Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S. 40279, for Elias Pollock, Maryland
Page 1

(3-1776)

SERVICE
Md.
N.J.

Pollock, Elias

NUMBER
S. 40279

CONTENTS
Served under name of Joseph Smith
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7373
To Pennsylvania
From Maryland

Elias Pollock
of Baltimore in the state of Maryland
who was a private in the regiment commanded by
Colonel M Gist of the maybe Virginia 
(missing), for the term of 50 years.

Inscribed on the Roll of Maryland
at the rate of 8 Dollars per month, to commence on 
the 20th of August 1818

Certificate of Pension issued the 5 of Mar 1819
and Judge Brice
Baltimore Md.

Arrears to 4th of Mar. 16 11/3p 4/3s 51.86
Semi-anl. all'ce ending 4 Sept 1859, 48
$99.86

21/66

{ Revolutionary claim,
Act 18th March, 1818.}
Baltimore County

Continued

Notification sent 12 July 1821 to Thos Harwood Sammon Baltimore Md.
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State of Maryland City of Baltimore ss

On this twentieth day of August in the year of our lord one thousand eight hundred and eighteen personally appeared before me the undersigned Elias Pollock of the City of Baltimore and State of Maryland, aged sixty three years and upwards as applicant for a pension, under the late act of Congress, entitled "An act to provide for certain persons engaged in the land and naval service of the United States during the revolutionary war" and then and there made the following declaration on oath by me administered to him on the five books of Moses him being a Jew. "That he enlisted on or about the month of May 1778 at Baltimore, by the name of Joseph Smith, was marched to, and mustered at Philadelphia in June same year into Capt. Joseph Marburg's Company 3d Maryland Regiment commanded by Col. Mordeica Gist, there remained and performed duty for six months (say 'til after Christmas) then marched to Bondbrook, New Jersey, and there went into winter quarters, remained until the beginning of May 1779 - from thence marched to Buttermilk Falls, on the North River, after which  during the summer was in several expeditions particularly "the taking of Stoney Point - assisted in building four forts on the North River viz No. 1, 2, ,3, & 4 - the ensuing winter was placed into the Adjutants guard, wintering at Morristown, during which was on several expeditions with Col. Lee Hart under Lord Sterling on Staten Island after which returned to Morris Town, and on or about the 15 Apl. 1780 left there for Charleston S.C., but before they arrived, was engaged on the 10 Augt. 1780 in the battle of Camden when Gates was defeated, deponent wounded in the side, and taken prisoner, carried to Charleston and from thence sent as a prisoner of war to St Augustine East Florida, remained there until news of peace. then sent to Hallifax and liberated - returned to Baltimore - that his name hath never been placed on any pension list, therefore, hath none to relinquish and
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and from his reduced circumstances needs the
assistance of his Country for support
Subscribed & Sworn
to before me
Brice C J B (illegible)

City of Baltimore
(deleted)

I hereby certify that the aforegoing declaration
and from the evidence of Jolen Williams
who is known to me as a man of nobity
& veracity and who he deposition is hereto
annexed I am satisfied Elias Pollock above
named did serve as a private by the name of Joseph Smith for more than
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nine months 9n continuance in the Army of the United States
against the Common enemy during the revolutionary 
war - and from his reduced circumstances in
life needs the assistance of his Country for support.
N Brice Chief Judge
(illegible)
20th Aug 1818-

City of Baltimore
I Thomas Harwood Clerk of Baltimore City
Court do hereby Certify that the Honorable Nicholas
Brice Esquire before whom the foregoing proceeding
were taken and certified and who hath thereto subscribed
his name was at the time of so doing and still is the
Judge of Baltimore City Court duly Commissioned and
qualified and to all his acts as such full faith and
Credit is and ought to be given
In testimony
Whereof I have hereunto subscribed by name
and affixed the seal of the said
Court this Twentieth day of August
Eighteen hundred and Eighteen
M Harwood Clk
Baltimore City Court
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Elias Pollock
application
for
Pension
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State of Maryland Coty of Baltimore ss

On this 15th day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighteen personally appeared before me the undersigned John Williams of the City of Baltimore aged sixty one years or thereabouts, who being by me duly sworn deposeth and saith, "that he knew Elias Pollock now present and a resident of the City of Baltimore who then passed by the name of Joseph Smith, to have been in Joseph Marburgs Company 3d. Maryland Regiment, commanded by Colonel Mordeica Gist, some time about the month of May 1778, deponent belonging then to Captain Samuel Griffith Company of said Regiment, marched together from Baltimore to Philadelphia, lay there three months, then joined the Northern Army, remained therein from 1778 to 1780 - marched with him to the Southward under General Smallwood, after which separated and does not recollect what became of him until about 1786, when they again met in Baltimore: - which above described person (Joseph Smith) has ever since been known by the name of "Elias Pollock."
John Williams

Subscribed & sworn to before me one of the Justices of the Peace in and for Balte. County
Tho Bailey
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State of Maryland Baltimore County ss

I hereby certify that Thomas Bailey gentleman before whom the within deposition of John Williams was made and who hath thereto subscribed his name was at the time of so doing a Justice of the peace in and for the County aforesaid duly commissioned and sworn.

In testimony whereof I have hereto set my hand and affixed the seal of my office the twentieth day of August eighteen hundred and eighteen
Wm Gibson Clk Balte Coty Court
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Recd 29th June 1827  442.
Declaration of
Oliver Pollock
Predicated on Pension Certificate

7373 

Sept 1819

Con.
J. C.E.
Baltimore, Md
Page 10

SCHEDULE

United States of America
State of Maryland
(A0 City of Baltimore

On this eighteenth day of June 1821 personally appeared in open court being a court of record (B) that is to day in the Baltimore City Court held on for the said (C) city agreeably to law Elias Pollock aged sixty-six years resident in the city of Baltimore in said (D) state who being first duly sworn according to law doth on his oath declare that he served in the revolutionary war as follows (E): that he enlisted into the regular service of the United States at Baltimore aforesaid about the month of May 1778 by the name of Joseph Smith sent on to Philadelphia then mustered in Captain Joseph Marberry's company in the 3rd Maryland regiment commanded by Col Mordecai Gist & N Ramsay continued in the service until taken prisoner on 16th Aug 1780 at Camden at what has been usually named Gates Defeat, at which battle was wounded in the side - carried prisoner to Charleston thence to St Augustine and thence detained until news of peace when he was carried to Halifax and there released and returned to Baltimore. Declarant further saith that he made his original declaration before the Honorable Judge Brice at Baltimore on or about the 20th day of Aug 1818 and was placed on the pension list roll of the Maryland Agency at the rate of $8 per month as will appear by reference to his pension certificate bearing date the 8th March 1819 and No 7373
and I do solemnly swear that I was a resident citizen of the United States on the 18th March 1818 and that I have not since that time by gift, sale or in any manner disposed of my property or any part thereof with intent thereby so to diminish it as to bring myself within the provisions of an act of congress entitled "An act to provide for certain persons engaged in the land and naval service of the United States in the revolutionary war" passed on the 18th day of arch 1818 and that I have not nor has any person in trust for me any property or securities contracts or debts due to me nor have I any income other than what is contained in the schedule hereto annexed and by me subscribed.
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(F.) Schedule Viz

My property consists of two common tables, one old desk, seven chairs, some trifling articles of crockery ware and kitchen furniture - the whole worth about twenty dollars say $20.00

That my family consists of a wife named Rebecca aged about fifty-three years, now nearly helpless, two daughters under twelve years of age and there also with me and have heretofore been dependent on
me for support, a daughter and her two infant children who were deserted by the husband and father and now are destitute.

I formerly manufactured Black Balls on an extensive scale by which and other small trade had supported myself & family with a comfortable home but in consequence of becoming bondsman for another have had my house, furniture and property of every kind seized and sold under Fieri Facias leaving me in such a state of penury as to be absolutely unable to support myself or family without the benefit of my revolutionary pension or from private or public charity particularly as I labor under severe affliction from a rupture occasioned by hardships & cold experienced which in the army of the US and from a bayonet wound received at the battle wherein I was taken prisoner called Gate's Defeat.

Sworn to and declared on the 18th day of June 1821 in open court before Th Harwood - Clerk

I Thomas Harwood clerk of Baltimore City Court do hereby certify that the foregoing oath and the schedule thereto annexed are truly copied from the record of said court; and I do further certify that it is the opinion of the said court that the total amount in value of the property exhibited in the aforesaid schedule is twenty dollars and blank cents.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the said court on this 18th day of June 1821.

Th Harwood - clk
of Baltimore City Court
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*The whole of the form prescribed in the first section, to verify the amount of property of the applicant, the
oath of the party, and the certificate of the clerk excepted, must be done while the court is in session.

+All are courts of record, within the contemplation of the Act of Congress:
1st. Which are expressly made courts of record by the laws of the State which create them;
2d. Which have been solemnly adjudged, by the tribunals of the several States, to be courts of record;
3d. Which proceed according to the course of the common law, with a jurisdiction unlimited in point of
amount;
4th. Which have the power of fine and imprisonment;

And courts which proceed according to the civil and canon law, having neither of those attributes, are
not courts of record, although they may keep a registry of their proceedings, and possess a seal.
The court should, in every instance, state, on the face of the proceedings, that it is a court of record,
and state why it is such. - (Opinion of the Attorney General of the United States.)

DIRECTIONS FOR FILLING UP THE BLANKS.

A. District,--circuit, county, or corporation, as the case may be.

B. State why a court of record.

C. After repeating the district, circuit, county, or corporation, insert the declarant's name.

D. District, circuit, county, or corporation.

E. Here set forth the regiment, company and line; or ship, corps or vessel, and the date of the original declaration; 
and if he has received a pension, the number of his pension certificate should be inserted.

F. Here enumerate each article of real and personal estate, necessary bedding and clothing excepted, and
subscribe the same. The declarant must also mention his occupation, his ability to pursue it, the number
and names of his family residing with him, their ages, and, their capacity to contribute to their support
in order that the department may be enabled to decide whether the applicant is in such indigent
circumstances as to be entitled to the pension. It is the opinion of the Attorney General, that the words
of the third section of the Act of the 1st May, 1820, "in such indigent circumstances as to be unable to
support himself without the assistance of his country," comprehend those only who are incapable of
supporting themselves without the aid of the government, except by private or public charity.

Extract of a CIRCULAR LETTER from the War Department to the several Agents for
paying pensions, enclosing the foregoing Form.

"For the guidance of persons already on the pension list, or who may hereafter make application for that
purpose, it may be proper to state, explicitly that, as experience has proved the necessity of a rigid adherence
to particular forms in such cases, no instrument of writing drawn up contrary to this form can be admitted as a
proper voucher."
.
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February 3, 1937.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

BA-J/ady
Elias Pollock
S. 40279

Mr. Louis M. Levy
2356 North Park Avenue
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Dear Sir:

Reference is made to your letter relative to
Elias Pollock and Aaron Levy, soldiers of the
Revolutionary War.

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 of soldiers in that war.

A careful search of the records fails to show
such a claim on file on account of the services of
Aaron Levy, all spellings of the names searched.

The data contained herein are obtained from the
papers on file in the Revolutionary War claim for
pension, S.40279, based upon the military service of
Elias Pollock in that war.

The date and place of birth and the names of
the parents of Elias Pollock are not stated.

While a resident of Baltimore, Maryland, Elias
Pollock, a Jew, enlisted about May 1778, and served
under the name of Joseph Smith as private in Captain
Joseph Marbury's Company, Colonels N. Ramsey's and
Mordecai Gist's Third Maryland Regiment; was at the
taking of Stony Point; he assisted in building four
forts on the North River, numbers one, two, three and
four; from the winter of 1778 he served in the
Adjutant's Guard stationed at Morristown and went on
several expeditions under Colonel Lee Hart (evidently
meant for Colonel DeHart) and Lord Stirling to
Staten Island, went south, was in the battle of Camden,
August 16, 1780, where he received a bayonet wound in
his side, was taken prisoner, carried to Charleston,
Page 14

from thence was sent as a prisoner of war to St. Augustine,
East Florida, thence to Halifax and was released after
peace was declared and returned to Baltimore.

He was allowed pension on his application executed
August 20, 1818, at which time he was a resident of
Baltimore, Maryland, and aged sixty-three years "and
upwards".  (His pension certificate was No. 7373.)

In September 1823, his name was transferred from
the Maryland Pension Agency to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pension Agency. The place of his residence in Pennsylvania
is not shown.

In 1821 Elias Pollock's family consisted of his 
wife, Rebecca, her maiden name not given, aged about
fifty-three years, two daughters under twelve years of age,
and a daughter and her two infant children, whose husband
had deserted her, no names are stated. There are no further
family data.

Elias Pollock died May 10, 1833, place not stated. 

Very truly yours
A. D. HILLER
Executive Assistant
to the Administrator
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[stamped] RECEIVED FEB 10 1937 MAIL SUB. DIV. VETS ADM. READER #18 [/stamped] [arrow pointing to 3]
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Philadelphia 2/7/37

Mr. A. D. Hiller,
Executive Assistant,
Veterans Administration
Washington, D. C.

Dear Sir:
Your surprisingly comprehensive and satisfactory report on my gr. grandfather, Elias Pollock's military service during the Revolution, is certainly very much appreciated by me and my relatives.
May I ask another favor?  We would like to know if the records show why he took an assumed name.  If they do, would you kindly let me know.  If I do not hear from you I will know there is no reason given.  I have some record of his wife, whose sister married a man named Pettigrew who served both in the Army and Navy.
I thank you for the courtesy you have shown.
Yours very truly
Louis M. Levy

2356 N.  Park Ave.
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Vets Ad Received Stamp - Jan 19, 1937

Philadelphia, Jan 16th '36

Veteran Administration
Washington DC

Gentlemen:

I have just come across a war department pension office form letter dated July 12th, 1821, number 7373 relating to the pension of an Elias Pollock (who was my great grandfather) of Baltimore MD. For some time I have been getting together as far as I have been able the records of all my family who were on this soil before and during the early days of our national life. One of whom incidentally being Aaron Levy the founder
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of Aaronsburg Center Co Penna.

I would like to know the dates of his birth and death where born, the dates of his service in fact any information you may be able to give me regarding him.

If I have not addressed the right department, can I ask you get this to the hands of the authority that could give me what I am after if it is still in existence.

Thanking you in advance for any help and assuring you of my family's appreciation I am

Yours very truly
Louis M Levy
2356 N Park Ave

I would also like to know if the records show any different spelling of his name such as Polak or Pollak.
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April 26, 1937

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

ELIAS POLLOCK
S. 40279
BA-J/MHP: MLB

Mr. Louis M. Levy
2856 North Park Avenue
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Dear Sir:
Reference is made to your letter in which you request to
know whether or not the papers in pension claim, S. 40279, based
upon service of Elias Pollock in the Revolutionary War, show why
he used an assumed name, Joseph Smith.

No reason is given, whatever, in the above cited pension
claim, why Elias Pollock served in the Revolutionary War as
Joseph Smith.

Very truly yours
A. D. HILLER
Executive Assistant
to the Administrator
Page 20

40.279
INVALID.
Revy

File No. 40,279
Elias Pollock
Pri Rev War
---
Act: 18 March 18
Index:--Vol. 3, Page 298

[Arrangement of 1870.]

1937 Feb. 3. Hist. to
Louis M. Levy A.D.Y.
---
1937 - Jan 26. Louis M. Levy adv
has no reason expressed why sol
used assumed name. 

Ms&e