Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File R. 9453, for Thomas Shearman, New Jersey
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New Jersey  Shearman Thomas R9453
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Power of Attorney of Thomas Sheaman son of Thomas
NJ
 The power to Mr Coffin may be recognized for the examination & prosecution of the [illegible] issue.
JEH
Isaac N Coffin of Washington D.C. Attorney.
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POWER OF ATTORNEY.
STATE OF New Jersey
COUNTY OF Monmouth ss:
Be it known that before me, a Justice of the Peace in and for the county aforesaid, duly authorized by law to administer oaths or affirmations, personally appeared Thomas Shearman resident Ocean township in the county of Monmouth in the State aforesaid, who being first duly ["sworn" crossed out] affirmed according to law, states that he is [footnote symbol 2] Son of Thomas Shearman of the county of Monmouth and State of New Jersey who was a revolutionary [footnote symbol 3] Soldier and that he is directly interested as a claimant in the pension for which application was heretofore made by said Thomas Shearman and constitutes and appoints Isaac N Coffin, of Washington D.C. his true and lawful attorney, with irrevocable power to examine into, investigate, and establish the claim for said pension, and do all acts necessary thereto.
In witness whereof, he the said Thomas Shearman has on this 22nd day of January 1853 hereunto signed his name, and affixed his seal. [signed] Thos Shearman
Witness: Thomas W Shearman  John Statesir
Signed, sealed, acknowledged, and ["sworn" crossed out] affirmed to before me, on this twenty second 22 day of January 1853. [signed] John Statesir J. P.
State of New Jersey County of Monmouth to wit:
I, Daniel Christopher clerk of the court, of the county and State aforesaid, do hereby certify, That John Statesir before whom the foregoing power of attorney was acknowledged and affidavit made was at the time of so doing a Justice of the Peace in and for the county aforesaid, duly commissioned and sworn, and that his signature above written is genuine.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and affixed the seal of said Court this Twenty fourth day of January 1853 [signed] Danl Christopher Clerk. [seal affixed to the left]
[footnote symbol 1] Here, if the soldier or officer is living, insert his name; if he is dead, and the widow is living, insert her name; if both dead, insert one of the living children's names; if the children are all dead, and either of them survived the former unsuccessful applicant, insert the name of the administrator of that former applicant.
[footnote symbol 2] Here, if the soldier or officer is living, insert his name again; if the widow is living, insert the words, "widow of," and the name of her husband; if both dead, insert the words, "son or daughter of," and the name of the former LAST unsuccessful applicant.
[footnote symbol 3] Here insert the word "soldier," or "officer," whichever he was.
NOTE.--When a female is the person who executes this paper, please put the letter s [in italics] before the word he [in italics] in every place where it occurs.
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Declaration of William
Shearman for a pension
under act of June 7 1834
--------------
31,698
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State of New Jersey Monmouth County SS. On this sixth day of August AD 1834 personally
appeared before William Lloyd Esquire one of the Judges of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas in and for the County of Monmouth in said State Thomas Shearman a resident of the township of Howell in the said County of Monmouth and State aforesaid aged seventy three years & upwards, who being first duly sworn according to law doth on his oath make
the following declaration, in order to obtain the benefit of the provision made by the act of Congress passed June 7th 1832.-

That he entered the service of his Country on or about the first day of June 1777 as a private militiaman in the monthly calls or drafts under the laws and ordinances of New Jersey and served alternately every other month until near
the close of the war in the summer of 1782 being the months of June August October and December in the year 1777 the months of February, April, June, August October and December in 1778 the same months in the year 1779 1780 and 1781 and the month of February
April and June in the year 1782, making at last two years and seven months he was in the service as a private as before stated, that the first six months he served under Captain William Davis,  Samuel  Leppencott Lieutenant, William Newberry and as he thinks one John  Davis were the sergeants, their head Quarters were
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State of New Jersey Monmouth County SS. On this sixth day of August AD 1834 personally
appeared before William Lloyd Esquire one of the Judges of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas in and for the County of Monmouth in said State Thomas Shearman a resident of the township of Howell in the said County of Monmouth and State aforesaid aged seventy three years & upwards, who being first duly sworn according to law doth on his oath make
the following declaration, in order to obtain
the benefit of the provision made by the act of Congress passed June 7th 1832.-

That he entered the service of his Country on or about the first day of June 1777 as a private militiaman under the monthly calls or drafts under the laws and ordinances of New Jersey and served alternately every other month until near the close of the war in the summer of
1782 being the month of June August October and December in the year 1777 the months of February, April, June, August October and December in 1778 the same months in the years 1779 1780 and 1781 and the months of February
April and June in the year 1782, making at least two years and seven months he was in the service as a private as before stated, that the first six months he served under Captain William Davis, Samuel Leppencott Lieutenant ,William Newberry and as he thinks one John Davis were the sergeants, their head quarters were
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at Eatontown, Colts Neck, Tilton Falls and at Middletown principally the last and their duties were to guard the coasts and shores of
Monmouth County from the inroads of the British and Tories, their marches were to and from those places and to Long Branch and Toms River and they were kept continually marching and countermarching to and from
those places and the intermediate points along the Coast and shores it being impossible for him to say at this time how long he was at each of those places, being sometimes at such of these places in a monthly tour and at other times for two or three weeks stationed at
one of the places, that Asher Holmes was their Colonel and David Forman their general while he was in the service and he thinks one Charles Wykoff was or acted as a Major during a part of the time, that the next six months he served in Captain Joseph Bishops Company, he thinks one Hart was their Lieutenant, during this time they were stationed at all the before named places and also a part of the time at Freehold and at Colts Neck, and his marches and
countermarches and duties now as before stated, Holmes their Colonel and David Forman their General, that the next twelve monthly tours he served in Captain Daniel Hamptons company
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the Lieutenants name he has forgotten but thinks one John Kienney was their Sergeant, they were stationed at the before named places and their Marches and countermarches and
duties were as before stated, that the last seven monthly tours were performed in the said Captain William Davis and was stationed as before named his duties being the same, that while thus engaged in the monthly tours, he with the companies to which he was attached
was engaged in protecting the coasts and shores from the enemy and keeping the Refugees from rising and invading the coasts from New York that a considerable part of the Militia of the County of Monmouth were at all times during the war thus kept in the field, and that during this whole war he was stationed in the County of Monmouth for the duties aforesaid, Holmes being their Colonel and
David Forman their General, that he was born in the town of Howell within three quarters of a mile from where he now lives and always since
has lived, Howell township then being a part of Shrewsbury township, since divided off from it, that he was born on the twelfth day of November 1760,  that he has a record of his age in his own family bible entered upwards of
Forty years ago by a Schoolmaster in the neighborhood under the direction
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of his father and mother who were then living, containing also the age of his wife and the births of his own children, that he resided in Howell aforesaid then a part of Shrewsbury when he entered the service as before stated and where he has always since resided and now resides, that his services were monthly tours of one month each under the laws and ordinances of New Jersey, that he was at no time a substitute but performed all his own monthly tours, besides other duties under the general calls and alarms when he was off his monthly
tours, all of which he attended whenever named and was out in them sometimes as much as ten
days and two weeks at one time, that he never served that he recollects with any continental soldiers or officers that he never received any discharge in writing from any officer and believes none such were ever given to the
Militia under the monthly tours of duty he never having heard of or seen  any such being given, that the only person he knows of now living by whom he can prove any of his services is John Shibley who he often has seen out in the service at all the before named places and with whom he served a part of the time in Captain
Davis Company, and that during all the time he was out in the service  he was in the field and not in garrison
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and that during said time he was do in the service he was not employed in any civil pursuit, that he is very infirm and has not been able
to attend in open Court by reason of bodily infirmity.  He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present and declares he is not on the pension roll of any agency of any state.  

               His
Thomas   X  Shearman
             mark

Sworn & subscribed 
before me this 6th day
of August 1834-
William Lloyd

I William Lloyd the above named Judge before whom the above declaration was this day sworn and subscribed to do hereby Certify that the above named Thomas Shearman cannot from bodily infirmity attend the Court, and I do hereby further certify that I have long known the said Thomas Shearman that he has always borne a highly reputable Character for veracity and truth and that his statement is entitled to full faith and credit.-- August 6th 1834
William Lloyd

New Jersey Monmouth County ss: John Shibley
being duly sworn according to law deposeth and saith that he is upward of seventy three years of age, and that he is well acquainted with Thomas Shearman who has sworn to and subscribed the forgoing declaration being
born & brought up in the same neighbor
hood within half a mile of him, and
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has always resided in the same neighborhood with him that when they were boys together he always understood the said Thomas Shearman was a few months his senior, that he has  a distinct recollection that the said Thomas
Shearman entered the service as a private
Militiaman at the or about the same time this deponent being on or about the first day of June 1777 and that he knows the said Thomas Shearman served his regular monthly tours of duty every other month from that time until the close of the war, that he this deponent saw the said Thomas Sherman almost every other month after he entered the service out in the service sometimes being stationed with him at the same place for several days and weeks, that he frequently saw him in the service under Captain William Davis Joseph Bishop and Daniel Hampton at Eatontown Middletown Colts Neck
Tilton Fall Long Branch Shrewsbury Freehold Manaquan and at Toms River and at the intermediate points and places, and that he served with him in the same company and under Captain William Davis for a number of months near the close of the war, that this deponents service in the Militia as a private during the same period from June 1777 until 
the close of the war in monthly tours
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of one month each under Captains Longstreet Buckalew and Davis and while out under them their duties as well as the companies to which the said Thomas Shearman was attached were to guard the coasts and shores of Monmouth County from the British and Refugees and that while thus engaged he had met with and performed services with the said Thomas Shearman for days nights weeks and months in the martchings and countermarchings in which they were engaged, and that they frequently joined their respective companies together and returned home together at the beginning and ending of their respective monthly tours of duty, that Asher Holmes was their Colonel and David Forman was their General that he knows the said Thomas Shearman was a good soldier and was so esteemed by his officers and fellow soldiers, and he recollects distinctly that it was said at the close of the war both by the said Thomas Shearman and the people in the neighborhood that the said Thomas Shearman had performed all his alternate monthly tours himself without any substitute, he also knows the said Thomas was always ready to attend the musters at the General Calls or alarms when the Militia were moved out by the actual or threatened invasions of the British
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and tories which were some times quite frequent, and that he always bore the character of a good soldier and a true wig much better than many of the modern day, that the said Thomas Shearman is a highly respectable man and unvariably loved and respected in his own neighborhood and now suffers under severe bodily infirmities, that he has no doubt from his knowledge of the services of the said Thomas Shearman during the war he served at least two years and a half in monthly tours of duty of one month each, that he this deponent has obtained his pension some time since under the act of June 7th 1832, and that he knows the said Thomas is entitled by his services to his as much as this deponent is to his and as much as any other soldier of the County, that there were no written discharges given from the officers to those engaged in the monthly service that this deponent ever heard of, that the monthly service in which the said Thomas was engaged was of an arduous character, the protection of the coasts and shores of Monmouth County being left during the war pretty much to the militia of the County and the extent of seaboard required them to be continually martching and countermarching from one place to the other as circumstances required, that
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it would be impossible for him to state the number and particular times when he this deponent saw the said Thomas in the service and marched and countermarched with him from the fact that their companies were kept almost continually on the alert, but he is confident he saw him in some of the before named places every month this deponent was in the service - 
his mark John X Shibley
Sworn and subscribed before me as above this 6th day of August AD 1834 - William Lloyd

And this said William Lloyd Judge as aforesaid doth hereby declare his opinion after this investigation of the matter and after putting the interrogatories prescribed by the War Department that the above named applicant Thomas Shearman was a Revolutionary Soldier and served as he states and I do further certify that it appears to me that John Shibly who has sworn subscribed to this forgoing affidavit is resident of Howells township Monmouth County New Jersey aged upwards of seventy-three years and was a soldier of the Revolution and that he is a credible person and that his statement is entitled to credit.  Dated Freehold Monmouth Co New Jersey August 6 1834. William Lloyd
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I Daniel H Ellis Clerk of the Inferior Court
of Common Pleas of the County of Monmouth
and State of New Jersey Do hereby certify that William Lloyd Esquire at the date of the within affidavits of Thomas Shearman nd John Shibley and now is one of the Judges of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas of the said County duly commissioned and sworn and that the signatures signed, William Lloyd, to the Jurats of the said affidavits and to the within two certificates of the said Judge himself are respectively the proper hand writings and signatures of the said William Lloyd Judge as aforesaid and that full faith & credit ought & should be attached to all his official acts as such-

Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office this sixth day of August Anno Domini Eighteen hundred and thirty four at Freehold in said County
W.H. Ellis Clk
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['Acts of July 14, 1862, and March 3, 1873.' crossed out]

REJECTED

9453
P.O. __________________-
__Thomson Shearer____
Service _______________
Enlisted: ____N.J.________, 18
Discharged: ____________, 18
Application filed: ________, 18
Alleges: ________________
Re-enlisted: ______________
Attorney: ________________
P. O. _____________________
_______Recognized,   ________Contract
_____Cert. of Dis.  Searched for _______, 18
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New Jersey
Thomas Shearman
suspended
[?] Hon J Parker
22 Dec 1834
9H53
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[stamp]
FREEHOLD
SEP 24
N.J.

FREE

J L Edwards Esqr
Commissioner of Pensions
Washington

to be opened & read by }
J L Edwards himself }
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Freehold Sept 24th 1834
J. L. Edwards Esq
I herewith again inclose you
the papers in the case of Thos Sheaman
in your letter of the 22nd August last you say
*On examining the affidavit given by Thos
*Shearman in support of the claim of John
*Shibly the first service he then alleges
*himself to have performed was in Captain
*Davis Company in 1780 & 1781. In his 
*declaration he claims to have gone into Capt
*Davis Company as early as 1777 and to have
*been in actual service therein a great
*portion of the time until the end of the
*war. Further explanation and evidence
*in detail must be produced before his
*present claim can be admitted for more 
*than six months actual service; and served
*so much is not free from doubt."
I have not been able to see Mr Sherman
who resides in a distant part of the County
& his infirmities are such that it is not
probable I shall soon see him, but
one of his friends informs me he wishes
the Department to make such immediate
allowance as they can & that he may
have the previledge of hereafter proving
other testimony if posible in his case
I recollect Mr Shearman said at the
time of drawing his declaration he had
entered into the service earlier in the
war than he had before testified for
Mr Shebly & it was not till his return
home & reflected on it he found his mistake
but surely it is as principle which cannot
be acted on with propriety that because
this old man may have been examined
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as witnesses for others in the hearing and Saith
of a Court their general statements under
such circumstances of their knowledge of
the service of others is to effect their own
claim for of the large number I have
examined I have never met one who
can fix the times of particular servicis from
recollection without reference to the
general history of the events of that day.
In your letter there is certainly an error
when you say in his Shearmans declaration
he served in Capt Davis Company thereon
a great portion of the time until the end
of the war from 1777. He says from June 1777
6 mo in Capt Davis Compy, then 6 mo in  Bishops
Compy 12 mo in Hampton Compy last, 7 mo in
Davis Compy in his affidavit in Shelbys
case (he no doubt collected he entered
the service in Davis Cormpy & having also concluded
his service under the same Captain) he may
have only thought of the last service under
Capt Davis; at all events by his declaration
& evidence he appears to have found 2 y & 7 
Mo. of the first 6 mos. under Davis is not
allowed state there is evidence of 25 months
service & if you take his general statement
in his affidavit in Shibleys case as you say
of his entering the service in 1780, there will be his time in that year in 1781 & 3 months
in 1782. On the whole I hope you will consider
the [illegible] you have taken & allow the 2 years
if not then the services in 1780 & 1781 & 1782 or for
such parts of those years as the testimony
will justify. If no more than the 6 months
can be allowed Mr Shearman will receive
his certificate for that claiming the privilege
of enlarging it hereafter, but I cannot see
the propriety of fixing it only for that time &
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hope the view I have taken of this case will
place the case free from doubt. What is allowed
him he wants much in his prefered situation
& cannot want it long-- I hope you will give
it your early attentive consideration
I would respectfully suggest that I know
it to be the fact that in taking the evidence
of the old soldiers in support of the claims
of their fellows their general recollections
are only noted & the fact that they were out
during the war & saw the applicant in the
service as the principle points to which their
attention is directed to satisfy the court
before whom it is made and if a critical
review of these general affidavits are
to be made when they apply themselves
for a pension, the Department could 
not adopt a practice better calculated
to defeat almost every claim which might
be made, for those who have obtained
their pensions will refuse to testify for
if there appears to be variation.
Yours very Respy
Daniel B. Ryall