Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S 893, for John Mathews, New Jersey
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(8-1776)

SERVICE | NUMBER
New Jersey | Mathews or Matthews, John | S.893

carded
CONTENTS
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New Jersey | 17,214

John Matthews, of Monmouth Co. in the State of New Jersey, who was a Private in the Co(mpany) commanded by Captain Morris of the reg(iment) commanded by Col. Holmes in the New Jersey line for nine months.

$30.
Matthews records corrected Oct. 1, 1903.

Inscribed on the Roll of New Jersey at the rate of 30 Dollars 00 Cents per annum, to commence on the 4th day of March 1831.

Certificate of Pension issued the 10th day of Aug. 1833 and sent to D.H. Ellis, Freehold, New Jersey.

Arrears to the 4th of March 1833............$60.00
Semi-anl. allowance ending 4 Sep. '33........15.00
                                           =======
                                            $75.00

{Revolutionary Claim, Act June 7, 1832.}

Recorded by Wm. R. Palmer, Clerk
Book E; Vol. 3; Page 121.
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Monmouth Pleas of July Term 1832.

Declaration of John Matthews for a pension under the Act of Congress passed June 7, 1832.

No. 4058
P.O.
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Declaration of John Mathews in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress passed June 7, 1832.

State of New Jersey
Monmouth County//

On this Thirty first day of July in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred & Thirty two, personally appeared in Open Court before the Judges of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas in & for the said County of Monmouth, now sitting, John Mathews a resident of the Township of Shrewsbury in the said County of Monmouth & State of New Jersey, Sixty seven years of age on the fourth day of November last, 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.

That on the first of April 1781, when about sixteen years of age, being a resident of the said Township of Shrewsbury where he was born November 4th A.D. 1764, he was called out and entered the said service in a militia company commanded by Captain John Morris. But before that period, that he had frequently been out attending the musters consequent on the general alarms. That it was in consequence of his being drafted, or called as it was termed, that he entered the said company commanded by the said Captain Morris & that he remained in the said company doing actual service during the whole of the said month of April. That during the...
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...month of May following (being in the same year) he was out in actual service during the whole of the said month in a Militia Company commanded by Captain Jacob Fleming, having entered the said company under the command of the said Captain Fleming as a substitute for William Matthews and three others, whose names he does not now remember. Every fourth man being at that time (it being near the close of the war) drafted or called out. That the Field Officers under whom he served during the said two months were General David Forman & Colonel Asher Holmes. That his services were confined during the said time to the said County of Monmouth, being chiefly employed in guarding the shores of the said County & principally that part of it bordering along the said townships of Middletown & Shrewsbury. That in the following month of June in the same year (1781) he entered a company as a volunteer under the command of the said Capt. John Morris & that he continued in the said company doing actual service during the whole of the said month of June & during the whole of the five succeeding months. That the said company of volunteers under the command of the said Capt. Morris was formed at the request of the said Gen'l Forman in order to watch & restrain from plundering the Tories & wood robbers in the Township of Shrewsbury & the surrounding neighborhood & to give notice of their movements & intended operations when their force was too great to be controlled alone by the said volunteer company. And that during the said last mentioned six months, the said volunteer company was wholly engaged in such services pursuant to the said directions...
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...of the said Gen'l Forman. That after the expiration of said six months service in the said company of volunteers, he was very frequently out at the musters that convened at the general alarms, which the general insecurity rendered very frequent. And that the crossed out: times] several times he was out at such alarms before he entered the service as aforesaid in April 1781 & after the expiration of the said six months service in the said company of volunteers, would he thinks amount to more than one month.

That while in said service he was engaged in several skirmishes with the Tories in the said Township of Shrewsbury. That his marches while in said service were confined to the said County of Monmouth, chiefly in the townships of Shrewsbury, Middletown & Freehold & most generally along the sea coast bordering on the said townships of Middletown & Shrewsbury. That he never served with any Continental Company or Regiment & that he knew none of the regular officers except Major John Burrows, with whom he was acquainted, while he was under General Sullivan at the time of his expedition against the Indians when they took refuge in Niagara Fort. That he thinks he was out in actual service at least for the period of nine months. That he has a record of his age in the Family Bible in his possession. That he now lives in the in the said Township of Shrewsbury, Monmouth, New Jersey, where he was born November 4, 1764, where he resided when he entered the said service & where he has ever lived since the Revolutionary War, except during a period of about two years that he resided in the said Township of Middletown. That he has never received any discharge from said service...
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...& that he has no documentary evidence of such service. That John Tilton & John Hulse are knowing to & will testify to his service as well as to his character for truth & veracity. He hereby relinquishes every claim what ever 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.
s/ John Mathews

Sworn to & subscribed the day & year aforesaid.
s/ John Headron

I, John Tilton, one of the surviving Soldiers of the Revolutionary War, do hereby certify under oath that I am acquainted with the within named John Matthews & was acquainted with him at the time of the revolution & I do certify that the said John Matthews was to my knowledge a soldier in the militia of New Jersey at the time of the revolution & I do believe that the preceding declaration, which the said John Matthews has made under oath as to his service in the Revolutionary War, is entitled to full credit & that his character for truth & veracity has never been to my knowledge impeached.
s/ John Tilton

Sworn & subscribed in Open Court the day & year afo(resaid).
s/ W.J. Browne
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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 & served as he states. And the Court further certifies that it appears to them that John Tilton, who has signed the preceding certificate, is a resident in the County of Monmouth, New Jersey, & is a credible person and [crossed out: whose] that his statement is entitled to full credit.
Judges of the said Court:
s/ William Slayd
s/ John Hull
s/ John Headron

I, Daniel H. Ellis, Clerk of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas in and for the County of Monmouth, New Jersey, do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings in the said Court in the matter of the application of John Mathews for a pension. 

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my Hand and Seal of Office this second day of August in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty two.
s/ D.H. Ellis, Clerk

(See over for authentication.)
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I, Daniel H. Ellis, Clerk of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas in & for the County of Monmouth in the State of New Jersey, do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court in the matter of the application of John Mathews for a pension made before the said Court on the Thirty first day of July last.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my Hand & affixed the Seal of the said Court this Fifteenth day of June in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty three.
s/ D.H. Ellis, Clerk
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17,214
4058

John Matthews

Adm(itted) 9 months.

s/ D.H. Ellis, Clerk
Freehold, N.J.
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WAR DEPARTMENT,
Pension Office,
30 April 1833.

Sir:

The evidence in support of your claim, under the act of June 7, 1832, has been examined, and the papers are herewith returned. The following is a statement of your case in a tabular form. On comparing these papers with the following rules, and the subjoined notes, you will readily perceive that objections exist, which must be removed, before a pension can be allowed. The notes and the regulations will shew what is necessary to be done. Those points to which your attention is more particularly directed, you will find marked in the margin with a brace, (thus: }). You will, when you return your papers to this Department, send this printed letter with them; and you will, by complying with this request, greatly facilitate the investigation of your
claim.

A statement, shewing the service of John Matthews.

Period when the service was rendered. | Duration of the claimant's service. (Years/Months/Days) | Rank of the claimant. | Names and Rank of the Company officers under whom he served. | Names and Rank of the General and Field officers. | Battles in which the applicant was engaged. | Country through
which he marched. | Place of abode when he entered the service, and age at the present period. | Evidence by which the declaration is supported.
1 April 1781. | (blank) | 1 | (blank) | Pri(vate) | Cap. Morris, Col. Holmes | (blank) | (blank) 
1 May 1781. | (blank) | 1 | (blank) | Pri(vate) | Cap. Fleming | (blank) | (blank) 
1 June 1781. | (blank) | 6 | (blank) | Pri(vate) | Cap. Morris| (blank) | (blank) 

On alarms. | (blank) | 1 | (blank) | (blank) | (blank) | (blank) 

I am, respectfully your obedient servant,
J.L. EDWARDS,
Commissioner of Pensions.

Mr. John Matthews
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2
REGULATIONS UNDER THE ACT OF JUNE 7, 1832.
The following regulations have been adopted:
This law has been construed to extend, as well to the line, as to every branch of the Staff of the Army, and to include under the terms "Continental Line," "State troops," "militia" and "volunteers," all persons enlisted, drafted, or who volunteered and who were bound to military service, but not those who were occasionally employed with the army upon civil contracts, such as Clerks to Commissaries and to Store Keepers, &c, Teamsters, Boatmen, &c. Persons who served on board of private armed vessels are also excluded from the benefits of the law, as well as persons who turned out as patrols, or were engaged
in guarding particular places at night, and were not recognized as being in actual military service.

Four general classes of cases are embraced in this law:
1. The Regular Troops.
2. The State Troops, Militia, and Volunteers.
3. Persons employed in the Naval Service.
4. Indian Spies.

As rolls of the regular troops in the Revolutionary War exist in this Department, all persons claiming the benefit of this law as officers, non-commissioned officers, musicians or privates, will, in the first instance, make application by transmitting the following declaration, which will be made before a Court of Record of the County where such applicant resides. And every Court having by law a seal and Clerk is considered a Court of Record.

DECLARATION,
In order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress of the 7th of June, 1832.
State, Territory, or District of
County of //
On this _____ day of _____ personally appeared (a) before
A. B. a resident (b) of __________ in the county of __________ and State, Territory or District
of _____ aged (c) _____ 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 provision made by the act of Congress, passed
June 7th, 1832. That he enlisted in the Army of the United States in the year (d) _____ , with _____ and
served in the _____ (e) regiment of the _____ line, under the following named officers:

[Here set forth the names and rank of the Field and Company Officers; the time he left the service; (and if he served under more than one term of enlistment, he must specify the particular period, and rank and names of his officers;) the town or county and State in which he resided when he entered the service; the battles, if any, in which he was engaged, and the country through which he marched. (illegible) This form is to be varied so as to apply to the cases of officers and persons who belonged to the militia, volunteers, navy, &c.]

He hereby relinquishes every claim (f) whatever to a pension or an annuity, except the present, and he declares that his name is not on the Pension Roll of any Agency in any State, or (if any) only on that of the Agency in the State of _____.

Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid. __________ A. B.

[And then will follow the certificate of the Court.]

And the said Court do hereby declare their opinion (g) that the above named applicant was a revolutionary soldier, and served as he states.
I, __________, of the Court of __________ do hereby certify (h) that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court in the matter of the application of
__________ for a pension.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office (i) this _____ day of _____ &c.

If, on examination of the proper record, the names of applicants, making such declaration, cannot be found, they will produce such proof as the rule given in note (j) points out.

Every applicant who claims a pension by virtue of service in the State Troops, Volunteers or Militia, except those who belonged to the New Hampshire Militia and State Troops of Virginia, will make and subscribe a declaration similar to the foregoing, with the following additions, viz:

(k) We, A. B., a Clergyman, residing in the __________ and C. D. residing in (the same) hereby certify, that we are well acquainted with __________, who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration; that we believe him to be _____ 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 the days and year aforesaid.
[And then will follow the certificate of the Court.]
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 A.B. who has signed the preceding certificate is a clergyman, resident in the __________, and that C. D., who has also signed the same is a resident in the __________ and is a credible person, and that their statement is entitled to credit.

I, __________, Clerk of the Court of __________ , do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court, in the matter of the application of __________ for a pension. 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office, this _____ day of _____ & c.

Every applicant will produce the best proof in his power. This is the original discharge or commission; but if neither of these can be obtained, the party will so state under oath, and will then procure, if possible, the testimony of at least one credible witness, stating in detail his personal knowledge of the services of the applicant, and such circumstances connected therewith, as may have a tendency to throw light upon the transaction.

If such surviving witness cannot be found, the applicant will so state in his declaration, (l) and he will also, whether he produce such evidence or not, proceed to relate all the material facts, which can be useful in the investigation of his claim, and in the comparison of his narrative with the events of the period of his alleged service, as they are known at the Department. A very full account of the services of each person...
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3
alleged service, as they are known at the Department. A very full account of the services of each person will be indispensable to a favorable action upon his case. The facts stated will afford one of the principal means of corroborating the declaration of the applicant, if true, or of detecting the imposition, if one be attempted; and unless, therefore, these are amply and clearly set forth, no favorable decision can be expected. All applicants will appear before some Court of Record in the County in which they reside, and there subscribe and be sworn to, one of the declarations above provided, according to the nature of his case.

The Court will propound the following (m) interrogatories to all applicants for a pension, on account of service in the Militia, State troops, or Volunteers, except the Militia of New Hampshire and the State troops of Virginia.

1. Where and in what year were you born?
2. Have you any record of your age, and if so, where is it?
3. Where were you living when called into service; where have you lived since the Revolutionary war, and where do you now live?
4. How were you called into service; were you drafted, did you volunteer, or were you a substitute? And if a substitute, for whom?
5. State the names of some of the Regular Officers, who were with the troops, where you served; such Continental and Militia Regiments as you can recollect, and the general circumstances of your services.
6. //
To a soldier. // Did you ever receive a discharge from the service, and if so, by whom was it given, and what has become of it?
To an Officer. // Did you ever receive a commission, and if so, by whom was it signed, and what has become of it?
7. State the names of persons to whom you are known in your present neighborhood, and who can testify as to your character for veracity, and their belief of your services as a soldier of the Revolution. The Court will see that the answers to these questions are embodied in the declaration, and they are requested to annex their opinions of the truth of the statement of the applicant. The applicant will further produce in Court, if the same can be done, in the opinion of the Court, without too much expense and inconvenience to him, two respectable persons - one of whom should be the nearest clergyman, if one lives in the immediate vicinity of such applicant, who can testify, from
their acquaintance with him, that they believe he is of the age he represents, and that he is reputed and believed in the neighborhood to have been a Revolutionary soldier, and that they concur in that opinion. If one of these persons is a Clergyman, the Court will so certify, and they will also certify to the character and standing of other persons giving such certificates.

The traditionary evidence of service is deemed very important, in the absence of any direct proof, except the declaration of the party. And the Courts are requested to be very particular in the inquiry whether the belief is general, and whether any doubts have ever existed upon the subject.

Applicants unable to appear in Court, by reason of bodily infirmity, may make the declaration before required, and submit to the examination, before a Judge or Justice of a Court of Record of the proper county, and the Judge or Justice will execute the duties, which the Court is herein requested to perform, and will also certify that the applicant cannot, from bodily infirmity, attend the Court.

Whenever any official act is required to be done by a Judge or Justice of a Court of Record, or by a Justice of the Peace, the certificate of the Secretary of State or Territory, or of the proper Clerk of the Court or County, under his seal of office, will be annexed, stating that such person is a Judge or Justice of a Court of Record, or a Justice of the Peace, and that the signature annexed is his genuine signature.

No payments can be made on account of the services of any person, who may have died before the taking effect of the act of June 7, 1832; and in case of death subsequent thereto, and before the declaration herein required is made, the parties interested will transmit such evidence as they can procure, taken and authenticated before a Court of Record, showing the services of the deceased, the period of his death, the opinion of the neighborhood respecting such services, the title of the claimant, and the opinion of the Court upon the whole matter.

[a] The declarant appear in open Court, unless prevented from doing so by reason of bodily infirmity; in which case the declarant will follow the rule laid down for his guidance.
[b] The declarant must make his declaration in the county where he resides. If he should fail to do so, he must assign a sufficient reason for not conforming to the rule.
[c] The age of the claimant must invariably be mentioned.
[d] The declarant must mention the period or periods of the war when he served.
[e] Every continental officer or soldier must give the name of the Colonel under whom he served; otherwise a satisfactory examination of the claim cannot be had. Every claimant must state, 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. 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 in 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 that the periods mentioned below, and in the following grades: __ For ______ year ________ months, and ________ days, I served as a ________; and for such service I claim a pension."

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, "about three or four months," is too indefinite, and all such qualifying expressions are objectionable. Some persons who apply for pensions merely state that they 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 a declaration is highly objectionable. It must, in every case, be clearly shown under what officers the applicant served; the duration of each term of engagement; the particular place or places where the service was performed; that the applicant served with an embodied corps called into service by competent authority; that was the either in the field or in garrison; and for the time during which the service was performed, he was not employed in any civil pursuit.

[f] The law makes the relinquishment indispensable.
[g] The opinion of the Court is always required.
[h] The Clerk must give his certificate in every case.
[i] The Clerk must affix his seal, and if it has no device or inscription by which it can be distinguished from any other seal, or if he 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.

Mode of authenticating papers.
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 papers 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.

Proof of Service.
[j] 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 claimant's 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.

(Illegible) The notes from [a] to [i] are all equally applicable to the cases of Militia men, Volunteers and State Troops. The proof required by rule (illegible) note [j] applies to continental troops only. 

[k] This traditionary evidence is indispensable in militia cases. 
[l] If a witness cannot be found, the declarant must state the fact. 
[m] The answers to the interrogatories must all be written, and sent to the War Department, with the declaration:
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Derby, Mich.
Aug. 21, 1903

Commissioner of Pensions
Washington, D.C.

Dear Sir, 

I wish to enquire if there was a Revolutionary Soldier by the name of John Mathews of Colts Neck, New Jersey, who received a pension for services in the American Revolution do your records will show. Thanking in advance for the information.

I am very resp(ectfully) yours,
s/ Dr. John S. Beers
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Rev(olutionary) War
INVALID.
File No. 893
John Matthews
Pri(vate); N.J. Line
Act: June 7, 1832
Index -; Vol. A; Page 234.
{Arrangement of 1870.}
Matthews records corrected Oct. 1, 1903. C.A.

Aug. 29, 1903 - Dr. John S. Beers, Derby, Mich.
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Supplemental affidavit of John Mathews, amending his original declaration made before a Court of Record of Monmouth, New Jersey, in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress passed June 7 1832.
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Affidavit of John Mathews, amending his original declaration made before the Court of Common Pleas, being a Court of Record in the County of Monmouth & State of New Jersey at the last July Term of said Court, in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress passed June 7, 1832.

State of New Jersey
Monmouth County, to wit//

Personally appeared before me, the undersigned, a Justice of the Peace in & for the said County of Monmouth, John Mathews, who being duly sworn deposeth and saith that on the first day of April 1781 I was first called into the service of the Revolutionary War under my draft & on the said first of April. I entered said service as a private in a Militia Company commanded by Captain John Morris, & served therein as such private the whole of the said month of April. Asher Holmes was the colonel of the regiment of which said company formed a part & David Forman was the General. On the first day of May following, I again entered said service as a private in a Militia Company commanded by Captain Jacob Fleming in the aforesaid regiment commanded by the same colonel & general & served in last named company as a private during the whole of the said month of May. I served in this company as a substitute for my [crossed out Brother, John] cousin, William Mathews & I think three others whose names are forgotten. On the first day of June following, I again entered said service in a volunteer company commanded by the before named Captain John Morris & served as a private in the last named company the whole of the said month of June, all...
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...of the month of July, all of the month of August, all of the month of September, all of the month of October & all of the month of November following, being still in the year 1781. This volunteer company was formed under the special direction of the said General David Forman, as is more particularly mentioned in my original declaration. Besides the foregoing eight months of actual service as a private during the Revolutionary War, I was out time-after-time before the commencement & after the termination of the said eight months in the musters that occurred upon the general alarms. These general alarms, as they were called, occurred whenever foraging parties of the British from New York, cooperating with the Tories in the County of Monmouth, appeared along the sea coast for the purpose of carrying off & plundering cattle or other provisions for the English Army at New York. Then excursions were very frequent & even defeated by the militia, immediately laying aside all business at the report of the alarm gun & repairing to the place of rendezvous until mustering a sufficient force, they were able to repel the inroads. At these general musters, I was very often out for the space of three, four & five days at a time, but by reason of old age & the consequent loss of memory, I cannot swear positively as to the precise length of each term of service under the said general musters or the precise time they severally occurred. But I feel certain & therefore now state that the several periods I was out engaged in actual service under the said general masters as a private was more than one month of actual service, thus making in the whole, nine months of actual service. Viz.: The month of April in the company commanded by Captain Morris under my draft, the month of...
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...May in the company commanded by Captain Fleming as a substitute the months of June, July, August, September October & November; in the volunteer company commanded by the said Captain Morris & at least one month under the said general alarms & for such service I claim a pension. I was born in the said Township of Shrewsbury on the 4th day of November A.D. 1764. I have a record of my age in the Family Bible in my possession. I now live in the said Township of Shrewsbury, where I have ever lived, except for the space of two years that I lived in the Township of Middletown, Monmouth, New Jersey. About 24 years ago I was engaged in the service under my draft, also as a volunteer & also as a substitute, as before stated. I knew no general officers except as I have stated in my original declaration or Continental or Militia Regiment & I have generally stated all such circumstances in relation to my service as I know. I never received any, except an oral discharge, during my service. I am known to Benjamin Brewer, Elias Hart & Lewis Ayres, who can testify to my character for veracity & their belief of my services as a Soldier of the Revolution. 

I always served with an embodied corps, I believe, called into service by competent authority. I always served in the field & not in garrison & for the time during which the service was performed. I was not employed in any civil pursuit. I hereby relinquish every claim whatever to a pension or an annuity except the present, which claim is stated in my original declaration & this supplemental affidavit & I declare that my name is not on the Pension Roll of any Agency in any State.
s/ John Mathews

Sworn to & subscribed this 14th day of June A.D. 1833 before me.

"William" on 1st page & "said" on 3rd page being interlined before sworn to. Also "Cousin" on 1st page.
s/ W.J. Browne
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We, Benjamin Brewer, residing in the Township of Shrewsbury in the County of Monmouth & State of New Jersey & a near neighbor of John Matthews, who has subscribed & sworn to the foregoing amendatory affidavit, and Elias Hart & Lewis Ayres of the said County & State, do hereby certify that we are respectively well acquainted with the said John Matthews & have well known him for a number of years past. That we believe him to be Sixty nine years of age. That he is reputed and believed in the neighborhood where he resides to have been a Soldier of the Revolution & that we respectively concur in that opinion. And we do respectively further certify that the said John Matthews is a credible persons & that his statement is entitled to credit. 
s/ Benjamin Brewer
s/ Elias Hart
s/ Lewis Ayres 

Sworn & subscribed this 14th day of June A.D. 1833 before me, one of the Judges of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas in & for the County of Monmouth and
State of New Jersey.
"Him" being interlined before sign & swearing.
s/ W.J. Browne

I, William J. Browne, one of the Judges of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas in & for the County of Monmouth in the State of New Jersey & one of the Justices of the Peace in & for the said County, do hereby certify that it appears to me that Benjamin Brewer, Elias Hart & Lewis Ayers, who have sworn to & subscribed the foregoing certificate before me, are residents as is in the said certificate stated, and credible persons & that their statement is entitled to credit. And...
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...I do also certify that it appears to me that John Mathews, who has sworn to & subscribed the foregoing amendatory affidavit before me, is a credible person & that his statement is entitled to credit. And further I do certify that there is no Clergyman residing in the neighborhood of the said John Mathews. Dated June 14th 1833.
s/ W.J. Browne

I, Daniel H. Ellis, Clerk of this Inferior Court of Common Pleas in & for the County of Monmouth and State of New Jersey, do hereby certify that William J. Browne, Esquire, by and before whom the foregoing proceedings were done, sworn to & subscribed, was at the time he signed his name thereto & still is a Justice of the Peace & Judge of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas in & for the said County of Monmouth duly commissioned & sworn into office and enrolled in my office as such Justice & Judge. And that due faith & credit are due & ought to be given to all his official acts as such Justice & Judge. And further that [crossed out: that] the name "W.J. Browne" occurring three times, as signed to the foregoing proceedings, are each the genuine signatures of the said William J. Browne, Esq., Justice & Judge as aforesaid.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my Hand & Seal of Office this Fifteenth day of June in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty three.
s/ D.H. Ellis, Clerk