Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S. 29652, Edmund Briggs, Continental Mass.
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Continental Mass.   Briggs, Edmund   S. 29652

This Envelope Includes
FINAL PAYMENT VOUCHER
Received from GAO [stamped on bottom]
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21,448
Massachusetts
Edmund, Briggs
Bristol in the State of Mass
who was a private in the Comp. commanded
by Captain Haskins of the Regt. commanded
by Col. Larned in the Mass
line for Full Term
Inscribed on the Roll of Massachusetts 
at the rate of 80 Dollars     Cents per annum,
[tear] commence on the 4th day of March, 1831.
Certificate of Pension issued the 19 day of Sep.
1822     and sent to A. Bradford  New Bedford
Arrears to the 4th of Sept 33[?]   $200
Semi-anl. allowance ending 4 Mar 36[?]   40
$240
Revolutionary Claim,
Act June 7, 1832.
Recorded by G. C Stiles  Clerk,
Book E,  Vol. 2,   Page 9
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195 Dead!
Edmund Briggs decd
33.33
C
3rd Quarter 1835
Boston Mass
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COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
Bristol ss. 
[stamp]

I, ANSELM BASSETT, Register of the Court of Probate for said County of Bristol, do hereby certify, that, at a Court of Probate, holden at [handwritten] Seekonk _ _ . [end handwritten] in and for said County, on the [handwritten] first . . . .[end handwritten] day of [handwritten] September [end handwritten] eighteen hundred and [handwritten] thirty five - [end handwritten] it was satisfactorily proved to said Court [illegible] (a Revolutionary Pensioner,) late of [handwritten] Freetown _ [end handwritten] in said County of Bristol, deceased, died on the [handwritten] fourth - [end handwritten] day of [handwritten] August. [end handwritten] eighteen hundred and [handwritten] thirty five - [end handwritten] leaving [handwritten] no widow, but leaving one child only vir. Charlotte Payne wife of John Payne of said Freetown. And that the said Charlotte is of age and still living - [end handwritten] 

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and the seal of said Court, this [handwritten] first - [end handwritten] day of [handwritten] September [end handwritten] eighteen hundred and thirty [handwritten] five_. A Bassett [end handwritten] 

[illegible signatures or initials included at bottom left] 

[stamp at bottom right] FINAL PAYMENT VOUCHER Received from GAO
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Know all men by these presents that I Charlotte Payne, only surviving Child of Edmund Briggs late of Freetown in the County of Bristol and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, deceased, who was a Revolutionary Pensioner of the United States, do hereby constitute and affirm John W. Hoyt my true and lawful attorney, for me, and in my name to receive from the Agent of the United States for paying pensions in Boston in the State of Massachusetts, the Pension money due said Edmund Briggs at the time of his decease vir. from the fourth day of March 1835 to the fourth day of August 1835 - Witness my hand and seal this thirty fist day of August Eighteen hundred and thirty five. 
Sealed & delivered
in presence of 
A Bassett

Charlotte Payne

Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 
Bristol County SS_

Be it known, that on the thirty first day of August, 1835 before the Subscriber, a Justice of the Peace, in & for said County, personally appeared Charlotte Payne of Freetown in said County, above named, and acknowledged the foregoing Power of Attorney to be her act and deed_ In testimony whereof I have herewith set my hand the day & year last above mentioned. 

A Bassett Just. of the Peace.
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Edmund Briggs
5 Mo
33-33

FINAL PAYMENT VOUCHER
Received from GAO
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Bristol County SS Be it known that on the fifth day of September 1835 before the subscriber a justice of the peace in and for said county personally appeared John W Hoyt the attorney named in the within power of attorney and made oath that the same was not given him by reason of any sale transfer or mortgage of the powers or arrears of pension therein authorized to be received by him
John W Holt
Sworn and subscribed the day and year last above mentioned
Before me A Bassett Just of the Peace
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REVOLUTIONARY PENSIONERS
Under the Act of June 7 1832
COMMONWEALTH BANK
BOSTON Sept 7 1832
RECEIVED of the President, Agent for paying Pensioners, belonging to the State of Massachusetts, Thirty three Dollars, 33 Cents, being for Five Months Pension due to Edmund Briggs decd From the 4th day of March 1835 to the 4th day of August 1835 for which I have signed Duplicate Receipts
$33.33 John W Holt Atty
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19473
Edmund Briggs
Mass
Private 2 years
16-16 of June 6 1833
P 415
A Bradford 
New Bedford
Mass
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BRIEF in the case of Edmund Briggs Co of Bristol in the state of Mass
(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. 

Period/Duration of Service/Rank/Names of General and Field Officers under whom he served
Spring in 1775 enlisted / 8 months / as a private / Gen Cap Hoskins Col Larned
1776 enlisted / 1 year / private / Cap Shephard
1777 enlisted 3 months / private / Cap Bert Col Hathaway
Fall 1777 enlisted / 3 months / private / Cap Hoskins

5.  In what battles was he engaged? None
6.  Where did he reside when he entered the service Berkly Mass
7.  Is his statement supported by living witnesses, by documentary proof, by traditionary evidence, by incidental evidence, or by the rolls? four living witnesses
8.  Are the papers defective as to form or authentication? and if so, in what respect? The witnesses are not certified credible
I Certify that the foregoing statement and the answers agree with the evidence in the case above mentioned. George Payton
Examining Clerk
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E Briggs
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State of Massachusetts County of Bristol On this fourteenth day of Nov 1832 personally appeared in open court before the Hon Samuel Putnam J S L court now sitting at New Bedford in & for said county of Bristol & state of Massachusetts Edmund Briggs resident of Berkley in said state & county aged seventy two the 14th day of august now last past having been born in said town of Berkley on 14th of august AD 1760 who being first duly sworn according to law, doth, on his oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of an act of Congress passed June 7th 1832 that be entered the service of the United States under the following named officers & served at herein after stated Viz That in 1775 in the spring of the year, he enlisted for eight months & served that term of time in a company commanded by Jacob Hoskins of Taunton & in a Regiment commanded by Col Larned or Learned he being then of said Berkley & being hardly fifteen years of age the said eight month's service
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being performed in Roxbury ^ Cambridge & Dorchester near Boston that one Hart was lieutenant & one Juckett was Ensign of said company that he was sick nearly three months of said time & in Roxbury with the camp disease so called then or disentery, but did not leave the camp in consequence that he was discharged the last of December but received no written discharge that afterward & with out going home to Berkley, he enlisted for one year the first of January 1776 in a company commanded by Capt Shepherd & soon after was ordered to the northern or northwest & went through Worcester Springfield & many places which he does not now recollect the name to Green Bush, Saratoga & Tyconderoga where the company laid some time being as he understood subject to the command of Col Larned but whether he was there in person does not remember and was sometime in the spring marched over the north
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river, almost to West point within about twenty miles, where we remained about four or five week & then we were ordered up the river again & went as far as Saratoga & the lake & was on fatigue duty as it was called at several places there the Indians being in the vicinity & after alarming & attacking the people in that part of the country & once I was ordered out with twenty others to attack there & marched twenty five or thirty miles but saw only a few of them & on return had a skirmish with a party of them in the woods Part of the above time he was with a part of the company under command of Lieut Hart - Late in ^ the [scare?] was marched again & over the north river to near Westpoint, where he was soon after discharged or dismissed when the year was out for which he had enlisted but thinks he had no written discharge Thence he went home to Berkley in Massachusetts
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4 That in the year 1777 & early in the year he served three months in a company commanded by Capt Joseph Burt of Berkley, & in a regiment commanded by Col Hathaway of Berkley, in State of R Island near Howlands Ferry having taken the place of Godfrey Briggs, who was first drafted, but was excused by the captain on my enlisting or engaging to go in his stead kept guard up & down the river opposite the Island & made a house near Howland's Ferry our guard house & place of chief residence
 In same year 1777, but in the fall served three months under captain Jacob Hoskins the same officer he served under in 1775 at Roxbury & served last said three months in state of R Island below & south of Howlands Ferry & below Fogland Ferry near Seconett Point & vicinity in Compton at different places, keeping
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5
guard, as the British then had possession at R. Island lying opposite to said Seconett & Fogland Ferry & often attempted to plunder the inhabitants That he has since the war of the revolution lived chiefly in said Berkley, but also ten years in Freetown adjoining & ten years & upward in Newport in R. Island State, where he was engaged in trade -
That when the former pension law passed, he had property & did not apply for a pension - that two years ago he applied for a pension but did not obtain it 
 That he relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension except the present & declares that his name is not borne on the pension roll of the agency of any state - Edward Briggs
Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid
Samuel Putnam Judge SJ Court
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And the said court do hereby declare their opinion after the investigation of the matter [words crossed out] that the above named applicant was a Revolutionary Soldier and served as he states Judge S J Court
Samuel Putnam
Commonwealth of Massachusetts Bristol ss I James Sproat clerk of the superior judicial court in & for said county do hereby cerfity that the fore going contains the original proceedings of the said court in the matter of the application of Edmund Briggs of Berkley in said court for a pension
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and the seal of the said court the day & year first above written
Jas Sproat
Bristol ss June 28 1833
Said Edmund Briggs declare on oath that he has no record of his birth & that he knows of none 
  before me
Alden Bradford
Just Peace
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State of Massachusetts Bistol Ss.
New Bedford June 28 1833
Personally appeared Amos Lincoln of Taunton in the said county & near Freetown & Berkley aged thirty years is a respectable & credible man (& son of Thos Lincoln of Taunton who was in the war of the revolution & now living & has a pension) & makes solemn oath that he knows Edmund Briggs aforenamed & that he is generally reputed & believed to have been a soldier in the army of the revolution & particularly that he has often heard his father say that sd Brigg was in the army at Saratoga & other places near there & that he fully believes  Briggs was in the war of revolution 
 Amos Lincoln
Alden Bradford Just Peace on said day & year above mentioned personally appeared before me the subscriber, Elder James Gurney minister of the gospel in Freetown county of Bristol & made oath that he was & is acquainted with sd Edmund Briggs for many years, that he believes he is seventy two years of age or above that he is reputed to have been a soldier in the war of the revolution & that he is also of this opinion
Alden Bradford
Just Peace
I further certify that sd James is a credible person
A Bradford Just. Peace
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29652
Revy INVALID
File No 29652
Edmund Briggs
Pri Rev War
Act June 7 32
Index: Vol 2, Page 53
[Arrangement of 1870]
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19473
Edmund Briggs

A Bradford Esq
New Bedford
Mass
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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 Edmond Briggs which require further proof or examination.
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 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 Ace 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? No
XII.  If the clergyman's affidavit has not been produced, is there any reason assigned for not obtaining it?  No
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 papters that the witness was in such a situation, or of such an age, as to have a personal knowledge of the applicant's service? Yes
XVI.  ++ Are the papers authenticated as the regulations direct? [crossed out yes] No
XVII.  Are the seven interrogatories prescribed by the War Department answered satisfactorily?  And, if not, which of them is now so answered? 
cert 9
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 AB 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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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 shewn 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 claimants 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 witness, 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 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.
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Payments to be made at Boston
 by pres.U.S. Br. No.
Agent for paying Pensioners, in the Agency of Massachusetts
Recorded in the Pension Office, in Book E Vol 2
Page 9 by Go. C. Stiles
Clerk
Page 24

WAR DEPARTMENT
REVOLUTIONARY CLAIM
I certify that, in conformity with the law of the United States of the 7th June, 1832, Edmund Briggs of the state of Massachusetts who was a private in the Revolutionary Army is entitled to receive Eighty dollars [crossed out and __ cents] per annum, during his natural life, commencing on the 4th of March, 1831, and payable semiannually on the 4th of March, and the 4th of September, in every year.
Given at the War Office of the United States, this 19 day of September one thousand eight hundred and thirty three 
Lew Cass
Secretary of War
Examined and Countersigned}
J L Edwards
Commissioner of Pensions
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New Bedford Mass
Sir
I return the case of E Briggs, amended by a certificate of a clergyman & another respectable citizen also a certificate that Thos Bump & 2 [illegible] are Justices &c he has also stated that he has no record of his birth  The clergyman is very respectable and about 60 years old I suppose 
 There was in his papers a certificate of Col Joseph Joseph Durfe in favor of Briggs with [accticab?] on the back I suppose that remains with you - Yours A Bradford
Please send me his certificate
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I Paul Briggs of Berkley in the county of Bristol & Commonwealth of Massachusetts being of lawful age do testify & say that I am personally acquainted with Edmund Briggs of Berkley in said county of Bristol and at the time of the Revolutionary war made it my home within about a mile of the place where said Edmund Briggs usually resided when at home and that said Briggs was sometime absent from home at the time of the war and it was the common report at that time that said Briggs was in the Revolutionary service as a soldier but in what company or Regiment or the the time of his service I do not know. 
Paul Briggs
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Bristol SS August 7th 1832 Then personally appeared the above named Paul Briggs hence made solemn oath to the truth of the foregoing affidavit by him subscribed before me Barzillai Crane Justice of the Peace
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I Thomas Westcoat of Freetown in the county of Bristol and commonwealth of Massachusetts aged seventy four years, testify and say that I was at Roxbury near Boston in the year seventeen hundred and seventy five, and that I knew said Edmund Briggs of Berkley serving as a soldier in the American army at Roxbury Afterwards in the early part of the year seventeen hundred and seventy six I saw said Briggs serving as a soldier at Westpoint and I also saw him at Valley Forge where he was a soldier I was not in the same regiment with Briggs, but think he served in Larned's Regiment 
  Thomas X Westcoat his mark
Witness Thomas Bump

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Bristol SS September 10th 1832 Then personally appeared the above named Thomas Westcoat and made oath to the truth of the foregoing declaration by him subscribed
Before me Thomas Bump Justice of the Peace Bristol Ss I certify that Thomas Bump is
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Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Bristol ss I James Sproat clerk of the Supreme Judicial court for said county of Bristol, do hereby certify that Alden Bradford & Thomas Bump Esqr's whose signatures are affixed to the within & annexed certificates are Justices of the peace in & for said county of Bristol and duly qualifying to administer oaths 
In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed and affixed the seal of said court this first day of July in the year Eighteen hundred & thirty three
Jas Sproat
Page 29

E Br
Edmund Briggs
19473
V

[below is crossed out on left margin]
afore named is a Justice of the peace
in the town of Berkley & County
[illegible] aforesaid Witness
my hand & seal of
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I George Briggs of Freetown in the County of Bristol & commonwealth of Massachusetts being of lawful age do testify and say that I am personally acquainted with Edmund Briggs of Berkley in  County of Bristol that I visited him while he was a soldier of the Revolutionary Army at the Encampment at Roxbury he the sd Edmund being at that time sick [crossed out] as I believe. The said Edmund was absent from home during the term of two years and I have reason to believe that during that time he was in the revolutionary army. The said Edmund Briggs is my Brother and we lived in the same family at the commencement of the Revolutionary war. George Briggs.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Bristol Ss August 13 1832 Then personally appeared the above named George Briggs and made oath to the truth of the foregoing affidavit by him subscribed Before me Geo B Atwood Just Peace
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Commonwealth of Massachusetts Bristol Ss I hereby certify that George B Atwood within named is a justice of the peace for said county in the state aforesaid witness
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I Samuel Paull of Berkley in the County of Bristol and Commonwealth of Massachusetts aged seventy five years testify and say that I have been acquainted with Edmund Briggs of Berkley aforesaid ever since the year 1775  That said Briggs served as a private soldier in the war of the revolution in a Company of militia under the command of Capt Joseph Burt in the Regiment commanded by Col John Hathaway for the term of three months  The above service was performed in the year seventeen hundred & seventy seven in Tiverton in the state of Rhode Island  I further testify & say that afterwards said Briggs served another three months in Little Compton in the state of Rhode Island in the war of the revolution as a private soldier in the company commanded by Capt Jacob Haskins & in the Regiment commanded by Col John Hathaway  This last service also was performed in the year 1777  I further testify to say that I served the same time in the same companies with said Briggs
Samuel Paull
Commonwealth of Massachusetts Bristol Ss August 15th 1832 Then personally appeared the above named Samuel Paull subscriber to the foregoing affidavit and made solemn oath to the truth of the same
Before me Barzillai Crane Justice of the Peace
Commonwealth of Massachusetts Bristol Ss
I hereby certify that Barzillai Crane.
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[sentences crossed out] afore named is a Justice of the Peace in the town of Berkley County  of Bristol aforesaid - Witness my hand & seal of 

[on side]
E B
Edmund Briggs
19473
V
Page 34

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Bristol SS I James Sproat clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court for said county of Bristol do hereby certify that Barzillai Crane and George B Atwood Esqr whose signatures are affixed to the within & annexed certificates are Justices of the peace in & for said county of Bristol and duly qualified to administer oaths
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of said court this twenty seventh day of November in the year eighteen hundred & thirty two -
Jas Sproat