Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File W 1951, for Nathaniel Spaulding, Rhode Island
Page 1

(3─1776)

SERVICE
R. I [Rhode Island]

Spaulding, Nathaniel 
or Spaldin. 
Thankful

NUMBER
W 1951
B.L.Wt: 29017-160-55

CONTENTS
Page 2

162927 Act 3 March
June 8/52
Thankful Spaulding
Thankful ["Spalding" lined thru]
widow
Nathaniel Spalding
Private
Pensioner - Rhd Island
No, 29017 is May 29 /56
Revolutionary War
R I July 48 - 362
Ctr: 16 oac May 24/56
R O[illegible]
Benj. Cowell, 
Providence, R I

Cu's B. Cowell, Apl 14/56
Vol S2 - 28
Page 3

[printed form, blanks filled by hand]

21.914
Rhode Island
=====================
Nathaniel Spaldin[g]
of Providence in the State of Rhode Island who 
was a private in the Comp.  commanded 
by Captain [blank] of the Regt. commanded 
by Col. Peck in the ["Masstes" exec out] 
line for 2 years R I.
=====================
Inscribed on the Roll of Rhode Island 
at the rate of 80 Dollars 00 cents per annum 
to commence on the 4th day of March, 1831.
=====================
Certificate of Pension issued the 18 day of Nov:
1833 and sent to B. Cowell Providence
=====================
Arrears to the 4th of Sept '33  $200
Semi-anl. allowance ending 4 of Mr. '34 40
====
$240
====
{ Revolutionary Claim, Act June 7, 1832. }
Recorded by Go. C Stiles,  Clerk 
Book 6 Vol. 4 Page 130

Certificate in this case sent to the Hon. D J
Pearce, Jany 9th 1834.
See letter of same date
Page 4

[printed form, blanks filled by hand]

302
Rhode Island
====================
Thankful Spaulding
 widow of Nathaniel Spaulding 
who served in the Revolutionary 
war, as a Private
====================
Inscribed on the Roll at the rate of 
80 Dollars --- 
Cents per annum to commence on 
the 4th day of March 1848.
====================
Certificate of Pension issued the 
9th day of October 1849 
and sent to Benj'n Cowell Providence R.I.
====================
Recorded on Roll of Pensioners under act 
["February 2," lined thru] 1848, Page 115. Vol 1. 
29: July

[left side, on edge]
Reg f m ss - 162927
Page 5

["Thankful Spaulding" lined thru]
No. 511
Thankful Spaulding 
widow of Nathaniel 
R. I.
Act 29 July 1848
Married 1798 
Husband died 1838
Adm'd [Admitted] two years pri [private], 
$80 per annum, Com'g [Commencing]
4 March 1848.
[signature] Benj.  Cowell, 
Providence R.I.
Page 6

State of Rhode Island &
County of Providence
On this 14 day of August AD 1849 personally appeared in open court being the Municipal Court of the city of Providence and a Court of record, Thankful Spaulding now resident in Smithfield in said County aged Seventy six years who being duly sworn maketh the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the provisions of the Act of Congress passed July 29, 1848 granting relief to certain surviving widows of officers and soldiers of the Revolution viz that she is the widow of Nathaniel Spauling, late of said Smithfield who was a soldier of the Revolution and served as such.  He was a pensioner of the United States under the Act of June 7, 1832 and drew a pension at the rate of eighty dollars per annum at the agency for paying pensions in Providence up to the time of his death, and she further declares she was married to the said Nathaniel on the twenty fifth day of October 1798 as will appear by the evidence annexed and that her said husband died on the tenth of June AD 1838.
Page 7

She was not married to him prior to his leaving the service but the marriage took place previous to the second of January eighteen hundred, viz. at the time above mentioned. she further swears she is now a widow and has never before applied for a pension.  She refers to the declaration which her husband, the said Nathanial made to obtain his pension for a specification of services and the evidence of her right to draw same pension according to law.
[signature] Thankful Spauling

In Municipal Court of the City of Providence, August 14, 1849 subscribed and sworn to by Thankful Spaulding in open court.
[signature] Albert G Greene, Clerk
Page 8

I Thankful Tuells of Smithfield in the county of Providence & State of Rhode Island, 42 years do testify and say that Thankful Spauling who has signed and sworn to the preceding declaration is my mother and the said Nathaniel Spaulding was my father.  My father died on the 10 of June AD 1838 and since that period my mother has remained a widow.
[signature] Thankful Truth Tuells

In municipal court of the city of Providence, August 16, 1949, subscribed and sworn to by Thankful Tuells, in open court.
[signature] Albert G Greene, Clerk
Page 9

Town Clerk's Office,
Smithfield September 22, 1849

I Stafford Mann of Smithfield do certify that Sam I am Town Clerk of said Smithfield and have in my custody the Records of Birth & Marriages which have taken place in said Town and it appears by said Records that Nathaniel Spaulding was married to Thankful Whipple on the twenty fifth day of October in the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety eight.
I further certify that the record of said  marriage as it stands in the Book is as follows:
"Providence ss. - I hereby Certify that Nathaniel Spaulding of Smithfield in the County of Providence & State of Rhode Island. And Thankful Whipple of Cumberland in the County abovesaid were both of them Lawfully joined together in Marriage on the Twenty fifth Day of October. A. 1798 by me.
[signature] Stephen Place, Clerk 

Recv'd. Aug 14. 1804 & Recorded by Dan'l Mowry 3rd Town Clk."
All which duly appears
[signature] Stafford Mann Town Clerk
Page 10

Providence sc. Smithfield September 22, 1849.
Personally appeared before me John Knight a Justice of the  Peace within & for said Smithfield, Stafford Mann known to me as the Town Clerk of said Smithfield and made oath to the within certificate by him signed
[signature] John Knight Justice Peace

State of Rhode Island & Providence Plantations,
County of Providence sc. I, John W Smith clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, within and for the County of Providence & State aforesaid, being a Court of Record, Do hereby certify that John  Knight Esquire before whom the written affidavit was sworn, was on the above named 22 day of September, & now is a Justice of the Peace in the Town of Smithfield in said County; and is by law authorized & qualified to administer oaths & take deposions; and that the above written signature is the genuine signature of said Knight;
In witness whereof I hereunto set my hand & affixed the Seal of said Court at the City of Providence this fourth day of October AD. 1849.
[signature] John W Smith Clerk
Page 11

And on this twenty fifth day of September AD 1849, said court orders it to be certified that said Thankful Spaulding, and Thankful Tuells, who has signed the aforegoing affidavit, are credible persons and that their statements are entitled to credit.

I Albert G Greene, Clerk of said court do hereby certify that the aforegoing contains the original proceedings before said court in the matter of the application of Thankful Spaulding for a pension.
[signature] Albert G Greene, Clerk

[illegible Court Seal affixed at left]
Page 12

Nathaniel Spaulding
27610
Private 2 years
Adm'd [Admited]
Benj. Cowell
Providence
Page 13

Rhode Island District sc
County of Providence
On this 7th day of October AD 1833 personally appeared in open court being a special district court of the United States within afor said District, Nathaniel Spauldin[g] of the town of Smithfield in said County and District aged 82 years who first being duly sworn according to law doth on his oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of an act of Congress passed June 7th 1832.  He entered and served in the War of the Revolution as follows, in answer to the seven interrogatories prescribed by the War Department, he says,
To 1st. He was born July 15th, 1751 in said Smithfield
to 2d. His birth is recorded in his family Bible
3d. He lived in said Smithfield when he joined the army and has always lived in said town ever since the Revolutionary War.
4th. He volunteered and was drafted in militia
5th. Col. George Peck, Nedebiah Wilkinson
6 He never received any written discharge
Page 14

to 7th.  Rev'd Daniel Benedict and Sylvanus G Martin are acquainted with him

And this applicant further says that in June AD 1776. he joined a company of minute men which was raised for the purpose of carrying on the war and was an independent Company Chartered by the Legislature.  They were placed under the Command of the Commander of the American Army and were obliged to march at a moments warning & for this purpose they were always to be kept in readiness. In this Company the Commander of which was George Peck, Esq. who had the rank of Colonel, he continued until the end of the War and between said June 1776 and June 1780 he was in service one half of the time at least.  In the summer and Autumn of 1776 they were ordered to march to Providence and thence gard [guard] the shores of Narragansett Bay against the incursions of the enemy and between June and December of that year he served as a private in said company in actual service not less than three months at least. And between January 1777 and December not less than six months at least and between Jany 1778 and December of that year not less then six months at least and between January 1779 and
Page 15

and December of that year not less than six months, all these services were performed at Providence, Bristol, Little Compton and at Patuxet, Warwick and on both shores of the Narragansett Bay, and on the Sound of Rhode Island, The British were in possession of Newport the greater part of the time & kept the inhabitants and all the Troops of every description in almost continual alarm.  After the British evacuated Rhode Island our duty was not so ardous but our company was always on the alert.  In 1780 and between January and December he served not less than four months.  This applicant avers that he served upwards of two years in actual service as a private in said company during the War of the Revolution in the years aforesaid and at the places mentioned.  He has no documentary evidence to prove his services but produces the testimony of Thomas Spear, Sylvanus G Martin, the Rev'd David Benedict who testify on his behalf.
He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension except the present and declares that his name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any state.
October 7, 1835
[signature] Nathaniel Spauldin]g]

Sworn to in open court.
[signature] B Cowell, Clerk
Page 16

We David Benedict, a clergyman residing in the town of North Providence and Sylvanus G Martin of the city of Providence hereby certify and say that we are well acquainted with Nathaniel Spaldin who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration, we believe him to be 82 years of age, that he is reported and believed in the neighborhood where he resides to have been a soldier of the revolution and that we concur in that opinion. 
[signature] David Benedict
[signture] Sylvanus G Martin

October 7 1833
Sworn to in open court by the said David Benedict, a clergyman residing in North Providence and the Sylvanus G Martin of the city of Providence, both credible witnesses. 
[signature] B Cowell, Clk
Page 17

I Thomas Spears of North Providence in the state of Rhode Island being now 79 years old on oath do testify and say that I am well acquainted with Nathaniel Spaldin who has subscribed and sworn to the annexed declaration.  During the revolutionary war we both joined said Col. Peck's company as privates in June 1776.  I continued in it until the end of the War. I have no hesitation in saying that from said June 1776 to 1780 said company was on actual duty in active service one half of the time. I know it was during this time I belonged to it, I have no doubt but said Nathaniel served upwards of two years in actual service while he belonged to said company as he has stated.
[signature] Thomas Spears
October 7, 1833 sworn to and subscribed in open court by said Thomas.
[signature] B Cowell, Clk
Page 18

And the said court do hereby declare their opinion after investigation of the matter and after putting the interogatories prescribed by the War Department that the above named applicant Nathaniel Spaldin was a revolutionary soldier and served as he states and the court further certifies that it appears to them that David Benedict who has subscribed and sworn to the preceding certificate is a Clergyman residing in North Providence and that both he and the said Silvanus G Martin who also signed the same and also the said Thomas Spears who subscribed the above are all credible witnesses and their statement entitled to full credit.

I Benjamin Cowell, Clerk of said court do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court in the matter of the application of Nathaniel Spaldin for a pension.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of said Court this 18th day of October AD 1833.
[signature] Benja. Cowell, Clk

[illegible Court Seal affixed at left]
Page 19

Thankful Spaulding
162927
Page 20

[printed form, blanks filled by hand]

STATE OF RHODE ISLAND, &c.
County of Providence
On this 30th day of May A.D. One Thousand Eight Hundred and Fifty-five, personally appeared before me, John Carpenter, a Justice of the Peace within and for the County aforesaid, Thankful Spalding aged 83 years, now resident in the Town of Smithfield in said County,  who being duly sworn according to law, declares and says she is the widow of Nathaniel Spalding, who was a private in Capt. _________ company and in a Regiment commanded by Col. (not recollected) in the war of the Revolution and that her said husband was in actual service more than twenty months in said war, and was honorably discharged.
And she further declares that she was married to said Nathaniel Spalding on the fifth day of October AD 1798 by Elder Stephen Place and that her name before marriage was Thankful Whipple and that her said husband died on the 10th day of January AD 1858 and that she is now a widow.
And she further declares that she is now a Pensioner of the United States at the rate of $80 per annum; which pension was granted her on account of her said husband's services in said war; which pension is payable at the Agency for paying pensions in the City of Providence.  And she further declares that when she made a declaration to obtain her said pension she produced satisfactory evidence of her said marriage to her said husband and of his death, to which declaration and the evidence therewith filed, she now refers for proof of her said marriage, of her said Husband's death, and her claim to Bounty Land under the Act of Congress of March 3d, 1855, and she makes this declaration for that purpose.  She further declares that she has never made any application for Bounty Lane before the present.
[signature] Thankful Spaulding

We, Stephen Dexter and John Spaulding, residents in said Smithfield in said County and State upon our oath, declare that the foregoing declaration was signed and acknowledged by the said Thankful Spalding in our presence, and that we believe from the appearance and statements of the applicant that she is the identical person she represents herself to be.
[signature] Stephen Dexter
[signature] John J Spaulding
Page 21


The foregoing declaration & affidavit was sworn to and subscribed before me on the day and year first above written and I certify that I know the affiants to be credible witnesses, that the claimant is the person she represents herself to be, and that I have no interest in this claim.
[signature] John H Carpenter
Justice of the Peace

[The following is a printed form with blanks filled by hand]

THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS
PROVIDENCE, SC.
CLERK'S OFFICE, COURT OF COMMON PLEAS,
Providence June 6th AD 1855

I, Amasa S Westcott, Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas of said state, within and for the county of Providence:
DO HEREBY CERTIFY, That John J Carpenter, was on the thirtieth day of May A.D. 1855 a Justice of the Peace for said county of Providence, duly appointed and qualified and authorized to administer oaths and take depositions and the acknowledgment of deeds and other instruments, and that the signature to the annexed Certificate, purporting to be his, is genuine.
IN ATTESTATION WHEREOF, I subscribe my name, and affix the Seal of said Court, the day and year above written.
[signature] Amasa S Westcott Clerk.
Page 22

Providence Sept 25 1849

Sir,
I herewith transmit the application of Thankful Spaulding, widow of Nathaniel Spaulding under the act of July 29, 1848.
I am Respectfully
yours, 
[signature] Benja. Cowell
Page 23

[printed form, blanks filled by hand]

WIDOW, &c.
Revy
File No. 1951
Thankful Spaulding
Widow
Nathaniel Spaulding
Pri. Rev. War
Act: July 29, 1848
Index:─ Vol M, Page 233

[Arrangement of 1870.]
Page 24

29,017
160 acres