Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S. 1880, for Robert Thomas, Virginia
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(S--1776) SERVICE Va. Thomas, Robert NUMBER S.1880 Carded CONTENTS
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7176 Tennessee (west) Robert Thomas of Davidson Co. in the State of Tennessee who was a private in the Company commanded by Captain Taylor of the Regt. commanded by Col. Feebecker in the ---- time for 1 year. Virginia Line, Records [illegible] Inscribed on the Roll of Tennessee at the rate of $40 Dollars and 60 Cents per annum, to commence on the 4th day of March, 1831.  Certificate of Pension issued the 11 day of March 1833 and sent to E. H. Ewing.  W. J. Blair [illegible] of Claim Arrears to the 4th of March 1833 $80.00 Semi-anl. allowance ending 4 Sept. 1833 20.00 $100.00 Died Aug. 15, 1838 {Revolutionary Claim, Act June7, 1832.} Recorded by W. L. Williams Clerk Book E Vol. 7 Page 98
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No. 17362 Robert Thomas Davidson County Tennessee On the Va [illegible] Line Roll [illegible] Va Roll Admd for 12 mo. $40 HHC Edwin H Ewing Nashville Tennessee Henry Ewing CCK. Davidson County Tennessee
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BRIEF for the case of Robert Thomas of Davidson County in the State of Tennessee (Act 7th June, 1832.) 1.  Was the declaration made before a Court or a Judge?  a Court.  2.  If before a Judge, does it appear that the applicant is disabled by bodily infirmity?  3.  How old is he?  73.  4.  State his service, as directed in the form annexed.  Period.  Drafted in 1778| Duration of Service.  Years, 1 Months, -- Days, --| Rank. As a private| Names of General and Field Officers under whom he served.  Gen. Capt Cunningham & Capt Taylor Col. Feebecker  5.  In what battles was he engaged?  Battle of Monmouth-- 6.  Where did he reside when he entered the service?  Not Stated 7.  Is his statement supported by living witnesses, by documentary proof, by traditionary evidence, by incidental evidence, or by the rolls?  traditionary Evidence 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.  Dyer Castor Examining Clerk.
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Robert Thomas 17362 Pension Paper.
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State of Tennessee Davidson County} Ss On this 23d day of Octr 1832 personally appeared in open court before the Justices of the County Court of said county now sitting Robert Thomas a resident of Davidson County & State of Tennessee aged 70 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.   I was born in Virginia Amelia county June 6th 1759.  I entered the service of the United States in 1778, having been drafted for one year to fill up vacancies in the regiments of the regular army then helping at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania in which had been much reduced by discharges of the troops who had previously enlisted.  I went out under Captain William Cunningham & when I arrived at Valley Forge was placed in the company of Captain William Taylor who was a captain in the 2nd regiment of the Virginia line of which Christian Feebecker was Colonel & under these officers I served the year for which I was drafted.  Having paraded at Valley Forge we marched thrice into New York to the White Plains & afterwards to Monmouth Courthouse.  I was in the battle at Monmouth one of the hardest and best contested battles during the War of the Revolution.  From Monmouth I marched to [illegible] & from that to West Point along with the army whose marching & couther-marching can be distinctly traced in the history of the times.  From West-Point, after remaining there some-time I retired into winter Quarter at Middle-Brook, having served out the term for which I was drafted.  I was regularly discharged & kept my discharge for many years but seeing that it was of little use to me I neglected it & lost it.  I hereby relinquish every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present & declare that my name is not on the Pension Roll or Agency of any State sworn to & subscribed in open Court this 23d  Octr 1832.  Robert Thomas Just. Henry Ewing Clerk of Davidson County Court
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We James Whitsitt a clergyman residing in the County of Davidson & State of Tennessee & John Boyd in the same county & state hereby certify that we are well acquainted with the within named Robert Thomas who has subscribed & sworn to the within declaration: that we believe him to be 73 years of age or thereabouts that he is reputed & believed in the neighbourhood where he resides & elsewhere to be an upright & honest man & that we concur in that opinion, & that from his statement to that effect we are fully persuaded that he was a soldier of the Revolution
James Whitsitt  John Boyd
Sworn to & subscribed in open Court this 23d Octr 1832 Just Henry Ewing Clerk of Davidson County Court
State of Tennessee Davidson County ⎬ Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions October Term 1832
And the said Court do hereby declare their opinion after the investigation of the matter & after putting the interrogatories prescribed by the War Department that the above named applicant was a Revolutionary soldier & served as he states. And the court further certifies, that it appears to them that James Whitsitt who has signed the preceding certificate, is a clergyman resident in the County & State aforesaid & that John Boyd who has also signed the same is a resident in the same County & state & is a credible person & that their statement is entitled credit.
O. P. Connell J. Wharton Will. Williams } Justices of the peace for Davidson County
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State of Tennessee Davidson County } Court of Pleas & Quarter Sessions October Term 1832
I, Henry Ewing Clerk of the Court aforesaid do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court in the matter of the application of Robert Thomas for a pension.
In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand & the seal of my office this 23rd of Octr 1832 Henry Ewing
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WASHINGTON October 6, 1931 BA-J/AWF
Mrs. N. B. Musselman 624 North Third Arkansas City, Kansas.
Dear Madam: Reference is made to your letter relative to Robert Thomas and Jacob Remy solders of the War of the Revolution.
Revolutionary War data furnished by this office are obtained from claims made to the United States for pension and bounty land based upon military service [illegible] that war.
A careful search of the records fails to show such claims on file on account of the service of Jacob Remy, Ramey or Reamy.
[pencil in margin] one of N. Y.
The data which follow are obtained from the papers on file in the pension claim, S. 1880, based upon the military service of Robert Thomas in the War of the Revolution.
Robert Thomas was born June 6, 1759 in Amelia County, Virginia.
He enlisted, place not stated, in 1778 and served as private in Captain William Cunningham's Virginia company, and in Captain William Taylor's company in Colonel Christian Febiger's Virginia regiment, and was in the battle of Monmouth, length of service two years.
He was allowed pension on his application executed, October 23, 1832, at which time he was
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a resident of Davidson County, Tennessee.
He died August 15, 1838.
There is no reference to wife and children.
Very truly yours, A. D. HILLER Assistant to Administrator
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1928 - Aug. 31. Hist to Mrs. A. R. Lammers [illegible]
1931 - Oct 6 - Hist to Mrs. N. B. Musselman
1880
INVALID.
Rev War
File. No. 1880
Robert Thomas
Priv. Tenn. Va Mil.
Act: June. 7. 1832.
Index:—Vol. A, Page 371
[Arrangement of 1870.]
Va Line. Records corrected Dec 5 ‘03 a
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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 Robert Thomas which require further proof or explanation.
I. Does the declaration show where the applicant resides?
II. Did the declarant make the declaration in the county where he resides?
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?
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?
VI. Has he given the names of the officers under whom he served, in conformity with the regulations?
VII. Has he made a relinquishment of every claim to any other pension than the one under the Act of June 7, 1832?
VIII. Has the Court given their opinion?
IX. Has the Clerk given his certificate?
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?
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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?
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 he had? No
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?
XVII. Are the seven interrogatories prescribed by the War Department answered satisfactorily? And, if not, which of them is not so answered? Q. 3.
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.
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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 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. 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 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.
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MRS. N. B. MUSSELMAN 624 North Third Arkansas City, Kansas
Sept. 19, 1931
Bureau of Pensions, Washington, D.C.,
Will you kindly inform me whether a pension was granted to the widow of Robert Thomas only Va of Virginia for Revolutionary or Colonial Service. He married Frances Remy of Loudoun County. Also whether there was a pension given Jacob Remy (or Ramey or Reamy) for the same service. He resided the Loudoun County, wife's name unknown.
I would very much like to have any family data these records may contain.
Very Truly, Mrs. Musselman
P.S. Have been told Robt Thomas married a second wife, Mary Elton. If this is true the pension would be in her name I suppose.

[stamp] RECEIVED SEP 22 1931 RECEIPT SECTION PENSION FILES SUB-DIVISION
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F. 118A—7.18.27–5M
INTERSTATE LUMBER COMPANY
Anaconda, Montana. August, 18th. 1928.
The Bureau of Pensions, Department of the Interior. Washington, D.C.
Dear Sirs; In order to complete my application to the Daughters of the American Revolution, it is necessary for me to have a copy of the pension papers issued to Robert Thomas, which I understand are on file in the Pension Office, Jacket or Envelope S 1880.
Kindly send me a copy of these papers and advise the cost and I will remit at once.
Yours very truly Mrs. A. W. Lammers Box 484, Anaconda, Montana.

[stamp] U.S. PENSION OFFICE F AUG 22 1928
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Rev. & 1812 Wars Section.
COPIED BY ADY
August 31, 1928.
Mrs. A. W. Lammers, Box 484, Anaconda, Montana.
Madam: I advise you that from the papers in the Revolutionary War pension claim, S. 1880, it appears that Robert Thomas was born June 6, 1759 in Amelia County, Virginia.
He enlisted, place not stated, in 1778, served two years as private in Captain William Cunningham's Virginia Company and in Captain William Taylor's Company, Colonel Christian Febiger's Virginia Regiment and was in the battle of Monmouth. [pencil illegible]
He was allowed pension on his application executed October 23, 1832 while a resident of Davidson County, Tennessee. He died August 15, 1838.
There are no data on file as to his family.
No charge is made for this service. Respectfully, E. W. MORGAN, Acting Commissioner.
[in pencil, indicating previous illegible pencil] from A B