Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S 3932, for Charles Smith, New Jersey
Page 1

SERVICE
New Jersey

Smith, Charles

NUMBER]S3932

carded
----------------------------
CONTENTS
b. in Hunterdon Co. N.J. Dec 24 1760
res. at enl. Hanover Twp Morris Co N.J.
res. in 1832 Mongotmery Co. Ohio
Page 2

[printed form with handwritten entries]
Ohio. 19.889.
Charles Smith of Montgomery Co in the State of Ohio. who was a Private in the Co. [company] commanded by Captain Ward. of the Reg. commanded by Colo. Ogden in the New Jersey line for two years
Inscribed on the Roll of Ohio. at the rate of 80 Dollars 00. Cents per annum to commence on the 4th day of March, 1831.
Certificate of Pension issued the 23d. day of Sept. 1933 and sent to Crane & Schenck Dayton. Ohio.
Arrears to the 4th of Sept. 1833. | 200.
Semi-anl. allowance ending 4 Mar '34 | 40.
[total] | $240.
{Revolutionary Claim, Act June 7, 1832.}
Recorded by Wm. R Palmer Clerk
Book E Vol. 8. Page 25.
Page 3

["8104" crossed out] 19.889
Charles Smith
Ohio
["Return 14" crossed out]
Adm 2 years $80.
8104
Crane & Schenck
Dayton Ohio
Page 4

[printed form with handwritten entries]
BRIEF in the case of Charles Smith Co. [county] of Mongomery in the State of Ohio
(Act 7th June, 1832.)
1.  Was the declaration made before a Court or a Judge?  Open Court
2.  If before a Judge, does it appear that the applicant is disabled by bodily infirmity?
3.  How old is he?  72
4.  State his service, as directed in the form annexed.
[form headings] Period. | Duration of Service. [subdivided into 3 columns] Years, | Months, | Days. | Rank. As a | Names of General and Field Officers under whom he served.
In 1777 entered discharged in April | [illegible] | 2 |  | Private | Gen. [blank] Cap Kichel [Kitchel] Col Ford
1st Jan 1777 drafted |  |  3 |  | ditto | Cap Ward  Col Ogden
From his discharge 1st of April |  |   |  |  | Col Angel
to the end of the war or 5 years |  |  |  |  |  
was engaged every 3d month Making about |  | 20 month |  |  |
5.  In what battles was he engaged: taking of Elizabeth Town several skirmises at Cont. [Connecticut] Farms - Spring fields - 2d. River - &c &c.
6.  Where did he reside when he entered the service?  Morris Co. N Jersey
7.  Is his statement supported by living witnesses, by documentary proof, by traditionary evidence, by incidental evidence, or by the rolls?  Traditionary one living witness
8.  Are the papers defective as to form or authentication? and if so, in what respect?  The papers are not certified agreeably to the regulations  [illegible] Length of service not periods are [illegible]
I Certify that the foregoing statement and the answers agree with the evidence in the case above mentioned. [signed] George Taylor Examining Clerk.
Page 5

H8104
Charles Smith
[remainder is bleed-through of ink from opposite side of paper]
Page 6

Deposition of Judge [illegible] for Charles Smith.
Page 7

State of Ohio
Montgomery County ss
On this eleventh day of September personally appeared in open court, before the judges of the court of common pleas of said county, now sitting, Charles Smith, a resident of the said county of Montgomery, in the State of Ohio, aged 72 years, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth, on his oath, make the following declarations, in order to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress passed June 7 1832.  That he entered the services of the United States under the following named officers & served as herein stated. He was a resident of Hanover township, in Morris County New Jersey, & was first engaged as a militia man in the regiment of Col. Jacob Ford, & was attached to the company of Capt. Obadiah Kitchel. He was enlisted in another regiment on the first day of January 1777 & was discharged on the first day of April of the same year. His last mentioned regiment was commanded by Col. Matthias Ogden. The applicant was in the company of Capt. Jonas Ward, the other officers of the regiment were Lieut. Col. Lindley & Maj. Joseph Morris. During that term of three months he was with his regiment at the taking of Elizabeth town & was successively engaged afterwards in intercepting a column of British moving from New Brunswick to Amboy, at Woodbridge, when Col. Buchanen of Virginia was in command, & in the
Page 8

affairs at Coobles town, Samp town & Ash Swamp. This applicant was, during all the rest of the war, attached to the regiment of militia of Morris County, commanded by Col. Benoni Hathaway, after the death of Col. Ford & was drafted every third month for five years, to do service along the British line, being always within 20 miles of New York. While thus in the militia he was engaged successively in the fight at Connecticut Farms, at the burning of Springfield & at the battle of the Second river, besides many other affairs & skirmishes with the enemy, & during all the time his company was under the command of Capt. Kitcher, with whom he had been first engaged. Essex and Middlesex Counties were the principal theatre of the operations in which he was concerned, but some service was done in his own county of Morris. Col. Angel's regiment of regulars, from Rhode Island, he recollects, acted with his regiment at the battle of Springfield, & he remembers that a Capt. Thomson of artillery was killed on that occasion. He has no documentary evidence of his service, never having received any discharges or other papers, & he knows of no person who can testify to his services excepting his fellow soldier Othniel Lookes of Hamilton County in that State & his testimony he has procured to be taken. He hereby relinquishes every claim what-
Page 9

ever to a pension on amenity except the present + declared that his name is not on the pension rolls of the agency of any State. Charles Smith Sworn to + subscribed the day + year aforesaid in open Court.  [signature] C R Greene clk
Mr David Winters a clergyman, residing in the County of Montgomery & state of Ohio, & Ebeneezer Stibbing residing in the same county hereby certify that we are well acquainted with Charles Smith, who has subscribed & sworn to the above declaration; that we believe him to be 72 years of age; that he is reputed & believed, in the neighborhood where he resides, to have been a soldier of the revolution & that we concur in that opinion.  [signed] E Stebbings David Winters
Sworn to & subscribed the day & year aforesaid in open court [signed] C. R. Greene clk
And the said court do hereby declare their opinion, after the investigation of the matter, & after putting the interrogatories prescribed by the War Department, that the above named applicant was a revolutionary soldier & served as he stated. And the court further certify that it appeared to them that David Winters who had signed the preceding certificate, is a clergyman.
Page 10

resident in the county of Montgomery & that Ebenezer Stebbins who also signed the same is a resident in the same county & is a credible person & that this statement is entitled to credit.
By the Court
Attest [signed] C. R. Greene clk
I, Charles R. Greene, Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas in Montgomery County in the state of Ohio, do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said court in the matter of the application of Charles Smith for a pension. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand & seal of the said court on the 11th day of September 1832. [seal] [signed] C. R. Greene clk
Page 11

constantly engaged in service of the most active kind. After the period of three months service as before mentioned & from through all of the next succeeding five years, this deponent knows that the said Smith was engaged as a militia man (according to the system of operations then established in that part of the Country) in active service, along the British line, every third month; besides being called out ['in the' crossed out] on occasions of emergency many times during the intervals.   Said Smith was always considered one of the most efficient soldiers of his regiment, & always ready & generally selected on occasion requiring peculiar activity or confidence in those to be ['engaged' crossed out] employed, he is about two years younger than this deponent, must be
now about 72 years of age- he was perhaps not more than 16 when on his first tour, but an active youth & taller than ordinary. Deponent is very certain that the whole of the services of the said Smith, during the war, when regularly drafted as a militia man, amounted to upwards of two years of time, & that independently
of the many "alarms" which were the occasions of his being frequently called out for several days on a week orn two weeks at a time & further the deponent saith not.
Othniel Looker

Sworn to & subscribed before me
at my office in Dayton in Montgomery
County, Ohio on the 24th
day of July 1832-
Oliver Cock JP
-
The State of Ohio, Montgomery County SS.
"I Oliver Cock a Justice of the Peace within and for the County above said do hereby certify that I am acquainted with Othniel Looker.
Page 12

The State of Ohio Montgomery County SS.
I Oliver Cock a Justice of the peace within and for the County aforesaid do hereby certify that I am acquainted with Othniel Looker of Hamilton County the subscriber of the above declaration and that his testimony is entitled to full faith and credit as he is well known as a man of character & standing in the State of Ohio-
Oliver Cock JP

The State of Ohio, Montgomery County
I Charles R. Greene Clerk of the Court of Common pleas for the County aforesaid, do hereby certify that Oliver Cock before whom the above Deposition was taken, was at the time of
the taking of the same a Justice of the peace  within and for said County duly commissioned and sworn into office and that all official acts by him as such are entitled to full faith and credit.

In Testimony whereof I do hereunto set my name and official Seal at Dayton this 24th day of July A.D. 1832-
C. R. Greene Clerk

I Joseph H Crane attorney Counsellor at law
residing in Dayton, Montgomery County Ohio
do hereby certify that I am well acquainted with
Othniel Looker of Hamilton County Ohio who has subscribed & sworn to the above deposition, and I do further that he is a man
of good moral character, has held various
situations of high public Court in the State of
Ohio, and that his testimony is entitled to
full credit
Dayton July 24th 1832
Joseph H Crane
Page 13

[left side:
1909 Jany 6 Rank & Regt
furnished Jackson W. Sparrow 
V.L.M.

[right side]
Rev War
3932
INVALID.
-----------------
File No.  ___ 3932____
___Charles Smith ______
___ Privt Rev War _______
-----------------
Act: ___ June 7" 1832 _________
Index: -- Vol. __A __, Page __ 346 __

[Arrangement of 1870.]
Page 14

[ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE 
Dec 17 1464084 1908 
WAR DEPARTMENT]
[RECORD DIVISION DEC 22 1908]
Received A.G.O., Dec 16 1908

1464084
WAR DEPARTMENT,
THE ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE,
WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 17, 1908.

Respectfully returned to
Mr. Jackson W. Sparrow,
508 Johnston Building, 
Cincinnati, Ohio.

  The information contained in the
letter herewith returned is too meager
to enable the department to make any
statement concerning the supposed services
of the men in question, or to determine
whether or not any of those
men served in the war of the Revolution.
  It is suggested that, if pensions
were granted on account of the services
of any of the men named within,
information relative to those services
can probably be obtained from the Commissioner
of Pensions, Washington, 
D. C.

The Adjutant General.
[A. G. O. 72-1]
Page 15

[ASSISTANT AND CHIEF CLERK, WAR DEPT.
DEC 16 1908]
[PENSION A U. S. OFFICE.
DEC 22 1980]

The Ohio Society of Sons of the Revolution.
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY,
508-509 JOHNSTON BUILDING,
JACKSON W. SPARROW, SECRETARY, 
TELEPHONE MAIN 1909. 

Cincinnati, December 15, 1908.

War Department,
Washington, D. C. 

Gentlemen:
This society has been hunting the burial places of Revolutionary Soldiers, buried in this State. We have discovered the
following buried in Montgomery County, Ohio;
Woodland Cemetery, Dayton:

Isaac Pierce,
Colonel Patterson,
Alexander Simpson,
Isaac Spinning,
Major David Ziegler,
Daniel Pierson, Lot 466, 59 Section.
Benjamin Cox, died in Dayton, Dec. 29, 1841.

Daniel Kimmel and Samuel Niswonger, both buried seven 
miles west of Dayton, Dunkard Burial Ground, served in the
Battles of Valley Forge, Trenton, Princeton and Brandywine.

Jonathan Munger died November 14, 1837, in Washington 
Township - an Officer.

John Deam, died 24th of June 1827, in Wayne Township.

Captain Joseph Davis, died January 4, 1831 in Butler Township.

Peter Recher, Jefferson Township.

James Reed died January 31st, 1833, in Butler Township. 

Robert Moses buried at Germantown, Ohio.

Charles Smith died on the 22nd of September 1838, at 
Carrolton, Ohio.

It is necessary that we have the Ranks and the Regiment of each one
Page 16

The Ohio Society Of Sons of the Revolution.
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY,
508-509 JOHNSTON BUIILDING,
JACKSON W. SPARROW, SECRETARY,
TELEPHONE MAIN 1909.

Cincinnati, 12/15/08,
W. D. 2. 

of these Soldiers during the War of the Revolution. Can you give
me, from the Records in your Department and in that of the Pension
Department, the information desired.
Thanking you for any information you may give me, I remain
Very truly yours,

Jackson W. Sparrow
Secretary

[PENSION A US OFFICE
DEC 22 1908]
Page 17

Record Division.

January 6, 1909.

Mr. Jackson W. Sparrow,
Secretary of the Ohio Society S. R.
#503-509 Johnston Building,
Cincinnati, Ohio.

Sir:

In reply to your letter dated the 21" and received the 22"" ultimo, you are advised that the pension records of this Bureau show:

Charles Smith; Private, New Jersey troops,  of death not stated, (Sur. File No. 3933).

Daniel Pierson, Lieut. New Jersey troops, Revolutionary War, date of death not stated. Sur. File No. 40,263).

Alexander Simpson, Private, New Jersey troops, Revolutionary War, died at Dayton, Ohio, March 20, 1834, Wid. File No. 7182).

Benjamin Cox, Private, North Carolina troops, Revolutionary War, date of death not stated. Sur. File No. 2146).

Owing to lack of a clerical force available for the purpose, this Bureau is unable to make investigations and reports in a large number of
Revolutionary War pension claims for any one person, it being the practice to furnish four records to each inquirer.

The place of burial of such pensioners are seldom on record, and the data given by you is insufficient to identify any of the other soldiers
Page 18

3.

mentioned. In addition to the soldier's full name, some of the following facts are essential to the identification of claims: names of some officers under whom they served, places of residence at enlistment and after discharge, and given names of widows.

Very respectfully,
Commissioner.
Page 19

Charles Smith
Page 20

BRIEF objections to the admission of Pension Claims, of which those answered in the negative, in red ink, will apply to the claim of
Charles Smith which requiref urther proof or explanation.

I. Does the declaration show where the applicant resides?      yes

II. Did the declarant make the declaration in the county where he resides?      yes

III. If the applicant did not make the declaration in the county where he resides, is there any reason assigned for his not doing so?

IV. Has the declarant mentioned the period or periods of the war when he served?   no

V. *Has he mentioned 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 amout [amount] of pension he is entitled?   yes

VI. Has he given the names of the officers under whom he served, in conformity with the regulations?      yes

VII. Has he made a relinquishment of every claim to any other pension than the one under the Act of June 7, 1832?     yes

VIII. Has the Court given their opinion?     yes

IX. Has the Clerk given his certificate?    yes

X. Is the Clerk's seal affixed? And if so, has it a device or inscription by which it can be distinguished from any other seal?    yes
Page 21

2

XI. Has the applicant obtained the evidence of a clergyman and another respectable citizen as to
their belief respecting his age and the general belief in his neighborhood relative to his revolutionary service?    yes

XII. If the clergyman's affidavit has not been produced, is there any reason assigned for not obtaining it?

XIII. If the applicant has no documentary evidence, and has not obtained the testimony of at least one living witness, has he stated in his declaration that such proof cannot be had?

XIV. +If the applicant's name is not found on the rolls of military service, has he produced a witness or witnesses as to his service?    yes

If he has produced direct proof as to service, has the magistrate who administered the oath,
certified to the credibility of the witness or witnesses?   No

Has the proper officer certified to the official character and signature of the magistrate as the regulations direct?    yes

XV. Does it appear from any of the papers that the witness was in such a situation, or of such an age, as to have a personal knowledge of the applicant's service?

XVI. Are the papers authenticated as the regulations direct? Yes.  

XVII. Are the seven interrogatories prescribed by the War Department answered satisfactorily? And, if not, which of them is not so answered?    yes 
-------------------------
EXPLANATORY NOTES.
*QUERE V. 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 [blank] year [blank] months, and [blank] days, I served as a [blank].   For [blank] months and ]blank] 
days, I served as a [blank]; and for such service I claim a pension.
Page 22

3

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 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 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.

+QUERE XIV. Proof of Service.
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.

++QUERE XVI. Mode of authenticating
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 paper 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.
-->In every case where the clerk of the court, or other certifying officer, 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.
Page 23

The Ohio Society of Sons of the Revolution.
--------
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY.
503-509 JOHNSTON BUILDING.
JACKSON W. SPARROW, Secretary.
TELEPHONE MAINE 1909.

Cincinnati, December 21, 1908.

Commissioner of Pensions,
Washington, D. C.

Dear Sir:

I inclose you herewith a letter written by me on the 15th inst. to the War Department, with their answer attached thereto.  Can you help me any with the information desired?

Very truly yours,
Jackson W. Sparrow
Secretary.

[stamp:] U.S. PENSION OFFICE A DEC 22 1908
Page 24

[stamp:] RECORD DIVISION DEC 23 1908
Page 25

1834
1760
_____
    74


O Looker the witness
is a pensioner under
Act 7th June 1832
T.S.E.
Page 26

State of Ohio, Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas of the term of May eighteen hundred thirty three

Charles Smith personally appeared in open Court & being duly sworn deposeth & saith that he has no record of his age but he was born
Hunterdon County New Jersey, on the twenty fourth or twenty fifth, he is not certain which, day of December Seventeen hundred & sixty.   his father had a family bible in which the names of his children & the periods of their births were 
set down, which after his death, went into
the possession of Ralph Smith brother of the deponent in whose family it probably still is.
When deponent attained of sixteen years he was enrolled as a private in Capt. Obadiah Kitchell's; company in Col Ford afterwards Col Hathaway's regiment  he enlisted, as stated in
his formed declaration in Capt. Ward's company
in Col Ogdens regiment for three months, after the expiration of this tour, on his return to his home in Hanover township Morris County New Jersey he was again enrolled as a private in Capt Kitchell's company in which he continued to serve untill the end of the war. In the ordinary course of duty in that company one third of the
men were drafted for a monthly tour of duty, then each man regularly served one month in each three
Page 27

month though it frequently occurred that the whole company would be called out, whenever any emergency required their services. Their vicinity to New York which was occupied by the British untill the peace kept the Militia in that part of the State of New Jersey where
deponent lives, constantly on the alert, and though reason of old age & the consequent loss of vision [illegible]; not state precision each particular tour which he served in Capt Obadiah  Kitchell's Company & when it commenced & 
when it terminated, yet he can state that he served every regular monthly tour from 1777 when his tour of duty terminated [illegible] 
Ward's company, untill the end of the war [illegible] including the term of three months
in Capt Wards Company he served the full period of two years in regular tours of duty, exclusive of the various extra calls which emergencies made necessary. In his former declaration he stated that he had received no discharges he received none from Capt. Ward at the expiration of the period of three months, none for the various monthly tours of duty which he served in Capt. Kitchells company.
Charles Smith

Subscribed and affirmed to
in Open Court. May 27th 1833
C.R. Greene Clk
Page 28

I Charles R. Greene Clerk of the Court 
of Common Pleas of Montgomery County certify that the foregoing deposition of Charles Smith was made in due form of law in open court & is affixed to the former declaration of Charles Smith for a pension by order of the [covered by seal]. 

In testimony whereof I hereto set my hand & affixed the seal of the said Court the twenty
Seventh day of May eighteen hundred thirty three
C.R. Green Clk