Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File R. 3895, Joseph Gannon, Penn.
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8 - 1776
SERVICE
Penn.
Gannon, Joseph
NUMBER
R. 3895
CONTENTS
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State of New York
Steuben County

Personally appeared before me the subscriber a justice of the peace in and for said county, Benjamin Gannon, a resident of the town of Tyrone(?) in the county of Steuben and state aforesaid, aged sixty-seven years and upwards, who being duly sworn according to law doth depose and say that he, this deponent, is a brother to Joseph Gannon of Elmira in the county of Tioga who is an applicant for a pension.

That during the Revolutionary War this deponent lived at home with his parents in the county of Northumberland in the state of Pennsylvania; that from the best of his recollection as to time, his said brother Joseph entered the service of the United States as a private soldier sometime in the spring of 1777 under Capt. Banks and Col. Potter and served four years;

That he has a knowledge and recollection of these acts from the understanding of the family at the time and he has no doubt of the truth of them.  He remembers hearing his father and said Joseph talk over the matter after he was discharged and cast up his wages and they made it four years.  The said Joseph came home once during his service on furlough and stayed about two weeks.
Signed:  Benjamin Garron

Sworn and subscribed this 7th day of January 1824 before me.
Signed Jesse Whitcomb, Justice of the Peace

I hereby certify that I am well acquainted with Benjamin Gannon who has subscribed and sworn to the foregoing affidavit and that he is a credible witness.
Signed: Jesse Whitcomb, Justice
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State of New York
Steuben County

I, William H. Bull, clerk of said county do hereby certify that Jesse Whitcome Esquire before whom the written affidavit purports to have been sworn was at the date of the same one of the justices of the peace in and for said county, and that I am acquainted with his hand writing and verily believe his name subscribed to said affidavit to be his proper hand writing and signature.

Witness my hand and seal of office at Bath this 8th day of January 1834.
Signed:  William H. Bull
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at a court of common pleas holder at the Court House in the Village of Elmira in and for the county of Tioga in the state of New York commencing on the fourth day of September 1832. 

Present: Hon. Grant B. Baldwin, first judge, John R. Drake, Darius Bentley, Joseph L. Darling and Elijah Shoemaker Esquire, judges.

State of New York
Tioga County

On this 4th day of September 1832 personally appeared in open court before the judges aforesaid, being a court of record because made so by the Constitution and laws of the state, having by law a clerk and seal now sitting Joseph Gannon, a resident of Elmira in the county of Tioga and state of New York, aged seventy years the 15th day of February last, who being first duly sworn according to law doth on his oath made 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.  He enlisted in or about the first of December 1776, as near as he can remember.  It was a few weeks before the battle of Trenton.  That he enlisted under Captain Colesylong, Lieutenant David Newman and Col. Potter for three months, served out the term and received a written discharge from his captain.

During the term of service he was in the battle of Trenton and Princeton in New Jersey.  After these battles Gen. Washington had his headquarters at Morristown where this deponent was stationed.  Immediately on his receiving his discharge aforesaid
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he enlisted for four years under Captain Banks, Lieutenant Hammond and Col. Potter.  Though at times during this term of service our regiment acted under the orders of Gen. Putnam.  The country through which he was marched was on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River and through the state of New Jersey.  He was in a (illegible) engagement with the enemy which lasted three (illegible) at a place called (illegible)town near Amboy.  Col. Potter commanded the militia and Gen. Putnam was here also.  He was in a skirmish with a party of the British at a place called (illegible) in which the enemy were drove into New Brunswick. 

He served out the term and was honorably discharged in the spring of the year 1781.  That he has no documentary evidence of his service aforesaid and that he knows of no person whose testimony he can procure who can testify to them. 

And in answer to the several interrogatories put to him by the Court he says that he was born in the town of Warwick in the county of Orange in the state of New York on the 15th day of February in 1762; that he has no record of his age and retains a knowledge of it as handed down to him by his parents. 

That when he first entered the service he lived in Northumberland County in the state of Pennsylvania but had no particular permanent residence in that county.  At the close of the Revolutionary War he lived at the place of his nativity
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till he came to his present residence in Elmira aforesaid where he has lived for the span of nine years past; that he was a volunteer in the service aforesaid; that he was acquainted with Col. Stroud, Col. Potter and Gen. Putnam and with some of the troops under their command; that he received a written discharge from his captain for the first three months of his services but what has become of it he knows not.  For the last term of service of four years it is his best (illegible) that the company was discharged by general orders from Col. Potter.

That he would refer to Gershom Livesay, John Ten Brook, Joseph Hastings and Comfort Bennett of his neighborhood who are acquainted with his reputation for truth and veracity and who can testify to their belief in the truth of the foregoing declaration.  

He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or an annuity except the present and declares his name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any state. 
Signed:  Joseph (his X mark) Gannon

Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid.
Signed:  Green M. Tuthill, Clk.

We, Simeon Jones, a clergyman residing in Southport and Joseph Hastings of Elmira, hereby certify that we are well acquainted with Joseph Gannon who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration; that we believe him to be seventy 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. 
Signed:  Simeon R. Jones, Joseph Hastings

Sworn and subscribed the day and year aforesaid.
Signed:  Green M. Tuthill, Clk.
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And the said court do hereby declare their opinion after the investigation of the matter and after putting the interrogatories prescribed by the War Department that he above named applicant was a Revolutionary soldier and served as he states.

And the court further certifies that it appears to them that Simeon R. Jones who has signed the including certificate is a clergyman resident in the town of Southport and that Joseph Hastings who has also signed the same, is a resident in the town of Elmira and a credible person and that their statement is entitled to credit. 
Signed:  G. B Baldwin (illegible)

I, Green M. Tuthill, clerk of the court of common pleas aforesaid do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said court in the matter of the application of Joseph Gannon for a pension.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office this 10th day of Sept. 1832.
Signed:  Green H. Tuthill
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3895.

[Cut-off] Joseph Gannon
[S]ervice:
[Stamp] REJECTED

[E]nlisted:_________________, 18
[D]ischarged: ____________, 18

Application filed: __________, 18

[Strikethrough 'Alleges:] The printed list of 1852 gives cause of suspension
[Strikethrough 'Date enlisted:] as Heirs clause for four years service in the Penn. Militia, is not specified by a single tour 
[Strikethrough 'Attorney:] Two monthly tours were the limit for
[Strikethrough P.O.] the Penn. Militia"

_____Recognized.    ____ Contract.
____ Cert. of Dis.  Searched for ____, 18
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New York
Joseph Gannon
Revy. 3895
---------
Suspended
---------
Per let. to J. Robinson 
Cg Apl 17 '34
---------
do. [Act of] 14 Jany '35
Hon I. Cass  16 Jany '35
Let. to J. I. Mumford  June 0 '37

Act of June '32
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Joseph Gannon
Brief of objections

12540
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BRIEF objections to the admission of Pension Claims, of which those answered in the negative, in red ink, will apply to the claim of
Joseph Gannon
which require further 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? Yes
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 of pension
he is entitled? No
Not on rolls - testimony of two credible witnesses required
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
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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? Yes
XIV. If the applicant has produced a witness or witnesses as to his service, has the magistrate who administered the oath certified that he, she, or they are persons of credibility?
Has the official character and signature of the magistrate been certified by the proper officer under his seal of office?
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? No
XVII. Are the seven interrogatories prescribed by the War Department answered satisfactorily? And, if not, which of them is not so answered? the answers are (illegible-due to fading)

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 __ year __ __ months and __ __ days, I served as a __ __. For __ __ months and __ __days, I served as a __ __ ; and for such service I claim a pension."
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It is important in all cases to determine with precision the period for which the 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.
QUERE XIV. Proof of Service.
In a case where the name of the appliant 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 claimants entering the service, and the time and manner of his leaving the same, as well as the regiment, company, and line to which be 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 papers.
In every instance where the certificate of the certifying officer who authenticated 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 end 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.
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Brief in the case of
Joseph Gannon
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State of New York
(Illegible) County

Personally appeared before me the subscriber a justice of the peace in and for said county, Joseph Gannon who being duly sworn, deposeth and saith that soon after his said enlistment in the company of Capt. Banks and Col. Potter for the term of four years which he thinks was in the month of March 1777 he was furnished with clothing.  His coat was blue and faced with red and the buttons had on them the impression "United States."  

He received pay for the whole term of four years; that he does not remember of  being absent from the service during the time but once and there he had a furlough from his captain to go home which he thinks was for two weeks; that his parents lived in Northumberland County, Pa by the West Branch of the Susquehanna River at the time he went home.

He was discharged in the spring of 1781.  He has been able to procure the testimony of David McCormick and Benjin Cannon hereto annexed which is all the evidence in his power to procure. 
Signed:  Joseph (his X mark) Gannon

Sworn and subscribed this 3rd day of April 1834 before me.
Signed:  Sm. Dunn, J.P.

I certify that I am well acquainted with Joseph Gannon who has subscribed and sworn to the foregoing affidavit and that he is a credible witness.
Signed:  Wm. Dunn, J.P.
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State of New York
Tioga County SS}
David McCormick of Elmira in said County of aged seventy one years and upwards being duly Sworn doth depose and say that he was well acquainted with Jospeh Gannon of Elmira aforesaid during the Revolutionary War and that the said Gannon was a Private Soldier in the Pennsylvania Troops and as this deponent understood under Col. Potter, That this deponent knew the said Gannon in one expedition or campaign in the spring and summer of 1779 on the last march of the Susquehanna River in which the said Gannon served throughout and this deponent knows of his having served as a Private soldier on the Delaware River and in the state of New Jersey -

[signed] David McCormick

Sworn & Subscribed- 
this 7th day of April -
1834 before me by the -
said David McCormick
to the known to be a
credible witness-}

Wm Dunn J.P.
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In the case of Joseph Gannon: when his declaration was first presented it was decided that the evidence of two witnes was required with a printed letter stating that "each case is considered correct in all respects except in relation to those questions to which negative answer is affixed." No other alteration or addition will be required"

The incidence of two witnesses was at length procured and transmitted; when two new objections are raised; first, that the applicant must have mistaken Potter for Porter - Second; that the laws of Pa authorized no enlistments at that time for four years; and that his supplementary statement in regard to his clothing strengthens the last objection.

In relation to the first point; the declaration is supported by the high authority of Chief Justice Marshall's Life of Washington, second edition, published a year after he made the declaration at page 172 volume first it is stated that in the latter part of October 1777 Gen Potter crossed the Schuylkill with six hundred militia with orders to scour the country between that River and Chester to prevent supplies reaching Gen. Howe who had taken possession of Phila. on the 26th of the preceding month. It is further corroborated by the same author page 149 by the skirmish at Quibbletown on the road to Amboy June 26 same year; besides he states that he was at times under the command of Gen. Putnam.

In relation to the second point, in his
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answer to the fourth interrogatory he says that he volunteered under what was said at the time to be a pre-- call? for militia and they wanted the [illegible] enlistment that could be obtained - This is also [illegible] by the same authority before cited page 141. "The Plan of raising regular Corps to be exclusively under state authority and thus be a perpetual substitute for the [illegible] of the country" was strenuously agitated at the time of this enlistment. As to the clothing - it cannot be supposed that a soldier would remain thus long in the service without being in some measure, if not wholly, clothed by the Public - as early as the middle of September '77 Congress recommended to the executive? of? Pa to seize all the cloths and other military stores then in Phila. for the use of the army - the executive? declined but advised the commander in chief to do it which was accordingly executed by Col. Hamilton one of his aids - see page 165 same vol - besides, this is a fact the claimant would be more likely to remember than any other being constantly before his eyes and no way essentially necessary in support of his claim and why he should wish to state and set out two years and three months more than [illegible] to obtain full pay as a private is not readily conceived ^[illegible] it were actually here^ and supposing he should have reenlisted during that time and have forgotten it it would not be strange ^ [illegible] ought not to [illegible] against his claim the only material fact is did he perform the service? Again as to the first point page 185 he had fallen in
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with a Brigade of Pa
Militia commanded
by Gen Potter. It may be remitted here that the
author sometimes gives an officer the
land of General who in fact is but a
Colonel. See page
89 where Col. Woodhull
of Orange County is styled General-
In addition to all this is there no right to be given to the two witnesses adduced
in the case? "Not that these witnesses should
both certify from their personal knowledge
to the actual service of the applicant; but
that they should by direct or indirect
circumstantial evidence confirm the amount
given by himself". See letter of Secretary of War June 15, 1832
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Joseph Gannon
Declaration
12.540
direct to the case of
James Robinson
Agent
Elmira
Lioge Co
 N York
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State of New York
Tioga County
I Green M Tuthill
Clerk of the said County do hereby
Certify William Dunn esquire
before whom the foregoing affidavits
of Joseph Gaunon and David
McCormick were sworn to and
subscribed was at the date of the same 
a Justice of the Peace in and for said
County that I am well acquainted with
his hand writing and know his signature subscribed to the said affidavits to be genuine
Witness my hand & seal of
Office this 9th day of April 1834 - 
Green M. Tuthill