Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S. 18068, for James Kelso, Virginia
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(8-1776)
Service
Va.
Kelso, James
Number
S.18068
Carded
Contents
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2

REGULATIONS UNDER THE ACT OF JUNE 7, 1832.

The following regulations have been adopted:
This law has been constructed to extend, as well to the line, as to every branch of the Staff of the Army and to include under the terms"Continental Line" "State troops" "militia" and "volunteers" all persons enlisted, drafted, or who volunteered and who were bound to military service, but not to those who were occasionally employed with the army upon civil contracts, such as Clerks to Commissaries and to Store Keepers, &c. Teamsters, Boatmen,&c. Persons who served on board of Private Armed Vessels are also excluded from the benefits of the law, as well as persons who turned out as patrols, or were engaged in guarding particular places at night, and were not recognized as being in actual military service.

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

As rolls of the regular troops in the Revolutionary War exist in this Department, all persons, claiming the benefit of this law as officers, non-commissioned officers, 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 }ss.
County of

On this[Blank] day of [Blank] personally appeared (a) before A.B. a resident(b) of [Blank] in the county of [Blank] and State, Territory or District of[Blank] aged (c) [Blank] 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 provion made by the act of Congress, passed June, 7 1832. That he enlisted in the Army of the United States in the year(d) [Blank], with[Blank] and served in the [Blank] (e) regiment of the[Blank] line, under the following named officers:
[Here set forth the names and rank of the Field and Company Officers, the time he left the service,(and if he served under more than one term of enlistment, he must specify the particular period, and rank and names of his officers;) the town or county and State in which he resided when he entered the service; the battles, if any, in which he was engaged, and the country through which he marched. This form is to be varied so as to apply to the cases of officers and persons who belonged to the militia, volunteers,navy, &c.] 

He hereby relinquishes every claim(f) whatever to  a pension or an annuity, except the present, and he declares that his name is not on the Pension Roll of any Agency in any State, or (if any) only on that of the Agency in the State of [Blank] 
Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid.[Blank] A.B.
[And then will follow the certificate of the Court.]
And the said Court do hereby declare their opinion(g) that the above named applicant was a revolutionary soldier, and served as he states.
I [Blank]] of the Court of [Blank] do hereby certify(h) that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court in the matter of the application of [Blank] for a pension In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office(I) this[Blank] day of [Blank] &c.
If, on examination of the proper record the names of applicants, making such declaration, cannot be
found, they will produce such proof as the rule given in note (j) points out.
Every applicant who claims a pension by virtue of service in the State Troops, Volunteers or Militia,
except those who belonged to the New Hampshire Militia and State Troops of Virginia, will make and
subscribe a declaration similar to the foregoing, with the following additions, viz:
(k) We, A. B., a Clergyman, residing in the
hereby certify, that we are well acquainted with
and C. D. residing in (the same)
subscribed and sworn to the above declaration; that we believe him to be
who has
years of age; that he is reputed and believed, in the neighborhood where he resides, to have been a soldier
of the Revolution, and that we concur in that opinion.
Sworn and subscribed the day 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
contains the original proceed
do hereby certify that the foregoing
the springs in the said Court, in the matter of the application of
for a pension.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal
this day of
& c.
Every applicant will produce the best proof in his power. This is the original discharge or commission
; but if neither of these can be obtained, the party will so state under oath, and will then procure, if
possible, the testimony of at least one credible witness, stating in detail his personal knowledge of the services, and such circumstances connected therewith, as may have a tendency to throw light
If such surviving witness cannot be found, the applicant will so state in his declaration (l) and he will
also, whether he produce such evidence or not, proceed to relate all the material facts, which can be useful
in the investigation of his claim, and in the comparison of his narrative with the events of the period of his
was in a known at the Department. A very full account of the services of each person
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Bath County
State of Virginia
on this 19 day of August 1832 personally
appeared before me John Sloan Justice of the Peace for said County, James Kelso an applicant  for a Pension, and a resident in said county who being first duly sworn according to law doth on his oath make the following amendment to his declaration for a Pension
To the first objection to his declaration marked he answers that having live a great part of his life in the County of Rockbridge and have a great deal of intercourse with the County of Rockbridge, the friends of this applicant residing principally in a Rockbridge, and now residing himself near the Rockbridge line, he was under the impression, that his evidence was chiefly in a Rockbridge and therefore he applied in sd County Rockbridge. But the objection he hopes to remove effectually by making these amendment to his declaration is the County of his present residence. To the objection marked 3 he answers In the first tour of duty mentioned in his declaration he served from the Tenth day of January 1781 to the 20th of April 1781 three months and ten days. 
In the 2 mentioned in his petition he served
one month. In the 3d and last tour mentioned in his declaration, he was drafted for 3 months and served out his tour - his service actually rendered during the revolutionary war amounts to not less than seven months and ten days and for this he claims a Pension
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August 16, 1932

Mr. Kenyon Stevenson
154 School Lane
Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

BA-J/AWF
James Kelso
S.18068

Dear Sir:

Reference is made to your letter requesting information relative to James Kelso, a soldier of the War of the Revolution from Virginia.

The data furnished herein were obtained from the papers on file in pension claim, S.18068, based upon the Revolutionary War service of James Kelso.

He was born in 1761 in that part of the county of Augusta, which was later Rockbridge County, Virginia.

He enlisted, while residing in Rockbridge County, Virginia, and served as a private with the Virginia troops, as follows: from early in January, 1781 in Captain James Buchanan's company in Colonel John Bowyer's regiment, was in several skirmishes with the British, was discharged reaching home April 20, 1781; at the time Colonel Tarleton marched to Charlottesville, was out one month, no officers stated; from sometime in September, 1781 in Captain Charles Campbell's company, was in the siege of Yorktown, and after the capture of Cornwallis, guarded prisoners to Winchester, Virginia, was discharged and reached home a short time before Christmas.

He was allowed pension on his application executed, December 31, 1832, then a resident of Bath County, Virginia.

There are no data relative to his family.

In order to obtain the date of last payment of pen-
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sion, the name of person paid and possibly the date of death of the Revolutionary War pensioner, James Kelso, you should apply to The Comptroller General, General Accounting Office, Records Division, Washington,D.C., citing all of the following data-
James Kelso
Certificate number 23779
To paid April 4, 1834
Rate $24.23 per annum
To commence March 4, 1831
Act of June 7, 1832
Virginia Agency.

Very truly yours

A.D. Hiller
Assistant to Administrator
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State of Virginia Rockbridge County
On this 31st day of December 1832 personally
appeared in open Court before the Justices of the County Court of Rockbridge in the State of Virginia now sitting, James Kelso now a resident of the County of Bath State aforesaid, seventy
one years of age, who being 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 7th 1832.
That he was born in the year 1761, in that part of the County of Augusta, now Rockbridge, - that he entered the service under the following named officers, - that he was drafted & entered into the militia service on the 10th day of January 1781 under
Col John Bowyer & Captain James Buchanan, that during this term of service, having marched to Fredericksburg & from thence crossing James River between Richmond & Williamsburg to Cabin Point, Smithfield & Portsmouth, that he was in no
regular engagement, but was in several skirmishes with the British scouting parties near Portsmouth, - was discharged and returned home about the 20th 1781.
2nd That he entered the service again as a Volunteer at the time Col Tarlton - marched with his Cavalry to Charlottesville,-That the Company of Volunteers to which he was attached met in the little town of
Waynesborough in the County of Augusta & proceed thence to Charlottesville. That he has no recollection of the name of the commanding officers. - he remained in the service at this time about one month. That he was again drafted in September 1781, & entered the militia service in a company commanded by Capt. Charles Campbell, & was marched from Rockbridge County to Richmond & Williamsburg, there Joined Washington Army,-  was under Washington during the siege of York, - after the capture of Cornwallis, was detailed to guard the prisoners to Winchester in the County of Frederick
State of Virginia; That he was discharged and returned house shortly before Christmas. That he received in no instance a written discharge -
He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to
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154 School Lane,
Lancaster, Pa.,
July 27, 1932.

Bureau of Pensions,
Washington, D.C.

Gentlemen: 
In a list of Revolutionary War pensioners for 1835, I find the name James Kelso, living in Rockbridge County, Va., then 74 years old, a former private in the Virginia Continental line.

I am trying to trace the family of a great-grandmother, Mary Kelso, and would appreciate your sending me what biographical data the pension file of this James Kelso gives- such as his birthplace, date of birth, names of his wife and children, date of death, service record, etc. I feel that Mary Kelso belonged to this same family as she lived in Kentucky and came from Va. 
Thank you for any information that you may send,

Yours truly,
Kenyon Stevenson
Kenyon Stevenson