Zury Robinson
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Washington 
7 March 1857
Hon:
JE Heath 
Amm W 
Incluse herewith additional evidence in support of the claim of Abigail Allen deceased widow of Seth for Pension under the act of 7 July 1838 Same 
very respectful 
W. of St 
James G. Barret