Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File R. 5333, James Hudson, Md. Sea Service
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(3-1776)

SERVICE NUMBER
Md. Hudson, James R.5333
Sea Service

applied for pen in Mass.

CONTENTS

(two blank columns below)
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REVOLUTIONARY PENSIONERS.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

COUNTY OF PLYMOUTH, SS.
ON this Seventh day of May 1834, personally appeared
in open Court, before [blank] the Court of Probate
now sitting at Rochester within
and for said County of Plymouth, James Hudson a
resident of Wareham in said County of Plymouth, and Commonwealth
of Massachusetts, aged Seventy Six years, who being first duly
sworn according to law, doth on his oath, make the following declaration, in order to
obtain the benefit of the act of Congress passed June 7, 1832. He hereby relinquishes
every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present, and declares that
his name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any state. That is to say, that
he entered the service of the United States under the following named officers, and
served as herein stated.
He would premise this his application by stating
that he was born in the state of Maryland in Talbot
County on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake bay MD.
1758 and was left an orphan by the death of his father
and mother when about four years old. At this age
he was taken home by an aunt to live with her whose
husband was so intemperate and irregular in his habits
that your applicant after staying with them a few
years only was induced in a clandestine manner to leave
their house and seek a shelter and living among strangers
until the breaking out of the revolutionary war. - In the
year 1776 when about 18 years of age he enlisted as a private
soldier into the Service of the United States for two years
with a man by the name of Allen who was as he believes
a recruiting Sergeant, and performed military duty as a 
soldier for some time on the Eastern Shore of the Bay but how
long and with what officers or under whose immediate command
he cannot now call to his recollection. From this
service however he was transferred to the Barge service in
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the Chesapeake Bay then under the command as he thinks of Commodore
Frazier and of whose junior officers he recollects was Joshua Barney of Baltimore
who had the command of the flotilla in the Chesapeake Bay during
the late war with Great Britain. In this service they had several
[illegible] skirmishes with the enemy in many places about the Chesapeake
particularly at the Tangier Islands., Sharp's Island and Smiths point. From this
service he was transferred to the land forces and joined Capt William
Harris' company under the command of the Baron De Kalb was the
river Roanoke, who commanded a detachment of General Gates' troops
then on their march to the South. [illegible] this place he remembers they were
joined by General Francis Marion and Col. - Harry with their
respective detachments, when the whole army was put in motion towards
Guilford Courthouse in North Carolina. An the march like many
of his fellow soldiers of that expedition he was taken sick and with
the disabled left behind. - after having in some measure recovered
his health he joined a detachment of troops under the command of
Col. Lee and continued to do duty under his command and other [page torn here]
ficers between that place and Baltimore as the army happened to [page torn here]
employed until the term of his enlistment expired. He was then dic[page torn here]
charged went to Baltimore and shipped on board a private arm[page torn here]
eifled for a cruise and after being sometime at sea was captured by
an enemy's cruiser and carried to Halifax in Nova Scotia. There
he with the crew was detained a prisoner of war until regularly
exchanged and transported to Boston. From Boston he went to Harwich 
a town on Cape Cod thence to Yarmouth another town on said
Cape where he continued to reside having while at sea as a mariner
until the year A.D. 1817 when he removed with his family to Wareham
in the County of Plymouth where he has continued ever since to reside.
After life has been one of hardship and vicissitude which has brought on
a decay of memory as well as physical energies, which render it wholly impossible
to call to mind the particulars of the service in which he was engaged
or the names of his fellow soldiers. He has no documentary evidence preserved
or that he can produce to substantiate his claim to the bounty of the government
and he knows no person whose testimony he can procure to testify to his
service - although it is possible there may be those alive in his native state
who would both remember something of him as well as his services. did
circumstances admit of a journey thither in quest of such proof. -
Thus situated he has no other alternative but to place himself on the
integrity of his character and trusts to the generosity of a government
in which some portion of his early life was spent in assisting to establish
to mute out to him that justice which in a spirit of
liberality has been extended to the few survivors of the
Revolutionary Army. -
He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension
or annuity except the present and declares that his name
is not on the Pension roll of the agency of any State.
James Hudson
Sworn to and Subscribed 
the day and year aforesaid.-
Wilkes Wood Judge of Probate
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James Judson
Suspended Case
from Mass an
Act of 1832

R.W. Young
Attor
March 2d/32
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Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Plymouth County SS.  On this third day of October AD 1851 personally appeared before me Silvanus Bourne Esquire one of the Justices of the Peace in the county aforesaid James Hudson of Wareham in said county aged ninety one years and made oath according to law that he was a seaman & a private in the war of the Revolution and served as set forth in his declaration now on file in the Pension office for the purpose of obtaining the benefits of the Act of 7th June 1832 and that he now claims any pension or arrears of pension to which he may be entitled under aforesaid Act & that he now resides in the said county and State.
  Witness Susan C. Hudson, James Hudson

Sworn to and subscribed on the day and year first above written
  Before me Silvanus Bourne Justice of the Peace
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Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Plymouth Ss.
I William H. Whitman Clerk of Supreme Court in the County of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts do hereby certify that Silvanus Bourne before whom the foregoing papers were executed was at the time of the same a Justice of the Peace in and for said County duly authorised by law to administer oaths; and his name hereto subscribed is his genuine signature.
[seal affixed]
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my official seal this fourth day of October in the year eighteen hundred & fifty one.
    Wm. H. Whitman  ) Clerk.
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Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
Plymouth County ss:  On this fourth day of May A.D. 1852, before me the subscriber a Justice of the Peace within & for the county aforesaid personally appered James Hudson a resident of Wareham in the county of Plymouth & Commonwealth of Massachusetts aged ninety two years, who, being first duly sworn according to law, doth, on his oath, make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress, passed June 7, 1832.
  That he entered the service of the United States under the following named officers, and served as herein stated.
  That he was born in Tolford County State of Maryland 12th March 1760; that he shipped in the barges under Captain or Col. Frazier under command of Commodore Barney about April 1778 for ten months but I served as a private twelve months & was discharged on the Western shore of Virginia.  We had several skirmishes with the Brittish barges in the Chesapeake Bay and made our quarters in Pocomoke River & Little York River;
  That he enlisted in August 1780 as a private in the Maryland Continental line and was marched by the recruiting officer Lieutenant Harris and joined General D Kalb's army and served in various companies all the officers names of whom I do not now remember untill the autumn of 1783 when I was dis
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charged & moved to State of Maine; that he should have applied for a pension before if I had not supposed the evidence of my services being in a far distant State was unattainable.
Witness
Silvanus Bourne               James Hudson
Susan C. Hudson

Sworn to and subscribed on the day and year first above written
   Before me
      Silvanus Bourne  (Justice of the Peace
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I Benjamin Fearing to Wareham in the County of Plymouth and Commonwealth of Massachusetts aged fifty six years depose testify and say that I am personally acquainted with James Hudson of Wareham in said County, and have been so acquainted with him for more than twenty five years last past; that his age is apparently about ninety years; that he has always said that he was a native of Maryland, & that he served in the Revolutionary army; that he has always been uniform and constant in such declarations & I have never doubted him; that he has for many years asserted his right to a pension and that he had omitted to obtain it for the want of proof, because the service was performed in Maryland, a far distant State, and that the men who served with him were probably dead or could not be found to testify of his services; that it is generally understood and believed in the community where he resides that he was a revolutionary soldier.
                        Benj.n Fearing
  Witness
F. F. Fearing
Silvanus Bourne
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Plymouth County ss   On this fifth day of May A.D. 1852 personally appeared Benjamin Fearing above named and made solemn oath to the truth of the aforegoincg.
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affidavit by him subscribed.
Before me Silvanus Bourne Justice of the Peace

I certify that I am personally acquainted with Benjamin
Fearing the affiant and that he sustains a good
character for truth and veracity.
Silvanus Bourne Justice of the Peace
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I Thomas R. Miles of Wareham in the County of Plymouth
and commonwealth of Massachusetts aged forty five years
depose testify and say that I am personally acquainted with
James Hudson of Wareham in said county, and have been 
so acquainted with him for more than twenty years
last past: that his age is apparently about ninety years;
that he has always said that he was a native of
Maryland and that he served in the Revolutionary
army, that he has always been uniform and constant
in such declarations, and I have never doubted him;
that he has for many years asserted his right to a pension
and that he had omitted to obtain it for the want of
proof because the service was performed in Maryland,
a far distant state and that the men who served
with him were probably dead, or could not be found to
testify of his services; that it is generally understood
and believed in the community where he resides that
he was a revolutionary soldier.
Thomas R Miles
Witness M. Ellis
Silvanus Bourne

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Plymouth Ss. 
On this fifth day of May AD 1852 personally
appeared Thomas R. Miles above named and made solemn
oath to the truth of the foregoing affidavit by him subscribed.
Before me Silvanus Bourne Justice of the Peace.
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I certify that I am personally acquainted with 
the affiant and that he sustains a good
character for truth & veracity.
I also certify that I have been personally acquainted with
James Hudson aforesaid ever since he came to this town
which was some twenty or thirty years ago and I have
often heard him make the statements herein contained
and that no one in this community ever expressed a
doubt but they were true - he being a very upright
man in all things.
Silvanus Bourne Justice of the Peace & Notary Public
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Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Plymouth Ss.
I William H. Whitman
Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court
of the County & Commonwealth aforesaid,
do hereby certify that Silvanus
Bourne Esquire of Wareham, whose
name is subscribed to the three
foregoing certificates hereto attached,
is and was at the time of the
several dates thereof, an acting
Justice of the Peace duly commissioned
& qualified, for the County
& Commonwealth aforesaid - and
that his signature to each of said
three certificates is genuine.
In testimony whereof I have
hereto set my hand and affixed the
official Seal of said Supreme Judicial
Court this seventeenth day of May in the
year eighteen hundred & fifty two.
Wm. H. Whitman } Clerk

[seal affixed with a ribbon to upper left side of the above paragraph]
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[envelope]
[vertically on left side follows]
Mass Jan 20.

[horizontally on page follows]

free
J.L.Edwards Esq
Pension Office
Washington 
(Ca)

[round black stamp to the left of the above address inscribed as follows]
WARAHAM JAN 15 MASS.
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7 Wareham January 15th 1835
To the Right Honourable J.L. Edwards
Esq Dear Sir When at a young and tender age
Death bereft me of my parents and i was cast an orphan
upon the world without a home without friends, consequently
I was brought up without any education therefore i was without
the means of keeping dates on any thing of the [illegible] therefore i
are not sure of the time of the enlistment. Sir i have
ben so verily [illegible] by the enemies of my country that
my constitution has been greatly impaired my property taken
from me myself taken and [illegible] kept by the English
for the space of four years. then taken by the French
When i regained by liberty and once more returned
to my beloved country. therefore i cannot remember
Any more than what you have before you already
Dear sir i should not atempt to wright unto you
I but what i know to be correct for my grey hairs ~
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Will soon go down to the grave and if my country
Does not so [illegible] cause to do me that justice which they have
Extended to thousands that are wealthy and can live
Without the bounty bestowed in them by our government
And I old and penyless and do stand in need of the gratitude 
and Generous provision made by our government for the
Revolutionary soldiers because my memory serves me not
Without it Dear sir i will not affirm anything that i cannot
remember for all the Death in the United States [page torn here]
I should have aplied [applied] to our government before but [page torn here]
informed i must have two witnesses that is the occasion of my
Delaying it so long Dear sir i wish if in justice
you can grant this pension which in justice
Belongs to me as well as others that have ample
Proofe. this sin is the prayer of most
Humble servant James Hudson
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Supplementary Declaration
James Hudson
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Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Plymouth Yr.
Personally appears before me the undersigned, a Justice of the Peace in of this County of Plymouth, James Hudson who being duly sworn deposeth as such, that by reason of old age and the consequent lapse of memory, he cannot swear positively as to this suicide being the best of his service, but according to the best of his recollection, he served not less than the periods mentioned below vis the following grades vis:
For one month as a private soldier on the Eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay in the State of Maryland in 1776.  For three month in the Barge service as a marine in the Chesapeake Bay immediately after the above service, Commodore Frazier Commander of the Flotilla.
For twenty months as a private soldier in the Continental army in Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina as set forth in his declaration.
and for these several services, he claims pensions. He is not able in these several services to state any further particularly then he has stated in his former declaration.  He has so long been removed from the scene of
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action and from the land where his fellow soldiers {?} resided, that he has lost all means of refreshing his memory which the soldiers of this Revolution have generally enjoyed. He has no documentary evidence and knows no one living by whom he can prove any of the services aforesaid.  He was in no civil pursuit during any portion of the time above alluded to and upon his reputation for veracity he must alone rely.
James Hudson
Sworn and subscribed this 19th day of September A.D. 1834 and I hereby certify that he is a credible person and entitled to be believed.
Seth Miller for James Pease
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  Plymouth S.  Jacob H Loud Register of Probate for said County do hereby certify that Seth Miller Junior, Esquire, is a Justice of the Peace in and for said County and that the foregoing signature perporting to be  his is genuine.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of Office this first day of October A.D. 1834
J H. Loud
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James Hudson 
offmap
31 Ab5

Thom J Reid
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We, Samuel Noll
a clergyman, residing in the
town of Wareham and William Bates
residing in the same town hereby certify, that we are well acquainted with James Hudson who has subscribed and sworn to the above
declaration; that we believe him to be
76 years of age; that he is reputed and believed, in the neighborhood where he resides, to have been a soldier of the revolution, and we concur in that opinion.
Samuel Noll Jr
Wm Bates
Sworn to, and subscribed, the day and year aforesaid.
Wilkes Wood J. Prob

And the said Court do hereby declare their opinion, after the investigation of the
matter, and after putting the interrogatories prescribed by the War Department, that the
abovenamed applicant was a revolutionary soldier, and served as he states. And
the Court further certifies, that it appears to them that Samuel Noll Jr who has signed the preceding certificate, is a clergyman, resident in the town of Wareham and that William Bates who has also signed the same, is a resident in the same town and is a credible person, and that their statement is entitled to credit.
Wilkes Wood  J Prob
I Jacob H. Lord Register of the Court of Probate hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court in the matter of the application of James Hudson for a pension. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of my office, this Seventh day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty four
Jacob H. Lord
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James Hudson
Map 
Duspuded
Dec 4 1834
G.H. Loud
Let claimant 21 Jan 1834
Let Hon J Reed 30 Jan 1834
to same February 7, 1838
{illegible} 1st March 1838
do 18 Apl 1838
Set Re M Young, Mary 18/82
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Land Office, Annapolis
13 February 1838
Sir:
Your's of the 8th Inst was received.  The rolls of the revolution have been very carefully examined, and the afford no evidence of the services of James Hudson.  He alleges to have served in the Barge Commanded by Captain Frazier, but I have carefully examined both the master and pay role of the officers on board that Barge and not not find his name upon the role.  The declaration is herewith returned.
Very Respectfully
{Illegible}
G.G. Brawar
J. L. Edwards, Esq
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War Department
Pension Office
July 1 1834
Sir
The documents in the case of James Hudson have been examined and are herewith returned.  The rules of this office in all cases require some evidence other than the declaration the claimant, as also the date and length of the different periods of service, and in order to guide the applicant in these requests a printed sheet is herewith enclosed.
I have the honour to be very respectfully,
J.L. Edwards
Comiss of Pensions

Hono. John Reed
Yarmouth Mass
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House of Representatives
May 14, 1834
Sir
I have this day received a Memorial of James Hudson praying for a pension.  Also a certificate of the Selectsman or others as to the character of this Memorialist.  
I hereby enclose you the papers and take pleasure in adding that the memorialist and those who certify are well known to me and are all well entitled to credit.
With Respect
Your of Service
John Reed

James L Edwards Esq
Commissioner of Pensions
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House of Representatives
Feb 1, 1838

Sir
I enclose you two letters one of James Hudson & Wm Bates Esq. I beg that you will examine the claims of Hudson for a pension (I suppose his application is in your office). Mr. H. lived a number of years in Yarmouth my own town & has a character excellent as a sole industrious man& as I have always understood for both

With respect
Yr Obt Sernt
John Reed

P.S. Please to return the enclosed letters
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James L. Edwards Esq
Com. of Pensions
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Plymouth October 1. 1834

J. L. Edwards Esq
Dear Sir
I am requested to forward to you the enclosed supplementary declaration of James Hudson for a pension, which taken in connection with his former declaration exhibits the most definite account he can give.  He produces no evidence but relies on his reputation for the truth of his story and his credit for truth seems pretty well supported by a large number of the most respectable citizens of Wareham, known to me as such & also certified to be such by Hon. John Reed.
Any further communication may be made to me if you please & you will oblige.
Your obt. Servant
J. H. Loud
Regr. Probate
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Washington May 27th 1852

Hon. Jas. E. Heath
Comr. of Pensions
Sir
I have the honor to enclose the declaration of James Hudson, who claims the benefit of the act of 1832, granting pensions to officers & soldiers of the Revolutionary War.
Very respectfully
Your Obt. Servt.
Robert W.  Young
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Evidence in the case of James Hudson 
(illegible) filed 27 May. Not heard from

R.W. Young
Present.
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LAND OFFICE, of Maryland ANNAPOLIS, August 13th 1852
I certify, that it appears by a Pay Roll remaining in the Office, that James Hudson 1st a private, in the 4 Regt received of John Hamilton, Agent of the Maryland Line, $51.10 arrears of pay from the 1st August, 1780, to the 1st January, 1782--also $80.00 pay from the 1st January, 1782, to the 1st January, 1783--also $43.30, from the 1st January, 1783, to the 15th of November, 1783.
Gratuity --- Total received, $174.40.

J. Murray
Comm of the Land Office, Md.

37 1/2 Ce.
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(left side)
Feby - 26 - 1903
Mrs. F A. Tyler

Gainsville Texas

(right side)

REJECTED

5333
P.O. James Hudson

Service: _____
Enlisted:______, 18   .
Discharged:______, 18   .
Application filed: ___. 18  .
Alleges: _____
_________
Re-enlisted: ________

Attorney: ________
P.O. ______________
___________________
___ Recognized.   ____ Contract.

___ Cert. of Dis.  Searched for _____, 18  .
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[stamped] U. S. PENSION OFFICE D FEB 12 1903 [/stamped]
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Own (handwritten)

United States Senate,
Washington D.C.

Gainsville, Texas
Feb 9, 1903.

Commissioner of Pensions
Washington D.C.

Dear sir -

I wish to know if the name of James Hudson appears among the list of soldiers pensioned for services in the Revolutionary War. I do not know what colony he lived in at the time possibly Virginia or Pennsylvania or any one of the colonies.
Please answer at your earliest convenience.

Yours truly
Mrs. Mary Hudson Tyler
(Mrs. F.A. Tyler)
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31065
James Hudson

Suspd
J. H. Loud
Hono J Reed
Yarmouth
Mass
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Sir:
The evidence in support of your claim under the act of June 7, 1832, has been examined and the papers are herewith returned.  The following is a statement of your case in tabular form.  On comparing these papers with the following rules, and the subjoined noted, you will readily perceive that objectives exist, which must be removed, before a pension can be allowed.  The notes and the regulations will show what is necessary to be done.  Those points to which your attention is more particularly directed, you will find marked in the margin with a brace (thus }).  You will, when you return your papers to this Department, send this printed letter with them; and you will, by compliing with this request, greatly facilitate the investigation of your claim
___________________
Statement, showing the Service of
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2
REGULATIONS UNDER THE ACT OF JUNE 7, 1852.
The following regulations have been adopted:
This law has been construed to extend, as well to the line, as to every branch of the Staff of the Army, and to include under the terms "Continental Line", "State troops", "militia", and "volunteers", all persons enlisted, drafter, or who volunteered and who were bound to military service, but not those who were occasional employed with the army upon civil contracts, such as Clerks to Commissaries and to Store Keepers and etc., Teamsters, Boatmen and etc.  Persons who served on board of private armed vessels are also excluded from the benefits of the law, as well as persons who turns out at patrols, or were engaged in guarding particular places at night, and were not recognized as being in actual military service.

Four general classes of cases are embraced in this law:
1.  The Regular Troops
2.  The State Troops, Militia and Volunteers
3.  Persons employed in the Naval Service.
4.  Indian Spies

As rolls of the regular troops in the Revolutionary War exist in this Department, all persons claim the benefit of this law as officers, non-commissioned officers, musicians or privates, will, in the first instance, make application by transmitting the following declaration, which will be made before a Court of Record of the County where such applicant resides.  And every Court having by law a seal and Clerk is considered a Court of Record.

DECLARATION
In order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress of the 7th of June, 1832.

State, Territory, or District of County }ss.
On this          Day of         personally appeared (a) before            A.B. A resident (b) of            in the county of              and State, Territory of District of                aged (c)           years, who being first duly sworn, according to law, doth on his oath make the following declaration, in order to obtain the benefit of the provision made by the act of Congress, passed June  7th, 1832.  That he enlisted in the Army of the United States in the yar (d)            ,with           and served in the                 (e) regiment of the                                          line, under the following named officers:
{Here set forth the names and rank of the Field and Company Officers; the time he left the service: (and if he served under more than one term of enlistment, he must specify the particular period, and rank and names of his officers:) the town or county and State in which he resided when he entered the service; the battles, if any, in which he was engaged, and the country through which he marched.
This form is to be varied so as to apply to the cases of officers and persons who belongs to the militia, volunteers, navy and etc.

He hereby relinquishes every claim (f) whatever to a pension or an annuity, except the present, and he declares that his name is not on the Pension Roll of any Agency in any State of (if any) only on that of the Agency in the state of

Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid.                                     A.B.

(and then will follow the certificate of the Court)

And the said Court do hereby declare their opinion (g) that the above name applicant was a revolutionary soldier, and served as he states.

I                                     of the court of                  
do hereby certify (h) that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court in the matter of the application of
for a pension.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office (i) this            day
of                   and etc.

If, on examination of the proper record, the names of applicants, making such declarations, cannot be found, they will produce such proof as the rule given in note (j) points out.

Every application who claims a pension by virtue of service in the State Troops, Volunteers or Militia, except those those belonged to the New Hampshire Militia and State Troops of Virginia, will make and subscribe a declaration to the foregoing, with the following additions, viz:
(k)We, A.B., a Clergyman, residing in the
and C.D. residing in (the same) hereby certify, that we are well acquainted with
who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration; that we believe him to be              years of age; that he is reputed and believed, in the neighborhood where he resides, to have been a soldier of the Revolution, and that we concur in that opinion.

Sworn and subscribed the days and year aforesaid.
(and then will follow the certificate of the Court)

And the said Court do hereby declare their opinion, after the investigation of the matter, and after putting the interrogatories prescribed by the War Department, that the above named applicant was a Revolutionary Soldier, and served as he states.  And the Court further certifies, that it appears to them that A.B. who has signed the preceding certificate is a clergyman, resident in the               and that C.D., who has also signed the same is a resident in the                 and is a credible person, and that their statement is entitled to credit.

I,                            Clerk of the court of
do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court, in the matter of the application of
for a pension.

In testimony where, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office, this                day of
                   and etc.

(Every applicant will produce the best proof in his power.  This is the original discharge or commission; but if neither of these can be obtained, the party will so state under oath, and will then procure, if possible, the testimony of at least one credible witness, stating in detail is personal knowledge of the services of the applicant, and such circumstances connected therewith, as may have a tendency to thro light upon the transaction.

If such surviving witness cannot be found, the application will so state in his declaration (l)and he will also, whether he produce such evidence or not, proceed to relate all the material facts, which can be useful in the investigation of his claim, and in the comparison of his narrative with the events of the period of his
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3
alleged service, as they are known at the Department. A very full account of the services of each person will be indispensable to a favorable action upon his case. The facts stated will afford one of the principal
means of corroborating the declaration of the applicant, if true, or of detecting the imposition, if one be attempted ; and unless, therefore, these are amply and clearly set forth, no favorable decision can be expected
. All applicants will appear before some Court of Record in the County in which they reside, and there subscribe and be sworn to, one of the declarations above provided, according to the nature of his CASE.
The Court will propound the following (m) interrogatories to all applicants for a pension, on account of service in the Militia, State troops, or Volunteers, except the Militia of New Hampshire and the State troops of Virginia.
1. Where and in what year were you born?
2. Have you any record of your age, and if so, where is it?
3. Where were you living when called into service; where have you lived since the Revolutionary war , and where do you now live?
4. How were you called into service; were you drafted, did you volunteer, or were you a substitute?
And if a substitute, for whom?
5. State the names of some of the Regular Officers, who were with the troops, where you served; such
Continental and Militia Regiments as you can recollect, and the general circumstances of your services.
To a Soldier.
Did you ever receive a discharge from the service, and if so, by whom was it given
 and what has become of it?
Did you ever receive a commission, and if so, by whom was it signed, and what
To Office, has become of it?
7. State the names of persons to whom you are known in your present neighborhood, and who can testify as to your character for veracity, and their belief of your services as a soldier of the Revolution.
The Court will see that the answers to these questions are embodied in the declaration, and they are requested to annex their opinions of the truth of the statement of the applicant.
The applicant will further produce in Court, if the same can be done, in the opinion of the Court, without too much expense and inconvenience to him, two respectable persons--one of whom should be
the nearest clergyman, if one lives in the immediate vicinity of such applicant, who can testify, from their acquaintance with him, that they believe he is of the age he represents, and that he is reputed and believed in the neighborhood to have been a Revolutionary soldier, and that they concur in that opinion.
If one of these persons is a Clergyman, the Court will so certify, and they will also certify to the character and standing of other persons giving such certificates.
The traditionary evidence of service is deemed very important, in the absence of any direct
proof, except the declaration of the party. And the Courts are requested to be very particular in the inquiry whether the belief is general, and whether any doubts have ever existed upon the subject.
Applicants unable to appear in Court, by reason of bodily infirmity, may make the declaration before required, and submit to the examination, before a Judge or Justice of a Court of Record of the proper county, and the Judge or Justice will execute the duties, which the Court is herein requested to perform,
and will also certify that the applicant cannot, from bodily infirmity, attend the Court.
Whenever any official act is required to be done by a Judge or Justice of a Court of Record, or by a Justice of the Peace, the certificate of the Secretary of State or Territory, or of the proper Clerk of the Court or County, under his seal of office, will be annexed, stating that such person is a Judge or Justice of a Court of Record, or a Justice of the Peace, and that the signature annexed is his genuine signature.
No payments can be made on account of the services of any person, who may have died before the taking effect of the act of June 7, 1832; and in case of death subsequent thereto, and before the declaration herein required is made, the parties interested will transmit such evidence as they can procure , taken and authenticated before a Court of Record, showing the services of the deceased, the period of his death, the opinion of the neighborhood respecting such services, the title of the claimant, and the opinion of the Court upon the whole matter.
The declarant must appear in open Court, unless prevented from doing so by reason of bodily inf 
the rule laid down for his guidance.
The declarant must make his declaration in the county where he resides. If he should fail to do so, he must assign a sufficient reason for not
conforming to the rule.
⌨ The age of the claimant must invariably be mentioned.
The declarant must mention the period or periods of the war when he served.
Every continental officer or soldier must give the name of the Colonel under whom he served; otherwise a satisfactory examination of the claim cannot be had. Every claimant must state, with precision, the length of his service, and the different grades in which he served, in language in definite as to enable the Department to determine to what amount of pension he is entitled. In a case where the applicant cannot, by reason of the
loss of memory, state precisely how long he served, he should amend his declaration by making an affidavit in the for of old age, and the consequent loss of memory, he cannot swear positively as to the precise length of his service; but, according to the best of his
recollection, he served not less than the periods mentioned below, and in the following grades:--For---year----months, and days, I served as a -. For - months and --- days, I served as a -; and for such service I claim a pension."
It is important, in all cases, to determine with precision the period for which each applicant served, and the particular rank he held, as the law directs the pension to be paid according to the grade of the pensioner and the length of his service. The use of the phrase about three or four months, is too indefinite, and all such qualifying expressions are objectionable. Some persons who apply for pensions merely state that they served two years in the militia, &c. without specifying the tours, the names of the officers, and other particulars respecting their service. This form of a declaration is
highly objectionable. It must in every case, be clearly shown under what officers the applicant served; the duration of each term of engagement; the particular place or places where the service was performed; that the applicant served with an embodied corps called into service by competent authority
; that he was either in the field or in garrison; and for the time during which the service was performed, he was not employed in any civil
pursuit. The law makes the relinquishment indispensable.
The opinion of the Court is always required.
The Clerk must give his certificate in every case.
The Clerk must affix his seal, and if it has no device or inscription by which it can be distinguished from any other seal, or if he has no public seal of office, the certificate of a Member of Congress, proving the official character and signature of the certifying officer, should accompany the papers.
Mode of authenticating papers.
In every instance where the certificate of the certifying officer who authenticates the papers is not written on the same sheet of paper which contains the affidavit, or other papers authenticated, the certificate must be attached thereto by a piece of tape or narrow ribbon, the ends of which must pass under the seal of office of the certifying officer, so as to prevent any paper from being improperly attached to the certificate.
Proof of Service.
In a case where the name of the applicant is not found on the records of the Department, he must prove his service by two credible witnesses who are required to set forth in their affidavits the time of the claimant's entering the service, and the time and manner of his leaving the same, as well as the regiment, company, and line to which he belonged. The magistrate who may administer the oaths must certify to the credibility of the witnesses
, and the official character and signature of the magistrate must be certified by the proper officer, under his seal of office.
The notes from (a) to (l) are all equally applicable to the cases of Militia men, Volunteers and State Troops. The proof required by rule in note il applies to continental troops only.
If a witness cannot be found, the declarant must state the fact.
The answers to the interrogatories must all be written, and sent to the War Department, with the declaration.
Page 39

We the Subscribers Selectmen of the town of Wareham have do hereby certify that we have known James Hudson, the individual named in the within application for several years, and do believe from the character he has uniformly sustained for veracity and uprightness of conduct, that he was too sacred a regard to
truth and the solemnity of an oath, to make any effort by false representations to defraud the government.
Wareham April 30th 1834
Wm Bates
Silvanus Bourne
Gann Fuller Jr
-Selectmen of the town of
Wareham

We the undersigned inhabitants of the town
Wareham do fully concurs with the Selectmen thoughts in the certificate they have subscribed respecting the character of Capt James Hudson of this town
Ezra 
Cora Power
Stephen Gibbs
Joseph Gibbs
Prince Burgess
Laud Pratt
Seth Miller Jr
Martha Murdock

-