Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S. 22,043, Wanton Westgate, R.I.
Page 1

(3-1776)

SERVICE
R. I.

Westgate, Wanton

NUMBER
S. 22,043
Page 2

15.666
Rhode Island
Wanton Westgate of Newport in the State of R Island who was a Private in the Company commanded by Captain How of the Rgt commanded by Col. Elliott in the R Island line for 2 years of Artillery

Inscribed on the Roll of R Island at the rate of 100 Dollars 00 Cents per annum, to commence on the 4th day of March, 1831.

Certificate of Pension issued the 9th day of July 1833 and sent John Cross Portsmouth R. I.

Arrears to the 4th of March 1833 $200.00
Semi-anl. allowance ending 4 Sept.   50.00
                                                       $250.00

{Revolutionary Claim,}
{Act June 7, 1832.}

Recorded by DD Addison Clerk,
Book E Vol. 2d. Page 135
Page 3

17005
Wanton Westgate
Rhode Island


Private of Arty 2 years


Jno Cross
Portsmouth RI
Page 4

BRIEF in the case of Wanton Westgate
County of Newport in the State of Rhode Island
(Act 7th June, 1832.)

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

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

3.  How old is he?  71 years

4.  State his service, as directed in the form annexed.

Period.
Sub In 1777
Enl - 1778
      - 1779

Duration of Service.
1 Month, 15 Days.
1 Year
1 Year

Rank.
As a private

Names of General and Field Officers under whom he served.
Genl Sullivan
Capt Simmons
Capt How Col Elliott
same.

5.  In what battles was he engaged?  at R. Island

6.  Where did he reside when he entered the service?  Little Compton, Rhode Island

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

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


X Certify that the foregoing statement and the answers agree with the evidence in the case above mentioned.

M Clagett Examining Clerk.
Page 5

Wanton Westgate

17005
Page 6

State of Rhode Island & Providence Plantations

Clerks Office of the Court of Probate for the Town of Tiverton in the County of Newport & State aforesaid 
I hereby certify that Oliver H Almy whose signature is affixed to the enclosed Depositions is an associate Justice of the Court of Common Pleas for said County of Newport, duly commissioned under the Seal of said State and engaged thereon according to law; and I do further certify that the signature of his name to the two enclosed Depositions is his genuine Signature.  
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Seal of said Court at said Tiverton this Eighth day of September in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred & thirty two -- And of American Independence the fifty seventh 
Asa Gray Clerk of Court of Probate

[seal affixed to page]
Page 7

DECLARATION.
IN ORDER TO OBTAIN THE BENEFIT OF THE ACT OF CONGRESS, PASSED JUNE 7, 1832.
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND,}
COUNTY OF Newport} SS.

On this Eighth day of September 1832 personally appeared in open Court, before the Judges or Justices of the Court of Probate in the town of Tiverton no sitting, Wanton Westgate - a resident of Tiverton - in the County of Newport and State of Rhode-Island, aged Seventy - 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 7, 1832.
That he entered the service of the United States under the following named officers, and served as herein stated.

He in the fall of the year 1777 took the place of James Taylor the man for whom he worked by the month, as a substitute in the Company of Militia in the Town of Little Compton then under the command of Captain Ephraim Simmons the said Taylor having been at the time drafted from said Company and ordered into the public service to guard the shores of Narragansett Bay - and particularly that prominent place Seakonnet Point - when was a guard station, and a central place for the militia to rendezvous in the vicinity -
In this service of substitute for said Taylor in Said militia Company - and under the command of Captain Simmons - he performed military duty for the greater part of Six months as near as he can recollect - from Early in the fall of the year 1777 to March 1778 - this service was rendered in guarding the shores of the Bay in the Town of Little Compton, and particularly and more than anywhere else at the station of Seakonnet point - and for all this time that he was in the Militia served as aforesaid he received pay from the state -
In the month of March 1778, he at said Little Compton in the County of Newport, enlisted into Capt Howes Company of Artillery Col. Elliots Regiment for one year - [illegible] was Lieut - and Joseph Westgate was orderly Sergeant - of the Company - Soon after his enlistment he was [illegible] to Swinton near Howlands ferry where we lay encamped till August of that year in where crossed over to Rhode Island in Sullivans Expedition and was in the Battle fought there - at this time he Saw Lay Fayette and General Greene - his regiment situated off the Island Howlands ferry - when he was
Page 8

again encamped for a short time - he was then in the fall of the year 1778 marched [illegible] to Bristol where he lay during the winter - When his term of service was out in March 1779 he again enlisted or rather continued in the Same Company for another year - he with the Company to which he belonged - encamped at Bristol and at Warren a part of the time during the Summer of 1779 - and then Staid guarding that exposed part of Narragansett Bay which was in direct line between the enemys position on Rhode Island and the town of Providence, which was the largest town in the state - and the principal depot of the Military stores and provisions for the Army -
Here we staid until the enemy evacuated Rhode Island in the fall of the year - we then crossed over on the Island marched directly for Newport and then arrived soon after the enemy left it - We were then ordered on to Brentons point which forms the Southwestern extremity of the [illegible] where we encamped and repaired the fortifications there - there he was quartered to Tiverton at Howlands ferry when in the Month of March 1780 he was discharged -

And said Westgate avers that he truly and faithfully performed the aforesaid services, as a private soldiers in the Revolutionary War in his countrys defense -

And he further declares that he was born in Said Town of Tiverton on the 15 day of August 1762 - at the commencement of the Revolution at the time he entered said service he lived in said Little Compton, that after the Revolutionary War, he removed to Rochester in the County of Plymouth and state of Massachusetts, where he continued to reside untill the two years last past, since which time he has resided and doth still reside in said Town of Tiverton - that he has no certificate or record of his age - that he never received any written discharge
Page 9

from any of his aforesaid services except the last, at Howlands ferry - which has been lost - but was verbally discharged by his commanding officer at the time, That he has no documentary evidence of any of his said services - that there is no Clergyman living in his neighborhood or vicinity - but he reports -- Elihu Hicks & Benjn Borden Esquire who are his neighbors and citizens of said Town of Tiverton, who testify to his Character for veracity, and to their belief that he was a soldier of the Revolution - and also the accompanying depositions. ~

He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present, and declares that his name is not on the Pension Roll of the Agency of any State.
Sworn to and subscribed, the day and year aforesaid.
Wanton Westgate
Asa Gray Clerk

We, Elihu Hicks Esq. residing in the Town of Tiverton aforesaid and Benjamin Borden - residing in (the same) hereby certify, that we are well acquainted with Wanton Westgate - who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration; that we believe him to be Seventy 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 aforesaid.
Elihu Hicks
Benjamin Borden
Asa Gray Clerk

And the said Court do hereby declare their 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 further certifies, that it appears to them that Elihu Hicks Esqr. who has signed the preceding certificate, is a resident in the Town of Tiverton aforesaid and that Benjamin Borden, Gent. who has also signed the same is a resident in the same Tiverton and are credible persons and that their statement is entitled to credit.

I, Asa Gray, Clerk of the Court of Probate for the Town of Tiverton in the County & State aforesaid, a Court of Record, in the matter of the application of Wanton Westgate of sd Tiverton for a pension.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office, this Eighth day of September in the year one thousand eight hundred thirty two and of American Independence the fifty seventh
Asa Gray Clerk of Court of Probate

[seal affixed to page]
Page 10

I John Springer of Little Compton County of Newport State of Rhode Island &c of the age of 73 years being duly sworn on solemn Oath depose - That I was intimately acquainted with Wanton Westgate of Tiverton in the County & State aforesaid during the revolutionary war who is now applicant for a pension - that I know him when he waws a private soldier in Capt. Simmons Company of Militia in the public Service - he was stationed for the most part when in this service at or near Seconnet Point in this Town he served he thinks Westgate inlisted in the year 1777 and continued for several months and was still in the service when I the said deponent left the sd. Company in the year 1778 and further the deponent saith not.

John his X mark Springer

State of Rhode Island &c.
Newport SC. at Little Compton the 9th day of Augt. AD 1832.  Personally appeared before me, a Justice of the Court of Common Pleas for said County of Newport the said John Springer to me Known to be a man of Credit, and duly sworn
Page 11

according to law to the truth of the above deposition by him subscribed -

Oliver H Almy {Justice of the Court of Common Pleas County Newport}
Page 12

I Bennoi Simmons of Little Compton County of Newport State of Rhode Island &c. of the age 77 years being duly sworn in solemn oath depose - That I was well acquainted in the time of the Revolutionary War with Wanton Westgate of Tiverton in the County and State aforesaid now an applicant for a pension - That I knew him to serve in Capt. Howes Company of artillery Col. Elliots Regiment of the State line in the year 1778, and serving in the town of Warren the same year, and from hence we marched to Bristol and was stationed there untill the British troops left the Island of Rhode Island and we then immediately marched on to the Island and was stationed at Brentons Point which was I think in the year 1779 - at which place I think he continued untill the State troops were discharged according to the best of my Recollection and that the sd Westgate continued in Capt Howes Company untill his discharge which I believe to be in the year 1780, and further the deponent saith not. -
Benoni Simmons

State of Rhode Island &c.
Newport S.C. At Little Compton this ninth day of Augt. AD. 1832.  Personally appeared before me a Justice of the
Page 13

Court of Common Pleas for said County of Newport the said Bennoni Simmons to me known to be a man of Credit, and was duly sworn according to Law to the truth of the above deposition by him subscribed ~

Oliver H. Almy {Justice of the Court of Common Pleas of the County of Newport
Page 14

Revolution

22043
INVALID.

File No. 22.043
Wanton Westgate
Pri Rev War

Act:  June 7" 32"

Index :- Vol. 2, Page 441

[Arrangement of 1870.]