Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File [Illegible], for Adam Teel, Pennsylvania
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Teal
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Pennsylvania 11473 
Adam Teal of Northampton Co in the State of Penn’a who was a Pr. in the Company commanded  by Captain Strouse of the Regt command by Col. Miller in the Pennsylvania Militia
13 Mo. 5 Days Pr. 43.87
Inscribed on the Roll of Pennsylvania the rate of 43 Dollars 87 Cents per annum to commence on the 4th day of March, 1831. 
Certificate of Pension issued the 10th day of May 1833 and Sent to Ric’d Broadhead [unreadable] Pa.  
Arrears to the 4th of March 1833 – 87.74   
Semi-anl. allowance ending 4 Sept 1833  21.93  
109.67   
{Revolutionary Claim, Act June 7, 1832.}
Recorded by J.T. Sprague Clerk 
Book  C Vol. 5 Page 60
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Revolution 
23453
INVALID
File No. 23453
Adam Teal
Pri Rev War
Act: June 7” 32”
Index:- Vol 2, Page 415
[Arrangement of 1870.]
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Adam Teal
23534
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Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 
County of Northampton Ss
On this thirtieth day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty Three personally appeared in the open Court of Common Pleas of Northampton County, Before the Honorable Garrick Mallery President and John Cooper and Daniel Wagner associate Judges of the said Court Adam Teal a resident of Lower Mount Bethel Township in said County aged near Seventy Three 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 7th June 1832.   That he entered the service of the United States and under the following named officers and served as herein stated. He became a substitute for Lewis Klippinger of the said County in the month of December 1776 and marched from his place of rendezvous in Plainfield Township Indiana County under Captain Henry Strouse of the same County to Philadelphia and arrived there the day after the Hessions were taken by Washington and fetched into the City. We remained in the City some time and were discharged after a Service of Better than one month. But to be certain he only swears to one month.  He then came home and remained him until the next fall and then became a substitute for Tawalt Hawn of said County and marched under Captain Charles Heimer of the same County to the Township Saucon in said County where we joined Several other Companies under the command of Col Abraham Miller from there We marched under the command of said Miller to Neshaminy about 2 miles above Philadelphia, where we joined the Army of the militia under the command of Col or Genl Bull. We remained there some time when we marched to Bartholemews (Montgomins Square), and remained there that time in the woods and from there marched near Philadelphia, where we fired a Salute which was returned, we remained there a short time when the Battalion I belonged to, under the command of Col Miller were ordered to March to Smithfield, he thinks on the Road leading from Phila to Trenton and remained there a short time until the Two months expired then the whole Battalion marched to Allentown on the Lehigh River then in Northampton County (now Lihigh) where they delivered up their arms and accouterments after a service of two months. Then he came home and remained home some time when he was called out (having been drafted) under Captain Alexander Forsman of the same County in the year 1778 in the month of July for Two months, marched up the River Delaware, first to Fort Penn, (now called Stroudsburg) remained there about Two weeks and then marched further up the Delaware to the Burk Rice Creek (now in Pike County) about 40 miles from Easton, remained then to protect the inhabitants from
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the Indians until the Two months had expired then discharged came and remained home until the next spring 1779 when he volunteered for Seven months (the men were called seven months men) under Captain John Vannettin who lived near Vannettins Fort then in Northampton (now in Pike) County on the River Delaware about fifty miles from Easton up the River.  We marched to the Fort and remained in and about that Fort and Brinks Fort about 15 miles below to protect the Inhabitants from the Indians until the seven months (7) had expired when he was discharged, came home and remained home until the Spring of 1782 when he became a substitute for Conrad Rader of Plainfield Township under Captain Abraham Horn of the Borough of Easton and marched up the Delaware again to the Bushkill aforesaid and from them again to Brinks Fort and remained in and about the fort to protect the Inhabitants from the Indians until Five Weeks had expired then discharged the said Rader having rendered before himself military service enough to make up the Two months making the whole time which he served twelve months and five Weeks (12 mos and 5 wks) which he solemnly Swears he did serve.  That he has no documentary evidence and that he know of no person whose testimony he can procure who can testify to his service. He hereby relinquishes any claim whatever to a Pension or annuity what except the present and declares that his name is not on the Pension roll of the agency of any State of (if any) only on that of the agency of the of the State of Penn’a.  
Adam Teel
Sworn and Subscribed this 30th Day of January A.D. 1835  Wm Sebring Prothy
Anthony McCoy a Justice of the peace of the County aforesaid and a neighbour of the said Adam Teal and Thomas Pomp a Clergyman of the Borough of Easton in said County being duly sworn according to Law, say that they are well acquainted with Adam Teal, who has Subscribed and sworn to the above declaration that we believe him to be near 75 years of age, that he is reputed and believed in the neighbourhood where he resides, to have been a soldier of the Revolution and (that they never heard it doubted) and that they concur in that opinion without hesitation 
Tho Pomp
Anthony McCoy
Sworn of Subscribed this 30th day of January 1835 
Wm Sebring  Prothy
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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 Thomas Pomp who has signed the preceding certificate, is a Clergyman of high Standing residing in the Borough of Easton in the County of Northampton aforesaid and that Anthony McCoy who has signed the same is a resident of Lower Mount Bethel Township in the said County and a highly respectable Justice and that their statement is entitled to Credit C
Garrick Mallery Prot Judge
Jno Cooper 
Daniel Wagener
I William L Sebring Prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas of the County of Northampton, do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court in the matter of the application of Adam Teal for a Pension 
In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Seal of the said Court at the Borough of Easton this Thirtieth day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty Three 
Wm Sebring Prothy
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23534
Adam Teal
Northampton County
Pennsylvania
Adm'd [admitted]
13 mos 5 days
$43.87
Richard Broadhead pen.
Easton Penn.
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WAR DEPARTMENT, 
Pension Office, 183 
The evidence in support of your claim, under the act of June 7, 1832, has been examined, and the papers are herewith returned. The following is a statement of your case in a tabular form. On comparing these papers with the following rules and the subjoined notes you will readily perceive that objections cast which must be removed, before a pension can be allowed. The notes and the regulations will shew what is necessary to be done Those points to which your attention is more particularly directed, you will find marked in the margin with a brace, (thus: You will, when you return your papers to this Department send this printed letter with them; and you will by complying with this request, greatly facilitate the investigation of your claim. 
A Statement, shewing the Service of Adam Teal, Northampton Co Pennsylvania 
Period when service was rendered.   Substitute for Lewis Klippinger 1776   Duration of claimant’s service.  1 Month  Rank of the Claimant.  Private    Names and Rank of the Company officers under whom he served.   Captain Strouse  Names and Rank of the General and Field officers.   Battles in which the applicant was engaged.    Country through which he marched. Saucan, Nishominy, Bartholomew, Smithfield, Fort [unreadable], Buskill, Brinksfort, Vannittins Fort  Place of abode when he entered the service and age at the present period.   73 Northampton Penn  Evidence by which the declaration is supported.  Traditionary
Period when service was rendered.  Substitute for Tawalt Hawn  Drafted 1778  Duration of claimant’s service.  2 months  Rank of the Claimant.  Names and Rank of the Company officers under whom he served.  Capt Hamer  Names and Rank of the General and Field officers.   Col. Miller    
Period when service was rendered.  Volunteer 1779   Duration of claimant’s service.  7 months  Rank of the Claimant.  Names and Rank of the Company officers under whom he served.  Capt Forsman  Capt Vannittin  Names and Rank of the General and Field officers.    
Period when service was rendered.   Substitute for C. Rador 1782   Duration of claimant’s service.  1 month 5 days  Rank of the Claimant.  Names and Rank of the Company officers under whom he served.  Capt Horn Names and Rank of the General and Field officers.     
“12 months & 5 weeks the applicant declares for”
I am, respectfully, 
Your obedient servant, 
J. L. Edwards
Commissioner of Pensions
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REGULATIONS UNDER THE ACT OF JUNE 7, 1832.            
The following regulations have been adopted:                  
This law has been construed to extend, as well to the line, as to every branch of the Staff of the Army, and to include under the terms "Continental Line," "State troops," "militia," and "volunteers," all persons enlisted, drafted, or who volunteered and who were bound to military service, but not those who were occasionally employed with the army upon civil contracts, such as Clerks to Commissaries and to Store Keepers, &c. Teamsters, Boatmen, &c. Persons who served on board of Private Armed Vessels are also excluded from the benefits of the law, as well as persons who turned out as patrols, or were engaged in guarding particular places at night, and were not recognized as being in actual military service.              
Four general classes of cases are embraced in this law:  
1. The Regular Troops.  
2. The State Troops, Militia, and Volunteers.    
3. Persons employed in the Naval service.             
4. Indian Spies.                 
As rolls of the regular troops in the Revolutionary War exist in this Department, all persons, claiming the benefit of this law as officers, non-commissioned officers, musicians or privates, will in the first in stance, make application by transmitting the following declaration, which will be made before a Court of Record of the County where such applicant resides. And every Court having by law a seal and Clerk is considered a Court of Record.             
DECLARATION.                        
In order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress of the 7th of June, 1832.           
State, Territory, or District of 
County of } ss.
On this day of A.B. a resident (b) of personally appeared (a) before in the county of and State, Territory or District years, who being first duly sworn, according to law, doth on his oath make the in the benefit of the provision made by the act of Congress, passed June 7th, 1832. That he enlisted in the Army of the United States in the year (d) served in the (e) regiment of the line, under the following named officers:    
[Here set forth the names and rank of the Field and Company Officers; the time he left the service; (and if he served under more than one term of enlistment, he must specify the particular period, and rank and names of his officers;) the town or county and State in which he resided when he entered the service; the battles, if any, in which he was engaged, and the country through which he marched. This form is to be varied so as to apply to the cases of officers and persons who belonged to the militia, volunteers, navy, &c.]            
He hereby relinquishes every claim (f) whatever to a pension or an annuity, except the present, and he declares that his name is not on the Pension Roll of any Agency in any State, or (if any) only that of Agency in the State of    
Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid. A. B. 
[And then will follow the certificate of the Court.]            
And the said Court do hereby declare their opinion (g) that the above named applicant was a revolutionary soldier, and served as he states. 
I of the Court of hereby certify (h) that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court in the matter of for a pension.               
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office (i) this day of & c.            
If, on examination of the proper record the names of applicants, making such declaration, cannot be found, they will produce such proof as the rule given in note (j) points out.          
Every applicant who claims a pension by virtue of service in the State Troops, Volunteers or Militia, except those who belonged to the New Hampshire Militia and State Troops of Virginia, will make and subscribe a declaration similar to the foregoing, with the following additions, viz: (k) We, A. B., a Clergyman, residing in the hereby certify, that we are well acquainted with subscribed and sworn to the above declaration; that we believe him to be and C.D. residing in (the same) who has years of age; that he is reputed and believed, in the neighborhood where he resides, to have been a soldier of the Revolution, and that we concur in that opinion.                 
Sworn and subscribed the day and year aforesaid.                 
[And then will follow the certificate of the Court.]     
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 A. B. who has signed the preceding certificate is a clergyman, resident in the and that C.D., who has also signed the same is a resident in the and is a credible person, and that their statement is entitled to credit.               
I, Clerk of the Court of contains the original proceedings of the said Court, in the matter of the application of for a pension. do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court, in the matter of the application of for a pension.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office, this day of & c.         
Every applicant will produce the best proof in his power. This is the original discharge or commission ; but if neither of these can be obtained, the party will so state under oath, and will then procure, if possible, the testimony of at least one credible witness, stating in detail his personal knowledge of the services of the applicant, and such circumstances connected therewith, as may have a tendency to throw light upon the transaction.            
If such surviving witness cannot be found, the applicant will so state in his declaration (l) and he will also, whether he produce such evidence or not, proceed to relate all the material facts, which can be useful in the investigation of his claim, and in the comparison of his narrative with the events of the period of his  alleged service, as they are known at the Department. A very full account of the services of each person
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will be indispensable to a favorable action upon his case. The facts stated will afford one of the principal means of corroborating the declaration of the applicant, if true, or of detecting the imposition, if one be attempted ; and unless, therefore, these are amply and clearly set forth, no favorable decision can be expected. All applicants will appear before some Court of Record in the County, in which they reside, and there subscribe and be sworn to, one of the declarations above provided, according to the nature of his case.            
The Court will propound the following (m) interrogatories to all applicants for a pension, on account of service in the Militia, State troops, or Volunteers, except the Militia of New Hampshire and the State troops of Virginia.    
1. Where and in what year were you born?                
2. Have you any record of your age, and if so, where is it?          
3. Where were you living when called into service; where have you lived since the Revolutionary war , and where do you now live?               
4. How were you called into service; were you drafted, did you volunteer, or were you a substitute? And if a substitute, for whom?              
5. State the names of some of the Regular Officers, who were with the troops, where you served; such Continental and Militia Regiments as you can recollect, and the general circumstances of your services.           
6. To a Soldier. { Did you ever receive a discharge from the service, and if so, by whom was it given and what has become of it? 
To an Officer. {Did you ever receive a commission, and if so, by whom was it signed, and what Town officer has become of it?              
7. State the names of persons to whom you are known in your present neighborhood, and who can testify as to your character for veracity, and their belief of your services as a soldier of the Revolution.                 
The Court will see that he answers to these questions are embodied in the declaration, and they are requested to annex their opinions of the truth of the statement of the applicant.         
The applicant will further produce in Court, if the same can be done, in the opinion of the Court, without too much expense and inconvenience to him, two respectable persons -one of whom should be the nearest clergyman, if one lives in the immediate vicinity of such applicant, who can testify, from their acquaintance with him, that they believe he is of the age he represents, and that he is reputed and believed in the neighborhood to have been a Revolutionary soldier, and that they concur in that opinion. one of these persons is a Clergyman, the Court will so certify, and they will also certify, to the character and standing of other persons, giving such certificates. 
The traditionary evidence of service is deemed very important, in the absence of any direct proof, except the declaration of the party. And the Courts are requested to be very particular in the enquiry whether the belief is general, and whether any doubts have ever existed upon the subject     
Applicants unable to appear in Court by reason of bodily infirmity, may make the declaration before required, and submit to the examination, before a Judge or Justice of a Court of Record of the proper county, and the Judge or Justice will execute the duties, which the Court is herein requested to perform, and will also certify that the applicant cannot, from bodily infirmity, attend the Court.        
Whenever any official act is required to be done by a Judge or Justice of a Court of Record, or by a Justice of the peace, the certificate of the Secretary of State or Territory, or of the proper Clerk of the Court or County, under his seal of office, will be annexed, stating that such person Judge or Justice of a Court of Record, or a Justice of the Peace, and that the signature annexed his genuine signature.          
No payments can be made on account of the services of any person, who may have died before the taking effect of the act of June 7, 1832; and in case of death subsequent thereto, and before declaration herein required is made, the parties interested will transmit such evidence as they can cure, taken and authenticated before a Court of Record, showing the services of the deceased, the person of his death, the opinion of the neighborhood respecting such services, the title of the claimant, and the opinion of the Court upon the whole matter.        
[a] The declarant must appear in open Court, unless prevented from doing so by reason of bodily infirmity; in which case the declarant will follow the rule laid down for his guidance.    
[b]   The declarant must make his declaration in the county where he resides. If he should fail to do so, he must assign a sufficient reason for not conforming to the rule.     
[c] The age of the claimant must invariably be mentioned.    
[d]  The declarant must mention the period or periods of the war when he served. 
[e]  Every continental officer or soldier must give the name of the Colonel under whom he served; otherwise a satisfactory examination of the claim cannot be had.        
Every claimant must state, 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 amount of pension he is entitled. 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---yearmonths , anddays , I served as amonths and --- days, I served as and for such service I claim a pension."   
It is important, in all cases, to determine with precision the period for which each applicant served, and the particular rank he held 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 that they served two 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.    
[f]  The law makes the relinquishment indispensable. 
[g]  The opinion of the Court is always required.  
[h]  The Clerk must give his certificate in every case. 
[i]  The Clerk must affix his seal, and if it has no device or inscription by which it can be distinguished from any other seal, or if he 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.               
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 papers 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.         
Proof of Service.         
[j]  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 claimant's 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 wife nesses, and the official character and signature of the magistrate must be certified by the proper officer, under his seal of office. 
The notes from [a] to [i] are all equally applicable to the cases of Militia men, Volunteers and State Troops, The proof required by rule in note [j]  applies to continental troops only.     
[k]  This traditionary evidence is indispensable in militia cases. 
[l] If a witness cannot be found, the declarant must state the fact. 
[m] The answers to the interrogatories must all be written, and sent to the War Department, with the declaration.