Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S. 11627, Adam Van Ness, New York
Page 1

(3 - 1776) 

SERVICE 
New York      

Van Ness, Adam

NUMBER 
S.11627 

carded
________________________
CONTENTS
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14034
[]2.987      New York 
________________________
Adam Van Ness. 
Rensselaer Co in the State of New York 
He was a Lieutenant in the Company commanded by Captain Clew of the Regt commanded by Col Van Astien in the N.Y. line for 24 mo 
___________________________
Inscribed on the Roll of New York the rate of 320 Dollars 00 Cents per annum to commence on the 4th day of March, 1831. 
_____________________________
Certificate of Pension issued the 6 day of May 1833 and Sent to Geo. W. Blakely 
Schadock Landing
____________________________
 Arrears to the 4th of March 1833 $640.00 
Semi-anl. allowance ending 4 Sept- 160.00  
____________________________________
                                                           $800.00
{Revolutionary Claim,} 
{Act June 7, 1832} 

Recorded by W. L. Williams 

Book C Vol. 4 Page 3
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Certificate rated as a dead letter & sent again to  A’d Bull. Troy 
with a note to hand it to Pensioner this 
14th Oct 1833 
D.L. Williams
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State of New York⎬ 
Columbia County }. 
I Joseph D Monell Clerk of Columbia County do hereby certify that John Sutherland whose name is affixed to the within affidavit of 
Bartholemew Van Valkenburgh was commissioner of Deeds in the Town Chatham Columbia County and Hiram Bidwell whose name is affixed the within affidavit of Andrew Clew was a Justice of the peace of the Town of Kinderhook in said County and were such at the dates of the said Instruments or affidavits in and for the County of Columbia and duly authorized to take said affidavits - And further that I am acquainted with the handwriting of the said John Sutherland and Horace Bidwell do verily believe the signatures of the said John Sutherland and Hiram Bidwell to be in their proper hand writing 
In testimony whereof I have set my hand and affixed the seal of said County this 6th day of September 1832 
Jos. Monell   CM
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State of New York 
Columbia County ss: 
Bartholomew Van Valkenburgh of the Town of Chatham in the County of Columbia and State of New York being duly sworn doth depose and say that he is eighty years of age 
That as a militiaman he served during the greater part of Seven years in the army of the United States or was engaged in the service of the United States during the time that he was not constantly in service during that period but always stood ready and was much of the time actually engaged in the service as a militiaman. 
That he was stationed at Fort Edward in the State of New York and remained there some months the precise time this deponent can not now recollect. 
was also at Fort Ann Lake George and Albany and when this deponent was not abroad in Service he was engaged considerable of the time in the service of his country while at the place of his residence in the County of Columbia. 
That during the Revolution he was well acquainted with Adam Van Ness and knows that the said Adam Van Ness he served in the Revolutionary War as a Lieutenant - That this deponent served and was attached to the same company in which the said Adam Van Ness was a Lieutenant - That the said Adam Van Ness was engaged in the War as such officer for and during the period of the Revolution or for the Term of seven or eight years. 
That the Colonel of the Regiment in which this deponent and the said Adam was attached and belonged was one Abraham I. Van Alstine 
was under one Bluger Clow as Captain of said Company to which this deponent belonged and he being dropped from the service in consequence of some misdemeanor the said Adam Van Ness assumed the command of Company and acted as Captain in the place of said Clow and was engaged and did service in the War for
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a number of years as a Captain in the place of said Clow — this deponent was in service with said Van Ness on the Mohawk River west of Albany - was also in service with him at Fort Edward in the County of Washington in the State of New York also at Stillwater on Bemen heights when Burgoyne was defeated and at other places and further this deponent Saith not 
Bartholomew Van Volkenberg
His mark x
Sworn and Subscribed before me this 27th day of August, 1832 
John Sutherland Commissoner of Deeds 


Rensselaer County} 
Town of Schodack
Robert J. Johnson and Abraham being duly sworn depose and say that they are personally acquainted with Adam Van Ness of the Town of Schodack in the County of Rensselaer who has subscribed the above declaration and that the said Adam Van News is eighty two years of age next January that he has a record of his age and that they have seen the same and that the said and Adam Van Ness is generally reputed and believed in the neighborhood where he resides to have been a soldier in the Revolutionary War and further say not 
Robert J Johnson 
Abraham Johnson 

Subscribed & Sworn 
before me Robert Williams 
Justice of the peace 
September 3d 1832
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Columbia County ss}
Town of Kinderhook ss} 
Andrew Clow of the town of Kinderhook in the County of Columbia being duly Sworn deposeth says that he is eighty two years of age that he served as a militiaman  in the service of the United during the War of the Revolution but the precise time this deponent cannot now recollect but it is for a considerable length of time. 
That was in service and bound to Military Service that when he entered the service as a [private?]he lived in the Town of Kinderhook and That he marched from his residence by way of Albany to Canandaigua when he was stationed about two months and that he also marched from Kinderhook to the German Flatts on to the town of Herkimer was in the County of Herkimer and state of New York when he was stationed a considerable length of time and that he was in service of the United States in all [illegible]  six months and that he knew Adam Van Ness during that time and knew that the said Adam Van Ness as Lieutenant of the Militia  during the [illegible].  this deponent was in the service. 
That all the time he was in the service of the United States [illegible] in the Company in which the said Adam Van Ness was a Lieutenant and that the said Adam Van Ness and did duty as such officer in this deponent company during all the different periods when this deponent was in service during the revolutionary War- That he was personally acquainted with him during
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those peroods and has known him in that time That the said Adam Van Ness then resided in the Town of Kinderhook in the County of Columbia and State of New York. That the name of the General was Robert [illegible] and that Colonel name was Abraham I. Van Alstine and the name of the Captain of the company to which this deponent and the said Adam Van Ness belonged during their service in the revolutionary War was Burger Clow the Brother of this deponent who for some Misdemeanor was arrested and did not do duty and that the said Adam Van News who was then Lieutenant did the duty of Captain in the [illeg]  of the said Burger Clow and further this deponent saith not Andrew Clow

Subscribed & sworn
August 28th 1832 
before me Horace Bidwell 
Justice of the Peace
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on this 4th day of September one thousand eight hundred and thirty two personally appeared in open Court before the Mag Court of the City of Troy now sitting Adam Van Ness a resident of the Town of Schodack in the County of Rensselaer and State of New York aged eighty two years last January 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 7th 1832 - That he entered the service of the United States under the following named officers and served as herein stated viz. — That in the year 1776 he received a commission as Lieutenant in the militia of the State of New York signed by George Clinton then governor of the State of New York but at what time in service year he has forgot- That about one year since he lost said commission it being enclosed in his Chest some person destroyed the same and all other papers in said Chest. 
That previous to the time he receive said commission he was on duty and in the service of the United States at different periods during the sum of Eighteen months as a private militia man that when he receive the commission of Lieutenant he resided in the Town of Kinderhook in the County of Columbia and State of  New York in a company of which Burgen Clow was Captain in said Town.— That soon after he got his commission he was called into service in a regiment of which one Abraham J Van Alstine was Colonel and his company marched from Kinderhook aforesaid and west by the way of Albany west up the Mohawk River to [illeg] a wagen in said River and in the State of New York — 
Captain Burgen Clow for some misconduct in his office had been silenced by the commanding office the duty of Captain fell or to the Said Adam Van Ness and he continued to do the duty of a caption thereof the War as the County Committee did not entirely [illeg] the said Clow or appoint another in his stead
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The whole  Kinderhook Regiment went up to Canandaigua[?] at this time — Philip Van Alstine was Lieutenant Colonel then. The Majors were Isaac Hoos and Van Buren and the said Adam Van Ness was engaged at Canandaigua about three months but do not remember in what part of the year of 1776  —
Does not remember of any new duty being done by him untill the following spring when the regiment was called into service in the north part of New York —- in the spring 1777 he marched under the same officers they had before when they went to the West to Albany and from there they marched to Fort Edward where they were detained for considerable length of time and from they marched to Fort Ann on Lake Champlain in New York — 
Here Burgoynes army came down from Canada and the Regiment to which he was attached retreated back down the River as well as the whole army —-during this retreat they had small skirmishes with the enemy and with the Indians - They retreated back to Fort Edward and then evacuated that fort and come back as far as Snookenkill a place opposite the River from Fort Miller where they stayed a short time and then crossed the River to Fort Miller - 
The evening in a short time crossed the River at Fort Edward and were ordered up to Fort Edward again but did not get in any action. — 
From Fort Miller he with the Troops retreated down to Saratoga and from there to Stillwater — 
at this place he was ordered by Colonel Van Alstine to go down back again to Kinderhook in the County of Columbia and the said Company of men to go march down the North River towards New York. This was a short time before the Battle
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of Stillwater.  
From the time he marched to the north to Fort Edward untill his return to said Troops in Kinderhook was about nine months. He commanded the company as Captain during this time are left his company at Stillwater when he was ordered to return to Kinderhook as again said - 
He further declare that in pursuance of the Colonel [orders?] for said or mustered a small company in Kinderhook and marched them down as far as the city of the Hudson when hearing that General Burgoynes army were taken he returned herein to Kinderhook 
In the Winter following [therafter?] a Company of Robbers came from Canada and were stationed in the Town of Nassau in the County of Rensselaer -  
Colonel Abraham J. Van Alstine ordered the said Adam Van Ness -  Captain Isaac Van Valkenburgh and Captain Aaron Astrander to take twenty men each and to march and destroy these Robbers. They went with sixty men and found them so well fortified they could not safely attack them without Cannon in the opinion of the said Isaac Van Valkenburgh and the said Adam insisted that they could take them and [demanded?]  Volunteers - 
Valkenburgh refusing 
the said Adam Van  Ness and two other persons 
[stormed?] the [house?] where they were and took six of the Robbers all that were in at that time —the took eleven muskets and a half bushel of Cartridges  and goods that they had robbed and taken from the Americans and all the rest of the company of Robbers but one were taken afterwards by the said Adam Van Ness and the two persons before mentioned who are now both dead 
The  Robbers were taken to Albany and being tried were hung and numerous instances  might be mentioned when the said Adam Van Ness has been successfull against the Enemy when the other officers have refused or delayed to make action. 
He further declares that when in   Sir Johnsons Expedition as it is called he marched with his company by the way of Albany Schenectady up the Mohawk River untill they [illegible] where  Sir John’s Army had crossed the River when Genral Van Rensselaer ordered  Colonel Brown the America Commander to attack Sir John. Army at precisely nine oclock in the morning
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and he would attack him in the [rear?]. The Kinderhook with whom he belonged. and Claverack Regiments then crossed the River and pursued the Enemy and get a head of them and the Indians then left the British Army and while they were passing they shot at them and  Killed some of them and some of the Americans were wounded -  
Adam Van Ness was purely engaged in this skirmish - General Van Rensselaer  then ordered a retreat - 
the next morning General Van Rensselaer was arrested for misconduct in this affair and General Clinton took the command -
Adam Van Ness and seven others were ordered by General Clinton to follow the enemy and see their course & gain information -and follow them as far as the German Flatts in Herkimer County New York 
when Sir John’s Army turned South towards Oneida Lake, where his boats were and they followed them near the Lake when the men with him became wearier and gave out [illegible] this Expedition he was with in three or four months 
He further declares that during the war the committee of Columba being a kind of court to Colonel Abraham J. Van  Alstine ordered him to attend upon and do duty for said Committee in catching Tories bringing up [persons?] to take the oath of Allegiance and various other duties 
in those times requisite for the prosecution of the War and was in service in this way two or three months 
Adam Van Ness further declares that either before or after the Sir John Expedition and which he cannot tell he was ordered by Colonel Van Alstine to march another Kinderhook regiment west by the way of Albany Schenectedy and up the Mohawk River to the German Flatts in the Town of Herkimer in the County of Herkimer State of New York 
from Kinderhook  aforesaid that he was a Lieutenant  and acted  a Captain and Isaac Van Ness the Brother of him who signs and acted as Lieutenant as they were stationed and Garrisoned there two or three months and they returned without having any engagement with the British or Indians. 
That before he received a commission as above stated he did duty and was engaged in the service
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of the Revolution not less than one year as a private Militia man in and about the year 1775 - Abraham Van Alstine was the Colonel Robert V Rensselaer General Van Buren and Isaac Hoos Majors —. 
The said Adam Van Ness further declares that while at and in the County of Columbia State of New  he under the  direction and orders of Col J Van Alstine was almost constantly engaged in the service of his country after he had recd from Govnor Clinton his commission of Lieutenant in protecting the country then infested with Robbers and taking them and bringing them to Justice and Execution - in arresting Tories and confining them either to be  confined in their [towns?] by giving Bail and to be sent to New York and that in the meantime he and his family and his fathers family were robbed and one Brother killed and that he was shot at eight  times by the Robbers and missed - 
that he has no documentary evidence of his service and believe his company and all dead except those mentioned in the affidavits he attached and Jacob Van Valkenburgh further saith that during the revolutionary War he has been in actual service as a private [illeg] and as an officer for more that the time of five years 
Adam Van Ness

Sworn to & subscribed the day &
year aforesaid 
Archibald Bull Clerk 

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 the agency of any State 
Adam Van Ness 
Sworn to subscribed the 
day and year aforesaid 
Archibald Bull Clerk
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Mr. John Squire residing in the town  of Schodack in the County of Rensselaer and State of New York and Abiel Buckman Judge of Rensselaer  County  [illegible] pleas hereby certify that we are well acquainted with Adam Van Ness who has Subscribed and sworn to the above declaration; that we believe him to be eighty two years of age; that he is reputed and believed in the neighborhood when he resides to have been a soldier of the Revolution and that we concur in that opinion —i 
Sworn and subscribed the day and year aforesaid  
A. Buckman Judge of
Rensselaer Common Pleas
John Squire

Subscribed & Sworn before 
me Robert Williams Justice 
of the peace September 3d 1832 

Abiel Buckman was sworn in open Court this fourth of September 1832
Archibald Bull Clerk 

And I do hereby certify that Robert G Williams the Justice before whom the above certificate was taken and sworn to is an acting Justice of the peace of the Town of Schodack County of Rensselaer  August 4th 1832 
Archibald Bull Clerk 
Rensselaer County

In the matter of 
Adam Van News
Revolutionary Soldier
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And the same Court do hereby declare their opinon after the investigation of the matter and after putting the interoggatories prescribed by the War departed that the above named applicant was a revolutionary soldier officer and served as he states —
And the Court further certifies that it appear to them that  Abiel Buckman and John Squires who have signed the preceding certificate are residents of the Town of Schodack in the County of Rensselaer and are credible persons and that their statements are entitled to credit

 I Archibald Bull Clerk of the Mayors Court of the City of Troy in the State of New York do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceeding of the said Court in the matter of the application of Adam Van Ness for a pension - 
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office this fourth day of September 1832 
Archibald Bull Clerk
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and the Court do hereby certify declare their opinion that the above named applicant was a Revolutionary soldier and served as he States
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12.987 
Adam Van Ness 
Rensselaer C N York 

admitted 
24 mes. Lieutenant



George W. Blakely 
Schodack Landing 
Rensselaer Co 
N. Y.
Page 18

BRIEF in the case of Adam Van Ness
Schodack of Rensselaer County in the State of New York
(Act 7th June, 1832)

1. Was the declaration made before a Court of a Judge?
Open Court

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

3.  How old is he?
82 years

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

Period.
In 1776
1777.

Duration of Service
Years 
—
—   
Months.    
3.            
9. 
Days
—
—            
As an officer & private he served for more than 5 years

Rank
As a
Lieut.
Captain

Names of General and Field Officers under whom he served
Cap. Binger Clow. Colonel Van Alstine
Major Isaac Hoos. L Van Buren
Gen’l Van Rensselaer

5. In what battles was he engaged?
Several skirmishes

6. Where did he reside when he entered the service?
Kinderhook  Columbia Co. N.York

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

8. Are papers defective as to form or authentication? and if so, in what respect?
Not attached as required

CERTIFY that the foregoing statement and answers agree with the evidence in the case above mentioned

Richard Ceutts
Examining Clerk
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11.627 
INVALID. 

Rev War
____________________

File No. 11.627 

Adam Van Ness 
Lt. Rev. War 
Van Ness 

Act: June 7 1832 

Index: -- Vol. A, Page 389 


[Arrangement of 1870.]
Page 20

FREE 

J L Edwards 
Commissioner of Pensions 

George W. Blakely Esq 
Schodack 
Rensselaer Co 
N. Y.

(Postmark)
City of Washington 
May 9

(Postmark)
Dead Letter G.P. Office
9. Oct
1833
Page 21

Heirs of
Adam Van Ness 
and 2 [help?]
__________

[illegible]

32
Pr 320. Rensselaer County
Capt & Lieut
NY 32

J [illegible signature]
pap[*]. HHL

6 Jany 1851
Mr. Cole

ex-[illegible]
Page 22

Mr. Willis G. Wade
at [Reede?] Wayne County
New York

Paid 5
Page 23

Mr Willis G. Wade 
Sir 
I understand that you are ingaged in the pension agency, and I take this oppertunity to inform you that I am a daughter of Adam Van Ness - and he was a Captain in the revolutionary war - and for some years he drew a pention of $320 per year, and my Father has been dead some ten years and I understand that the children of Deceased revolutionary soldiers and officers can now draw those pensions together with the Back arrears — my Father first drew his pention in the City of New York and for the last of his dayes he drew it in Albany — and when he first drew his pention he resided in the town Schodack in Rensselaer County.   But for the last of his life he resided with me in the Town of Lexington Green County and sir I want you to get the pension for me — you will find the records in Albany — I now reside in the Town of Middletown Delaware County and any of information you wish of me I will give you 
Catharine Schermerharn 
N.B. direct your letters to Pine Hill P.O. Town of  Shandaken Ulster 
Yours &c 
Catharine Schermerharn 
my Fathers name was Adan Van Ness and my name Catharine Van Ness and Married Jacob T. Shermerharn 
I was and am now a Widow 
Direct your letters to me in the care of William Fraser 

to Mr Willis G. Wade