Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S 45054, for Thomas Palmer, New Hampshire
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SERVICE Navy (N.H.)

Palmer, Thomas

NUMBER S.45054
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5,023
New Hampshire Roll
Thomas Palmer
gunner's mate
Capt J. Paul Jones
Ship Ranger N.H.
in the army of the United States during the Revolutionary War

Inscribed on the Roll of New Hampshire, at the rate of 8 Dollars per month, to commence on the 6 of April 1818.

Certificate of Pension issued the 22 of Dec 1818?, and sent to Honble Jno S. Sherburne Dept: Judge US - Portsmouth, NH

Arrears to the 4th of Serpt 1818 - 4 mo 28/30 - 39.46
Semi-anl. all'ce ending 4 March 1819 - 48.-- [total] $87.46

died May 27, 1825 from A.B.
{Revolutionary claim, Act 18th March, 1818.}
Continued
9 months
Portsmouth, Rockingham

[right side of page]
Notification sent July 24th 1820 to
Nathaniel Adams, Portsmouth N.H.
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Thomas Palmer
Declaration
X
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Thomas Palmer of Portsmouth in the County
of Rockingham and State of New Hampshire,late Gunner of the United States Sloop of War Ranger of eighteen guns commanded by John Paul Jones Esq. declareth maketh oath and saith, that at said Portsmouth, in or about the month of August in the year 1777, according to the best of his recollection, knowledge & belief. (being unable from the loss of his papers, burnt with his house in the late great Fire here, to ascertain the time with greater precision) entered as Gunner's mate on board the said Sloop of War Ranger, in the Naval service of the United States, and continued in that service until said Sloop of War sailed from Portsmouth on the first day of November in the same year, and continued to do his duty on board her, during her Cruise to France & into the Irish, Sea, where they Captured his Britannic Majesty's Sloop of War Drake which they carried into Brest. That he the Deponent still belonged to the Ranger in his said capacity, until capt Simpson took the Command of her from which time he acted as Gunner; that said Sloop of War returned to the United States under Capt. Simpson's Command, and arrived in the Port of Portsmouth on the sixteenth of October 1778.  And according to the best recollection of the Deponent he was discharged here the latter end of that month of October. That he served the United States in said Sloop of War Ranger more than one year from his entering as aforesaid, and did his duty, serving them faithfully, in the Naval service aforesaid.  That [end of page]
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That he has always been & continues to be a resident Citizen of the United States and has been and is an inhabitant of Portsmouth aforesaid and that he is by means of his reduced circumstances in life in need of assistance from his country for support.
[signed] Thomas Palmer

United States of America
New Hampshire District 
On this sixth day of April 1818 Thomas Palmer personally appeared before me Jno S. Sherburne District Judge of the United States for New Hampshire  District & made solemn oath to the truth of the foregoing declaration which was subscribed by him in my presence In testimony whereof I have hereto caused the seal of the District Court of the United States for New Hampshire District to be annexed -
[signed] Jno. S. Sherburne

And I the said Judge do certify that it appears to my satisfaction that the said Thomas Palmer did serve in the revolutionary war, as stated in the preceding declaration, against the common enemy & I now transmit the proceedings & testimony taken & had before me to the Secretary for the department of war, pursuant to the directions of the act entitled an act to provide for certain persons engaged  in the land & naval service of the United States in the Revolutionary war. 
[signed] Jno. S. Sherburne Dist Judge for NHD
That I the said Judge do also certify that from own knowledge the said Thomas Palmer is in reduced circumstances & in need of assistance from the public for support.
 [signed] Jno. S. Sherburne
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United States New Hampshire District ss.
Be it known that John S. Sherburne Esqr who hath subscribed the foregoing certificate is one of the Judges\ of the Circuit Court and Judge of the District Court of the United States for said District - Witness the seal of said Circuit Court this twenty third day of May AD 1818-
[signed] Peyton R Freeman Clerk
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Thomas Palmer gunner
Jones Ship Ranger
of Portsmouth N. Ham.
1777 to 1778-
6th April 1818

Admitted
Found on the Rolls
as Gunners Mate
Served nearly one year

[upside down, lower left]
Jacob Walden [illegible] in farm of Thos Palmer
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Declaration &
evidence of Thos Palmer
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We the Subscribers Selectmen of the Town of Portsmouth in the State of New Hampshire do certify, that Thomas Palmer of said Portsmouth, who served the United States, in their Sloop of war Ranger, in the Revolutionary War, is in reduced & indigent circumstances and from his poverty, really stands in need of assistance from his country for support.
Portsmouth May 20th 1818.
[signed] John Haven
Jacob Luther
Sam Hutchings

I certify that the above signing John Havens, Jacob Cutter, & Samuel Hutchings are Selectmen of the said Town of Portsmouth, & a majority of that Board.
Portsmouth May 21 1818
[signed] Dan' Humphreys Not. Pub.
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I Jacob Walden of Portsmouth in the State of New Hampshire, testify and say that from August or September 1777 to October 1778 I was Steward of the United States Sloop of war Ranger then in the Naval Service Commanded by John Paul Jones Esqr  - that from my station and constant duties I well knew every man on board and I well know that Thomas Palmer of said Portsmouth was Gunner's mate in October 1777 of said Sloop [of] war Ranger and was in her when she sailed from Portsmouth on November first 1777 and during her cruise to France and in the Irish sea and untill Capt Jones left
the Ranger in Brest and Thomas Simpson Esq took the command, then said Palmer acted as Gunner and continued serving in that capacity on board untill we arrived in her at this port of Portsmouth in October 1778 and some time in the same month was honorably discharged with the rest of the ship Company, having served in said Naval service in said Sloop [of] war Ranger more than a year from the time of his entering
[signed] Jacob Walden

New Hampshire District ss}
On the 23rd of May 1818 Jacob Walden subscribed to the foregoing deposition & made solemn affirmation to the truth thereof before me
[signed] Jno. S. Sherburne Dist. Judge U States NH District
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Thomas Palmer
5023
March 1819
C
Sent to
Nathl Adams Esqr
Portsmouth
N.H. July 24, 1820
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State of New Hampshire
Rockingham  ss
At the Court of Common Pleas holden at Portsmouth within and for the County of Rockingham in the first District before the Hon John Harvey & the Hon Hall Burgin} Esquires Justices of said Court On this fourth day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty personally appeared in open Court being a Court of Record proceeding according to the course of the common law with a jurisdiction unlimited in point of amount keeping a record of their proceedings for said County Thomas Palmer aged eighty years resident in Portsmouth in said County, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth on his oath declare that he served in the Revolutionary war as follows namely as Gunner's mate on board the Ship Ranger John Paul Jones Esquire Commander that he has received a pension commencing on the sixth day of April one thousand eight hundred and eighteen, the certificate of which is numbered 5,023.  And I do solemnly swear that I was a resident citizen of the United States on the 18th day of March 1818; and that I have not since that time by gift sale or in any manner whatever disposed of my property or any part thereof with intent thereby so to diminish it as to bring myself within the provisions of an act of Congress entitled [end of page]
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"An act to provide for certain persons engaged in the land and Naval service of the United States in the Revolutionary war" passed on the 18th day of March 1818 and that I have not, nor has any person in trust for me any property or securities, contracts or debts due to me, nor have I any income other than what is contained in the schedule hereto annexed and by me subscribed
[signed] Thomas Palmer

Sworn to and declared at Portsmouth on the 4th day of July 1820
before John Harvey and Hall Burgin Justices of said Court

Schedule of the Estate of Thomas Palmer necessary cloathing and bedding excepted --
1 Ax--.25.
1 Iron Wedge. .10
2 iron [?] Rings  .25
2 Marling Spikes .30
one Chest - 1.00
one knife -10.
One Razor  8
one Tobacco box-  12
one scriving mallet  25
1 Spun yarn reel  8
1 fishing lead-20
I formerly followed the employment of a Rigger but about two years ago having dislocated my hip I am not able to go aloft nor pursue any business
I have no family but am dependent upon my son in law for my support and have no income whatever except the pension I receive from the United States
[signed] Thomas Palmer
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I Peter Chadwick Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas for the County of Rockingham do hereby certify that the foregoing oath and the schedule thereto annexed are truly copied from the record of the said Court; and I do further certify that it is the opinion of the said Court that the total amount in value of the property exhibited
in the aforesaid Schedule is two dollars seventy three cents. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of said the [sic] Court on this fourth day of July 1820.
[signed] P Chadwick
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November 7, 1939
BA-J/MCS
Thomas Palmer
S.45054
Miss Frances Wingate
263 Lafayette Street
Salem, Massachusetts
Dear Madam:
Reference is made to your request for information in regard to Thomas Palmer of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, who died May 27, 1825.

The data which follow were taken from papers on file in the pension claim, S.45054, based on the Revolutionary War service of Thomas Palmer.

The date and place of birth of Thomas Palmer and the names of his parents are not shown. 

Thomas Palmer entered the service in August, 1777, at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, as gunner's mate on board the Ranger, a sloop-of-war of eighteen guns which was commanded by Captain John Paul Jones. On November 1, 1777, the Ranger left Portsmouth and sailed to France and into the Irish Sea where it captured the British sloop-of-war, Drake, and carried her to Brest. At this place Captain Simpson took command of the Ranger and Thomas Palmer acted as gunner. The Ranger returned to Portsmouth October 16, 1778, and Thomas Palmer was discharged late in that month.

He was allowed pension on his application executed April 6, 1818, at which time he was living in Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire.

In 1820, he was living in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and was then eighty years of age. At this time he stated that he had no family but was dependent upon his son-in-law for support. There are no further data relative to the family of Thomas Palmer.

Thomas Palmer died May 27, 1825.

No charge is made for furnishing this information.
Very truly yours
A. D. HILLER
Executive Assistant
to the Administrator
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1928 May 18 tombstone data to Jos. Foster M.C.S.
1936 May 12 hist. to Mrs. M. True MacDaniel. MCS
1938 July 30 - hist to [illegible] awf
1939 Nov 7, hist to Mrs. Frances Wingate. M.C.S.

INVALID. 
File No. 45054 
Thos. Palmer
Gunner's Mate
Ship "Ranger"
Revolutionary

Act: 18 March 1818 

Index:--Vol. [blank] Page [blank] 

[in brackets] Arrangement of 1870.
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This man is on 1835 list
as Thomas Plummer
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PISCATAQUA PIONEERS
143 Beacon Street
Boston Mass
July 30, 1927

To the Commissioner of Pensions
Interior Department
Washington D.C.
Division of Revolutionary Pensions
Sir,
Will you please send me the Naval Record (and Military Record if any) as shown on his application for Pension - and the date of deathor cession of Pension of Thomas Palmer who is "buried in an unmarked grave on the old
Major Jos Hammond farm in Eliot, Maine,"--which it is desired now to mark if service and date of death can be ascertained.
Thomas Palmer was a pensioner of the Revolution, and lived until somewhere  near 1830, unfortunately the Eliot Town Records from 1810 to about 1840 were burned.
He said he was "on the 'Ranger' at one time with John Paul Jones; and was later in the fleet with him and in the fight of the Bon 'Homme Richard' & at the [Sahafies?]"
[end of page]
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Sheet 2
30 July 1927
Also  "that he was a Gunners mate - that he (Palmer) was once taken prisoner of war and was in an English prison ship, and later was exchanged.
Family Tradition also says he had service in the War of 1812-1815, and that he used to say "he had fought pirates off the coast of Algiers," and lived in an "old English prison ship - and also used to tell about service on the old "Constitution" in his later service.
Respectfully
[signed] Joseph Foster
Rear Admiral  (S.C.) M. S. Navy
(Retired)
Member Paul Jones Club
Portsmouth, N.H
Sons American Revolution
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Apr. 28, 1936
[stamp] RECEIVED MAY 1 1936
Pension Bureau. War records Dept
Washington, D.C.
Dear Sir:-
I am trying to find the record of birth and death of Thomas Palmer, gunner's mate, in Revolutionary War, also served in War of 1812, in Constitution ship, & other vessels. I can locate his grave, in the land of his grand daughter, in
Eliot, Maine.   His wife's grave was in Portsmouth, N.H.
He, Thomas Palmer, had a daughter born in 1869, named Mary, who married Capt. Peter Pray, of Portsmouth, and lived in Pray St. When Capt. Pray died in 1825 the old sailor went to live with his grand daughter, Mary Pray who was
then wife of Joseph Hammond, of Eliot, Me, 4 miles up [river?] from Portsmouth paying his board there, some say it was a pension.  He lived there a few years, until his death, but records of town of Eliot from 1820 and 1840 were burned in later years.  It is known which grave is his on the family lot, but no stone marker. The D.A.R. are planning to mark some graves, but would like to have authenticate dates as to death, birth, etc. Can you find in your records any
statistics as to service, or vital statistics in regard to This Thomas Palmer, gunner's mate?  He was of Portsmouth N. H. & York, Me, and my did seafort defense work, and on ships.  
Not to be confounded with the Rochester, N.H., Thos. Palmer, who did land soldiering.
Respectfully,
Mrs. M. True MacDaniel
of Margery Sullivan Chapter
D. A. R. Dover N. Hamp
16 Nelson St. Dover N. Hamp
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RMD

NAVY DEPARTMENT
OFFICE OF
NAVAL RECORDS AND LIBRARY
WASHINGTON, D. C.
26 July 1938.
Dear Sir: The enclosed application for Headstone in the case of Thomas Palmer who served under Captain John Paul Jones on the Continental Frigate RANGER, is referred for reply direct to the Office of the Quartermaster General, U. S. Army.

The only reference that this office has found to the service of Thomas Palmer, is a notation in the files that there is a pension record, Claim No. S45054, in the case of Thomas Palmer, Gunner's Mate on the Continental Frigate RANGER.

The Office of the Quartermaster General has been advised of this reference.
Very Sincerely,
[illegible signature]
D. W. KNOX,
Captain, U.S.N. (Ret.)
Officer - in - Charge.

Enclosure.

[stamp] RECEIVED JUL 27 1938

We keep this  F

Administrator of Veterans' Affairs,
U. S. Veterans' Administration,
Washington, D. C.
Attention: Revolutionary War Pension Section )
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October 24th, 1939
Pension Bureau
Washington, D. C.
[stamp] RECEIVED OCT 25 1939

Gentlemen:
Would your Department be able to advise me where I would obtain the record of the Revolutionary Service of THOMAS PALMER of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He was a Gunner in the continental Navy. I believe that he served on the Frigate Ranger.

I do not know whether he ever received a pension or not. He died, I believe, May 27, 1825.

If your Department could supply me with this information, please advise the charge.

Very truly yours,
Frances Wingate
(Miss)

263 Lafayette St.
Salem, Mass.
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May 12, 1936
Thomas Palmer, S. 45054
BA-J/MOS
Mrs. M. True MacDaniel
16 Nelson Street
Dover, New Hampshire
Dear Madam:
Reference is made to your request for information in regard to Thomas Palmer from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, who served in the Revolutionary War.

The data which follow were obtained from papers on file in the pension claim, S. 45054, based upon the Revolutionary War service of Thomas Palmer.

He entered the service in August, 1777, at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, as gunner's mate on board the "Ranger", a sloop-of-war, of eighteen guns which was commanded by Captain John Paul Jones. On November 1, 1777, the Ranger left Portsmouth and sailed to France and into the Irish Sea where it captured the British sloop-of-war, "Drake" and carried her to Brest.  At this place Captain Simpson took command of the Ranger and Thomas Palmer acted as gunner. The Ranger returned to Portsmouth October 16, 1778, and Thomas Palmer was discharged late in that month.

He was allowed pension on his application executed April 6, 1818, at which time he was living in Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire.

In 1820 he was living in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and was then eighty years of age. At this time he stated that he had no family but was dependent upon his son-in-law for support. There are no further data relative to the family of Thomas Palmer.

He died May 27, 1825. The date and place of his birth were not given.
See Agency Book
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In the papers of this claim it was not stated that Thomas Palmer served in the War of 1812 and the War of 1812 records of this office fail to show a claim for pension on file on account of the service of this Thomas Palmer in that war.
Very truly yours
A. D. HILLER
Executive Assistant
to the Administrator
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Rev. & 1812 War Section     M.C.S
May 18, 1928
Joseph Foster
Portsmouth
New Hampshire
Sir:
I advise you that from the papers in the papers in the Revolutionary War pension claim, S. 45054, it appears that THOMAS PALMER entered the service in August, 1777, at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, as gunner's mate on board the "Ranger", a sloop-of-war of eighteen guns which was commanded by Captain John Paul Jones.  On November 1, 1777, the Ranger left Portsmouth and sailed to France and into the Irish Sea where it captured the British Sloop-of-war, "Drake", and carried her to Brest. At this place Captain Simpson took command of the Ranger and Thomas Palmer acted as gunner. The Ranger returned to Portsmouth October 16, 1778, and Thomas Palmer was discharged late in that month.

He was allowed pension on his application executed Apr. 6 1818, at which time he was living in Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire.

He died May 27, 1825.

In the papers of said claim it is not stated that Thomas Palmer served in the War of 1812.

Respectfully,
WINFIELD SCOTT
Commissioner
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July 30, 1938
BA-J/AWF
Thomas Palmer
S. 45054
The Quartermaster General
Memorial Branch
War Department
Washington, D. C.
Dear Sir:  Reference is made to a letter from the Navy Department Office of Naval Records and Library, mthis city, in which they request that you be furnished information in regard to Thomas Palmer who served under Captain John Paul Jones, pension claim, S. 45054. The application for headstone for Thomas Palmer was enclosed with their letter, which application is returned herewith. There was no correspondence enclosed from the applicant, Mrs. Florence Hammond McDaniel, 16 Nelson Street, Dover, New Hampshire.

The data which follow were obtained from papers on file in claim for pension, S. 45054, based on the service of Thomas Palmer in the Revolutionary War.

The date and place of birth of Thomas Palmer were not given, nor were the names of his parents stated.

Thomas Palmer entered the service sometime in August, 1777, at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, as gunner's mate on board the "Ranger", a sloop-of-war of eighteen guns which was commanded by Captain John Paul Jones.  The "Ranger" left Portsmouth November 1, 1777, sailed into the Irish Sea, captured the British sloop-of-war, "Drake", and carried her to Brest; at this place Captain Simpson took command of the Ranger and Thomas Palmer acted as gunner; they
[end of page]
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returned to Portsmouth October 16, 1778 and was discharged late in the month of October, 1778.

Thomas Palmer was allowed pension on his  application executed April 6, 1818, at which time he was living in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

In 1820 he was still living in Portsmouth, then aged eighty years.  At this time he stated that  he was dependent upon his son-in-law for support, but did not give the name of son-in-law, and there are no further data relative to family.

Thomas Palmer died May 27, 1825.

Very truly yours
A. D. HILLER
Executive Assistant
to the Administrator