Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File R. 59, George Adner, New York
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Service: New York
Adner, George
Number: R. 59
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May 28, 1834 

Sir:
The papers of George Adner were heretofore returned in order that the claim might be sustained by proof. But on examining them again no proof appears. There is no evidence in the Department of any such service during the Revolutionary war as that upon which this claim is founded. To support the application the most satisfactory proof is required. The case is suspended and the papers placed on file. 
To A. Ely
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Order for medical examination -not filled out
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G. Adner
30,625.

Daniel Wheeler Sergt
William De Groot

[illegible- Edines?]

chd. 57
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STATE OF NEW YORK,} 
Jefferson County, } ss.
ON this Sixth day of March 1834, personally appeared in open Court, before the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, in and for said County, now sitting, George Adner a resident of Rutland in said County, aged 70 years, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth, on his oath, make the following declaration, in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress, passed June 7, 1832. 
That he entered the service of the United States under the following named officers, and served as herein stated. 
I was born in the town of Haverstraw Orange County April 1764, and there lived during the Revolutionary war -- Some time in the month of February 1781 or 1782. I think 1782 a Company of light Infantry was by the proper Authority recommended to be raised as Volunteers to serve two years and attached to the Regiment of New York State Troops commanded by Col. Robart. I enlisted into this company commanded by Captain Samuel Brewster - Lieut.. John Nogel and Ensign Daniel White -- We took up our march on the 1st March 1781 or 82 as near as I can recollect and repaired to our head quarters which we at Mr Brewster's house on the South side of Stony Point There was during this time a small garrison in the Fort and I have forgotten who commanded it  -- I served in this company continuously nine months the weather then being very severe. Our company was discharged and went home on the condition that we held ourselves in readiness at a moments notice to turn out -- The company consisted of about sixty and  all lived in Eight or ten miles of Each other, Our duty was to watch the movements of the Enemy and to prevent their Landing -- consequently we were [illegible] from Peekskill dow[n] to the Haverstraw Highland and along on the shore and were constantly engaged the whole nine months. The British in small parties effects a Landing several times while I was out -- three of the times we had quite a skirmish with them but succeeded in driving them off, without their having affected their object or done any damage. At the close of nine months we were all dismissed and were never called out again -- I think the war closed the next Season -- None of the company were ever called upon after that. I think it was March when I entered the service -- I know I served just nine months in continuance--
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I do not know of any proof. I suppose there are witnesses living but I do not know of any  I am a poor man and have delayed making this application for I should  have to prove it but have not the means of journeying in search of Witnesses.
I was born at Haverstraw in the year 1764 My age is recorded in the old family Bible and now in the possession of my brother.
When called into service I lived in Haverstraw & there lived during the Rev War since then I moved to Morristown N. Jersey and there resided about Eight years - then returned to Haverstraw and there remained till about 16 years since when I moved into Rutland where I now live & I have lived ever since.
I was called into service as a [illegible] and did the duty of a private 
There were no regular Officers with the Troops while I served. There were several turn outs of the Militia Companys -- but I believe no Regt.
I never received a written discharge but served faithfully for nine months and was continually in the field or at the head quarter of the Company -- was not employed in any civil pursuit during any part of that time. 
I offer to the court the Certificate of my neighbours who are all well known to the court who certify that I am a man of truth and veracity and that I am industrious and honest in all my dealings and that in their opinion I am entitled to a pension 
It is signed by Daniel Eames Esq., Frederick Tyler, Joseph Woodman, F. Tyler Jr and Peter Yends Esq -- Elder Whitehead is the second Clergyman & for many years has lived in my neighbourhood
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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. 
Sworn to, and subscribed, the day and year aforesaid. 
[George (X his mark) Adner
[Signed] P. Burchard Clerk 

We, Joseph Whitehead a Clergyman, residing in the Town of Rodman in said County, and Erastus Hosmer residing in Ruttland hereby certify, that we are well acquainted with George Adner who has subscribed and sworn to the [missing] 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 to, and subscribed, the day and year aforesaid. 
[Signed] Joseph Whitehead 
[Signed] Erastus Hosmer 
[Signed] P. Burchard Clerk

And the said Court 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 Joseph Whitehead who has signed the preceding certificate, is a Clergyman, resident in the town of Rodman and that Erastus Hosmer who has also signed the same, is a resident in Rutland and is a credible person, and that their statement is entitled to credit. 
I, PELEG BURCHARD, Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, do hereby certify, the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court in the matter of the application of George Adner for a Pension. 
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of the Court, this Sixth day of March 1834 
[Signed] P. Burchard Clerk
[SEAL]
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No. 59
REJECTED
George Adner
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New York 59
George Adner
Revy.
Suspended
Letter to A Ely May 28, 1834.

Act 7 June '32
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Watertown N.Y. May. 19, 1834 

Sir
I am requested by George Adner to state to you that while in service he was called Edener or Edner instead of Adner and to ask of you if that name is not on the Roll -- he also states that Daniel Wheeler was Sergeant and William De Groot a member of the company & thinks a Corporal and would be gratified to know whether them or any other man claiming to have served in the same company are applicants for, or have obtained pensions under the act of 1832 & in what place they reside -- Adner is a stranger to me. He is represented by his neighbours to be a poor man possessing strict truth and maintaining it in all his statements.
He says if any of the members of the Company are alive & he can find out where they live he will willingly prove the service he claims
Yr obt Sevt
Adnil Ely

JL Edwards Esqr
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30,6215
George Adner
New York.

Proof of Service required

A. Ely Esq.
Watertown New York
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WAR DEPARTMENT,
Pension Office.

Sir: 
The evidence in support of your claim, under the act of June 7, 1832, has been examined, and the papers are herewith returned. The following is a statement of your case in a tabular form. On comparing these papers with the following rules, and the subjoined notes, you will readily perceive that objections exist, which must be removed, before a pension can be allowed. The notes and the regulations will shew what is necessary to be done. Those points to which your attention is more particularly directed, you will find marked in the margin with a brace, (thus: } ). You will, when you return your papers to this Department, send this printed letter with them; and you will by complying with this request, greatly facilitate the investigation of your claim.
A Statement, showing the service of George Adner 
Period when the service was rendered | Duration of the claimant's service. (Years-Months-Days) | Rank of claimant | Names and rank of Field officers under whom he served | Age at present, and place of abode when he entered the service | Proof by which the declaration is supported

I am, respectfully,
Your obedient servant, 
JAMES L. EDWARDS, Commissioner of Pensions.
See note Je
Proof of Service required
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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, mucicians or privates, will, in the first instance, make application by transmitting the following declaration, which will be made before a Court of Record of the County where such applicant resides. And every Court having by law a seal and Clerk is considered a Court of Record. 
DECLARATION. 
In order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress of the 7th of June, 1832. 
State, Territory, or District of }
County of ____} ss.  
On this ___ day of _____ personally appeared (a) before _____  A. B. a resident (b) of in the county of and State, Territory or District of ___ aged (c) years, who being first duly sworn, according to law, doth on his oath make the following declaration, in order to obtain the benefit of the provision made by the act of Congress, passed June 7th, 1832. That he enlisted in the Army of the United States in the year (d) ____ , with ____ and served in the ______ (e) regiment of the ____ line, under the following named officers: 
[Here set forth the names and rank of the Field and Company Officers; the time he left the service; (and if he served under more than one term of enlistment, he must specify the particular period, and rank and names of his officers); the town or county and State in which he resided when he entered the service; the battles, if any, in which he was engaged, and the country through which he marched. >>This form is to be varied so as to apply to the cases of officers and persons who belonged to the militia, volunteers, navy, &c.] 
He hereby relinquishes every claim (f) whatever to a pension or an annuity, except the present, and he declares that his name is not on the Pension Roll of any Agency in any State, or (if any) only on that of the Agency in the State of _____ 
Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid. A. B. 
[And then will follow the certificate of the Court.] 
And the said Court do hereby declare their opinion (g) that the above named applicant was a revolutionary soldier, and served as he states. 
I ____ of the Court of ______ do hereby certify (h) that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court in the matter of the application of ____ for a pension. 
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office (i) this ___ day of ____ &c. 
If, on examination of the proper record, the names of applicants, making such declaration, cannot be found, they will produce such proof as the rule given in note (j) points out. Every applicant who claims a pension by virtue of service in the State Troops, Volunteers or Militia, except those who belonged to the New Hampshire Militia and State Troops of Virginia, will make and subscribe a declaration similar to the foregoing, with the following additions, viz: (k) We, A. B., a Clergyman, residing in the hereby certify, that we are well acquainted with and C.D. residing in (the same) subscribed and sworn to the above declaration; that we believe him to be 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. 
[And then will follow the certificate of the Court.]
And the said Court do hereby declare their opinion, after the investigation of the matter, and after putting the interrogatories prescribed by the War Department, that the above named applicant was a Revolutionary Soldier, and served as he states. And the Court further certifies, that it appears to them that A.B. who has signed the preceding certificate is a clergyman, resident in the and that C. D., who has also signed the same is a resident in the and is a credible person, and that their statement is entitled to credit. I, Clerk of the Court of do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court, in the matter of the application of for a pension. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office, this day of & c. Every applicant will produce the best proof in his power. This is the original discharge or commission ; but if neither of these can be obtained, the party will so state under oath, and will then procure, if possible, the testimony of at least one credible witness, stating in detail his personal knowledge of the services of the applicant, and such circumstances connected therewith, as may have a tendency to throw light upon the transaction. If such surviving witness cannot be found, the applicant will so state in his declaration, (l) and he will also, whether he produce such evidence or not, proceed to relate all the material facts, which can be useful in the investigation of his claim, and in the comparison of his narrative with the events of the period of his
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[p2 of the Regulations governing Pension applications]

3 
alleged service, as they are known at the Department. A very full account of the services of each person will be indispensable to a favorable action upon his case. The facts stated will afford one of the principal means of corroborating the declaration of the applicant, if true, or of detecting the imposition, if one be attempted ; and unless, therefore, these are amply and clearly set forth, no favorable decision can be expected . All applicants will appear before some Court of Record in the County in which they reside, and there subscribe and be sworn to, one of the declarations above provided, according to the nature of his case. The Court will propound the following (m) interrogatories to all applicants for a pension, on account of service in the Militia, State troops, or Volunteers, except the Militia of New Hampshire and the State troops of Virginia. 1. Where and in what year were you born? 2. Have you any record of your age, and if so, where is it? 3. Where were you living when called into service; where have you lived since the Revolutionary war , and where do you now live? 4. How were you called into service; were you drafted, did you volunteer, or were you a substitute? And if a substitute, for whom? 5. State the names of some of the Regular Officers, who were with the troops, where you served; such Continental and Militia Regiments as you can recollect, and the general circumstances of your services. Did you ever receive a discharge from the service, and if so, by whom was it given, and what has become of it? To a Soldier? To an Officer. 2 Did you ever receive a commission, and if so, by whom was it signed, and what has become of it? 7. State the names of persons to whom you are known in your present neighborhood, and who can testify as to your character for veracity, and their belief of your services as a soldier of the Revolution. The Court will see that the answers to these questions are embodied in the declaration, and they are requested to annex their opinions of the truth of the statement of the applicant. without too much expense and inconvenience to him, two respectable persons--one of whom should be the nearest clergyman, if one lives in the immediate vicinity of such applicant, who can testify, from their acquaintance with him, that they believe he is of the age he represents, and that he is reputed and believed in the neighborhood to have been a Revolutionary soldier, and that they concur in that opinion. If one of these persons is a Clergyman, the Court will so certify, and they will also certify to the character and standing of other persons giving such certificates. The traditionary evidence of service is deemed very important, in the absence of any direct proof, except the declaration of the party. And the Courts are requested to be very particular in the inquiry whether the belief is general, and whether any doubts have ever existed upon the subject. Applicants unable to appear in Court, by reason of bodily infirmity, may make the declaration before required, and submit to the examination, before a Judge or Justice of a Court of Record of the proper county, and the Judge or Justice will execute the duties, which the Court is herein requested to perform, and will also certify that the applicant cannot, from bodily infirmity, attend the Court. Whenever any official act is required to be done by a Judge or Justice of a Court of Record, or by a Justice of the Peace, the certificate of the Secretary of State or Territory, or of the proper Clerk of the Court or County, under his seal of office, will be annexed, stating that such person is a Judge or Justice of a Court of Record, or a Justice of the Peace, and that the signature annexed is his genuine signature. No payments can be made on account of the services of any person, who may have died before the taking effect of the act of June 7, 1832; and in case of death subsequent thereto, and before the declaration herein required is made, the parties interested will transmit such evidence as they can procure , taken and authenticated before a Court of Record, showing the services of the deceased, the period of his death, the opinion of the neighborhood respecting such services, the title of the claimant, and the opinion of the Court upon the whole matter. 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. 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. The age of the claimant must invariably be mentioned. The declarant must mention the period or periods of the war when he served. 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---year----months, and- --- days, I served as a . For months and - days, I served as a ; and for such service I claim a pension." It is important, in all cases, to determine with precision the period for which each applicant served, and the particular rank he held, as the law directs the pension to be paid according to the grade of the pensioner and the length of his service. The use of the phrase about three or four months, is too indefinite, and all such qualifying expressions are objectionable. Some persons who apply for pensions merely state that they served two years in the militia, &c. without specifying the tours, the names of the officers, and other particulars respecting their service. This form of a declaration is highly objectionable. It must, in every case, be clearly shown under what officers the applicant served; the duration of each term of engagement; the particular place or places where the service was performed; that the applicant served with an embodied corps called into service by competent authority ; that 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. The law makes the relinquishment indispensable. The Clerk must give his certificate in every case. 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. 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. note (j) applies to continental troops only. 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.