Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S. 11778, Silas Williams, Mass.
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(3-1776) 
SERVICE NUMBER
Mass Williams, Silas S 11778
carded
CONTENTS
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3945
Massachusetts
Silas Willaims of Hampe Co in the state of Mass who was a private in the company commanded by Captain of the regt commanded by Col Sargent in the Mass line for 10 Mos 12 days 
Inscribed on the Roll of Mass at the rate of 34 Dollars 65 Cents per annum, to commence on the 4th day of March 1831
Certificate of Pension issued the 5th day of Jany 1832 and sent to L Marcy Greenwich Mass
Arrears to 4th of Sept 1832 $51.97
Semi-anl allowance ending 4 Mar 33 17.32
$69.27
{Revolutionary Claim, Act June 7 1832}
Recorded by TH McBlair clerk 
Book D Vol 2 Page 99
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4588 Silas Williams Hampe Co Mass
Private 
10 mo & 12 days
allo
$34.65

L Marcy
Greenwich
Mass
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BRIEF in the case of Silas Williams of Hampshire Cty in the state of Mass
(Act 7th June, 1832)
1.  Was the declaration made before a Court or a Judge? open court
2.  If before a Judge, does it appears that the applicant is disabled by boldiy infirmity?
3.  How old is he? 68 yeras
4.  State his service, as directed in the form annexed.
Period
In 1775 Aug
77 Aug
78 Aug

Duration
1 Month
1 Month 12 days
8 Months

Rank as a 
Privt
Privt
Privt

Names of General and Field Officers under whom he served. 
Gen. 
Capt James Perry Col Sergent
Capt Abiel Clapp
Capt Fuller Col Jacobs

5.  In what battles was he engaged? none
6.  Where did he reside when he entered the service? Easton 
7.  Is his statement supported by living witnesses, by documentary proof, by traditionary evidence, by incidental evidence, or by the rolls? Traditionary evidence
8.  Are the papers defective as to form or authentication? and if so, in what respect? Correct

I Certify that the foregoing statement and the answers agree with the evidence in the case above mentioned. 
TH McBlair
Examining Clerk
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Declaration
In order to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress passed June 7th 1832
State of Massachusetts
County of Hampshire} Ss On this sixteenth day of August AD 1832 personally appeared in open court before the judge of court of Probate now in session in and for the county of Hampshire Silas Williams a resident of the town of Prescott in the county and state aforesaid aged sixty eight 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 June 7th 1832
That he entered the service of the United States under the following named officers and served as herein stated
That at Easton in the county of Bristol and state of Massachusetts in August 1775 he entered the service as a substitute for Nathan Gibbs in a Company of Militia commanded by Capt James Perry and Lieut Drawn in Col Sargents Regiment the other officers names he cannot remember He marched to Cambridge in said state and served then one month and then was discharged by parole and returned home to said Easton
And the said Silas Williams on his oath doth further testify and declare that on or about the first of August in the year of 1777 he entered the service as a substitute for Thomas Edison and joined a
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Company of Militia under the command of Capt Abiel Clapp and Lieut Issac White both of Mansfield in said state the anmes of the Field officers He does not remember that he joined the said company at Providence in the state of Rhode Island and was stationed there a short time thence marched to East Greenwich from thence to a place called Quidnessit Point in state of Rhode Island and served there until he was discharged which was the full term of six weeks and Thomas Gibbs and Jacob Williams of said Easton was in company with him And the said Silas Williams doth further testify and declare that in the month of April in the year of 1778 he entered the service as a volunteer in the Militia of Massachusetts at the Town of said Easton and joined the company commanded by Captain Fuller at Slades Ferry and was stationed there a short time from thence to Fall River in the Town of Princeton in Massachusetts thence march to Howland's Ferry in the state of rhode Island and there joined the main army and was in Col Jacobs Regiment and General Cornal's Brigade from thence we marched to Rhode Island and continued until we retreated off of the Island and was station at a place called Foglands Point and there he was stationed until he received a written discharge for full eight months service and Nathan Record and Lemuel Thayer of Easton served in the same company with him and that his discharge is lost and that he has no documentary evidence and that he knows of no person whose testimony he can procure who
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Can Testify to his services and that 37 year ago he removed to Prescott where he has lived ever since  He hereby relinquishes every claim whatsoever to any pension or annuity except the present and declares that his name is not on the Pension Roll of the agency of any state
Silas Williams 
Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid before me Samuel Hinckley Judge of Probate county court 
We Ebenezer Brown a clergyman residing in the Town of Prescott in said county and Stacy Linzie residing in the same town hereby certify that we are well acquainted with Silas Williams who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration that we believe him to be Sixty eight 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 to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid 
Ebenezer Brown
Stacy Linzie
Before me Samuel Hinckley Judge of Probate
And the said court do hereby declare their opinion after 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 Ebenezer Brown who has signed the preceding certificate is a clergyman
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resident in the town of Prescott and that Stacy Linzie Esqr has also signed the same is a resident in said town of Prescott and is a credible person and that their statement is entitled to credit
Samuel Hinckley Judge of Probate
I Samuel F Lyman Register of the court of Probate in and for said county of Hampshire do hereby certify that the forgoing contains the original proceedings of the said court in the matter of application of Silas Williams for a pension
In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office this Sixteenth day of August in the Year of our Lord one Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty Two
Saml F Lyman Register
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In reply to your request for a statement of the military history of SF 11778 Silas Williams, a soldier of the REVOLUTIONARY WAR, you will find below the desired information as contained in his ([crossed out or his widow's]) application for pension on file in this Burear.
DATES OF ENLISTMENT OR APPOINTMENT
Aug 1775
Aug 1 1777
Apr 1778

LENGTH OF SERVICE
1 mo
6 weeks
8 mos

RANK

OFFICERS UNDER WHOM SERVICE WAS RENDERED
CAPTAIN
James Perry
Abile Clapp
Fuller

COLONEL
Sargent
Jacob

STATE 
Mass
Mass
Mass

Battles engaged in None stated
Residence of soldier at enlistment, Easton, Mass in 1795 moved to Prescott, Hampshire Co Mass
Date of application for pension, August 16 1832: his claim was allowed
Residence at date of application, Prescott, Mass
Age at date of application 68 years
Remarks: Date of death not shown no family date

Very respectfully,

Miss Theodora Rust
113 E Main St
Meridian, Conn
25811b3m11-05
Commissioner
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BRIEF objections to the admission of Pension Claims, of which those answered in the negative, in red ink, will apply to the claim of Silas Williams Hampshire Cty Mass which require further proof of explanation.

I.  Does the declaration show where the applicant resides? yes

II.  Did the declarant make the declaration in the county where he resides? yes

III.  If the applicant did not make the declaration in the county where he resides, is there any reason assigned for his not doing so? --

IV.  Has the declarant mentioned the period or periods of the war when he served? yes

V.  *Has he mentioned 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?  yes

VI.  Has he given the names of the officers under whom he served, in conformity with the regulations?  yes

VII.  Has he made a relinquishment of every claim to any other pension than the one under the Act of June 7, 1832? yes

VIII.  Has the court given their opinion? yes

XI.  Has the clerk given his certificate? yes

X.  Is the Clerk's seal affixed?  And if so, has it a device or inscription by which it can be distinguished from any other seal? yes
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2
XI.  Has the applicant obtained the evidence of a clergyman and another respectable citizen as to their belief respecting his age and the general belief in his neighborhood relative to his revolutionary service? yes

XII.  If the clergyman's affidavit has not been produced, is there any reason assigned for not obtaining it? --

XIII.  If the applicant has no documentary evidence, and has not obtained the testimony of at least one living witness, has he stated in his declaration that such proof cannot be had? yes

XIV. + If the applicant's name is not found on the rolls of military service, has he produced a witness or witnesses as to his service?
If he has produced direct proof as to service, has the magistrate who administered the oath, certified to the credibility of the witness or witnesses? --
Has the proper officer certified to the official character and signature of the magistrate as the regulations direct? --

XV.  Does it appear from any of the papers that the witness was in such a situation, or of such an age as to have a personal knowledge of the applicant's service? --

XVI.  ++ Are the papers authenticated as the regulations direct? yes

XVII.  Are the seven interrogatories prescribed by the War Department answered satisfactorily? And, if not which of them is not so answered? yes

EXPLANATORY NOTES.
QUERE V.  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 year months, and days, I served as a For months and days, I served as a ; and for such service I claim a pension.
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3
It is important in all cases to determine with precision the period for which the applicant served, and particular rank he held, as 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. 
QUERE XIV. Proof of Service.
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 claimants 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 witnesses, and the official character and signature of the magistrate must be certified by the proper officer, under his seal of office.
QUERE XVI. Mode of authenticating papers.
In every instance where the certificate of the certifying officer who authenticated the papers is not written on the same sheet of paper which contains the affidavit, or other paper authenticated, the certificate must be attached thereto by a piece of tape or narrow ribbon, the end of which must pass under the seal of office of the certifying officer, so as to present any paper from being improperly attached to the certificate.
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Rev War 
11778
INVALID
File No 11778
Silas Williams Priv Rev War
Act June 7th 1832
Index Vol A, Page 410
[Arrangement of 1870]
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Feby 16 1897 History to Miss Flora JD Portal
8 Second St Woburn Mass
1906 Dec 13 History to Miss Theodore Rust MBH
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MGM

[stamped
PENSION
JAN
U 27 S
1897
OFFICE]
Woburn Mass
Jan Twenty fifth
To The Honorable Commissioner of pensions
Dear Sir
The information requested below is not to be used for pension purposes:  but is desired for family geneaological and historic purposes: as to enable the writer to join the Daughters of the Revolution I respectfully request to be
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furnished with the service record of Silas Williams, my Great Grandfather who was 76 years of age in 1841 and resided while a pensioner of the revolution at Prescott Mass according to the census of pensioners published by authority of an act of Congress under direction of Sec of state in 1841
Very respectfully 
Flora JD Portal
#8 Second St.
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OLD WAR & NAVE
JAN 29 1897
FILED

PENSION 
U JAN 27 S
1897
OFFICE
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Jan 5, 33
Meriden, Conn Nov 26
Dear Sir,
Will you please send me the Revolutionary record of Silas Williams and oblige,
Miss Theodora Rust
113 E Main St
Meriden
Conn
Name of soldier, Silas Williams
Place of residence after service, Pelham, or Prescott, Mass
Approximate date of death, After 1904
Name of wife, Susannah (Burr) Williams
Did he or his widow receive a pension, He did
Additional information, He was born in Easton Mass and may have insisted from there and is said to have served one year and ten months. 
PENSION
U NOV S
27
1906
OFFICE
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No 4.587
4.589

PO
Sept3

GREENWICH
Aug 25
MASS

FREE

Lewis Cass Secretary of War
Washington City
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Greenwich Mass August 25th 1832
Hon Lewis Cass
Secretary of War
 Sir herein I send for your inspection and allow these applications for pensions please ad inscan the subject as occasion may require and much oblige your humble servant Lanam Maury