Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S 22267, Solomon Gibbs, Vt.
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SERVICE
Vt.
Gibbs, Solomon.
NUMBER
S22267
CONTENTS
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[recto]
Vermont 9541
Solomon Gibbs of Rutland in the State of Vermont who was a pri. in the company commanded by Captain Whelps of the Regt. commanded Col. Fletcher in the Vermont line for 18 months
______
Inscribed on the Roll of Vermont at the rate of 60 Dollars [blank] Cents per annum, to commence on the 4th day of March, 1831.
______
Certificate of Pension issued the 25 day of May '33 and sent to R. Pierpoint Rutland Co. Rutland C. H. Vt.
______
Arrears to the 4th of March '33 -        120
Semi-anl. allowance ending 4 Sept. -    30
                                                           ______
                                                            $150
______
{Revolutionary Claim, Act June 7, 1832.}
Recorded by Wm . Miller Clerk, Book E. Vol. B. Page 66.

[verso]
let C R Walker 8th Apl 1835
C. R. Walker 27 Nov 1835
E F Englesby Feby 12, '36
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[encircled: 11.299]
BRIEF in the case of Solomon Gibbs of Benson in the State of Vermont
(Act 7th June, 1832.)

1. Was the declaration made before a Court or a Judge? open court
2. If before a Judge, does it appear that the applicant is disabled by bodily infirmity? [blank]
3. How old is he? 70 years - 
4. State his service, as directed in the form annexed.
______
[column headings: Period.|Duration of Service.(Years,|Months,|Days.)| Rank.(As a)| Names of General and Field Officers under whom he served.['Gen.' overwritten by Col'l Fletcher]|]
Spring In 1781|([blank]|9|[blank])|Private|Capt. Js. Blakely Cos Lt James Rice} Vermt. Mil enlisted|
Mar or Apr 1782|([blank]|9|[blank])|O'r|Capt. Whelps - Cor O'r|

5. In what battles was he engaged? none stated
6. Where did he reside when he entered the service? Hebron_Vermont
7. Is his statement supported by living witnesses, by documentary proof, by traditionary evidence, by incidental evidence, or by the rolls? 1st term by two witnesses -/ one was his Lieut - ) - Cert'fied to be credible - 
8. Are the papers defective as to form or authentication? and if so, in what respect? Correct

I Certify that the foregoing statement and the answers agree with the evidence in the case above mentioned. 
/s/E. Stephens Examining Clerk.
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[recto]
11299.
Solomon Gibbs
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State of Vermont
Rutland County ss.}
On this 5th day of September AD. 1832, personally appeared in open court before the court of probate within + for Fairhaven probate district, Solomon Gibbs of Benson in the same district in the county aforesaid aged seventy years the 22d day of September AD. 1832  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 7th 1832. That he entered the service of the United States under following named officers, and service as herein stated.
That according to his best recollection early in the spring of that year 1781, he enlisted at Pawlet in the county of Rutland Vermont into the militia service of the United States, and in a company commanded by Capt. James Blakely, our Lieutenant Jonas Rice who now lives in Orwell Vermont, and [blank] Coffin. he thinks he was enlisted by one of said officers, but which, he cant recollect. that he enlisted for nine months at the time he enlisted he resided in Hebron New-York a town joining to Pawlet Vt. that he went from Pawlet to Rupert Vt. + from there marched to Castleton, Vermont, where he there served out his term of nine months in Capt. Blakesley's company, there was a finished fort at said Castleton where we were stationed, Col. Fletcher commanded at the fort during the nine months Capt. Stark, commanded a company at said Fort, also another company was commanded by Capt. Brookins, we were principally employed on scouting parties during the campaign.
[margin note: 2d] That in the month of March or April 1782. he again entered the service, was hired by a class of the militia and entered a company
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commanded by Lieut. Hinsdale or Hernden at Salem New-York, the company was afterward commanded by Capt. Whelps (as I believe the name was) that they were marched from Salem to White-Hall (then called Skeenesborough) and from Skeenesborough to Fort-Ann, thence to the North River, + thence to Salem again, that they did not stay at either of said places but a few days, from Salem we were marched to Saratoga, the continental Reg'ts lay about a mile north of us, he can't recollect the name of the Col. who commanded the Regt. to which he belonged, don't recollect what Gen'l officer commanded, frequently saw Gen'l Schuyler there once saw Gen'l Washington & LaFayette there. thinks that in Sept'r 1782, he with a part of the company to which he belonged were marched into the Mohawk River near German flats, and from thence to Schenectady, where they were stationed until they were discharged which he thinks was about the last of Dec'r 1782, when he + the company was dismissed, having served out the nine months, being the term of their engagement. that he has no documentary evidence, that he can prove by his Lieut. Jonas Rice (as he thinks) that he did serve the first term of nine months, and by John Baker in relation to the last nine months that he lived at said Hebron that the time he engaged in each of said terms of said terms of service. was born in Litchfield Connecticut, 1762. ['I have a record of my age in my bible,' crossed out] he has lived in said Hebron after the Revolution until he moved to said Benson where he has lived
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about thirty years last passed + where he now lives, excepting one year about the close of the war as Immediately after, he lived in Pawlet one year.
he hereby relinquishes everly claim whatever to a pension or annuity, except the present, and declares his name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any State.
/s/Solomon Gibbs
['Sworn to & subscribed the day & year afore'd' crossed out]
Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid}
And the said Court do hereby declare this 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.
I Selah H. Merrill, Clerk of the Probate Court aforesaid do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court in the matter of this application of Solomon Gibbs for a pension.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and Seal of Office this 5th day of September AD 1832.
/s/S. H. Merrill
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Received the sum of nine ten pound two shillings and two pence in a Certificate 7202
David Hopkins

Note the Certificate was drawn in the name of Giles in the stead of Gibbs by mistake
Gibbs, Solomon
Vt S22269

Solomon Giles 27.
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Blackcreek 2, January 1786
Sir please to Deliver to the Bearer hereof David Hopkins Asgn all my wages due me for my Service as a Soldier in Capt Livingston's Company of Levies in the year 1782 and this shall be your Discharge for the same to the paymaster or Colo. Willet 
/s/Solomon Gibbs
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Jno Kellogg
Benson Vt.
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11.299

BRIEF objections to the admission of Pension Claims, of which those answered in the negative, in red ink, will apply to the claim of Solomon Gibbs [handwritten] which require further proof or explanation.

I. Does the declaration show where the applicant resides?
II. Did the declarant make the declaration in the county where he resides?
III. If the applicant did not make the declaration in the county where he resides, is there any reason assigned for his not doing so?
IV. Has the declarant mentioned the period or periods of war when he served?
V. Has he mentioned with precision the length of his service, and the different grades in which he served, in language so definite as to enable the Department to determine what amount of pension he is entitled to?
VI. Has he given the names of the officers under whom he served, in conformity with the regulations?
VII. Has he made a relinquishment of every claim to any other pension than the one under the Act of June 7, 1832. 
VIII. HAs the Court given their opinion?
IX.H Has the Clerk given his certificate?
X. Is the Clerk's seal affixed? And if so, has a device or inscription by which it can be distinguished from any other seal?
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2

XI. Has the applicant obtained the evidence of a clergyman and other respectable citizen as to their belief respecting his age and the general belief in his neighborhood relative to his revolutionary service? No [handwritten]

XII. If the clergyman's affidavit has not been produced, is there any reason assigned for not obtaining it? none [handwritten]

XIII. If the applicant has no documentary evidence, and has not obtained the testimony of at least one living witness, has he stated in his declaration that such proof cannot be had?

XIV. If the applicant's name is not found on the rolls of military service, has he produce a witness or witnesses as to his service?
If he has produced direct proof as to service, has the magistrate who administered the oat certified to the credibility of the witness or witnesses?
Has the proper officer certified to the official charter and signature of the magistrate as to the regulations direct?

XV. Does it appear from any of the papers that the witness was in such a situation, of such an age, as to have a personal knowledge of the applicant's service?

XVI. Are the papers authenticated as the regulations direct?

XVII. Are the seven interrogatories prescribed by the WAR Department answered satisfactorily? And, if not, which of them is not answered so?
--------
EXPLANATORY NOTES

QUERE V. In a case where the applicant cannot, by reason of the loss of memory, state precisely how long he served, he should amend his declaration by making an affidavit in the following words:  "Personally appeared before me, the undersigned, a Justice of the Peace, &c. A. B. who, being duly sworn, deposeth and saith, that, by reason of old age, the consequent loss of memory, he cannot swear positively as to the precise length of his service, but according to the best of his recollection he served not less than the periods mentioned below, and in the following grades; For__year______months, and ______days I served as a _______ For _____months and _______Days, I served as a ________; and for such service I claim a pension.
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3
It is important in all cases to determine with precision the period for which each applicant served, and the particular rank he held, as the law directs the pension to be paid according to the grade of the pensioner and the length of his service. The use of the phrase about three or four months is too indefinite, and all such qualifying expressions are objectionable. Some persons who apply for pensions merely state they served two years in the militia, &c. without specifying the tours; the names of the officers, and other particulars respecting their service. This form of a declaration is highly objectionable. It must in every case be clearly 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 embodies corps called into service by competent authority; that he was either in the field or in garrison; and for the tie during which the service was performed, he was not employed in any civil pursuit.
+QUERE XIV. Proof of Service.
In a case where the name of the applicant is not found on the records of the Department, he must prove his service by two credible witnesses, who are required to set forth in their affidavits the time of the claimants entering the service, and the time and manner of  his leaving the same, as well as the regiment, company, and line to which he belonged. The magistrate who may administer the oaths must certify to the credibility of the witnesses, and the official character and signature of the magistrate must be certified by the proper officer, under his seal of office.
++QUERE XVI. Mode of authenticating papers.
In every instance where the certificate of the certifying officer who authenticates the papers is not written on the same sheet of paper which contains the affidavit, or other papers authenticated, the certificate must be attached thereto by a piece of tape or narrow ribbon, the ends of which pass under the seal of office of the certifying officer, so as to prevent any paper from being improperly attached to the certificate.
>In every case where the clerk of the court, or other certifying officer, has no public seal of office, the certificate of a member of congress, proving the official character and signature of the certifying officer, should accompany papers.
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Jonas Rice Affidavit.
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I Jonas Rice of Orwell County of Rutland State of Vermont of lawful age being duly sworn do depose testify and say that in the year 1781 I served as a Lieutenant in Colonel Fletcher's Regiment in the Vermont State troops, and that from circumstances which Mr. Solomon Gibbs of Benson in said county relates, which took place during the campaign in said year. I am satisfied that he served as a soldier in the company to which I belonged, although I cannot now sufficiently recollect him to enable me positively identify the man not having seen him since I left the army - He relates the principal circumstances which took place driving the campain and with much precision that I cannot but believe that he served with me in the same company - Captain James Blakely commanded ['the' crossed out] own company - and further your deponent saith not.
/s/Jonas Rice

State of Vermont
Rutland County ss} Orwell August 27th 1832 Then personally appeared Jonas Rice the signer of the foregoing deposition and made oath to the truth of the same before me
/s/Roswell Bottum Jr. Justice Peace

State of Vermont
Rutland County ss} I Robert Pierpoint Clerk of the County Court for the County of Rutland do certify that Roswell Bottum Jr. is a Justice of the peace for said county and that the above signature is his hand writing
[court seal affixed]
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Seal of said Court at Rutland this 31 day of August 1832  of August A.D. 1832
/s/R. Pierpoint
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State Troops + joined the Company at Salem in said County + Marched with Lieut. Hunsdell from Salem to Granville + thence to Whitehall + stationed in building +Skenes stone building  marched from thence to Fort Ann + there to Fort Edward + from the latter place was marched back to Salem - was stationed at the latter place form some time + there was marched to Saratoga + then joined the Regiment + part of the regiment marched to Ballstown that to West Point + marched from there up the Mohawk River to a Scotchman who was supposed to have harbored tories + from there was marched to Schenectady, + was stationed in the barracks in the latter place until the troops were dismissed which was on the twenty fifth day of December in the same year + arrived home at Hebron about the first day of January. After that he served in the State troops of new York nine months - that Lieut Hunsdell is dead as he is informed who died about three years since + that he has not been able to learn whether the other officers belonging to said Company are living having made inquiry for them in many places + has not been enabled to learn the fact - he further states that Asa Fitch + Robert Stewart served with him a part of the time at Salem while stationed there during the same nine months - 
/s/Solomon Gibbs
Sworn in open court 
November 6th 1835
/s/John Willard
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State of New York
Washington County 
Lungath office } Ss
I John Willard surrogate of the said county do testify that the foregoing declaration of Solomon Gibbs was sworn to by him before me at a court held before me on the 6th November instant, and the annexed affidavit of Robert Stewart was sworn to by him before me at the same time - and the annexed affidavit of Asa Fitch was sworn to by him before me at a court held before me on the 7th day of November instant.  That I am well acquainted with both the deponents Fitch & Stewart & believe them to be credible persons & further that their papers were bound up & sealed by me with my official seal.  In witness whereof I have hereto set my hand & seal of office at [illegible] this 7th day of November 1835.
[seal]
John Willard Surrogate
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State of New York
Washington County} ss. Robert Stuart of the town of Salem in the County of Washington + State of New York aged sixty Eight years - being duly sworn deposeth + saith that he was well acquainted with Solomon Gibbs mentioned in the annexed declaration in the year one thousand seven hundred + eighty two. that he this deponent served in the same company with him during that year as substitute for his brother William Stuart under Capt Anthony Welps + Lieut Hunsdell + knowing that the said Solomon Gibbs was a private soldier in said Company at that time. that this deponent served in said Company seven months + a half - that his brother was entitled as he was informed for nine months, + that this deponent believes the said Solomon Gibbs served in said Company during the said seven + a half months with this deponent and further saith
/s/Robert Stewart
Sworn 6th November 1835 in open court. and I certify that I am well acquainted with the above named deponent + that he is a credible person - 
/s/John Willard Surrogate
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Salem in said county and was discharged at Schenectady in December of that year. that he has been well acquainted with Asa Fitch + Robert Stewart named in the preceeding + subjoined affidavits, ever since said Service and that they served in said company the same of this deponents said service. this deponent further saith that he well recollect of a man by the name of Gibbs being in the same company with him the deponent does not recollect his christian name, this deponent on reflection is of opinion that Welps was discharged from the service previous to the deponent joining the company, he recollects that he was under the command of Hunsdell during his said three months service in New York.
/s/John Doty
Sworn to and subscribed this 9th day of December 1835 before me
/s/Hiram Shipman Justice
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[addressed envelope]
Vt Nov 16
NY Nov 11
Solomon Gibbs

Free
J. L. Edwards Esq
Commissioner of Pension 
Washington City
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[handwritten letter]
Bursar Nov 11 1835

J. L. Edwards Esq.

Dr Sir your Letter in regards to the suspension of the pay of Solomon Gibbs for service performed in State of New York now been some time ago Mr Gibbs has been waiting a long time for the return of Mr Stuart from Ohio. Mr. Stuart was stated as you said pension of 7 1/2 months + others to Mr Gibbs being in the service no one has positively sworn to the 1 1/2 months but Sir I think on Examining the papers you readily order his pension continued but I think no comment of mine would any good as you are aware the difficulty this Pensioner labors under on account of the lapse of time.
Your Respectfully 
/s/C. R. Walker

P.S. you said Lee Doty made his Dep't after the Surrogate signed then now does one Gibbs may have but suppose it does no have
CR.M
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[addressed envelope]
Mar 30 Vt Apl. 6
Free

J. L. Edwards
Pension Office
Washington City D. C.
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Bursar March 30, 1835

J. L. Edwards Esq
Dr Sir In providing pension money I find Solomon Martin Solomon Gibbs + Ascher Stiles of this Town suspended will [illegible] you in on the subject they are all Living. there was a man by the name of Solomon Gibbs Jr who draws a pension for wounds in the last war he Entitled Solomon Gibbs and always drew his pension in that way at two Dollars per month
I am yours
/s/C. R. Walker 
P.M.
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Amos Pierce aff.
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I Amos Pierce of Putnam Washington county New York, testify and say that I recollect that Solomon Gibbs now of Benson Rutland county Vermont was a soldier in the militia service of the United States in the revolutionary war. that said Gibbs + myself were soldiers in a company commanded by Capt. James Blakesley. Jonas Rice now of Orwell Vermont was out Lieut. in same company, that said Gibbs served in said company with me at Castleton Vermont nine months in the year 1781.
And further say not.
/s/Amos Pierce

State of Vermont
Rutland County ss.} Castleton Sept. 5th 1832.
Then the foregoing affidavit was taken + subscribed + sworn to 
Before me
/s/A Warner Jus't Peace

State of Vermont
Rutland County ss}
I Robert Pierpoint Clerk of the County Court for the County of Rutland do certify that Almon Warner Esq is a Justice of the peace for said County duly commissioned and that the above signature is his hand writing
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixes the seal of said Court at Rutland this 11th day of Sept A.D. 1832
/s/R. Pierpoint