Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S. 21,315, for Jeremiah Irons, Rhode Island
Page 1

(3-1776)

SERVICE
R.I.

Irons, Jeremiah

NUMBER
S. 21,315

CONTENTS
Page 2

2246
Rhode Island
Jeremiah Irons
of Providence in the State of RI who as a Lieut &c in the company commanded by Captain [blank] of the Regt commanded by Col Brown in the RI line for
2 mo Lieut
2 mo Ensign
6 mo 20 d Sergt
2 mo Private

Inscribed on the Roll of R I at the rate of 86 Dollars 65 Cents per annum to commence on the 4th day of March, 1831

Certificate of Pension issued the 22d day of Nov 1832 and sent Saml Y Atwell Glocester RI

Arrears to 4th of Sept 1832 $129.97
Semi-anl allowance ending 4 Mar 33 43.32
[total] $173.29

Revolutionary Claim Act June 1 1831

Recorded by J H McBlair Clerk
Book D Vol. 3rd Page 117
Page 3

No. 8167
Jeremiah Irons of 
Burrillsville R.I.

papers not properly authorized
Nov 6 1832

Lieut - 2 mos
Ensign 2
Serge 6 - 20 days
Private 2
[total] 12
a month
$86.65

Saml Y Atwell
Glocester R.I.
Page 4

Brief in the case of Jeremiah Irons of the County of Providence in the State of R. Island
(Act 7th June, 1832)

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

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

3. How old is he? 83 years

4. State his service, as directed in the form annexed.
[following are in table format in original document]
Period: In 1776 Oct
Duration of Service
Years: -
Months: 1
Days: -
Rank As a: Drafted 
Names of General and field Officers under whom he served: Col. Chad Brown, Capt. Winsor

Period: In 1776 Dec
Duration of Service
Years: -
Months: 1
Days: -
Rank As a: Do 
Names of General and field Officers under whom he served: Same Company

Period: In 1777 Apl
Duration of Service
Years: -
Months: 1
Days: -
Rank As a: Sergt 
Names of General and field Officers under whom he served: Same

Period: In 1777 Sept
Duration of Service
Years: -
Months: 2
Days: -
Rank As a: Do 
Names of General and field Officers under whom he served: Same

Period: In 1778 Feby
Duration of Service
Years: Substitute
Months: 1
Days: for Brown
Rank As a: Do 
Names of General and field Officers under whom he served: Same

Period: In 1778 April
Duration of Service
Years: -
Months: 1
Days: -
Rank As a: Do 
Names of General and field Officers under whom he served: Same

Period: In 1778 Augt
Duration of Service
Years: -
Months: -
Days: 20
Rank As a: do
Names of General and field Officers under whom he served: Same

Period: In 1779 Spring
Duration of Service
Years: -
Months: 1
Days: -
Rank As a: do
Names of General and field Officers under whom he served: Same

Period: In 1780 Sept
Duration of Service
Years: -
Months: 1
Days: -
Rank As a: Ensign 
Names of General and field Officers under whom he served: Same

Period: In 1780 Dec
Duration of Service
Years: -
Months: 1
Days: -
Rank As a: do 
Names of General and field Officers under whom he served: Same

Period: In 1781 June
Duration of Service
Years: -
Months: 1
Days: -
Rank As a: Lieut? 
Names of General and field Officers under whom he served: Capt Isaac Ross

Period: In 1781 Oct
Duration of Service
Years: -
Months: 1
Days: -
Rank As a: do 
Names of General and field Officers under whom he served: Capt Peter Pearce

5. In what battles was he engaged? none

6. Where did he reside when he entered the service? Burrilville

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

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

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

Sevin Belt
Examining Clerk
Page 5

Seal of the Court
Attest Wm R Watson Clerk

STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS
County of Providence Ss.
On this seventh day of August A.D. 1832 personally appeared in open Court, being a special Court of Common Pleas within and for said County, now in session Jeremiah Irons a resident of Burrilville in the County of Providence and State of Rhode Island, aged 83 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, viz.
I was born in said Gloucester on the 17th of June 1749 O.S. I have no record of my age. I lived in said Gloucester when called into services have lived in the state of New York & in said Gloucester since the revolution I live in Burrillville now. First went as a drafted soldier in Capt Stephen Winsor Company Col Chad Brown regiment R.I. militia I was stationed at Bristol R.I. then went I believe in October 1776 I served one month. In December 1776 I was again drafted in the same company & regiment I was stationed at said Bristol for one month. In April 1777 I was again drafted in the same company I was stationed at Providence R.I. one month under Lieut Arnolds. I served as a Seargent on this tour. In June 1777 I was again drafted in the same company I was stationed in Bristol R I for one month. In September 1777 I was drafted in the same company & first went to Bristol RI from where we went on to Rhode Island. I took some guns from a fort on the island & brought them off. we were sorely pressed by the British. We were then marched to Secunet point & while there our ensign Isaac Smith being sick I was elected by Capt Winsor to serve in his place. We remained at Secunet Point until October 1777 when we joined the troops under Gen Spencer at Tiverton R.I. We were stationed at Tiverton & Little Compton. I served at this time two months one as seargeant & one as ensign. In February 1778 I was
Page 6

a substitute for one Brown in the same Company & was stationed at Warren R I for one month. In April 1778 I was drafted in the same Company & was stationed in Warwick R.I. for one month. In August 1778 I was drafted in the same Company & was placed in Capt Saml Mays Company same regiment, & joined the army under Genl Sullivan. We marched to Montands ferry & then crossed over to Rhode Island. We went to the fort on Butts hill where we lay three or four days during a very severe storm. We remained at the fort until my time was out when I returned home I was discharged on the 25th of August 1778, 4 days before the fight. I served 20 days. Gen Sullivan, Gen [illegible] Col Christopher Greene Col Brown were officers with the troops at the time. In the spring of 1779 I was drafted in the same company & placed under the Command of Cap Abraham Winsor & stationed at Bristol R.I. for one month. From this time to June 1789 I was drafted in the same Company two or three times but do not recollect the particulars. I served as a seargeant from April 1777 to June 1789 when I was promoted to the rank of Ensign & was commissioned accordingly. In September 1789 I went as Ensign with a part of my company & under Capt Stephen Winsor & was stationed at Bristol R.I. one month. In December 1780 I went as Ensign with a part of my company under Lieut Ross & was stationed on Rhode Island one month. In May 1781 I was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant & commissioned accordingly & in June 1781 I went with a part of my company as Lieutenant under Capt Isaac Ross & was stationed near Newport R.I. one month. My orders will appear by annexed document marked A. In October 1781 I was stationed as Lieutenant under Capt Peter Pearce at Newport R.I. one month while there we heard the news of the capture of Cornwallis. I never received any written discharge. The annexed deposition of Arnold Irons will prove the [illegible] of my commissions & the certificate of the Secretary of State the evidence of my promotions. The testimony of such
Page 7

surviving witnesses as I know of is within annexed. Seth Ross Duty Salisbury James Harris are persons who reside in my vicinity who can testify as to my character for veracity & their belief of my services as a soldier of the revolution

I hereby relinquish every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present, and declare that my name is not on the Pension Roll of the Agency of any State,  Jeremiah Irons

Sworn to and subscribed, the day and year aforesaid in open Court,.
Attest Wm R Watson Clerk

We Simeon Smith & Daniel Smith residing in said Burrilville hereby certify, that we are well acquainted with Jeremiah Irons who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration; that we believe him to be 80 years of age; that he is reputed and believed, in the neighbourhood where he resides, to have been a Soldier of the Revolution, and that we concur in that opinion.
Simon Smith
Daniel Smith
Sworn to and subscribed, the day and year aforesaid in open Court.
Attest Wm R Watson 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 Simeon Smith & Daniel Smith who have signed the preceding certificate, residents in said Burrilville are credible persons and their statement is entitled to credit & that no clergyman resides in the vicinity of said applicant.
I, William R Watson, Clerk of said Court of Common Pleas, do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court in the matter of the application of Jeremiah Irons for a pension.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office this seventh day of August in the year 1832
Wm R Watson
Page 8

I, Arnold Irons of the city and County of Providence, and state of Rhode Island &c, of the age of thirty seven years on solemn oath do testify, declare and say that I am the son of Jeremiah Irons of Glocester in said County of Providence. That in the month of February A.D. 1830 I was at my said fathers house in said Gloucester, and there received from him, his original Commissions as Lieutenant and as Ensign, in the fourth Company of Rhode Island Militia. I do not recollect the dates of there Commissions exactly, as I had no particular reason for ascertaining or recollecting their exact dates. They were both dated during the Revolutionary War. I received these papers of my father in order to shew them to Hon Tristam Burges in order to ask his opinion whether my father would be entitled to a pension.

I was there plying between Providence and the City of New York as a Packet Master; and supposing that I might see Mr. Burges in New York on his return from Washington I took the Commissions to New York with me. I kept them in the pocket
Page 9

of my surtout. While in New York this surtout was stolen from the cabin of my vessel. My steward absconded from the vessel at the same time that I missed the surtout; and I have always believed that the surtout was stolen by him. The last time that I saw the surtout, these commissions were in the pocket; and I fully believe and have no doubt that said papers were stolen & carried away at that time. I have never seen either of them since. I have never been able to gain and intelligence respecting the surtout or the man.

I feel quite confident that the commission of my father as Lieutenant bore date at least two years before the close of the Revolutionary War. I have always understood that he was in active service more than three years of the war.
Arnold Irons
Page 10

June 30, 1938
BA-J/ILL
Jeremiah Irons
S. 21315

Edith Chesney
729 West Ash Avenue
Eldorado, Kansas.

Dear Madam: 
Reference is made to our letter in which you request the records of Jeremiah and Stephen Irons, who served from Rhode Island in the Revolutionary War.

There is no claim for pension or bounty land on file which was made to the United States based upon service of a Stephen Irons. The record of Jeremiah Irons is given herein as found in the papers on file in pension claim, S. 21315.

Jeremiah Irons was born June 17, 1749 (Old Style), in Gloucester, Rhode Island.

While a resident of Gloucester, Rhode Island, he enlisted and served on different monthly tours in Captain Stephen Winsor's company, Colonel Chad Brown's Rhode Island regiment, shown as follows: in October and December 1776, as a private; in April, June, September and October 1777, as sergeant; and in February and April 1778, as sergeant. In August 1778, he served twenty days as sergeant in Captain Samuel May's company under General Sullivan, in the spring of 1779, one month in Captain Abraham Winsor's Rhode Island company. He was promoted sometime in June 1790, a lieutenant, 4th company of Gloucester Rhode Island militia, served in that capacity in September and December of that year, also as lieutenant in Captain Isaac Ross' 4th company in June and October 1781. His name was borne on the military rolls as Jeremiah Irons, Junior.

He was a lieutenant in the 4th company of Gloucester Rhode Island militia in May 1784, also.

Subsequent to his service, Jeremiah Irons resided in New York State and in Gloucester, Rhode Island.

Jeremiah Irons was allowed pension on his application executed
Page 11

August 7, 1832, at which time he resided in Burrillville, Providence County, Rhode Island.

In Jully 1832, Arnold Irons, son of Jeremiah Irons, was a resident of Providence, Rhode Island, aged thirty-seven years. The name of Jeremiah's wife, the date and place of their marriage, or the names of other children are not shown.

In order to obtain the date of last payment of pension, name of person paid, and possibly, the date of death of this pensioner, you should address the Comptroller General, General Accounting Office, Records Division, this city, and cite the following:

Jeremiah Irons
Certificate #2246
Issued November 22, 1832
Rate $86.65 per annum
Commenced March 4, 1831
Act of June 7, 1832
Rhode Island Agency

Very truly yours,
A. D. Hiller,
Executive Assistant to the Administrator
Page 12

A
To Capt. Isaac Ross Commanding officer of the fourth company in Gloucester. By order of the Governor & company of the State of Rhode Island & Providence Plantations you are hereby ordered and directed to warn the whole of your Company to meet without arms at my house on Monday the fourth day of June Instant at two clock in the afternoon in order to raise men for one months tower & to take the field by the eighth day This Inst. June. And that you make a return of the whole strength of our Company and have it Ready to Present to me when you first arrive at the place above said you enjoyne it upon all your under officers to due their duty Punctualy as they will answer the contrary at their Peril. Given under my hand this second day of June AD 1781
Asa Kimball, Col
Com t
Page 13

Lieut Jeremiah Irons Jun is ordered and requested to execute this warrent in all its parts agrable
To the Tenner there of Capt Isaac Ross having resined serving dated Gloucester June 3rd AD 1781
A Kimball Col Comar

To Ensign Seth Ross you are desired and directed to forward this warrent and give your assistance in carrying the same into execution
A.K. Lt Col Cont

Capt Ross
Warrant
June 1 1781

Jeremiah Irons
R.I.
S 21315
Page 14

To the Hon. Lewis Cass
Secretary of War of the United States of America.

Hereby Represents
Jeremiah Irons
of Burrilville in the County of Providence, State of Rhode Island; that he was a Soldier in the Revolutionary War as will appear by the annexed documents. He therefore requests that a pension may be granted to him in conformity with the provisions of an Act of Congress passed June , 1832, entitled "an Act supplementary to the" Act for the relief of certain Officers and Soldiers of the Revolution"
and as in duty bound will ever pray.
Jeremiah Irons
by his Atty
Saml Y Atwell

Please address me at Gloucester R.I.
S Y Atwell
Page 15

State of Rhode Island & Providence Plantations
Providence ss.
In Providence this 31st day of July A.D. 1832
Then Arnold Irons of said Providence, (to me well known) personally came, and after being duly sworn according to Law, gave the annexed Deposition which was by me reduced to writing in his presence and by him subscribed in my presence.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and have affixed my Notarial Seal, as said Providence on the day & year aforesaid.
Albert G Greene
Public Notary & Justice of the Peace

Fees. $1.
Page 16

State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
Providence ss.
I William R Watson Clerk of the court of common pleas within and for the county of Providence in said state, hereby certify that Albert G Greene within named, is a Justice of the Peace for the town of Providence in said county and state and a Public Notary for said county. That he is duly commissioned to administer oaths and take depositions and that the signature within purporting to be his, is in the proper hand writing of said Greene.
In witness whereof I hereunto set my hand and affix the seal of said court at Providence this seventh day of August in the year 1832
Wm R Watson
Page 17

State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
Secretary's office July 25 AD 1832

I certify that at the session of the General Assembly of said State holden on the second Monday in June one thousand seven hundred & eighty, Jeremiah Irons Jun was elected Ensign of the Fourth Company of Militia in the town of Gloucester; That at May session 1781 he was elected Lieutenant of said Company; That at May session 1782 there were no officers of said company elected, but they with others were continued in their several offices from session to session until May 1783. When the said Jeremiah Irons was elected Lieutenant of the company aforesaid, and reelected in May 1784, all which appears of record in this office.
Witness Henry Bowen Secry
Page 18

I Seth Ross of Burrilville in the County of Providence State of Rhode Island &c being duly sworn on oath do testify & say that in June 1781 I was an ensign in the Fourth Company, Gloucester Col Kimballs regiment R.I. militia I was stationed with a part of my Company at Newport RI when my time expired Lieutenant Jeremiah Iron of the same Company, came down from Providence with a detachment of the same & took our places
Seth Ross

State of Rhode Island &c
Providence ss
In Gloucester this 22d day of August 1802 before me personally appeared Seth Ross who is well known to me & who being duly sworn on oath says that the above deposition by him signed is just & true in all its parts. I further certify that the said Ross is a credible person & that his statement is entitled to credit.
Attest
Ira P Evans Justice C. C. Pleas
Page 19

State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
Providence, sc.

I William R Watson, Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, within and for the county of Providence in the State of Rhode Island, do hereby certify, that Ira P Evans is a Judge of the court of Common Pleas aforesaid, which is a Court of Record; that the signature to the annexed documents purporting to be his, is in the proper hand writing of the said Evans; and that full faith and credit are due to the official attestations of the said Evans.
In witness whereof I hereunto set my hand and affix the seal of said Court, at Providence this twenty third day of August in the year of our Lord 1832

Wm R Watson
Page 20

By his excellency,
Lemuel H Arnold

Governor, Captain-General and Commander in Chief of the State of Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations.
Be it known that the name "Henry Bowen," to the aforewritten attestation subscribed, is the proper hand writing of Henry Bowen, Esquire, who, at the time of subscribing the same, was Secretary of the State aforesaid, duly elected and qualified according to law: Wherefore unto his said attestation full faith and credit are to be rendered.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of said State to be affixed, at Providence, this twenty fifth day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two and of Independence the fifty-seventh
Lemuel H Arnold

By his excellency's Command.
Henry Bowen 
Secry
Page 21

[stamped]
RECEIVED
JUN 17 1938
MAL SUB-DIV.
WETS ADM 
READER No. 19

729 West Ash Avenue
El Dorado, Kansas

June 15 1938

Veterans Administration
Washington D.C.
Dear Sirs:
Will you please send me the records of Stephen and Jeremiah Irons of Rhode Island in the Revolutionary War.
Most sincerely yours
Edith Chesney
Page 22

Rev Sec Col

4831 Kentucky Ave.
Chicago, Illinois
February 16th, 1918.

Commissioner of Pensions
Washington, D. C. 

Sir:
Would you be kind enough to give me all the information given in Pension claim of Jeremiah Irons of Providence Co. R.I. where he was drawing a Rev. pension in 1840 I think. I am desirous of knowing name of his wife which I think was Barbara Tucker, and names of his children if there given.

Thanking you in advance, I am
Yours respectfully,
E. G. Shields
Page 23

Charity Organization Society,
No. 2 Grove Street
Jacob L. Greene, President
P. C. Royce, Vice-President
Meigs H. Whaples, Sec'y and Treas.
Geo. B. Thayer, Superintendent

Hartford, Conn. Oct 26, 1891

Commissioner of Pensions
My Dear Sir
Jeremiah Irons of Burrillville, R.I. was a minute man and drew a pension for Revolutionary Service. I wish to secure documentary evidence of the same in order to be admitted to the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Will you send me the facts set forth in his declaration for a pension and greatly oblige
Yours Truly
Geo. B Thayer
Page 24

3-525
Revolutionary War Records Section
Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Pensions
Washington, D. C., [blank], 19[blank]
S.F. 21315

In reply to your request of [blank], received [blank] for a statement of the military history of Jeremiah Irons a soldier of the Revolutionary War, you will find below the desired information as contained in his (or his widow's) application on file in this Bureau.
[the following is in table format in original document]
Dates of Enlistment or Appointment: Oct 1776
Length of Service: 1 mo.
Rank: Pvt.
Officers Under whom Service was Rendered,
Captain: Stephen Winsor
Colonel: Chad Brown
State: R.I.

Dates of Enlistment or Appointment: Dec 1776
Length of Service: 1 mo.
Rank: Pvt.
Officers Under whom Service was Rendered,
Captain: Stephen Winsor
Colonel: Chad Brown
State: R.I.

Dates of Enlistment or Appointment: Apr 1777
Length of Service: 1 mo.
Rank: Sgt.
Officers Under whom Service was Rendered,
Captain: Stephen Winsor
Colonel: Chad Brown
State: R.I.

Dates of Enlistment or Appointment: June 1777
Length of Service: 1 mo.
Rank: Sgt.
Officers Under whom Service was Rendered,
Captain: Stephen Winsor
Colonel: Chad Brown
State: R.I.

Dates of Enlistment or Appointment: Sept 1777
Length of Service: 2 mos.
Rank: Sgt.
Officers Under whom Service was Rendered,
Captain: Stephen Winsor
Colonel: Chad Brown
State: R.I.

Dates of Enlistment or Appointment: Feby 1778
Length of Service: 1 mo.
Rank: Sgt.
Officers Under whom Service was Rendered,
Captain: Stephen Winsor
Colonel: Chad Brown
State: R.I.

Dates of Enlistment or Appointment: Apr 1778
Length of Service: 1 mo.
Rank: Sgt.
Officers Under whom Service was Rendered,
Captain: Stephen Winsor
Colonel: Chad Brown
State: R.I.

Dates of Enlistment or Appointment: Aug 1778
Length of Service: 20 days
Rank: Sgt.
Officers Under whom Service was Rendered,
Captain: Samuel May
Colonel: 
State: R.I.

Dates of Enlistment or Appointment: Spring 1779
Length of Service: 1 mo.
Rank: Sgt.
Officers Under whom Service was Rendered,
Captain: Abraham Winsor
Colonel: Chad Brown
State: R.I.

Dates of Enlistment or Appointment: Sept 1780
Length of Service: 1 mo.
Rank: Ensign of 4th Co of Militia of Gloucester
State: R.I.

Dates of Enlistment or Appointment: Dec 1780
Length of Service: 1 mo.
Rank: Ensign of 4th Co of Militia of Gloucester
State: R.I.

Dates of Enlistment or Appointment: June 1781 
Length of Service: 1 mo.
Rank: Lieut. of 4th Co of Militia of Gloucester
State: R.I.

Dates of Enlistment or Appointment: Oct 1781
Length of Service: 1 mo.
Rank: Lieut. of 4th Co of Militia of Gloucester
State: R.I.

Battles engaged in, [blank]
Residence of soldier at enlistment, Gloucester R.I.
Date of application for pension, Aug 7, 1832 His cl al
Residence at date of application, Burrilville, Providence Co. R.I.
Age at date of application , born June 17 1749 (old style) at Gloucester R.I.
Remarks: In 1832 son Arnold was 37 years of age and a resident of Providence R.I. Name of wife is not stated and there is no further data on file as to his family.

Respectfully,
Commissioner

6-235C
Page 25

Revolution
21315
INVALID
File No. 21315
Jeremiah Irons
Lieut Rev War
Act: June 7th 32
Index: Vol. 2, Page 202
(Arrangement of 1870.)
Page 26

1892 Feb 6 Hist to Geo B Thayer Prov R.I.
1918 Feby 23 Hist to E G Shields
1938 June 30 Hist to Edith Chesney
ILL
Page 27

The National Archives
Form VAM-51
12-5-41
Division of Veterans' Administration Archives

BOUNTY LAND WARRANT RECORD CARD*

Name Irons, John
Grade Private
Line Maryland
Warrant Number 11407
Acreage 100
Issued March 11, 1791 to not shown

*The information concerning the issuance of warrants carded on this form is found in volumes 2 to 4 of "Land Warrants Issued Prior to 1800" which are registers of bounty land warrants issued to non-commissioned officers and privates under congressional resolutions of September 16, 1776, and subsequent dates. Other records relative to the applications for warrants appear to have been destroyed in the War Department fire of November 9, 1800. Information concerning warrants surrendered to the Federal Government is to be found in General Land Office records in The National Archives.