Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File R. 4319, Joel Griffin, Conn.
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[printed form completed in handwriting]
3-1776
Service
Conn.
Griffin, Joel
Number
R. 4319
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[handwritten]
State of New York
Franklin County } ss
Personally appeared in open court Asahel Griffin aged sixty three years before the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas at the Court House ^in the town of Malone^ in & for the County of Franklin in the State of New York and being duly examined under oath made the following deposition, that he was born in the town of Killingsworth in the state of Connecticut in the year 1769, that he has a brother by the name of Joel Griffin who is several years older than this deponent.
	That he this deponent & his brother Joel resided with their father in the said town of Killingsworth during the Revolutionary war except the time the said Joel was absent as a soldier, that he knows that his brother Joel enlisted into a company commanded by Captain George Nettleton but being quite young does not remember what year it was, that soon after his enlistment the said Joel
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[handwritten]
left home & marched with his company somewhere to the west but to what place he this deponent does not know, and did not return home again for some time but does not remember how long.
	he this deponent further states that sometime after his brother returned home from the service as a soldier, the said Joel went into the service of the United States as a substitute for one Nehemiah Story at the said town of Killingsworth under Captain Frances, that the said Company under the command of the Captain Frances was stationed in the said town of Killingsworth  that his brother remained in said company for a length of time but how long this deponent does not remember.
[signed] Asahel Griffin

Sworn in open Court this 12th Oct 1832
[signed] Saml S Clark clk
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[handwritten]
Franklin County Court

State of New York
Franklin County ss} On this twelfth day of October 1832 personally appeared in open court before the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas now sitting at the Court House in the town of Malone in & for the County of Franklin Joel Griffin a resident of Malone in the said County and State of New York aged sixty five 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 in the month of February or March in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty on he enlisted at Killingsworth therein the County of New London in the State of Connecticut (where he then resided) under Capt. George Nettleton a recruiting officer to serve as a Soldier in the Regiment of Continental Troops commanded by Col. Swift for the time of three years  that in a few days after his enlistment he was mustered with other at Saybrook in Connecticut and marched to join Col. Swift’s Regiment then stationed near White Plains in the State of New York. that on his arrival at the latter place the officers of the said Regiment after measuring and inspecting him on account of his youth & diminutive stature being then not quite 14 years of age gave him a furlough and a pass to return home and grow larger   that he then returned home to Killingsworth and was again called for to join the Regiment  That immediately after his return home in the month
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[handwritten]
month of May or June 1781 he engaged as a Substitute at Killingsworth for one Nehemiah Story to serve for about two months in a company of Connecticut Militia under Captain Thomas Francis of Killingsworth and went immediately into service as a private in the said Company   was stationed on the Sea Short at Killingsworth and continued in such service in the said Company at that place from the time of so entering it till sometime in the month of December in the same year when he was honorable discharged. that while he was so doing duty at Killingsworth late in the month of October intelligence was received at the post of the capture of Lord Cornwallis at York Town  that early the next morning he this Declarant was sent by captain Francis on horseback with a message to some gentleman about five miles distant with orders to be back before roll call (he believes the object of the Message was to communicated the intelligence received and to invite them to participate in a public celebration of this joyful event) and that on his return the horse he was riding fell & fractured the bone of his left leg below the knee by which fracture he was confined at his quarters for several weeks  that he again performed the duty of a Soldier at the said Station as soon as he was sufficiently recovered and continued in service till some time after the setting in of winter  recollects that while standing as a sentinel he used to run into cabins erected on the shore for manufacturing salt to warm himself and that the whole length of his service was about nine months = that according to the best of his knowledge he was born at Killingsworth in August 1767  that he has no record of his age but believes there is
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[handwritten]
a Record in the town of Killingsworth of his birth
that the foregoing declaration contains the material parts of what he can now recollect of his service although he recollects at the expiration of the said two months he served as a Substitute for Nehemiah Story he continued in the service at the said post under Captain Frances for some time as a Substitute for one Wilcox
	that he has no documentary evidence and that he knows of no person except his Brother Asahel Griffin whose testimony he can procure who can testify to his service  that he resided at Killingsworth aforesaid at the Commencement of the war and continued to reside there till the Spring of the year 1786 when he removed to Middleton on Connecticut River in the State of Connecticut where he resided about two years and then removed to New Haven in the County of Addison & State of Vermont where he resided about five years and then removed to Swanton in the County of Franklin & State of Vermont where he resided till February of 1804 or 1805 when he removed to Chateaugay in the County of Franklin & State of New York and resided there three years & then removed to Bangor in the County & State last aforesaid where he resided till March 1821 when he removed to Malone in the County of Franklin & State of New York and has continued to reside at the last mentioned place till this time & now resides here
He hereby relinquished 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
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[handwritten]
[signed] Joel Griffin

Sworn and Subscribed the day & year aforesaid
[signed] John H Russell Dep Clerk

We Ashbel Parmelee a clergyman residing in the town of Malone & County of Franklin & State of New York and Jonas Stone residing within the same County do certify that we are well acquainted with Joel Griffin who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration  that we believe him to be sixty five years of age  that he is respected & believed in the neighborhood where he resides to have been a Soldier of the Revolution and that concur in that opinion.
[signed] Ashbel Parmelee
[signed] Jonas Stone
Sworn and Subscribed the day & year aforesaid
[signed] John H Russell Dep Clerk

A.B. On the second page, the words “with orders to be back at roll call” interlined before signing

And the said Court do hereby declare their opinion, after the investigation of the matter, and after putting the interogations prescribed by the War Department, that the above named applicant was a revolutionary Soldier, and served as he states.
And the Court further certify that it apears to them that Ashbel Parmelee who has signed the preceding certificate is a clergyman, resident in the town of Malone in said County, and that Jonas Stone who has also signed the same, is a resident in the same place, and is a credible person and that their statement is entitled to credit ~
I, John H. Russell, Deputy Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas in & for the County of Franklin, do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court in the matter of the application of Joel Griffin for a pension
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto my hand and affixed the Seal of the Said Court this 17th day of October AD 1821.

[signed] John H. Russell Dep. Clerk.

[left margin]
Asahel Griffin
Joel Griffin
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[handwritten]
Joel Griffin

alleges service from June to Dec. 81. & continued  till setting in of winter & concludes that it was 0 mos

Rejected
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[printed form completed in handwriting]
Brief in the case of Joel Griffin of Malone in the State of New York
(Act 7th June, 1832.)
1.	Was the declaration made before a Court or a Judge? In open Court
2.	If before a Judge, does it appear that the applicant is disabled by bodily infirmity?
3.	How old is he? Sixty five years
4.	State his service, as directed in the form annexed
[following is table – columns separated by /   the table is not completed but written over]
Period./Duration of Service./Rank./Names of General and Field Officers under whom he served.

States that, he first enlisted for 3 years, in Feby or March 1781 but did not pass inspection on account of his youth and diminutive stature ~ 
States that, he Engaged as a Substitute in May or June 1781. to serve about two months under Capt. Thos Francis, Connect. Militia, and that he served until some time in the Month of Decemr of the same year.
His statements are so Confused tht nothing explicit in regard to Service can be extracted from them
5.	In what battles was he engaged? None stated
6.	Where did he reside when he entered the service? Killingsworth Connecticut
7.	Is his statement supported by living witnesses, by documentary proof, by traditionary evidence, by incidental evidence, or by the rolls? Traditionary evidence, and one living witness (his Brother), who at the period referred to could not have been more than 10 years of age
8.	Are the papers defective as to form or authentication? And if so, in what respect? They are not attached according to the Regulations
I certify that the foregoing statement and the answers agree with the evidence in the case above mentioned.

[signed] Wm Gordon Examining Clerk.
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[printed form completed in handwriting]
[stamp]
Rejected
4319.
P. O. 
Joel Griffing
Service: 
Enlisted: [blank], 18  .
Discharge: [blank], 18  . 
Alleges: [blank]
Re-enlisted: [blank]
Attorney: [blank]
P.O. [blank]
[blank] Recognized.    [blank] Contract.
[blank] Cert. of Dis. Searched for [blank], 18  .
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[handwritten]
Joel Griffing
New York
Act 7 June 1832
Rejected See the letter to Hon. W. R. Hogan January 29. 1832
House of Representatives
4319
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[printed form completed in handwriting]
Brief objections to the admission of a Pension Claims, of which those answered in the negative, in red ink, will apply to the claim of Joel Griffin which require further proof or explanation.

I.	Does the declaration show where the applicant resides? Yes
II.	Did the declarant make the declaration in the county where he resides? Yes
III.	If the applicant did not make the declaration in the county where he reside, is there any reason assigned for his not doing so? 
IV.	Has the declarant mentioned the period or periods of the war when he served? Yes
V.	Has he mentioned with precision the length of his service, and the different grades in which he served, in language so definite as to enable the department to determine to what amount of pension he is entitled? No
VI.	Has he given the names of the officers under whom he served, in conformity with the regulations? Yes
VII.	Has he made a relinquishment of every claim to any other pension that the one under the Act of June 7, 1832? Yes
VIII.	Has the Court given their opinion? Yes
IX.	Has the Clerk given his certificate? Yes
X.	Is the Clerk’s seal affixed? And if so, has it a device or inscription by which it can be distinguished from any other seal? Yes
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XI.	Has the applicant obtained the evidence of a clergyman and another respectable citizen as to their belief respecting his age and the general belief in his neighborhood relative to his revolutionary service? Yes
XII.	If the clergyman’s affidavit has not been produced, is there any reason assigned for not obtaining it?
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 has produced a witness or witnesses as to his service, has the magistrate who administered the oath certified that he, she, or they are person of credibility? No. Has the official character and signature of the magistrate been certified by the proper officer under his seal of office?
XV.	Does it appear from any papers that the witness was in such a situation, or of such an age, as to have a personal knowledge of the applicant’s service? Doubtful
XVI.	‡Are the papers authenticated as the regulations direct? No
XVII.	Are the seven interrogatories prescribed by the War Department answered satisfactorily? And, if no, which of them is not so answered? 

EXPLANATORY NOTES.

QUERE V. In a case where the applicant cannot, by reason of 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, and 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 [blank] year [blank] months and [blank] days, I served as a [blank]. For [blank] months and [blank] days, I served as a [blank]; 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 the applicant served, and the particular rank he held, as the law directs the pension 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. 

†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 office who authenticated the paper is not written on the same sheet of paper which contains the affidavit, or other paper authenticated, the certificate must be attached thereto by a piece of tape or narrow ribbon, the end 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.