Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File W 7990, for Constant Victor King, New Jersey
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(8-1776)

SERVICE | NUMBER
New Jersey | King, Constant Victor / Adah | W.7990

CONTENTS
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2290
New Jersey
Adah King, widow of Constant Victor King, who died on the (blank) of (blank) in the State of N.J., who was a En(sign) & Lieu(tenant) in the Co(mpany) commanded by Captain Luse of the Reg(iment) commanded by Col. Martin in the N.J. line for 2 years.

Inc(reased) from $209.96

Inscribed on the Roll of New Jersey at the rate of 318 Dollars 26 2/3 Cents per annum, to commence on the 4 day of March, 1831.

Certificate of Pension issued the 20 day of Feb. 1831 and sent to R.W. Young, Present.

Arrears to the 4th of (blank).
Semi-annual allowance ending (blank).

{Revolutionary Claim, Act July 4, 1836, Section the (blank).}

Recorded by H.E. Robinson, Clerk.
Book D; Vol. 2; Page 365.

Let(ter sent to) L. Condict, May 9/'65.
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State of New Jersey
Morris County//

I, Joseph Dalrimple, Esq., Clerk of Morris County, hereby certify the foregoing to be the original proceedings in the Morris Court of Common Pleas in the case of Mrs. Adah King, widow of Constant Victor King, an applicant for a pension. And I do also certify that Ephraim Marsh, Esq., before whom the depositions of Ephraim Carnes & Lydia Beavers were taken & signed on the 10th of January 1837, was at the time of the taking thereof a Judge & Justice in said County duly commissioned & authorized. That Silas Condict, Esq., & Francis Child Law, Esq., before whom the depositions of Robert Young, Adah King, Isaac Bedell, Daniel Skellinger & Jacob Drake hereto annexed were taken & signed were at the taking thereof, & still are Judges & Justices in & for said County duly commissioned & authorized. That Elijah Ward, Esq., before whom the depositions of David Horton & Lewis Condict hereto annexed were taken & signed is a Justice of [the] Peace in said County duly commissioned & authorized & the signature of the several Judges & Justices before named to the several depositions are all of them genuine. Charles Ford, Esq., before whom the deposition of John Johnson was taken & which is hereto annexed is Judge of the Common Pleas of said County. John Hunt, Esq., before whom the deposition of Rev'd Abraham Williamson, Pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Chester, is also a Judge of the Common Pleas of said County & the signatures of the names of said Charles Ford & John Hunt, Esqs., to the affidavits or depositions of said John Johnson & Abraham Williamson are genuine.

In testimony whereof, I have...
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...hereunto subscribed my name & affixed my Seal of Office at Morristown this 21st day of August A[nno] Domini 1837.
s/ Jos. Dalrimple, Clerk, by V. Dalrimple
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Declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the 3rd section of the Act of Congress of the 4th July 1836.

State of New Jersey
Morris County//

On this 18th day of November 1836, personally appeared before the Inferior Court of Common Pleas of said County Mrs. Adah King, a resident of Chester Township in the County of Morris & State of New Jersey, aged 76 years, who being first duly sworn according to law doth on her oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the provision made of the Act of Congress passed July 4th 1836. I am in the 77th year of my age since the 5th Sep. last & am also the widow of Constant Victor King, who generally wrote his name C. Victor King & was always called by his neighbors & friends, Victor King. My husband was an ensign in the New Jersey Militia of Morris County & performed duty as such in Colonel Jacob Drake's Regiment & when the troubles of the revolution began, he engaged in what was called the 5 month's service & was commissioned an ensign in Captain Nathan Luis' Company & in Colonel Ephraim Martin's Regiment. The two lieutenants in the company were Wm. Corwin, Esq., & George Hagan (perhaps I mistake his first name). This account of his officers & engagements in the 5 month's service, I derive from the accounts given to me by my husband in his lifetime, having often heard him speak of it & believe it to be true. This 5 month's service, as I believe, was preformed principally about the city of New York & while my husband was engaged in this duty the battle of Long Island was fought, in which he & his company took part. I believe it was in the summer of 1776 & that Capt. Luse & my husband with their company continued in this service for a longer time than 5 months; the whole County being over run by the enemy until they went into winter quarters. I have understood from my husband, & others who knew him, that after the 5 month's service was ended that he performed militia duty as an ensign under Capt. Luse & probably under other captains till near the middle period of the war, when he was promoted to be a lieutenant & acted as lieutenant & adjutant to the regiment till the war ended. I cannot tell with any certainty how long his other duties were performed after the 5 month's service expired, but from what I have heard him & others say often, my belief is that in all, his services amounted to more than two years; one half of which time, I believe, he performed duty as an ensign & the other half as a lieutenant. It is not in my power to give any details except such as I have heard from him. I have often after our marriage, prepared his clothes & provisions for tours of duty on which he was ordered & spent many months of loneliness in his absence. Sometimes his absences would be a month, sometimes longer, sometimes less. After our marriage, he was out on duty when Connecticut Farms was burnt & again when Springfield was burnt & was in the battles at both those places under Capt. Luse or Col. Luse, who I believe was promoted to a colonel's command before the war ended. These engagements, I believe, were in the summer season [crossed out: incidentally] next after my marriage to Constant V. King, who has often pointed out to me the battlegrounds as we have frequently since passed through those places. He was out [illegible] I remember, when the Pennsylvania Troops revolted, perhaps a year or longer after our marriage. He [illegible] frequently on a [illegible] Elizabeth Town & Newark & Springfield & Rahway & Acquackanonk & Hackensack [illegible] & at others. I believe he was engaged at Short Hills, Ash Swamp, at Quibble Town [illegible] tell of escapes from danger in fights with the enemy in various places, among which those [illegible] to me. His officers whom I have heard him name are Colonols Martin, Drake [illegible] Starke; Generals Lord Sterling, Winds & Heard.

I was married by William [illegible] to Constant Victor King at the house of my father, Trustum Hull is Roxbury (now Chester) [illegible] the 16th of March 1780. My twin sister, Lydia Beavers or Bevers, is the only living witness [illegible] marriage. My husband, C. Victor King, died November 14th 1800 &...
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...[duplicate &] I have remained a widow ever since that period as will more fully appear by reference to proof hereto annexed. I have no certificate or record proof of my marriage. There was, in a leaf of an old Family Bible, a family record of births, marriages, deaths &c., kept by my husband but it has become mutilated [illegible] & is imperfect in some of its particulars. The time of my husbands death is defaced & torn & not legible. The time of our marriage is yet legible & is as I have stated above. I believe my husband never had a written discharge or none to my recollection. He had a commission as an ensign & another as a lieutenant. I saw them before the war ended & frequently afterwards with a great seal annexed. I am almost certain they were signed by William Livingston, the Governor of New Jersey. I have seen them since his death but not for many years. My husband was Deputy Sheriff of Morris County some years & had accumulated a great mass of papers, which had become unless as I supposed. Being in the way, they were finally considered as old rubbish & were used as waste paper & were destroyed. And I verily believe his commission as ensign & lieutenant were thus destroyed with other papers & that they cannot be found.

I have often heard my husband & others speak of his performing the duty of an adjutant to the regiment while in Revolutionary Service, but how often or upon what occasions I cannot tell. Nor do I know that he possessed a commission or certificate as adjutant.

He left little or no property at his death & I am poor & destitute & my children also. If by the laws of my country, I am entitled to a pension for the military services of my husband, which I well know were laborious & faithful & hazardous, I shall accept it with gratitude.

Most of his companions in those days of trial have followed or preceded him to the grave & I have been able to find but a only few to bear witness to his services.
s/ Adah King

Sworn & subscribed in Open Court November 18th 1836 before me.
s/ F. Child Law

I, Jacob Drake, of Morristown, do testify that I am in the 73rd year of my age; was born & brought up a neighbor to Constant Victor King; knew him & his now widow Mrs. Adah King, both before & after their marriage. They both lived in Roxbury, now Chester, where I also lived for many years. I did not see them married but to my knowledge they lived many years together as husband & wife; were much respected by the neighbors; raised a family of children. They lived together as husband & wife before the war ended. Her husband was, as I believe & always understood, an ensign in beginning of the war, in Captain Nathan Luse's Company of five month's service & servied with him the five months near New York City & upon Long Island & it was also generally believed by all who knew him that he served as an ensign, lieutenant & adjutant in every year of the war from its beginning to its close. I do not know myself personally of his services, having never served under him or with him. I state the general belief then prevalent in his neighborhood & knew that he was march(ed) from home & reputed to be gone & engaged as a Militia Officer in defense of the country & against the common enemy. He, the said Constant Victor King, died more than Twenty years since & I have seen & still am well acquainted with his widow, Adah King, who has remained a widow from the period of his death to the present time. She was the daughter of Trustum Hall, a near neighbor of mine, in Roxbury, now Chester.
s/ Jacob Drake

Sworn & subscribed in Open Court this 18th November 1836 before me.
s/ F. Child Law

The above deponent, Jacob Drake, I certify to be a man of fair character & fully entitled to belief.
s/ F. Child Law
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State of New, Jersey
Morris County//

Before the [crossed out: subscriber, a Notary Public within the State of] Inferior Court of Common Pleas of said County of Morris in New Jersey [crossed out: duly commissioned & authorized by the Governor of said State] personally appeared Daniel Shellinger of said County, personally well known to me for many years as a man of truth & having been by me first duly sworn according to law doth on his oath declare as follows. Viz.: I am now in the 80th year of my age; was a soldier in the War of the Revolution & performed Militia Service in said war. I was personally well acquainted with Constant Victor King, whose widow, Adah King, is now an applicant for a pension on account of the Revolutionary Services of her said husband. I knew said Constant V. King well, from the beginning of the war to its close & to the time of his death in 1800; living within about two miles of him. He, the said Constant V. King, was an officer in Captain Nathan Luse's Company of five month's men who were enlisted for the defense of New York, as I understood, in the spring of 1776. He was either a lieutenant or an ensign, I am not positive which, but my impression is & has been that he was a lieutenant. I recollect that Wm. Corwin was one lieutenant & Victor King and one Hagan were the other lieutenants & the ensign. I was under the command of Captain Luse & C.V. King in the summer of 1776 upon Long Island & with them in the battle. I was a volunteer in that co(mpany) & joined them in N. York after Capt. Luse had marched through Morristown, Newark & Paulus Hook. We stayed in N. York one night & crossed over to Long Island & were stationed near Flatbush until the battle began. After the defeat of our army, our company crossed from the island to the city, the night before the main army under Gen. Washington. My brother, Elisha Shellinger, arrived & took my place in the company about this time with the consent of the officers & I was discharged & returned home, after serving about 6 weeks, to the best of my remembrance & belief. My brother & the rest of the co(mpany), with Lieutent or Ensign King, remained with the regiment, which was commanded by Col. Martin until the five months expired, & I believe longer. I saw them or their return home in cold, wintry weather & verily believe that said [Constant] Victor King was either
lieutenant or ensign during the whole term & until the war closed. I believe he often performed other Revolutionary Services as an officer, but now to my remembrance, in which I was afterward under his command. I am also well acquainted with his widow, Mrs. Adah King, who has remained a widow since the death of Constant Victor King till the present period.
s/ Daniel Skellinger

[crossed out: Sworn & subscribed before me at Mendham this 15th day of November 1836.]

(When the above deposition was drawn, under directions from D. Skellinger, it was not expected he would be able to appear in Court at Morristown. But having improved in his health, he has attended.)

Sworn & subscribed in Open Court before me Nov. 18th 1836.
s/ F. Child Law

I believe that the above deponent, Daniel Skellinger, is a man of fair character & is fully entitled to belief.
s/ F. Child Law
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State of New Jersey
Morris County//

Be it known that before the Court of Common Pleas in & for the County of Morris personally appeared Isaac Bedell, aged 73 years, well known to the Judges of this Court as a man of truth & good reputation, who having been first duly sworn according to law doth on his oath declare as follows. Viz.: I am in the 74th year of my age; a resident of Mendham Township in Morris County; was a soldier in the War of the Revolution & a fifer in Captain Layton's Company when I was about 13 years of age. I remember Constant Victor King as an officer in the Revolutionary War in Captain Nathan Luse's Company & I was acquainted with him from that time till his death, which was many years since. In the fall of 1776, I remember Capt. Luse's Company at Elizabeth Town & said Constant V. King was with him. It was shortly before the retreat of Gen'l Washington's Army through [New] Jersey, & I think, was late in October or perhaps in November. I also saw Ensign King with Capt. Luse when on the Mud Round March through [New] Jersey several times; at Rahway & Woodbridge & near New Brunswick, just before the enemy took up their winter quarters there & I believe we parted from there near Plackamin. It was then known by all who were acquainted with Capt. Luse's Company that they had been absent from home upon Long Island & in the neighborhood of New York upon an engagement or enlistment for five months. In the following winter, I saw Capt. Luse & company with Victor King, as one of his officers, at the encampment near Quibble Town at Van Mulinars, under General Winds & General Dickinson. I, once during that winter, went out on a scouting party of about 30 men, under Victor King. Early in the spring of '78, I recollect Victor King at Elizabeth Town with his company performing guard duty. He was stationed at the house of one Ball & was then a lieutenant, as I understood & believe. He was called Lieutenant King & I was, one night, placed on guard as a sentry by Lieutenant King. His name was Constant Victor King but was always called Victor King. He was much liked by the men as an active & careful officer & was also often called Constant King; frequently acting as adjutant when a regiment was paraded.

In April 1778, my parents, who had lived on Long Hill in Morris Co., come on their removal from that place to Sussex Co. near to the Delaware River. I was with them & when we come near Chester we met Lieut(enant) Victor King & with him about 12 or 15 men with their guns & cartridge boxes. Lieut(enant) King was my mother's cousin & he stopped & spoke to us & said that there was an alarm on acc(ount) of the enemy coming over in force from Staten Island & that he & his co(mpany) were then marching for Elizabeth Town on guard duty to defend the country. We met many others going downward, served as militiamen on the same day.
s/ Isaac Bedell

Sworn & subscribed in Open Court November 18th 1836.
s/ F. Child Law
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State of New Jersey
Morris County//

Before the subscriber, a Public Notary in & for the State of New Jersey, duly commissioned & authorized by the Governor of said State, personally appeared Ephraim Carnes of said County, aged (blank) years, well known to me personally for 40 years & as a man of truth & fair character & at this time very feeble in health & confined to his bed by sickness, who having by me been duly sworn according to law saith upon his oath as follows. Viz.: I was a soldier in the Revolutionary War; residing in the County of Morris & performed duties as such. I lived within a few miles of Constant V. King & knew him well & often saw him on duty. He was an ensign in Captain Luse's Company of five month's men under Colonel Ephraim Martin's command, raised for defense of New York in the spring or summer of 1776. I performed most of my infantry services under Captains Cook, Dod, Day, Cozad & some one or two more not now recollected. I have frequently seen Ensign King on duty in said company at Eliz(abeth) Town & along the shores of Staten Island; at Rahway; near Amboy; at Newark & Acquackanonk, in every year of the war. I remember to have seen him with [Captain] Luse when Gen'l Washington retreated thro(ugh) N. Jersey & was followed by the enemy in the fall of '76 & again in the winter following near Quibble Town & at Van Mulinars under the mountain, commanded by Gen'l Winds. He was afterward promoted to be a lieutenant in [Captain] Luse's Company & often performed adjutant's duties when the militia paraded in regiment sometimes under Col. Drake & Col. Ford & Col. Starke. He was an acting officer & much respected & loved by officers & men. In the latter part of the war, I was a dragoon in Capt. Arnold's Horse [Brigade] & was much engaged in carrying orders & dispatches from one post & place to another & in curating the motions of the enemy. I frequently fell in with Lieutenant King & his company, performing militia duties, sometime going from home toward the enemy's lines & sometimes returning homeward from duties. I saw him at Springfield about the time of its burning by the British & also at Connecticut Farms in the summer of 1780 & in the neighborhood of Plackamin when the Pennsylvania Troops revolted.
s/ Ephraim Carnes

Sworn & subscribed before me at the residence of Ephraim Carnes in Mendham Nov. 17th 1836.

In testimony whereof I hereunto subscribe my name and affix my Notarial Seal the date before mentioned.
s/ Lewis Condict, Notary Public

[illegible] deponent, Ephraim Carnes, known to me as a man of truth, came before me this Tenth day of [crossed out: December] January 1837 & makes oath in due form of law. That the above deposition subscribed by him before Lewis Condict, Not(ary) Public, on the 17th Nov. 1836, touching the Revolutionary Services & character of C. Victor King is true in all its contents, as in verily believes. Sworn & subscribed before me the day above mentioned.
s/ Ephraim Carnes

Sworn & subscribed before me the day & year above written.
s/ Ephraim Marsh, Judge &c.
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State of New Jersey
Morris County//

Before the subscriber, a Notary Public of the State of New Jersey, for that purpose duly authorized & commissioned by the Governor of said State, personally appears Lydia Beavers of Warren Co. in said State, whose character for veracity is by me ascertained to be good & who having been by me duly sworn according to law saith as follows. Viz.: I am the twin sister of Adah King, widow of Constant Victor King, now an applicant for a pension for the Revolutionary Services of her husband. I was personally present at the marriage of said Constant V. King to my said sister, Adah, the said applicant. The marriage ceremony was solemnized or preformed by William Woodhull, Esq., a Judge of the Pleas of said County, at the dwelling of our father, Trustum Hull, in Roxbury (now Chester Township) Morris Co., in the month of March 1780. The precise day, I cannot tell with certainty. Her husband, C.V. King, was an officer in the militia of Morris County. Viz.: An ensign at the beginning of his services & I also understood that he was promoted to be a lieutenant afterward but I can speak of it only as a general belief of a fact admitted by all who spoke of him. He belonged to the company of Captain N. Luse, who was neighbor to my father. Constant V. King died on the (blank) day of November 1800 & my sister, the said Adah King, has remained a widow ever since that period. I am now in the 77th year of my age.
s/ Lydia Beavers

Sworn & subscribed before me at Mendham in said County this 15th day of November 1836.

In testimony whereof I hereunto subscribe my name & affix my Notarial Seal the date before mentioned.
s/ Lewis Condict, Notary Public

Before me, a Judge of the Com(mon) Pleas of Morris Co., N. Jersey, & Justice of [the] Peace, personally appears Lydia Beavers, a woman of fair character for truth & being by me duly sworn according to law saith that the facts set forth in the above deposition subscribed by her before Lewis Condict, Not(ary) Public, dated Nov. 15th touching the marriage of [Constant] Victor King & of his Revolutionary Services, are true as stated in said deposition, to the best of her knowledge & belief. Sworn & subscribed before me this Tenth day of [crossed out: December] January 1837.
s/ Ephraim Marsh
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State of New Jersey
Morris County//

Be it known, that before the subscriber, a Notary Public in the State of New Jersey, duly commissioned & authorized by the Governor of said State, personally appeared David Horton, an aged citizen of said County well known to me as a man of truth & of good & unblemished character & having by me been duly sworn according to law on his oath declares as follows. Viz.: I was a militia soldier of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War & performed duty as a sergeant. I resided in Roxbury Township, that part which is now called [crossed out: Chester] Randolph, where I still live. I was acquainted personally with Constant Victor King, who lived near me for many years & until his death. Early in the war, said [Constant Victor] King was an ensign in Capt. Nathan Luse's Company of five month's men raised by enlistment for the defense of New York City under the command of Colonel Martin, as I believe, & which service, I believe, was performed as the said company & officers, Captain Luse & Ensign King, were absent on duty, the whole of the summer & fall of 1776 & it is generally believed they were in the neighborhood of New York City & on Long Island & were engaged in the Long Island Battle that summer. I believe also that said Victor King sometimes acted as an ensign under other captains, particularly under Captain Nathaniel Horton, & that I have served under his command in that company. I recollect well to have served with him a month on an expedition against the [illegible] General Winds at the Minisink Settlement on the Delaware [River] in Sussex Co. in the [illegible], the year I cannot remember. We were in the same company, & I think [illegible] in whose company said Victor King sometimes was an officer. I remember [illegible] Pequannock & at Acquackanonk Bridge under command of Gen'l Winds & Capt. N. [illegible] fall season & having a skirmish with the enemy at the bridge. Jabez Bell [illegible] was accidentally killed by a shot through the head & I was near him at the [illegible]. Victor King was on this tour. The year I cannot state, whether '77 or '78. I remember him again at Van Mulinars near Quibble Town when the enemy was in quarters in N. Brunswick & Amboy. We had a fight with the enemy & several skirmishes this winter near Quibble Town. Gen'l Winds had command & I believe [Nathaniel] Horton was my captain. Victor King was appointed lieutenent about or before this time & after performed duty as adjutant of the regiment under Col. Drake. I was on a tour of duty under Capt. Horton against the Indians in Sussex on the Delaware River in which Gen'l Winds had the chief command & recollect Lieut. King also on this tour. It was in the fall season, & I think in '78, but am not positive. Just before the Monmouth battle, I was on a tour of duty under Capt. Horton somewhere near Newark & we were ordered by Gen'l Winds suddenly to march & we passed through Elizabeth Town, Woodbridge & N. Brunswick toward Monmouth & met some horsemen who informed Gen'l Winds that bridge over Toms River or South River was destroyed & we were ordered to return to Eliz(abeth) Town. Lieut(enant) King, I remember, was on this expedition. I was once on a tour under Capt. Horton near Rockway & Eliz(abeth) Town a month when an expedition was planned...
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...against a party of the enemy upon Staten Island by crossing over in the night. It failed by the enemy receiving information & it was not effectually prosecuted. 

I believe Lieut(enant) King performed active militia duty as an officer in every year of the war from its beginning to its close. I know he was a good officer & an active Whig & that he performed many services which I witnessed but cannot particularize in consequence of my age & the failure of my memory.

I knew Constant Victor King before his marriage & till his death. He was married before the war ended but the precise time I cannot tell. He died probably more than 20 years since. I attended his funeral & have been well acquainted with his widow to this time. She has not married since his death. They lived respectively together as husband & wife & raised a family of sons & daughters. I was 86 years years of age in September last.
s/ David Horton

Sworn & subscribed before me at Chester on this 19th Nov. 1836.

State of New Jersey
Morris County//

On this 15th March 1837, David Horton, the above named person, came before me personally & being by me first duly sworn according to law on his oath declares that the statement of facts therein set forth as to the military services of Constant Victor King are true as he verily believes.
s/ David Horton

Sworn & subscribed before me at Morristown the date first above written.
s/ Elijah Ward, J.P.

I also certify that said David Horton is well known to me as a man of great respectability of character & fully entitled to belief.
s/ Elijah Ward
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State of New Jersey
Morris County//

I hereby certify that I am the stated Pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Chester in the County & State aforesaid, in which Church it is said here the Rev'd William Woodhall was Pastor in time of the War of the Revolution & previously. After a diligent search, it is my belief that no documentary proof whatever is to be found of the marriage of Constant Victor King to Adah Hull, either in the records of said Church or among the private papers & books of the Rev'd Mr. Woodhall, my former predecessor. And it is my further belief that no marriage record whatever is to be found, either among the Church papers or those of Mr. Woodhall, which refer to marriages of a date prior to the year 1795.

Witness my hand at Chester August 21st 1837.
s/ Abraham Williamson, Pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Chester, Morris County, N. Jersey
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New Jersey,
Morris County//

Personally appears before the subscribe, a [crossed out: Justice of Peace] Judge of the Common Pleas Court in said County, Rev'd Abraham Williamson, personally well known to me as Pastor of the Presbyterian Church referred to in his certificate within & having by me been duly sworn according to law saith that the facts therein stated by him & subscribed by him are true to the best of knowledge & belief.

Sworn before me at Chester this 21st day of August 1837.
s/ John Hunt
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Constant King, died March 16, 1780, aged 68 yrs.
Phebe King died May 19th 1769, aged 78 years.
George King died July 4th 1780, aged 35 years.
Joseph King died May 19th 1794, aged 59 years.
Fredrick King died April 4, 1796, aged 56 yrs.
Catherine Watter died [illegible].
Hannah King died Dec. 3, 1797, aged 33 years.
Justus King died April 7, 1798, aged 61 years.
C. Victor King departed this life Nov. 14, 1800, aged 48 years one month and three days.
Caleb King died September 24, 1820, aged 78 years.
Polly Rivas died September 24, 1821, aged 74 years.
Azariah Horton died Feb. 25, 1822.
[crossed out: Beth] Elizabeth Dunham died October 5th 1823, aged 74 years.

Constant V. King was born August the 2nd 1798.
Ruth, his wife, was born May the 3, 1805; was married January the 11th 1827.
Robert Beavers was born October 24, 1827
George, their second born, April the 3rd 1831.
Daniel was born May the 25th 1833.
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Constant Victor King was born Oct. 11, 1752.
Adah, his wife, was born Sep. 6, 1762; was married March 16 1780.
Sally, their first child, born Jan. 4, 1782.
Marretta, their second child, born Dec. 9, 1783
Betsy, their third child, born Jan. 5, 1786.
Lydia, their forth child, born Sep. 24, 1788.
Mary Rivas, their fifth child, born Dec. 19, 1791.
John Hull, their sixth child, born Nov. 27, 1793.
Phoebe, their seventh child, born Sep. 28, 1795.
Constant, their eighth child, born August 2, 1795.
Lydia King died March 13, 1791, aged 2 years six months.
Poly Rives King died March 19th 1793, aged 1 year 8 months.
Marretta Fairclo died June the 19, 1821, aged 38 years 7 months and 10 days.

Victor Farclo, her child, died October 9, 1821, aged 5 months & 22 days.
Phoebe King died August 23rd 1827, aged 31 years 10 months & 25 days.
Betsy Brown died October 10, 1830, aged 43 years and nine months.
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I hereby certify to the Commissioner of Pensions that the leaf to which this certificate is attached was taken by me from a Family Quotes Bible in possession of Mrs. Adah King, widow of Constant Victor King, on the 4th of August, 1837, which bible I verily believe to be the original Family Bible of her dec(eased) husband, the said Constant Victor King, & that said leaf which purports to contain a record of the birth of said Constant Victor King, of Adah King his wife, their marriage, the births & deaths of some of their children is, as I verily believe, the original family record kept by said Constant Victor King & was by me or out of said Bible, with consent of Mrs. King, to be sent with her other papers to the Pension Office at Washington.
s/ Lewis Condict

Lewis Condict appears before me this 7th day of August 1837 & being duly sworn according to law saith that the facts set forth in the above certificate are all true to the best of his knowledge & belief.
s/ Elijah Ward, J.P.
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I hereby certify that the large ink blots upon two leaves of these papers were occasioned by the accidental overturning of an ink stand upon them as they lay upon a table in my office sometime after they had been executed. It renders the writing somewhat obscure but not entirely illegible.
s/ Lewis Condict
August 8th 1837.

Hon. Lewis Condict
Morristown, New Jersey
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State of New Jersey
Morris County//

Before the subscriber, a Judge of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas in & for said County of Morris, personally appeared John Johnson of said County, my near neighbor, well known to me personally as a man of truth & having been duly sworn according to law saith as follows. Viz.: I was 85 years old on the 5th April last; was a Militia Soldier in the Revolutionary War & was personally well acquainted with Constant Victor King, commonly called Victor King. Before the war, we lived about 4 miles from each other & in the course of our Militia Services, were often together on the same station performing like duties. The first service in which Victor King engaged was that of raising men by enlistment to serve for 5 months. Captain Nathan Luse of the same neighborhood was recruiting for the same service as captain & Victor King as ensign. This was early in the war & these 5 month's men were intended for the defense of New York City. This company was filled up in the neighborhood where I lived & was marched from thence through Morristown & Newark to New York City under Nathan Luse as captain, William Corwin, one of the lieutenants, & Constant Victor King as ensign. [Constant Victor] King was absent on this service all the summer & fall of '76, from early in July, or more probably in June, & as was understood & believed by all the neighborhood, was engaged with the troops under Lord Sterling in the Battle of Long Island & continued with Gen'l Washington's Army till after his retreat through [New] Jersey in the famous "Mud Rounds" march late in the fall. In this march [crossed out: (illegible)] retreat, I saw him engaged on duty as an ensign in Captain Luse's Company. Soon after this march, I saw Ensign King in December '76 at Springfield in Captain Luse's Company as an officer performing a month's tour of militia duty, during which time a battle was fought at Springfield. General Hurd & General Williamson commanding brigades & Colonels Ford, Drake, Munson & others commanding regiments. Captain Luse & Ensign King were under Col. Drake. In January '77, I again saw Captain Luse & Victor King performing militia duty near Quibble Town, 3 or 4 miles west of Amboy & New Brunswick, then occupied as winter quarter by the British. Generals Wind & Dickinson were stationed in that neighborhood with a large militia force all winter to defend it against the enemy & frequent skirmishes were had with them, in which many were killed. Colonel Drake commanded the regiment to which Capt. Luse & Lieutenant King belonged, & Lieutenant King often acted as the adjutant of his regiment that winter, having been promoted to a lieutenant's rank. Colonel Lindsly, Colonel Bott, Colonel Frelinghuysen, Col. Seely & others were there, commanding regiments, & Lieutenant King with the rest of the militia remained on this station until the enemy evacuated N. Brunswick & Amboy in April, having been on this duty not less than 3 months. I remember Lieutenant King in an expedition against the Indians under...
Page 20

...command of Gen'l Winds at the Minisink Settlement on the Delaware [River] in the summer in Captain Luse's Company. The Indians had burned the settlement & gone off before Gen'l Winds arrived. We were employed not less than six weeks upon this expedition.

I remember Lieutenant King at engagement with the enemy at Acquackanonk Bridge in the fall season in Capt. Luse's Company under Gen'l Winds. Col. Drake, Col. Frelinghuysen, Col. Van Cortland & Col. Seely commanded regiments. Jabez Bell, a neighbor of mine & of Lieutenant King, was killed just after the battle by the accidental discharge of a musket as we were sitting under a tree. We were stationed the neighborhood of Belleville & Acquackanonk a month under Gen'l Winds' orders. In the summer of '78 just before the Monmouth Battle, I was performing a month tour of Militia Duty at Elizabeth Town under Gen'l Winds, by whom we were marched through New Brunswick to Spotswood, when the order were countermanded & we returned to Elizabeth Town. Lieutenant King was with us on this march & the months duty was ended in the neighborhood of Elizabeth Town & Rahway. I remember Lieutenant King also on a month's tour near Hackensack in an engagement with the enemy near a small fort called Polifly under Gen'l Winds, Col. Sealy, Colonel Hays & others in the fall of the year. I remember Lieutenant King on a month's tour up the Hudson River, just before Burgoyne's surrender under Gen'l Winds & Colonel Drake. We marched to New Windsor & Newberg, where we heard of Burgoyne's surrender & returned through Pompton where we spent the rest of the month performing guard duty. This was in the year 1777. Lieutenant King was in one month's tour of duty when the enemy burnt Connecticut Farms in May 1780 & again in same following, when they burnt Springfield in June following after a hard battle. These tours in May & June & July at the farms & Springfield were each a month & all the militia of the country were in arms under Gen'l Winds, Colonels Frelinghuysen, Seely, Hathaway & others beside some regiments of the Continental Army. I never saw Constant Victor King in the service except as an officer & he generally performed the duties of an adjutant when Colonel Drake's Regiment was in service.
s/ John Johnson (X - his mark)

Sworn & subscribed at the residence of John Johnson in Morris Township August 1st 1837 before me.
s/ Charles Ford
Page 21

V | 2603
N. Jersey, Morris Co.
Mrs. [crossed out: (illegible)] Adah King, widow of Constant Victor King [crossed out: (illegible)].

Admitted:
Ensign, 5 months
Lieutenant, 12 (months)
            ============
            17 mos.

[illegible]

Return to Lewis Condict, Morristown, N. Jersey
Page 22

State of New Jersey
Morris County//

Before the subscriber, a Justice of [the] Peace in said County & State, personally appeared Robert Young, an aged man, a Soldier of the Revolution well known to me personally as a man of truth & fair character, who being by me first
duly sworn according to law saith as follows. Viz.: I am in the 85th year of my age; was a soldier in the Revolutionary War & in the New Jersey Militia of Morris County & I performed military service in every year of said war, throughout. I was well acquainted personally with Constant Victor King (more often called Victor King) who was an ensign & lieutenant & after acted as adjutant of the regiment. He lived not more than 3 or 4 miles from my father's & I often saw him engaged performing militia duties in the war & never except as an officer, either ensign, lieutenant or adjutant. In the first year of the war, Ensign King was engaged actively in recruiting a company of men in my neighborhood to serve for 5 months under Captain Nathan Luse. I did not engage with him but the belief in the neighborhood was that Ensign King & Capt. Luse did raise a full company for that period & served out the engagement in New York & Long Island & that they were actively engaged in the Battle of Long Island in the summer of 1776. After the five month's service ended, I often saw Capt. Luse & Ensign King in Militia Service. Late in the fall of 1776, I saw Ensign King in Capt Luse's Co(mpany) retreating through [New] Jersey in rear of [Gen'l] Washington's Army in the march called the "Mud Rounds". And I again saw him soon after in cold December weather at the Battle of Springfield under Gen'l Hurd, Colonels Ford, Drake, Cook, Munson, Spencer & others. A body of Hessians were made prisoners. The militia remained guarding the country between Springfield & Staten Island not less than a month & Ensign King & Capt. Luse as long. He was on militia duty all the rest of the same winter under Gen'l Winds & near N. Brunswick & Amboy. All the militia of this part of the country was embodied & encamped there to watch & restrain the enemy, then quartered in New Brunswick & Amboy. Gen'l Winds & Gen'l Dickinson had the command & headquarters were at Van Mulinars near Quibble Town. There was much skirmishing this winter with various parties of the enemy at Short Hills, Ash Swamp, Bonamtown &c. Capt. Luse & Ensign or Adj(utant) King remained on this station till sometime in April when the enemy left Amboy & New Brunswick. He, having been here not less than 3 months. Colonels Ford, Drake, Seely, Frelinghuysen & Munson were there also. [Contant Victor] King, I often saw acting as adjutant this winter in Colonel Drake's Regiment & I believe he had been promoted to a lieutenant's rank. I saw him at another time on a month's tour of militia duty under Gen'l Winds in the summer season against the Indians on the Minisink [River]. Colonel Seward of the Sussex Regiment & Colonel Lindsly of Morris were present. Lieutenant King was in Capt. Luse's Company & the whole body was absent on this tour not less than six weeks. In the fall of '77, Gen'l Winds & his militiamen were ordered to march for New Windsor & Newberg. Burgoyne surrendered before we reached New Windsor & we returned through Pompton & were employed in guarding the country & public stores a month in that vicinity. Adjutant King was on that expedition with Capt. Luse...
Page 23

Hon. Lewis Condict, Morristown, New Jersey.

...I recollect Adjutant King on duty at Elizabeth Town & Rahway & the adjoining shores opposite Staten Island a  month under Captain Luse early in the spring; Gen'l Winds & Colonel Seely being present. In the following fall season, there was a strong party of British & Refugees who overrun the country through Newark & Second River. The militia under Gen'l Wilds, Colonel Frelinghuysen, Major Hays & others had a severe skirmish with them at Acquackanonk Bridge, in which Lieutenant King under Captain Luse was engaged & they were kept in this service a month. Colonel Hathaway was also present. Lieutenant King was also with us under Capt. Luse & Gen'l Winds at a skirmish at a small fort near Hackensack. Col. Hays & Colonel Hathaway were in the engagement & the militia was kept out to guard & defend the country in that quarter a month. When the enemy burnt Connecticut Farms Village & Church in the spring of 1780, Lieutenant King was with Capt. Luse & under Gen'l Winds & Col. Seely & Hathaway upon a tour of militia duty & engaged in the battle & followed the enemy in their retreat through Eliz(abeth) Town, where they were stationed a month for the defense of the country. In the same summer, the enemy returned in great force & the militia under Gen'l Winds encountered them at Springfield when a severe battle was fought with them. The enemy retreated after burning the Village & Church & the militia followed to the shores below Eliz(abeth) Town & were kept on defensive duty a month in guarding & protecting the country. Lieutenant King was in this service with Capt. Luse, Col. Seely, Col. Hathaway, Col. Hays & others.

I saw Lieutenant King on a tour of militia duty at Redbank & Mus Island below Philadelphia. Part of the time we were stationed near Haddonfield. Capt Luse was present & Colonel Seely commanded the regiment; [Lieutenant] King acting as adjutant.
s/ Robert Young

Sworn & subscribed at Morristown this 3rd day of August 1837 before me.
s/ Silas Condict, one of the Judges of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas in & for the County of Morris
Page 24

REVOLUTIONARY WAR RECORDS SECTION. | 3-525
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
BUREAU OF PENSIONS.
Washington, D.C., (blank) 19 (blank)

W.F.7990

In reply to your request of (blank), received (blank) for a statement of the military history of Constant Victor King, a soldier of the REVOLUTIONARY WAR, you will find below the desired information as contained in [crossed out: his (or] his widow's) application for pension on file in this Bureau.

DATES OF ENLISTMENT OR APPOINTMENT. | LENGTH OF SERVICE. | RANK. | OFFICERS UNDER WHOM SERVICE WAS RENDERED. (CAPTAIN/COLONEL) | STATE.
July 1776 | (blank) | Served at various times to end of war as Ensign, Lieutenant, Adjutant. | Ensign in militia under Nathan Luse, Nathaniel Horton, Jonas Hurd | Jacob Drake, Ephraim Martin, Seely, Ford, Drake | N.J.

Battles engaged in, Long Island, Short Hills, Connecticut Farms, Springfield.
Residence of soldier at enlistment, Black River (Chester) Morris Co., N.J.
Date of application for pension, Nov. 18, 1836. His cl(aim) was al(lowed).
Residence at date of application, Chester Township, Morristown, N.J.
Age at date of application, She was born Sep. 6, 1762.
Remarks: Soldier was born Oct. 11, 1752. He married Mar. 16, 1780 of Roxbury, Morris Co., N.J., Adah, daughter of Trustum Hull, and died Nov. 14, 1800 in Chester Township, Morris Co., N.J. His father referred to in claim as Victor King. See supplement herewith for further family data.

Respectfully,
Commissioner.

6-2856
Page 25

V.L.M.

Rev. War Section.

August 22, 1917.

Mrs. Sara V. Long,
Carmichaels, Penn.

Madam:

In addition to the military history of Constant Victor King, W. File No. 7,990, Revolutionary War, you are herewith furnished the following family data.:

Constant Victor King born October 11, 1752, died November 14, 1800, married March 16, 1780, at Roxbury Morris County, New Jersey, Adah, daughter of Trustum Hull. She was born September 6, 1763.

Their children were:
Sally, born January - 1782.
Marretta (born) December 9, 1783.
Betsy (born) January 5, 1786.
Lyda or Lydia (born) September 24, 1788.
Mary or Poly Rives (born) December 19, 1791.
John Hull (born) November 27, 1793.
Phoebe (born) September 28, 1795.
Constant Victor (born) August 2, 1798, married January 11, 1827.
Ruth, born May 3, 1805.
Children:
Robert Beavers born October 24, 1827.
George (their 2") (born) April 3, 1831.
Daniel (born) May 25, 1833.
Page 26

Record of deaths.

Lydia King, died March 13, 1791, aged 2 yrs. 6 mos.
Poly Rives King, (died) March 19, 1793, aged 1 yr. 8 mos.
Marretta Fairclo (died) June 19, 1821, (aged 38 yrs. 7 mos. 10 days.)
Victor Fairclo, her child, (died) October 9, 1821, aged 5 mos. 22 days.
Phebe King (died) August 23, 1827, (aged 31 yrs. 10 mos. 25 days.)
Betsy Brown (died) October 10, 1830, aged 43 yrs. 9 mos.

Constant King, died March 16, 1780, aged 68 yrs.
Phebe King (died) May 19, 1769, aged 78 yrs.
George King (died) July 4, 1780, aged 35 yrs.
Joseph King (died) May 19, 1794, aged 59 yrs.
Fredrick King (died) April 4, 1796, aged 56 yrs.
Chatharine Walter (died) ---
Hannah King (died) December 3, 1787, aged 33 yrs.
Justus King (died) April 7, 1798, aged 61 yrs.
C. Victor King (died) November 14, 1800, (aged 48 yrs. 1 mo. 3 days.)
Caleb King (died) September 24, 1820, aged 78 yrs.
Polly Rives (died) September 24, 1821, aged 74 yrs.
Azariah Horton (died) February 25, 1822.
Elizabeth Dunham (died) October 5, 1823, aged 74 yrs.

Very respectfully,
s/ E.C. Tieman
Acting Commissioner.
Page 27

Rev(olutionary War)
WIDOW, &c.
File No. 7990
Adah King, wid(ow) of Constant Victor King, Lieut(enant), N.J line.
Act: July 4th '36
Index -; Vol. A; Page 401.
{Arrangement of 1870.}

1917 Aug. 23 - Hist(ory sent) to Mrs. Sara V. Long
Page 28

V | N. Jersey
Adah King

Letter to Hon. J.P.B. Maxwell, 15 March 1838.
(Letter) to Hon. L. Condict, 17 July 1838.
Page 29

New Jersey | 2296
Adah King, widow of Constant Victor King, dec(eased), who died on the 14th November 1800 of Morris Co. in the State of N. Jersey, who was an Ensign & Lieut(enant) in the Company commanded by Captain N. Luse of the Reg(iment) commanded
by Col. E. Martin in [crossed out: the] N. Jersey [crossed out: line] for 17 mos., Ensign & Lieut(enant).

Inscribed on the Roll of New Jersey at the rate of 209 Dollars 96 Cents per annum to commence on the 4th day of March, 1831.

Certificate of Pension issued the 31st day of August 1838 and sent to Hon. Lewis Condict, Morristown, N. Jersey.

Arrears to the 4th of March 1838...........$1,469.72
Semi-annual allowance ending 4 Sept 1839......104.98
                                           =========
                                           $1,574.70

{Revolutionary Claim, Act July 4, 1836, Section the 3.}

Recorded by S.A. Elliot, Clerk
Book A; Vol. 2; Page [crossed out: 112] 128
Cert(ify) if wrongly paid.

Let(ter sent) to Hon. J.W. Miller, July 22, 1842.
(Letter sent to) Hon. W.S. Dayton, 27 Sept 1850.
Ent(ered) by R.W. Young, Apr. 25/'50.
Page 30

Morristown, Aug 30th 1837

Dear Sir,

I send herewith the declaration & testimony in the case of Mrs. Adah (or Ada) King, widow of Constant Victor King, claiming a pension under the 3rd Section of the Act of Cong(ress) of July 4th '36.

I regret to send them so defaced but it happened that the ink stand was carelessly overturned on the table & part of its contents were spread upon one or two of its leaves. By close observation, the original manuscript is yet legible. The witnesses live quite remote from each other & some of them are infirm or to be unable to go from home. This has occasioned much delay. There is some little prospect of some further evidence of service in the latter part of the war. In Dec. 1780, our Legislature passed an act directing, "820 men to be raised by voluntary enlistment for defense of the frontiers of this State, to continue in service until the 1st of January 1782, unless sooner discharged." In this act it is provided that one of the companies shall be commanded by Capt. Jonas Ward, Lieutenant Victor King & Ensign Lemuel Minthorn. This Lieutenant Victor King is the same man for whose service his widow, Adah [King], now claims a pension, he being always called Victor King; the first name "Constant" being omitted except when he wrote his name. It is thought [crossed out: by some] that perhaps there may be some witnesses living in Essex or Bergen where this service in '81 & '82 was performed. Enquiry is making on this point & if found hereafter, I presume you will be willing to examine it. And it is possible that there may be some evidence of it in your office. If so, I know you will be willing to give it is due weight. I have an authenticated copy of the act so far as relates to the authority to raise the men for the time & the naming of the 12 commissioned officers for Essex County. I do not now send the copy of the act but wait for proof of actual service under it, of which none is contained in these papers now sent. If you desire it now, I will forward it forthwith. The deposition shew a service of about 22 months, or 8 mos. as Ensign & 14 as Lieutenant & Adjutant. Whatever was done under this law, of course, was performed as Lieutenant.

Very respectfully your obe(dient) serv(ant) & friend,
s/ Lewis Condict

Jas. L. Edwards, Esq.
Commissioner of Pensions
Page 31

P.S. Some explanation may be required respecting taking deposition myself as a Notary Public. The Governor (Vroom) gave me such a commission & believing that it authorized the taking of depositions, I took some of them in that character, as you will perceive. Afterward, upon reflection I thought best to ask your opinion as to their admissibility at your office. You will perhaps recollect my letter. As you expressed some doubts, I thought the better mode would be to take them before a Judge or Justice, which has been done, as you will observe. This course was pursued in this & in other cases. Viz.: That of the widow of Capt. Nathan Luse, whose papers will be sent in a few days.
s/ L. Conduct

James L. Edwards, Esq.
Page 32

PAID

Lewis Condict, M.D.
Morristown, N. Jersey
Page 33

Revolutionary Services of Lieutenant Constant Victor King.:
5 months as Ensign in '76, Long Island &c. Witnesses, Skellinger, Carnes, Horton.
1 (month) as Ens(ign in '76), fall season at Eliz(abeth) Town. Bedell, Canes, Young.
1 (month) as Ens(ign) Nov. &Dec. "Mud Rounds". Bedell, Canes, Young.
3 (months) Lieutenant & Adjutant '77 near N. Brunswick. Canes, Johnson, Horton, Young.
1 (month) Lieut(enant) time Burgoyne's captain ('77) New Windsor. Johnson, Young.
1 (month) Lieut(enant) at Red Bank, Mud Fort. Young.
1 (month) as Ens(ign) at first Battle of Springfield, winter '76. Johnson & Young.
1 (month) Lieut(enant) at Eliz(abeth) Town. Bedell, Young, Canes.
1 (month) time of Monmouth Battle. Horton, Johnson.
1 (month) at Rahway. Canes, Horton, Young.
1 (month) at Newark. Canes.
1 (month) at Acquackanonk. Canes, Horton, Johnson, Young.
1 (month) at Hackensack. Horton, Johnson, Young.
1 1/2 (months) at Minisink. Horton, Johnson, Young.
1 (month) at Connecticut Farms, spring of '80. Johnson, Young.
1 (month) at Springfield burning & battle, June '80. Johnson, Young.
============
22 1/2 months

Viz.: 8 months as Ensign & 14 (months) as Lieut(enant). 

At Plackamin also, when the Penn(sylvania) Troops revolted - Canes.
Page 34

Mrs. Adah King, widow of Constant Victor King
Morris Co., N. Jersey

Supplemental affidavit.
Page 35

State of New Jersey
Morris County//

Before the subscriber, a Justice of [the] Peace & Judge of the Common Pleas of said County of Morris, personally appeared Mrs. Adah King of Morris County, aged 76 years, known to me personally to be woman of truth and unblemished character & whom I verily believe to be the widow of Constant Victor King, dec(eased), formerly an ensign & lieutenant of the Morris County Militia in service of the U.S. in the Revolutionary War & being by me duly sworn according to law on her oath make the following supplemental affidavit to enable her to obtain the benefit of the 3rd Section of [duplicate: of] the Act of Congress of the 4th July 1836. I am an in the 77th year of my age & am the same Adah King who made & forwarded a declaration to the Commissioner of Pensions sometime in the summer of 1837, of the Revolutionary Services of my aforesaid husband for the purpose of obtaining a pension as therein stated.

In a letter from the Commissioner of Pensions dated March 15th 1838, it is stated that the applicant has not alluded in her declaration to service performed, under a law of the Legislature of N. Jersey, authorizing the raising 820 men, passed in 1780, wherein Victor King is named as a lieutenant in Captain Jonas Ward's company. And that, "If it be intended to apart a claim for such service, it should be set forth in a supplemented affidavit & the claimant's husband identified as the lieutenant in Captain Ward's Company by a credible witness," &c. When my declaration was made, I then had no knowledge of such a law as referred to by the Commissioner of Pensions & I now respectfully claim of him all the benefits to which I may be entitled as his widow under said law as fully & effectually as though such claim had been set forth therein. And I do hereby swear & declare most truly & solemnly that the said Victor King, who is named in said law as lieutenant in Captain Jonas Ward's Company was my husband, who was generally called & known by the name Victor King; altho(ugh) his whole name was Constant Victor King. I verily believe there was no other man living in Morris County who was known by the name Victor King except my husband & I am confident he alone. Viz.: My husband was intended & meant to be designated in said law in which he is called Victor King.

I verily believe that my dec(eased) husband did perform military duty under said law of New Jersey until its expiration & afterward until the end of the war, altho(ugh) I do not know a man living who served with him. His comrades, as I believe, are all gone to the grave, yet I hope & trust I may receive...
Page 36

...from the government of my country a liberal & fair construction of that law, which I think would not have been enacted without some urgent necessity for such service nor would Victor King have been named in said law as one of its officers if he had not proved himself to be worthy of the confidence of the Legislature by the manner in which he had discharged his duties as a soldier & an officer from 1776 up to the year 1780.
s/ Adah King

Sworn & subscribed at Morristown June 20th 1838 before me.
s/ James Wood, a Judge of Morris Couty Com(mon) Pleas
Page 37

State of New Jersey
Morris County//

Before the subscriber, a Justice of [the] Peace in said County of Morris, personally appeared Jacob Drake of Morristown, an aged citizen, well known personally to me many years as a man of respectability & truth & being by me duly sworn according to law on his oath declares as follows. I am now in the 75th year of my age; was born in Morris County & lived a near neighbor in the War of the Revolution to Constant Victor King as well as before & after said war. I knew him intimately & his wife & family also. He died many years since in Chester Township & whilst I lived near him. He was a very active, enterprising man, a decided Whig in the revolution; very fond of military pursuits & was an Officer of Militia & of the State Troops from beginning to end of the Revolutionary War. He was constantly almost, absent on military duty as was universally admitted & believed by all his neighbors. I was not myself associated with him in militia service, yet as his neighbor & on intimate terms with his family & himself, I verily believe there were very few men in the State as much devoted to the cause of freedom as he was. He aided Capt. Nathan Luse, of the same neighborhood, in raising by enlistment, a company of men to serve 5 months for defense of New York in the first year of the war. Many of whom were recruited in our neighborhood, now Chester Township, & he was either lieutenant or ensign in that corps. He was always called "Victor King" but wrote his name C. Victor King. And so generally was he called Victor King & known by that name alone. That I verily believe many of his friends, who were not very intimate with him, did not know that "Constant" was any part of his name. And I am well satisfied that "Victor King" who is named in the Act of the N. Jersey Legislation of 26th December 1780 as a lieutenant in Capt. Jonas Ward's Company (in which authority is given, "To raise 820 men for defense of the frontiers of this State," who continued under that law in service till 1st January 1782) was no other that Constant Victor King, whose family then lived in Black River, now Chester, Morris County. I am confident there was then no other man in Morris County known or heard of by the name of "Victor King". And the Legislation in calling him "Victor King" called him by that name by which all his acquaintances designated him wherever they spoke of him. As a military man of his grade, he was eminent & in Morristown when the regiment was paraded, Victor King, that is to say Constant Victor King, was the adjutant who paraded & exercised the men. He was the husband of Mrs. Adah King, who is still his widow & is now an applicant for a pension [crossed out: for a pension] on acc(oun)t of his Revolutionary Service.
s/ Jacob Drake

Sworn & subscribed at Morristown, June 21th 1838 before me.
s/ James Wood, Justice of the Peace
Page 38

State of New Jersey
Morris County//

Before the subscriber, a Justice of [the] Peace & a Judge of the Common Pleas Court in & for Morris County, personally appeared Israel Canfield, Esq., of Morristown, an aged citizen, personally well known to me as a man of truth & of high moral character, formerly High Sheriff of the County & for many years a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, who being duly sworn according to law saith as follows. I am in the 79th year of my age; was born in Morris County & have spent my life thus far in it. I was acquainted with most of the leading & influential men in said County in time of the War of the Revolution. I was personally well acquainted with constant Victor King, who was an officer in the Militia Service of Morris County in the Revolutionary War; was fond of military duties & often performed the duty of adjutant in mustering, training & drilling the regiment. He was very generally called "Victor King" & very rarely called Constant Victor King. I have frequently seen him write his name & his usual mode of writing it was C. Victor King. His father's name was Victor King but he died, either before the war began or if living in the war, was so aged & infirm by years as not to be thought of in military affairs. C. Victor King, his son, was in the prime of youthful manhood when the war began; was active, zealous & enterprising as a Whig partisan, & as I verily believe, was engaged actively in military concerns during the whole revolution. I am confident that I often saw him engaged as an officer in militia duties in said war, yet not being in the same corps, & my memory having now become frail & indistinct, I cannot specify times & places when & where.

I am free to declare my sincere belief that during the Revolutionary War, & for several years thereafter, there was no other man living in Morris County called & known by the name "Victor King" who was ever appointed to be an officer for military operations in the Revolutionary War, or for many years thereafter, except this one of whom I speak. Viz.: Constant Victor King, whose home was in Black River, now called Chester, & who was as I believe, at first an officer in Capt. Luse's Company. If the Legislature of New Jersey named Victor King to be lieutenant in Capt. Jonas Ward's Co. of the State Troops in the years service between 1780 & 1782 for defense of the portions of this State, I am quite sure they intended Constant Victor King as the man, calling him "Victor King" because all others who knew him called him by that name. He was Deputy Sheriff of the County several years, & was generally well known & respected throughout the County. His widow, I have no acquaintance with, but I understand she is an applicant for a pension under the law of 1836 for his services in the war.
s/ Israel Canfield

Sworn & subscribed at Morristown June 21st 1838 before me.
s/ James Wood, Judge & Justice of the Peace
Page 39

State of New Jersey
Morris County//

I, Joseph Dalrimple, Clerk of Morris County, hereby certify that James Wood, Esq., before whom the supplemental affidavit of Mrs. Adah King & the depositions of Jacob Drake & of Israel Canfield hereunto annexed were severally taken & subscribed, is a Judge of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas & a Justice of [the] Peace in & for said County of Morris duly commissioned & authorized & that the signature of his name "James Wood" subscribed to the said affidavit & depositions is genuine.

Witness my signature & the Seal of my Office at Morristown this 28th of June A(nno) Domini 1838.
s/ Joseph Dalrimple, Clk.
Page 40

[illegible]

Free

Jas. L. Edwards, Esq.
Commissioner of Pensions
War Department
Washington

Jurat, Aug. 27, N.J.
Page 41

Morristown, N.J., Aug. 24th 1838

Dear Sir,

Your letter of the 18th inst(ant) is before me, acknowledging the rec(eipt) of some additional evidence in the case of Capt. Thos. Hill & enquiring of me, "Under what act Captain Hill's application is made?"

My answer must be from memory only. But have no hesitation in saying it was intended as an application under the first act, giving pensions to widows of militia, which was enacted, I think, on the 4th July 1836. The declaration &c. was sent to your office in Aug. '37 & some other papers at a later date. The depositions were taken, some in Sussex Co. & some in Morris [Co.]; others probably in N. York or Brooklyn, & were a long time in collecting. Perhaps there may be an omission in the declaration not stating under what later claim is predicated. If so, & amendment be necessary. The widow, I believe, is still living & in highly indigent circumstances. A decision on its merits is very much desired by her as soon as may be consistent with propriety.

Y(ou)r letter of the 20th came by the same mail. The letter of Col. Hathaway, alluding to Adjutant Victor King as a witness, was not expected by me to furnish any direct proof of Lieut. King's actual service. I thought it had a bearing, however, on two points. Viz.:

1st. That Mrs. Adah King's husband, whose name was Constant Victor King, was often & very generally known & called Victor King only, being so named in the law of N.J.

2nd. That he was known by his superior officers to be an officer. Viz.: An adj(utant). I thought this old letter of a veteran warrior & Whig in the revolution* would in some degree corroborate the statements of the witnesses. And as Mr. Witter had copied it (tho(ugh) without my advice) I would send it; that you might appreciate it at its real value. I do not know that any further evidence in this case can or had & your decision on its merits is earnestly desired.

Very sincerely yours &c.,
s/ Lewis Condict

* - See Rogers' American Biographers Dictionary; Article, "Col. Benoni Hathaway". He was a tanner by trade & had the usage of his barkknife & sword, better than his pen. He had many wound, which he rec(eived) in battle with the enemy.

Jas. L. Edwards, Esq., Commissioner of Pensions
Page 42

Mrs. King

Jas. L. Edwards, Esq.
Commissioner of Pensions
Washington

Jurat, Aug. 13, N.J.
Page 43

Morristown, N.J., Aug. 9th 1838

Dear Sir,

Your letter of the 4th inst(ant) relating to the case of Mrs. Adah King was rec(eived) yesterday, allowing 12 mos. as a lieut(enant) in the year service of '81 & for 5 mos. service in '76. - The result is to disallow & upon any compensation for his whole service for the intermediate period, in which the strength in this State was more severe & bloody than either before or after. The husband of this widow, if I mistake not in remembrance, was in the Battles of Acquackanonk, Hackensack, Ash Swamp, Short Hills, Connecticut Farms & the 2d Battle of Springfield, all of which occurred between '76 & '81. The entire defense of the State rested on the militia & every man (& boy too, of 16) able to bear arm must do his proportion of the duty. With all the evidence of Lieut. King's zealous & active service in those 4 or 5 years to exclude his widow from any portion of its benefit does seem to be very hard & unjust. Knowing that short periods of service, consisting of a few days upon alarm, could not by the witnesses be stated except [crossed out: by] when something like conjecture, I have rarely noted the claims unless they stated definitely the duration of its service. A constant line of Militia Guard was kept up throughout each year from the Hudson [River] to the Raritan [River] (& probably to the Delaware [River]). These guards were relieved at periods of a month & no fact in revolutionary history is better established or known in N.J. than that the tours of militia duty were usually for the period of month. Alarms were exceptions to this rule & when the cause of alarm ceased, those called from home by the alarm returned home & those then upon their regular tour of monthly duty remained till their month expired & they were relieved by others who served for a similar period. This was unquestionably the state of things & the presumption must be much stronger that [C. Victor] King performed at least 3 to 4 mos. service in each of those 4 or 5 years than that less was performed. But independently of this, there is the positive testimony of several respectable witnesses whose veracity at home was never questioned. It does seem to me that you cannot insist upon refusing to this claimant some allowance for this long period of service, embracing at least 4 years & probably 4 1/2, inasmuch as the 5 mo(nths) service was partly in '75, if I mistake not, or in the early part of '76. If you will admit 20 mos., I will obtain her concurrence.

Very respectfully & sincerely yours,
s/ Lewis Condict

Colonel Edwards, Comm(issioner) of Pensions
Page 44

James L. Edwards, Esq.
Commissioner of Pensions
War Department
Washington
Page 45

Morristown, June 27th 1838

Dear Sir,

In a letter to the Hon. Mr Maxwell of the H.R. dated 15th March last, you intimated that if Mrs. Adah King, widow of Constant Victor King, intended to assert a claim for the service of her husband in Capt. Jonas Ward's Co. under the law of N.J. of 1780, authorizing 820 men to be enlisted for one year for defense of the frontiers &c., "It should be set forth in a supplemental affidavit," & her husband identified as the lieut(enant) in Capt. Ward's Co. by a credible witness. Enclosed herewith is a supplemental affidavit of the widow & the deposition of two credible witnesses, identifying her husband to be the lieutenant named in the law. Much pains have been taken to find persons who served in that co(mpany) but it is believed that not one is to be found in this region. They are all dead or removed. If the Hon. Mahlon Dickerson be now in your city, I will ask the favor of you to shew him the depositions now enclosed. He is personally well acquainted with Israel Canfield & Jacob Drake & will cheerfully certify to their credibility as witnesses & respectability as men. In must also recollect Victor King perfectly well & knows that his name was Constant Victor King, tho(ugh) universally called Victor King & I think he will fully corroborate all that is said by witn(esses) [Israel] Canfield & [Jacob] Drake.

Respecting any proof from the records in Trenton, I will endeavor to obtain it if to be found. The search is somewhat laborious to the Clerk & of course is expensive to the widow, who is really penniless. The uncertainty of finding anything after a tedious search is great & must be attended with an additional delay, which to the widow is a serious hardship. May I ask in her behalf a decision as far as the testimony now before you will warrant; that she may have some degree of relief? She is now entirely dependent on some distant relations & is a woman of nice sensibilities & feelings. Should the record furnish proof when I can go to Trenton, I will send it to you & then you can render to her such justice as the whole evidence may [crosse out: justify] warrant. In the hope of a speedy answer, I remain.

With much esteem & respect yours truly,
s/ Lewis Condict

James L. Edwards, Esq.
Commissioner of Pensions
Page 46

Morristown, 15 July 1780

To His Excellency the Governor,

I send you enclosed several charges which I charge B.D. General Haird with while he commanded the military sometime in June last at Elizabeth Town Farms, which I pray His Excellency would call a court of inquiry on this charges if His Excellency thinks it worth noticing.

I am your hum(ble) ser(vant),
s/ Benoni Hathaway, Lieut(enant) Col(onel)

This is the charges that I bring against General Haird while he commanded the militia at Elizabeth Town Farms sometime in June last 1780.:
1 charge is for leaving his post and marching the troops of their post without orders and leaving that pass without any guard between the enemy and our army without giving any notice that pass was open between three and for ours.
2 charge is for retreating in disorder before the enemy without ordering any rear guard or flanks out and leading of the retreat himself.
3 charge is for marching the troops of from advantages piece of ground [crossed out: (illegible)] where we witnessed them march and likely prevented them gaining the bridge at Fort Hull had not the troops been ordered of which prevented our giving our army any assistance in a time of great distress.
4 charge is for marching the troops of about one mile from any part of the enemy and taken them upon an High Mountain and kept them their till the enemy had gained Springfield Bridge...
Page 47

...A list of the evidence:
Col. Van Cortland
Mr. Schanck, the Brigade Major
Capt. Benjamin Carter
Capt. Nathaniel Horton
Adjutant Victor King
Major Samuel Hays
Lieutenant Bockover

State of New Jersey//

I, Charles C. Yard, State Librarian of the State of New Jersey, do hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy of an original paper taken from a book of "Manuscript Letters" now remaining in the State Library of said State. Witness my Hand at the City of Trenton in said State this Twelfth day of July A.D. Eighteen Hundred and Thirty eight (1838).
s/ C.C. Yard, St(ate) Lib(rarian)

State of New Jersey//

I, James D. Westcott, Secretary of State of the State of New Jersey, do hereby certify that Charles C. Yard, Esq., who has signed the above certificate, is State Librarian of the State of New Jersey [crossed out: duly] appointed & commissioned according to law and that full faith and credit are to be given to his official acts.

Given under my Hand and Seal of Office at the City of Trenton in said state this Eleventh day of July A.D. Eighteen Hundred and Thirty eight (1838).
s James D. Westcott
Page 48

Washington, Nov. 7, 1850

Hon. J.L. Edwards
Comm(issioner) of Pensions

Sir,

I respectfully present for your consideration the case of Adah King (on the New Jersey Roll) for an increase of pension. Mrs. King is the widow of C. Victor King and was pensioned under the Act of 1836.

Very respectfully your obe(dient )ser(vant),
s/ R.W. Young, Agent
Page 49

Adah King, widow of C. Victor [King] on the New Jersey Roll, pensioned under the Act of 1836.
s/ R.W. Young, Agent
Page 50

Chester, Morris County, N.J.
October 24th 1850

Hon J.L. Edwards 
Commissioner of Pensions

Sir,

You will be pleased to allow my agent, R W. Young, Washington, D.C., to examine the papers on file in your office, upon which a pension was originally granted to.

Yours Respectfully
s/ Adah King
Page 51

One 2¢ stamped envelope rec(eived). [illegible]
Stamped envelope ret(urned). [illegible]

Rev(olutionary War) Sec(tion)

Carmichaels, Pa., 8/5/17

Pension Bureau
Washington, D.C.

Dear Sir,

Any information in regard to Constance [Constant] Victor King, who fought in the Revolutionary War and whose wife drew a pension at his death will be greatly appreciated.

Very truly yours,
s/ Sara V. Long
Page 52

Morristown, N.J., Jan. 27th '51

The Commissioner of Pensions

Dr Sir,

The friends & relations of Adah King, a pensioner by the act of 1838, widow of Constant Victor King, who was an Ensign, Lieut(enant) & sometimes an Adjutant in the Army of the Revolution & State Troops of New Jersey, have an impression & belief that she is entitled by his services to some increase of her present pension, which is $209.96 per annum.

This impression is much strengthened by letters from agents who speak confidently on the subject; promising her a very considerable addition if she will empower them to act for he.

You will confer a special favor on the widow (yet living) if you will cause a reinspection of her numerous testimonials on your files & notify her through me of the result. I left in your office in 1833 or '34 a vol(ume) of a folio edition, half bound, N. Jersey Laws; published probably in or about 1782 or '84, in which will be found an act authoring a certain number of troops for defense of the frontiers, prescribing the quota of each County & naming the officers & the duration of service. In this book, will be found the name & rank of Constant Victor King, perhaps called the "Victor King" or perhaps C.V. King. The book was sent by mail by myself & I afterward found it there. It was authority in some 3 or 4 other cases beside King's & has never been withdrawn. The name of John Doughty as the once may be found written in it; after whose death it was filed & came to my hands. It is either Allison's of Wilson's Edition. I think there are 2 enactments mentioning [C. Victor] King as an officer; one year in each act.

If a new declaration be necessary, it will be forward(ed).

Very respectfully &c.,
s/ Lewis Condict

Col. Edwards
Page 53

Commissioner of Pensions

P.S. The admitted, I never, due to widow Mary Tuttle, which of Timothy Tuttle, under it probable that something may be due to Adah King.
Page 54

Adah King.
N.J.
Act 4th July 1836
Adm(itted) 20 m(onths) 14 d(ays) for.....$273.26 2/3
(Admitted) 3 (months) 16 (days) for........45.00
                                         ============
                                         $318.26 2/3

From 4th Mar. 1837.

Let(ter) sent to R.W. Young, Present