Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S. 18035, Joseph Hodgdon, Continental N.H.
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Continental Hodgdon, Joseph S.18035
N.H. carded
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10,620
New Hampshire
================================
Joseph Hodgdon
of Strafford in the State of NH
who was a Private in the company commanded
by Captain ~~~~~ of the Regi commanded
by Col [Wingate?] in the NH
line for 6 [unk] & Continental
================================
Inscribed on the Roll of NH
at the rate of 20 Dollars 00 Cents per annum,
to commence on the 4th day of March, 1834.
================================
Certificate of Pension issued the 16th day of Sept
1833 and [Semi Anna?]
[unknown]
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Arrears to the 4th of [unk] 1833 $210~
Semi-anl. allowance ending 4 [unk] " " 10~
===============================
$50~
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{Revolutionary Claim,
Act June 7, 1832}
Recorded by [J H unk] Blair Clerk
Book 14. Vol. 1. Page 90
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Joseph Hodgdon
N. Hampshire
Private 6 mos

12991

Amos Copp & Wakefield 
N14
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BRIEF in the case of Joseph Hodgdon
Co of Strafford in the State of NH.
(Act 7th June, 1832.)

1.  Was the declaration made before a Court or a Judge?  open Court

2. If before a Judge, does it appear that the applicant is disabled by bodily infirmity?

3. How old is he?  79

State his service, as directed in the form annexed.

Period.     Duration of Service.    Rank.  Names of General and Field Officers under whom he served.

Years,      Months,      Days.   As a         Gen.

In 1775. volunteered.    6 or more  Private Copp, Col Wingate

5. In what battles was he engaged?  none Minutemen

6.  Where did he reside when he entered the servcice?  Wake fuler NH

7.  Is his statement supported by living witnesses, by documentary proof, by traditionary evidence, by incidental evidence, or by the rolls?  traditionary

8.  Are the papers defective as to form or authentication? and if so, in what respect?

I certify that the foregoing statement and the answers agree with the evidence in the case above mentioned.

George Taylor

Examining Clerk.
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Wakefield [illegible] Pension Office
Con Lewis Cass
L[illegible] affairs
City of Washington
D.C

12.GGI
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D'Sir

Enclosed is the Application of 
Mr. Joseph Hodgdon of Wakefield
for a pension.  There is no
doubt that Mr Hodgdon was
at Winter Hill with My Father
sometime near the commencement
of the War. I have heard my 
Father frequently Mention in 
his lifetime of Mr. H. being there
with him.  Mr H. is now old 
and very infirm and is as poor
as Job.  His Children are all dead
except one son, who is poorly able 
to support himself; Much less his
aged Father.

I am respectfully yours,
Amasa Copp
Wakefield N.H. September 07, 1832

Hon Lewis Cass
Secy of War
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12.991
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DECLARATION.
In order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress, passed June 7, 1832.

State of New Hampshire, County of [handwritten] Stratford 
Court of Probate at Wakefield in said County [end handwriting]
On this [handwritten] fourteenth [end handwriting] day of [handwritten] September 1832 [end handwriting] personally appeared in open Court before the Judge of the [handwritten] Probate Court [end handwriting] now sitting, [handwritten] Joseph Hodgdon [end handwriting] a resident of [handwritten] Wakefield [end handwriting] in the County of [handwritten] Stratford [end handwriting] and State of N.H. aged [handwritten] 79 [end handwriting] years, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth on this oath make the following declaration, in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress, passed June 7, 1832.
That he entered the service of the United States under the following named officers, and served as herein stated - 
[handwritten] that in the first part of October 1775 he volunteered in a company of Militia Commanded by Caption David Copp of Wakefield. The company first marched to Portsmouth N.H. where it was attached to Col Wingate Reg. and soon after went to Cambridge near Boston Mass. and formed Col John Waldron Regt. but was transferred to Col Sopis Regt. the latter part of the time he was at Cambridge: he continued in the Services from October 1775 to last of April 1776; that he Served more than six months (thinks near seven), he believes that her enlisted for no particular period of time at first, that he had no written discharged, that he has no record of his age and believes there is none; but has always understood that he was born in Rochester N.H. January 5 1754, that he resided in Wakefield N.H. when he enlisted; Knows of no one living who was out in the Services with him. He further states that Gen. Washington was the Commander in chief; recollects of Standing [illegible] one watch at Gen. Washington's quarter while at Cambridge [end handwriting]

He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present and declare that his name is not on the Pension Roll of the Agency of any State. 
[handwritten] Joseph Hodgdon Mark X [end handwriting]
Sworn to and subscribed,  [strikethrough] the [handwritten] in open Court. [end handwriting]

We, [handwritten] Amara Copp [end handwriting] residing in [handwritten] Wakefield NH [end handwriting] and [handwritten] James Garvin [end handwriting] residing in [handwritten] Wakefield NH [end handwriting] hereby certify, that we are well acquainted with [handwritten] Joseph Hodgdon [end handwriting], who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration; that we believe him to be [handwritten] 79  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 and subscribed [strikethrough] the [handwritten] in open Court [end handwriting]
Amasa Copp
James Garvin [end handwriting]
And the said Court hearby declare its opinion, after the 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 certifies, that it appears to them that [handwritten] Amasa Copp [end handwriting] who has signed the preceding certificate, is [handwritten] a [end handwriting] resident in [handwritten] Wakefield [end handwriting] and that [handwritten] James Garvin [end handwriting], who has also signed the same is a resident in the [handwritten] said Wakefield [end handwriting] and are credible persons, and that their statement is entitled to credit. 
[handwritten] Daniel C. Atkinson Judge of Probate
I, [handwritten] James Bartlett [end handwriting] of the [handwritten] board of Probate [end handwriting] do hereby certify that the foregoing contain the original proceedings of the said Court, in the matter of the application of [handwritten] Joseph Hodgdon [end handwriting] for a pension.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of said Court, this [handwritten] 14th [end handwriting] day of  [handwritten] September 1832
James Bartett Reg
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P   18035
INVALID.
File No. [Handwritten] 18035
Joseph Hodgdon
Era Rev War [end handwriting]

Act: [Handwritten] June [illegible] 32 [end handwriting]

Index: - Vol. [Handwritten] 1 [end handwriting], Page [handwritten] 181 [end handwriting]

Arrangement of 1870

[handwritten] July 24, 1905 History to N.W. Davis Somerville, Mass.
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18035
Joseph Hodgdon
Sept. 14, 1832 res. Wakefield Stratton Co NH. 
b. Rochester, NH. Jany 5, 1754
Oct.  75
Capt. David Copp. [check mark]
Col.     Mingate [check mark]
" John Waldron
"     Poor
Apl. 76    6 mos.
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19 - 108 -122 - 187 - 232
234 - 243 - 251 - 253
258 - 343 - 617

242 44 - 476
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BRIEF objections to the admissions of Pension Claims, of which of those answered in the negative, in red ink, will apply to the claim of 
[handwritten] Joseph Hodgdon [end handwriting] which require further proof or explanation. 

I. Does the declaration show where the applicant resides? [handwritten] yes [end handwriting]

II. Did the declarant make the declaration in the county where he resides? [handwritten] Yes [end handwriting]

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? [handwritten] Yes [end handwriting]

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?
[handwritten] Yes [end handwriting]

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

VII. Has he made a relinquishment of every  claim to any other pension than the one under the Act of June 7, 1852
[handwritten] Yes [end handwriting]

VIII. Has the Court given their opinion?
[handwritten] yes [end handwriting]

IX. Has the Clerk given his certificate? 
[handwritten] Yes [end handwriting]

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? 
[handwritten] Yes [end handwriting]
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2
XI. Has the applicant obtained the evidence of a clergyman and other respectable citizen as to their belief respecting his age and the general belief in his neighborhood relative to his revolutionary service?
[handwritten] Certified by two citizens

XII. If the clergyman's affidavit has not been produced, is there any reason assigned for not obtaining it?
[handwritten, faint] No

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?
[handwritten] No

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? [handwritten] Yes

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

-------------------
EXPLANATORY NOTES.
QUERE V. In a case where the applicant cannot, by reason of the loss of memory, state precisely have 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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It is important in all cases to determine with precision the period for which each applicant served, and the 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 [italics] about three of four months [end italics] is too indefinite, and all such qualifying expressions are objectionable. Some persons who apply for pensions merely state the served two years in the militia, &c. without specifying the tours; the names of the officers, and other particulars respecting their service. This form of declaration is highly objectionable. It must in every case be clearly shewn under what officers the applicant served; the duration of each term of engagement; the particular place or places where the service was performed; the the applicant served with an embodied corps called into service by competent authority; that he was either in a the field of in garrison; and for the time during which the service was performed, he was not employed in any civil pursuit.

Quere XIV. [italics] Proof of Service. [end italics]
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 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 [italics] Mode of authenticating papers. [end italics]
In every instance where the certificate of the certifying officer who authenticates 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 ends of which must pass under the seal of office of the certifying officer, so as to prevent any paper from being improperly attached to the certificate.

[hand pointing icon] In every case where the clerk of the court, or other certifying officer, has no public seal of office, the certificate of a member of congress, proving the official character and signature of the certifying officer, should accompany the papers.
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[square stamp] Jul 10 1905
17 Highland Avenue, 
Somerville, Mass.
July 7, 1905.

Commissioner of Pensions,
Washington, D.C.

Dear Sir:
Will you kindly favor me with a statement of the Revolutionary military service of Joseph Hodgdon, of Nottingham, [pencil note] Rockingham Co. [resume typescript] N.H.. later residing in Berwick, [pencil note] York Co. [resume typescript] Maine, and by so doing greatly oblige
Very truly yours.
N.W. Davis

[pencil note] Not on published list of either place.
[circular stamp] US Pension Office A JUL 8 1905
[square stamp] JUL 10 1905