Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File R. 10,069, for William Starke, Virginia
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SERVICE
Va

Starke, William
Mary

NUMBER
R. 10.069
B.L.Wl. 45720-160-55
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[illegible] 
1855
226.634
Mary Starke widow of William Stark dec
Private

Capt Wm Ballard
Col. Dark
Just of Va Cont Line
[crossed out] Ent 16th July 1786
de

Revolutionary War

Rec Pension
Nov 20 1852

Private Va Troops
Ad. 160 ac'd Oct 11/56
Dodge

Wm Marbury 
Washington D.C. 

[illegible] 

Vol=L=2=92
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226.634

BOUNTY LAND CLAIM
of
Mary Starke 
widow of Wm Starke
War of the Revolution

No. [blank]

Filed December 1855
by
Wm Marbury of Washington D.C.
Page 4

WIDOW'S CLAIM FOR BOUNTY LAND
To be made by the Widow who has never had a Land Warrant.

State of Virginia
County of Stafford } ss.

On this 3rd day of December A.D. 1855, personally appeared before me, Justice of the Peace, within and for the County and State aforesaid Mary Starke aged 95 years, a resident of the County of Stafford in the State of Virginia who being duly sworn according to law, declares that she is the widow of William Starke deceased, who was a private in the Company commanded by Captain William Ballard in the --- Regiment of Inf of Va Continental Line commanded by Col. Dark in the War with Great Britain knows as the Revolutionary War that she was married to the said William Starke in the County and State aforesaid on the 16th day of February in the year 1786, that her maiden name was Mary Kendall that her said husband died in the year 1838 and that she is now a widow. That her said husband was drafted for six months & served out his term of service & was honorably discharged, she refers to the accompanying document from the Auditor's Office in Richmond to prove his service.  The period of which may be inferred from the am' paid him

She makes this declaration for the purpose of obtaining the Bounty land to which she may be entitled under Act of March 3d, 1855, never having received nor applied for bounty land under this or any other act of Congress. She refers to the papers filed in the Pension Office abt Nov. 20 1852 when she applied for a pension, to prove her marriage to said Starke

She hereby appoints Wm Marbury her Attorney to prosecute and receive her warrant. 
[Claimant's Signature]
Mary Starke 
x
her mark

We, William D. Humphrey and Benj C. Wamsley residents of the County of Stafford in the State of Virginia upon our oaths, declare that the foregoing declaration was signed and acknowledged by Mary Starke in our presence, and that we know she is now a widow, and we believe from the appearance and statements of the applicant, together with our acquaintance with her, that she is the identical person she represents herself to be. We know that the aforesaid Mary Starke was the wife of Wm Starke above mentioned and is now his widow from personal acquaintance with the [illegible] of them both. That the said Wm Starke died abt the time mentioned in her applicant. 
[Witnesses must sign their names]
William D. Humphrey
Benj. C. Wamsley

The foregoing declaration and affidavit were sworn to and subscribed before me, on the day and year above written; and I certify that I know the affiants to be credible persons; that the claimant is the person she represents herself to be, and that I have no interest in this claim. 

Wm. Moore J. P.
State of Virginia
County of Stafford } ss.
I hereby certify that William F. Moore Esq., before whom the foregoing Declaration and affidavit were made, is and was at the time of taking the same, an acting Justice of the Peace, within and for the County and State aforesaid, duly commissioned and qualified, and that his signature above is genuine. Was sworn one Register, the [illegible] is correct.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of my office, this fourth day of December 1855.

H.K. Conway Clerk.
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*This declaration must be accompanied by satisfactory proof of marriage, of the husband's death, and the present widowhood of the claimant. If there be a public record of the marriage, a duly certified copy of it should be forwarded, if possible. If there be none but a private or family record, such family record, or a certified copy of the same, should be forwarded, with the affidavit of some disinterested persons proving the genuineness of the original and the correctness of the copy. If no public or private record of the marriage exist, or can be procured, that fact should be set forth in the declaration; and in such case, other evidences - such as the testimony of persons who knew the parties in the lifetime of the husband, and knew them to cohabit as husband and wife, and to be so reputed - will be admissible.

In no case, however, will the mere statement of witnesses that the claimant is the widow of the deceased be taken as evidence of the marriage; but the witnesses must state the facts and circumstances from which they derive their knowledge or opinion that she is the widow of the deceased.
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Nov 22/52

Apple. of Mary Starke widow of Wm. Starke.
Va.
Act 7th July 1838.

Original

Revolutionary


Dr. William Marbury
corne 6th & H. St.
Washington City
Page 7

1786. February. Wm Starke to Mary Kendall daughter of John Kendall, both of Oversharton State of Virginia County of Stafford to wit.
  I Henry R. Conway Clerk of this County Court of Stafford in the State of Virginia do hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy of the record of the marriage of Wm. Starke and Mary Kendall, as the said record stands on the register of marriages in my office. In testimony whereof I have herein to set my name and affixed my seal of office this 18th day of November 1852.
H. R. Conway Clerk
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State of Virginia Stafford County to wit.
  On this 18 day of August in the year eighteen hundred fifty two personally appeared before this subscribers & Justices of the County Court of Stafford County in the State of Virginia, which counts as the court of record Mary Starke a resident of the County & State aforesaid, she being unable through the infirmity of her age to appear in open court, who being first duly sworn according to law doth, on her oath make the following declaration, in order to obtain the benefit of the provisions made by the act of Congress passed July 7th 1838, entitled "an act granting half pay & pensions to certain widows" that she is ninety two years of age. That she is the widow of William Starke who was an orderly sergeant in the company commanded by Captain William Harding of the Virginia Militia in the revolutionary war. That she has been informed that Col. Philips commanded the regiment & which the company of the said Capt. Harding belonged.  That her husband's the said Wm. Starke entered service in said was in Capt. Harding's company early in the year 1781. The he was drafted for six months. That he marched in the aforesaid company from Stafford County, Virginia to the siege of Yorktown. That upon arriving at Yorktown the aforesaid Capt. Harding resigned his commission then said husband was transferred to company of Captain William Ballard of Col. Davis regiment. That the name
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of the Major was Southhall. She further states that her said husband served out his full term of six months but does not know whether he received a written discharge or not. She further states that she does not know whether her said husband was orderly sergeant in the aforesaid Capt. Ballard's company or a private. She further states that her said husband testified in the case of Ken Rolls who served with him at the siege of Yorktown & who for his services in said was received a pension from the U. S. Government & she refers to the documents on file in the Pension Office in the case of said Rolls as calculated to assist in the investigation of her claim.  She also refers to the Munster rolls of the aforesaid companies, ir then on any such on file in the Pension Office, to substantiate the foregoing statement with regard to his service.
   She further states that she was married to the said William Starke on the 18th day of February in the year 1786. That her husband the aforesaid Wm. Starke died on the 20th day of December in the year 1838. That she was not married to him prior to his leaving the service, but the marriage took place previous to the 1st day of January 1794, viz: at the time above stated. She further swears that she has continued to be & is now the widow of the said Starke.
Mark Starke
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Sworn to subscribed on this day & year above written before the undersigned & we certify that the word Starke was interlined between the eleventh & twelfth lines from the foot of the second page of the foregoing declaration, before the signing thereof.
Wm. Moore J.P.
Benjn. C. Wamsley J.P.

Stafford County, State of Virginia to wit:
On this 8th day of November in the year 1852 personally appeared before the county court of Stafford County in the State of Virginia Alexander H. Bennett a clergyman residing in the county of Fauquier and Robert Kendall residing in county Stafford & state aforesaid who being first duly sworn according to law do on their oaths declare that they are well acquainted with Mary Starke who has subscribed & sworn to the foregoing declaration that they believe her to be ninety two years of age - that she is the widow of Wm. Starke deceased to whom she refers in her said declaration. That they were acquainted with the said M. Starke - that they said Wm. Starke was reported & believed in the neighborhood in which he resided to have been a soldier of the revolution & that they concur in that opinion - that the fact of his having been a soldier of the revolution has never been questioned or doubted - and they further declare that the said Wm. Starke died on or about the 26th of December 1838 that the above mentioned. Mary Starke has continued to be & is now the
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widow of the said Wm. Starke.

Stafford County Court. Alexander H. Bennett

   November 1832 (the 8th) Robert Kendall sworn to & subscribed the day & year aforesaid - and in said court do hereby declare their opinion after the investigation of the matter that the above named Wm. Starke was a revolutionary soldier & served as stated in the foregoing declaration & that the said Mary Starke is his widow.  And the court further declares their opinion, that it appears to them that Alexander H. Bennett who has signed the preceding certificate is a clergyman resident in the county of Farquier that Robert Kendall who has signed the same is a resident of Stafford County is a credible person & that his statements is entitled to credit.
H. R. Conway

State of Virginia, Stafford County, to wit
  I Henry R. Conway clerk of the count court of Stafford Country to hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said court in the matter of the application of Mary Starke for a pension. And I also certify that William F. Moore & Benjamin C. Wamsley before whom the foregoing declaration of said Starke was made & who have subscribed this certificate thereof were at the time of so doing justices of said court duly commissioned & sworn that their signatures thereto are genuine.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand & seal of office this 13th day of November 1852.
H. R. Conway, clerk
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Mary Starke - Widow
Va.  1838

Doct. Wm Marbury
Present
Page 13

This is to Certify, That it appears from a List in this Office of such Officers and Soldiers of the Virginia Continental Line as settled their Accounts and received Certificates for the balance of their full pay, according to An Act of Assembly, passed the November Session 1781, directing the Auditors of Public Accounts to settle and adjust the pay and accounts of the said Officers and Soldiers from the 1st January 1777 to 31st December 1781, (See Hening's Statutes at Large, Vol. 10, p. 462) that a settlement was made on the 7th day of April 1783 in the name of William Starke as Sol. Inf. and evidence of the indebtedness of the State to him for 103.11.8 delivered to Gene. Morgan but as the original settlements or copies thereof are not to be found in this Office, the term of service embraced therein cannot be sttated.

Given under my hand at the Auditor's Office, Richmond, this 8th day of October 1855.
G. W. Clutter
Aud. Pub. Accts.
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10069

Mary Starke
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No. 14,802
Mary Starke widow
of Wm Starke decd of
Va.
10,069
Act 7th July
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45.720

New Act.
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Dr. Douglas Vanderhoof
Richmond, Virginia

Oct. 15, 1928

Department of the Interior 
Bureau of Pensions,
Washington, D. C.

Gentlemen:
  Will you be good enough to let me know if a pension was granted Mary Starke, widow of William Starke, of Stafford County, Va. I have a copy of her claim (No. 14850) dated August 1852, and also a claim for Bounty Land, dated Dec. 3, 1855, but no record whether these claims were granted. William Starke was a soldier in the Revolutionary War.

Yours very truly,
(MIss) Idą J. Lee


This lady called & got the information she desired
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Sir,
   I respectfully request that the claim of Mary Starke, the aged widow of Wm. Starke a solder of the Revolution for a pension under the act of July 7 1838 heretofore filed by (illegible) I think in Nov. 1852, may be reheard and considered.
   In the letter which I rec'd from the Department dated April 27th 1853, I am informed that the claim was disallowed on the grounds that the capacity in which said Starke served and the length of time during which he served are not proven by the evidence filed. With regards to the first the claimant is willing to receive the pension granted to privates.
   In regard to the objection that it did not sufficiently appear that the claimant's husband had served the length of time necessary to entitle her to the benefit of the law I beg leave to submit the following considerations.
   In cases of this kind great latitude in the matter of evidences ought to be of necessity & always has been granted to claimants. To require a strict observance of the ordinary rules of evidence in such cases would in a great measure defeat the beneficent objects of Congress in passing the Pension laws.
   The widow in her petition states that her husband was drafted for a service of six months and further that he served
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out the full term for which he was drafted.
  The Claimant is by the law required to make affidavit to the facts stated in her petition & in this case she has done so.  Some degree of credibility though not amounting to substantive evidence was in the contemplation of the legislature to be given to the statement of the claimant thus sustained by an oath and such a degree as will justify the relaxation of the strict rules of evidence, & admit in inferior testimony to corroborate & make the truth of the claimant's statement probable.
  If the Department have in the evidence furnished good reason to believe the facts stated in the petition to be true in consideration of the great difficulty, almost impossibility of producing exact testimony under the circumstances of these cases it will not require more.
  In confirmation & corroboration of the facts stated in her petitions by the claimant I ask leave to refer to the statement made under oath by the same Wm. Starke when many years since & without any anticipation that his evidence would ever operate for his own or his wife's advantage, he was examined as a witness in the case of Henry Ralls.  The widow swears that her husband served a term of six months, for which period he was drafted & Starke himself as a witness in the case of Ralls says "he served a tour of duty" in the service of the United States with Ralls is not the inference a fair one, and in a case like this sufficiently that the "six months" service is sworn to by the widow
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was identical with the "the tour of duty" sworn to by Starke himself & now invoked as evidence for his widow.
  If Wm. Stoke was rated for six months & quitted the service before th expiration of that terms, he could not swear that he had served "a tour of duty" with him a service of less than six months the period for which he was drafted, could not have been "the service of a tour of duty" - duty required him to serve six months.
  I hope that the afregoing view of the case when the difficulty of obtaining more direct evidence in support of claims of this nature is considered, & the further fact that there cannot be found anywhere rolls of the companies thus dated into the service, will lead to such a decision by the Department as will afford relief and comfort to the claimant now in her ninety eighth year. Such relief would be but a small return for services rendered during the most critical period of his history.
Very Respectfully
Wm. Marbury

Hon. George C. Whiting
Commissioner of Pensions
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Wm. Marbury

Feb 5. '58
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Pension Office Feb. 5, 1858.
Sir,
I have carefully considered your suggestions in relation to the claim of Mary Starke, widow of Wm. Starke, an applicant for pension under act of  July 7 1838, in connection with the evidence filed in the case, and am constrained to adhere to the decision of the office made in 1836 disallowing the claim. The probabilities are decidedly against the presumption of a service of as much as six months, whereas, our rules require that such a length of service should be distinctly shown. The widow could know, personally, nothing of her husbands service.
Dr. Wm. Marbury
Washington, D.C.
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Wm. Marbury

April 29, 1853
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291
Pension Office
29th April 1853.
Sir,
The application of Mary Starke widow of William of Va decd. has been received and filed in this office under the Act of July 7th 1838.
Satisfactory evidence will be required of the capacity in which William Starke served, and also as to the length of his service: Neither of which facts are sufficiently proved by the subjoined affidavits or the proof referred to in the application of Kenaz Ralls. When additional testimony is furnished, the claim will meet with prompt investigation.
Dr. William Marbury
Washington, D.C.
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Dr. Wm. Marbury

Jan 5
Page 26

Pension Office,
Jan. 5, 1855
Sir;
The certificate of the Auditor of Virginia filed by you as evidence in support of the claim of Mary Starke, mother of William, has no reference to her husband. The soldier who, according to that certificate, received on the 7th of April 1783, a duplicate certificate L103:11 and 8 was attached to the Continental Line of Virginia, and served several years therein. But Mark Starke's husband was, as appears from her declaration, and her disposition in the case of Kenaz Rolls attached to the Militia of that state - but from that [illegible] from that deposition was from the papers filed by Mrs. Starke on the direction of her son be determined. It was probly less than six months.
Sr William Marbury
George Town. Dist. Columbia
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PENSION OFFICE,
Nov. 23d 1852

Sir:
Your communication of the --- inst. relative to the case of Mary Starke, widow of William Starke, of Virginia, enclosing her application for a pension under the Act of 7th July 1838, is received, and will be fully considered as soon as it can be reached in its proper order.
Very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
J. E. HEATH,
Commissioner of Pensions.

Dr Wm. Marbury
Corner of 6th & H. Streets
Washington D.C.

Filed - Nov 22d 1852