Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S. 982, William Collings, Penn.
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SERVICE    Penn.
Collings, William
NUMBER   S. 982
carded
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New Jersey. No 28.488. 
William Collings 
of Hunterdon in the State of N. J. who was a Pr. in the Company commanded by Captain Dungan of the - commanded by - in the Pen’a line for 6 ½ months 
12 mo:
Inc’d [increased] from $21.66 to 40 -  
Inscribed on the Roll of New Jersey at the rate of 40 Dollars - Cents per annum to commence on the 4th day of March, 1831.  
Certificate of Pension issued the 28 day of June 34 and sent Hon. S. L. Southard U.S. Senate  
Arrears to the 4th of Mar 34  120.- 
Semi anl. allowance ending 4 Sept  20  10.83
140 – 
Send cer to Jas F. Randolph Brunswick N.J.
[Revolutionary Claim, Act June 7, 1832.} 
Recorded by Nath Rice Clerk 
Book C  Vol 3   Page 106
28 June 1834
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Application of Wm. Collings
James F. Randolph
New Brunswick N. J.
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State of New Jersey  
Hunterdon County }SS 
I Isaac G. Farlee Clerk of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas in and for said County of Hunterdon, do hereby certify that David Stout Esquire before whom the foregoing affidavits were taken, then was and now is one of the Justices of the peace in and for said County duly commissioned and Sworn and that full faith and credit are due to all his official acts as such and that I am acquainted with his hand within and that the signature annexed is his genuine signature.  In testimony whereof I have here unto set my hand and affixed the seal of said Court at Fleming this nineteenth day of August AD. Eighteen hundred and thirty three 
Isaac G. Farlee Clk
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for his services thus specified he claims &  hopes to receive a pension 
William Collings 
Subscribed sworn to this 17 day of August the year 1833 before me  
David Stout J Peace in Hunterdon County 
Hunterdon County ss.   On this 17 day of August in the year one thousand eight hundred  thirty three personally appeared before the subscriber one of the Justices of the Peace in for said County Oliver Hunt who being duly sworn on his oath saith that is in the 77th year of his age that he was a soldier in the war of the revolution & knows that said William Collins who has subscribed the foregoing Supplemental declaration was a soldier of the revelation & on the 12 1778 was attached to the same company with this deponent and thus that said Collins served several times with him in the year 1778 – ‘79 – ‘80 – ’81 & ‘82 to the close of the war - that he distinctly recollects one tour of a month in 1780 at Springfield & a tour of a month in 1781 at the period of the revolt of the Penna line all under Capt Guild & Col. Phillips - that said Collins was a good soldier served faithfully - that he is a man of truth Veracity & that his statement in relation to his revolutionary services is entitled to credit 
Oliver Hunt
Sworn to subscribed the day & year aforesaid 
David Stout J Peace
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Hunterdon County ss   Personally appeared before me the subscriber one of the Justices of the Peace in & for said County Israel Hunt who being duly sworn on his oath saith that he is has been well acquainted with William Collins who has subscribed the foregoing supplemental declaration from the revolutionary war that he is in the 76th year of his age was a soldier of the revolution & that he knows that said Collins was a soldier of the revolution & that he served with him in the war of the revolution several tours - he thinks in the years ’78, ‘79 , ’80, ‘81 & ’82.  &  well recollects being out with him a tour of a month in the year 1780 at the battle of Springfield & knows that said Collins was a good faithful soldier of the revolution.  That he is long known him to be a man of respectability - highly esteemed as a man of strict truth & integrity  - that his statement  in relation to his services is entitled to full credit 
Israel Hunt
Subscribed & sworn to 17 the day & year aforesaid 
David Stout J Peace 
I hereby certify that Oliver Hunt & Israel Hunt who have signed & Sworn to the foregoing affidavits his mark & known to me & have been for a long time - that they are both men of the highest respectability - esteemed as men of truth & veracity & that the statements are entitled to full credit 
David Stout J Peace
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New Jersey 
Hunterdon County 
application of Wm Collins for pension under act of June 1832 
No 4.479
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& patroling that section of the State. I returned then to New Jersey remained & that State – 
3 mo 
In the year 1779 he served at least three tours of a month each under Capt Ralph Guild and Col Phillips was marched to the eastern part of New Jersey was stationed chiefly between Woodbridge & Menarch engaged in guarding that section of State 
4 mo 
In the year 1780 he served four tours of a month each under Capt Guild & Col Joseph Phillips & was stationed as before in the eastern part of New Jersey was thus employed when Knyphausen landed in New Jersey below Elizabeth town & was marched to Connecticut Farms & was there when the ministers wife was shot & followed the enemy & was in the battle at Springfield. He recollects Baron von Steuben was an officer and haranged our forces before the engagement. He also recollects that Dayton & Genl Maxwell were Superior officers in the early part of ‘81 at the time of the revolt of the Soldiers of the Pennsylvania line he served one month at Raritan under Capt Guild 
1 mo. 
& was under continued apprehensions of the arrival of the enemy from below. Afterwards in the year 1781 he served 2 mo. two other tours of a month each under Capt Guild & Col Phillips & was engaged at the Wood Bridge Station Shielding the defenseless families & their property from the depredations of the enemy 
2 mo 
In the year 1782 he served two tours of a month each under the same officers in the same location actively engaged in the discharge of similar duties In the services - he refers to the amended affidavits of Oliver Hunt & Isaac Hunt soldiers of the revolution, his neighbors. He does not know that he can procure any other serving witnesses to his services. He is sure that he served much more but cannot specify more particularly at this time. and
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State of New Jersey 
Hunterdon County ss   Personally appeared before me the subscriber one of the Justices of the Peace in & for said County William Collins who being duly sworn deposeth & saith that he cannot swear positively to the precise length of all his services by reason old age the consequent loss of memory but to the best of his  recollection he served not less than the periods below mentioned & always in the grade of a private – 
He entered the service in the County of Philadelphia in July 1776 in the company of Militia commanded by Captain Thomas Dungan and served without intermission from July to some time in November 1776 four months at least. 
4 mo  *Lewis
His Colonel was Phillips. This service was performed partly in Pennsylvania & partly in New Jersey as is particularly set forth in his original declaration.  In December of the same year he returned to Philadelphia entered the service again & served another tour of two months in Pennsylvania in the neighborhood of Bristol at the period of the retreat of Washington from New Jersey under Capt Dungan Col Phillips. 
2 mo.     *Lewis
In 1777 up to the time of the battle of Germantown he was in service at least half the time and performed in that interval three tours of a month each under the same officers and in the district of country between Philadelphia & Trenton Bridge
5 mo.
In the fall & winter of 1777 & 1778 he served three tours of a month each under Capt Thomas Dungan 
3 mo.
was engaged in Pennsylvania under Col Lewis patroling the country between Conyellis Ferry Phila.  In the early summer of 1778 he was at home has remained at home or does not recollecting being out in the summer of 78. In the latter part of the summer of ‘78 & fall of that year he served two tours of a month each under Capt. Dungan & Col Lewis [unreadable] & was marched to the Sebring Hills & was engaged on the river in Scouts
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I, Isaac G Farlee Clerk of the court of Common pleas of the County of Hunterdon and State of New Jersey do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings the said court in the matter of the application of William Callings for a pension –
In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand a seal of office this fourteenth day of August eighteen hundred and thirty two  
Isaac G Farlee Clk
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State of New Jersey  
Hunterdon County} ss 
On this fourteenth day of August Eighteen hundred and thirty two personally appeared in open court before Benjamin Egbert - and other Judges of the Court of Common pleas held at Flemington in and for the County of Hunterdon William Collings a resident in the Township of Hopewell in said County aged seventy six years last January who being duly sworn according to law doth on oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the provision made by the act of Congress passed June 7, 1832. 
In July 1776 this deponent volunteered in the United States service in the Township of Abington, in the County of Philadelphia & State of Pennsylvania under the command of Capt Thomas Dungan, & marched across the River Delaware through Trenton, Princeton, New Brunswick to Perth Amboy in New Jersey and joined the army under the command of Col Lewis and continued there untill some time in November. He then returned to Pennsylvania and previous to the battle of Trenton turned out in the month of December 1776 and rendezvoused near Frankfort and Bristol in order to cross the Delaware to go into Jersey, but was prevented in consequence of the ice. He remained under the same officers and continued two months on this tour.  
In 1777 he turned out and went with the troops to Germantown in Pa under the same officers; stayed out at least one month, and at the time of the explosion of the Augusta a British War Gunship, he was stationed on the mainland near Mud fort as a guard about one month. He was also at the massacre at Paoli under Genl [unreadable] on the 11 of September 1777 also at the battle of Edge hill, also at Chestnut Hill also near Philadelphia at the rising sun, when an alarm
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was made that the enemy were burning several houses. He was also over Schuylkill in the fall and part of the winter of 1778. He continued still in the service and marched into New Jersey where he served in the Militia and was at the battle of Springfield under the command of Ralph Guild and Col Joseph Phillips & was at the battle of Connecticut Farms and was also in the service when the Pennsylvania line revolted – 
He was in many other places not recollected and having believes that he was in the United States service upward of two years. Baron von Steuben harangued the Militia at Springfield at little before we went to the battle. Colonel or General Dayton & General Maxwell came to the aid of the Militia. The enemy fired several buildings & the Town was nearly destroyed – 
When the British were at Philadelphia this applicant belonged to the detachment of General Potter to protect the inhabitants. At the battle of German town he was in the company of Captain Thomas Dungan, Col Lewis was one of the field officers- He was subject to being called out from the beginning to the end of the Revolutionary war- 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- 
William Collings
Sworn & subscribed the day and year aforesaid in open court 
Rich’d Coxe
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We John Boggs a clergyman residing in the Township of Hopewell in the County of Hunterdon and State of New Jersey, being duly affirmed and David Stout residing in the same place being duly sworn hereby certify that we are well acquainted with William Callings who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration that we believe him to be in his seventy sixth year That he is reputed and believed in the neighbourhood where he resides to have been a soldier of the Revolution & that we concur in that opinion – 
Affirmed as to John Boggs and sworn as to David Stout this fourteenth day of August Eighteen hundred and thirty two in open Court 
John Boggs 
David Stout
Richd Cox 
Israel Hunt being duly sworn upon his oath saith That he is well acquainted with William Collings & that he saw him at Springfield doing Military duty as a militia man in the service of the United States 
Subscribed and sworn in open Court this fourteenth day of August Eighteen hundred and thirty two 
Israel Hunt
Rich’d Coxe 
I do hereby certify that the above named Israel Hunt who made & signed the above affidavit is a person of credibility 
Rich’d Coxe
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Oliver Hunt being duly sworn on his oath saith that he concurs in the above and also that William Collings belonged to the same company with himself at Springfield while stationed there - Sworn & subscribed in open court this fourteenth day of August Eighteen hundred and thirty Two 
Oliver Hunt 
Rich’d Coxe 
I do the at hereby certify that the above named Oliver Hunt who made & signed above affidavit is a person of credibility  
Rich’d Coxe 
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 John Boggs who has signed the preceeding certificate is a clergyman resident in the Township of Hopewell & County of Hunterdon and that David Stout who has also signed the statement is entitled to credit- Rich’d Coxe 
Benj’n Egbert 
Jacob J Young
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9 May- sent [unreadable] letter to J.F.R. 
4479 
William Collings 
6 ½  mo. Private 
reject 
$21.66 per ann 
Hon. S. L. Southard Senate 
# claimant lived in Pennsylvania as it seems - the statement of service are mostly mistaken as no such terms of service were performed by the laws of that State 
Rejected by order of  [unreadable] 26th Octr
Hon S. L. Southard
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WAR DEPARTMENT 
Pension Office, 
May 1st 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 compling with this request greatly facilitate the investigation of your claim. 
Statement, showing the Service of
Period when the service was rendered Duration of Claimant’s Service Rank of claimant. Names and rank of the Officers under whom he served.   Age at present and place of abode when he entered the service. Proof by which the declaration is supported. D
I am respectfully 
Your obedient servant 
JAMES L. EDWARDS, 
Commissioner of Pensions.
Mr. William Collins
N. J.
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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 in stance, 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 } ss.
On this day of A.B. a resident (b) of personally appeared (a) before in the county of and State, Territory or District years, who being first duly sworn, according to law, doth on his oath make the in 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) 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. 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 that of 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 hereby certify (h) that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court in the matter 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 hereby certify, that we are well acquainted with subscribed and sworn to the above declaration; that we believe him to be and C.D. residing in (the same) who has 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 day 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 contains the original proceedings of the said Court, in the matter of the application of for a pension. 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
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 Town officer 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 he 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. 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 enquiry 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 Judge or Justice of a Court of Record, or a Justice of the Peace, and that the signature annexed 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 declaration herein required is made, the parties interested will transmit such evidence as they can cure, taken and authenticated before a Court of Record, showing the services of the deceased, the person 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 must 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 the consequent loss of memory, he cannot swear positively as to the precise length of his service; but, according to the best of his recollection, he served not less than the periods mentioned below, and in the following grades:--For---yearmonths , anddays , I served as amonths and --- days, I served as 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 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 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 he was 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 wife nesses, and the official character and signature of the magistrate must be certified by the proper officer, under his seal of office. 
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 in 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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New Brunswick June 30, 1834 
Dear Sir,
I received, to day, a Pension Certificate in the long suspended case of William Collings allowing him pay for only six & a half months. As this decision is not only not in conformity with, but directly repugnant to your own opinion as expressed to the Hon M. Southard, in a letter from you of the 3d of May last (which is enclosed)   I have no hesitation in returning the certificate for correction, as an error of one of the Clerks 
Please return to me your letter of the 3d May & with the highest respect 
I remain your Obt Servt
Jas F. Randolph
J. L. Edwards, Esq. 
Com Pensions
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To J.L. Edwards Esq. [unreadable] 
Sir:
You will recollect that I rec’d the papers of Wm Collings from your office for examination. I sent them to Mr Randolph who has returned them, with a letter of explanation which I submit to your consideration. I have since examined these papers & concur entirely with Mr R. in the views which he takes of the facts of the case. Indeed I do not see how you can refuse the pension, if you will yourself make the Examination. I intended to call at the office, but as I do not wish to give more trouble than can be avoided, I abstain for present. I feel sure, that you will give this case prompt notice, & that there will be a favorable result. May I hear speedily from you. I wish papers & returned to me, when you send the Certificate, unless it be necessary that one or both be filed 
I am respectfully &c 
Saml L.  Southard 28 April 1834
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Issue a certificate to Wm Collins for $40 per annum - and send it to James F. Randolph, Esqr New Brunswick, N. Jersey 
Inform the Agent that Collins is to be paid $40 instead of $21.66 per ann. 
28.488
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WAR DEPARTMENT 
REVOLUTIONARY CLAIM. 
I certify that in conformity with the law of the United States of the 7th June, 1832, William Collings of the State of New Jersey  who was a private in the war of the Revolution is entitled to receive Twenty one dollars and Sixty Six  cents per annum, during his natural life, commencing on the 4th of March, 1831, and payable semiannually on the 4th of March, and 4th of September in every year. 
Given at the War Office of the United States this 28 day of June one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four. 
Examined and Countersigned
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Rev War
INVALID. – 
File No. 982
William Collings 
Pri  Pa. Line 
Act: June 7, 1832. 
Index:-- Vol. A Page 72 
[Arrangement of 1870.]
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New Brunswick, April 19 - 1834 
Dear Sir  I take the liberty to return to you the papers in the case of James Collings, for the purpose of having the examined by the Commissioner of Pensions, or having them at once laid before the Secretary of War, as you shall judge expedient. The claim of Mr Collings is undoubtedly a good one, and from the most careful inspection of his paper, I can find no just ground for its rejection. The decision seems to have been made, partly, from his misconstruction or misapprehension; and the case having been thus condemned, has not since been looked at without a strong bias. I do not know, and do not believe, that the Comr of Pension has ever deliberately examined it, though I have indirectly understood that he has expressed his opinion, that the objection to it was fundamental and of course, fatal. That this objection is, it will be necessary for me to go into a brief history and slight examination of the case, to enable you to understand. 
Mr Collings papers were originally very imperfectly drawn up and the especially deficient in a specification of the number and duration of his tours - the periods of the war when they were performed - the names of the officers under which he served &c and they were sent back for amendment in these particulars. Mr Collings commenced his service in Pennsylvania, and ended them in New Jersey, having removed during the war. In making out his amended declaration, a clerical occurred (which is amply explained by the affidavit of Mr Molleson, whom you know) in appropriating the Colonel under whom he served in New Jeney, to his services in Pennsylvania; and other errors were alleged in relation to the length of his tours in Pennsylvania. No objection was made to the account of his services in New Jeney, the Paper was sent back the second time for explanation and amendment in relation to his Pennsylvania services. In commencing this explanation amendment. Mr Collings says “for his service in Pennsylvania, he does not know that he can describe the nature of them more fully than he has done in his original declaration;” and then proceeds to complete what he had to say (which see). This expression, I understand, is the whole ground of the rejection of his claim - this is the fundamental error alleged his original declaration, he has pretty fully set forth the nature of his services, but the department demanded to know the extent
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and particulars of those services. It wanted to know how often he was out - how long he served at each time under what officers served upon each occasion, and in what particular duty or service he was engaged in each tour.  There is nothing fundamental all this.  The question as to the fact of service was settled - the principle was fixed, and all the rest was filling up.  So Mr Collings thought, and so thought the writer of this, under whose direction the last amendment was drawn up. It was not dreamed that the expression which has been cited to the rejection of a perfectly just and well established claim, could be tortured into the meaning which has been given it; much less that the applicant abandoned entirely his first amended declaration, and turned the Dept back wholly to his original papers. He know, did not mean any such thing, nor was it in all my thoughts, and I must confess myself very incompetent to Judge of be import of terms, if any such construction can only be put upon what is said.   
But suppose the Dept is right in going back to the original papers for an account, not only of the nature, but extent & particulars of the Pennsylvania services, and could not find enough in that to authorize an allowance, what hast done with the New Jersey services?   They were not disputed in any respect. They were tacitly admitted to be correct. There are 12 to 14 months of these services. They have been overlooked entirely.  No objection having been made to the account given of them, nor to the proof by which they were sustained, as notice was taken of them at all in the last and declaration. It will be seen that Mr Collings confines himself exclusively to his Pennsylvania services. There has, then, been an oversight in deciding upon this claim. The examining Clerk seems to have confined his attention to the last amendment to have considered the Pennsylvania services as the only services and having the found objections to them, to have looked no further and condemned the whole claim. The decision can be accounted for upon no other ground, and I am quite sure, need only ten minutes close attention, to be reversed. 
I must, therefore, be the favor of you to have the case of Mr Collings reexamined by the Commissioner of Pensions,
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or reviewed by the Secretary of War, under your personal supervision.  Do me the favor to look to look into the papers yourself to be able to understand them. I cannot entertain a doubt that you will succeed in obtaining a favorable and just decision. If I did not firmly believe, as I do in any truth in the Bible that William Collings is as clearly entitled to a Pension as any applicant from New Jersey, I would not trouble you with this long and tedious letter. 
Yours most respectfully, 
Jas F. Randolph
Hon S.L. Southard 
P. S. You are at liberty to use this letter as you may please
R.
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Supplemental proceedings in the care of William Collings, applicant for a Pension under the Law of June 1832
 4479 
Jas F. Randolph Agent
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State of New Jersey 
Middle County ss 
I Nicholas Booraem Clerk of the Court of Common pleas of the County aforesaid do certify that Peter P Runyon before whom the foregoing depositions were taken was at the time a Justice of the peace in and for said County duly commissioned and Sworn and that his signature thereto is genuine.  
In witness whereof I have hereto Set my hand and seal of office this thirteenth day of September AD 1833 
N. Booraem Clerk
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he performed so much service at so many different times under such officers. And so also with respect to the services in the fall winter of 1777 & ‘78 and during the year 1778. they were all of the same insular desultory character, not in accordance with any established tours or enlistments by the State, that he sworn that only as the public exigencies required, and in obedience as will to an ardent solicitude for the success of the struggle in which all hands hearts were engaged, as to the orders of the competent authority. In calling his services so many tours of a month each, he may have cried in technical precision or legal contemplation, but he is without a doubt as to the amount of service performed, I reiterates with perfect clearness & assurance that he did serve not less than the periods he has heretofore declared. And he is equally assured on the fidelity of general narrative of the events & circumstances of the times. He recollects in addition to what he has heretofore said that while the Brittish were in Philadelphia in ‘78 he belonged to the detachment under Genl Potter. He now remembers that the company to which he belonged had orders to for the country continually & to remain at a place but a day or two removed from Penn’a in the year 1778 & living there too surrounded in the most part by the people called Quakers, & a [unreadable] of people who would [unreadable,  not having been in that immediate neighborhood since, he knows of no one living witness by whom he can prove his service in Pennsylvania. He cannot [unreadable] to add again to express his honest & sincere conviction that he served not less than the periods he has heretofore mentioned & that he served faithfully he relies upon the proof he has exhibited heretofore as to his services upon the testimonials now & heretofore offered of his general character & standing, to the internal evidence which his own statements afford, in the favorable & charitable interpretation which he hopes for & expects to find in the decision of the tribunal to which he appeals for justice. 
Subscribed sworn to the day & year aforesaid William Collings 
Peter P. Runyon Justice of the peace
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Molleson, is a Counsellor of Law of most respectable standing; and of unimpeachable veracity  as [unreadable] and that his statement is entitled to full credence. 
Peter P. Runyon Justice of the peace 
State of New Jersey 
Middlesex County ss 
Personally appeared before the subscriber one of the Justices of the Peace in & for said County of Middlesex William Collins an applicant for a pension named in papers marked No 4479 who being duly sworn on his oath saith that having come down to New Brunswick in said County of Middlesex to have his paper amended anew in his advanced age & in feeble strength simply to avoid expense & trouble appears before a Justice of the Peace of said County of Middlesex instead of a justice of the Peace of the County of Hunterdon & as to his person further said that being advised by a letter from the Pension office of the 27th August 1833 that form mistakes have been committed in one or both of his former declarations in relation to the Colonel under whom he served in Pennsylvania & to the length of his tour in that State; he now refers to the statement of George P. Molleson as to his Colonel in Pennsylvania. That error was purely one of inadvertence, which both Mr Mollerson and himself overlooked at the time. In his services in Pennsylvania he does not know that he can well describe their nature more fully than he has done in his original declaration. They were irregular from beginning to end, and performed or calls of emergencies lasting just so long as the occasion required & the public emergencies demanded. He was not regularly drafted nor was he enlisted; but he was ordered out by the regularly authorized officers at the times he states to have been out, and remained but not less than the period he has mentioned he did not intend to say or to intimate that the tour of a month each he performed in 1777 up to the fall of that year were regular tours, in the tours stablished by any law of the State, but merely that
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I hereby certify that Isaac Dunn & William Green the deponents named in the foregoing affidavits are credible persons and their statements are entitled to credit 
Peter P. Runyon Justice of the peace 
State of New Jersey 
Middlesex County Ss 
On this eleventh day of September Eighteen hundred & thirty three personally appeared before the Subscriber one of the Justices of the Peace in & for said County of Middlesex George P. Molleson who being duly sworn on his oath saith that he drew the supplemental declaration of William Collins an applicant for a pension named in papers numbered by the war department No 4479 and that he distinctly recollects that said Collins always said that he served under Col Lewis in Pennsylvania and Col Phillips exclusively in New Jersey & that if in his papers it was otherwise expressed it is a clerical mistake & entirely overlooked and that he always understood the said Collins to affirm that all his services in Pennsylvania were performed under Col Lewis & his services in New Jersey under Col Phillips, G. P. M. makes this correction with pleasure & should deeply regret if the claim of the said Collins should be jeopardized through his inadvertence  the more so as he is satisfied from the statement of Collins & the concurrent testimony of those who know him best, that his claim is just 
G. Molleson
[unreadable] & sworn to the day & year aforesaid  
Peter P. Runyon Justice of the Peace 
I hereby certify that the foregoing deponent G. P.
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State of New Jersey 
Mid’x County  SS.
On the eleventh day of September, Eighteen hundred thirty three, before me the subscriber one of the Justice of the Peace in and for said County, personally appeared  Isaac Dunn & William Green, who being duly sworn on their respective oaths say, that they are well acquainted with Witham Collins, an applicant for a Pension named in paper marked 4479, have known him for thirty years & upwards having so long lived neighbors to him, have all ways regarded him as a scrupulously just and honest man, & of unimpeachable veracity have often heard from his life the story of his services & sufferings in the Revolution, have reason to believe that he served a great deal with fidelity they themselves are soldiers of the Revolution, and altho' they never served with said Collins, they know from circumstances which he could only have learned in the spot, that he must have been out during the greater part of the war.  He is to their knowlege, universally believed, in the neighborhood where he resides to have been an ardent & faithful soldier in the Revolution and so far as they know believe, there is not a breath of suspicion of the integrity of his intention in any thing that he says or does they entertain not a particle of doubt that he served as long as he has claimed to serve, and that his statement is made in all fidelity & honor 
Isaac Dunn
William Green
Sworn & subscribed the day & year aforesaid
Peter P. Runyon Justice of the Peace