Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File W. 8352, Edward Barnwell, S.C.

Page 1

(3-1776)

SERVICE
S.C.

Barnwell, Edward
Mary

NUMBER
W.8352

CONTENTS

Page 2

Dead.

- [illegible] .18,273
[illegible]

F. E.[no punctuation here] Hassler 1st Fabre,. [February] 1854.

Page 3

[Form with handwritten information.]

5347
South Carolina
Mary Barnwell
widow of Edward
who served in the Revolutionary
war, as a {Major Lt. Col Captain & private}
[illegible] $396.66
Inscribed on the Roll at the rate
of 420. Dollars 10.
Cents per annum, to commence
on the 4th day of March, 1848.

——————————————

Certificate of Pension issued
the 23d day of Apl 1853
and sent to 
F. E. Hassler Eqr
Present

[stamp says The National Archives of the United States]
——————————————
Recorded on Roll of Pensioners under act
February 2, 1848, Page 304 Vol. 2

Page 4

[Left side of Page]

13999
Mary Barnwell
Beaufort So. Ca
widow claim
Declaration

No 1.

Filed by Edward Cantwell 
[illegible] Wilmington, ? Ca

Page 5

State of South Carolina Beaufort District St. Helena Parish
On this twenty fifth day of October 1849, Before me John M. Baker magistrate of said District, personally appeared Mary Barnwell aged Seventy five years a resident of said district, and doth under oath make the following declaration, in order to obtain the benefit of the provision made by Act of Congress 3d March 1837 granting five years half pay to certain widows, and the act of 3d Feby. 1848 continuing the same for life, viz - That she is the widow of Edward Barnwell who was a Lt. Colonel commanding in the militia of South Carolina in the war of the Revolution, That her husband the said Edward Barnwell entered the service in or about, June 1775 immediately after the breaking out of the war, and the levying of an army in South Carolina by the provincial Congress, which immediately assembled; his commission being among the first issued. Said Edward entered the service as first or second Lieutenant, she cannot say which. He served as such Lieutenant, under the command of Col. Stephen Bull, who was sent in March 1776 to Georgia by the Charleston safety committee. He was acting as first Lieutenant in the company of Cavalry, commanded by his brother, then Captain John Barnwell, when they routed the British on Port Royal Island early in 1779, and served with the same company, raised in Beaufort and the neighbourhood,[neigborhood] until 20th May in that year 1779, when the company, being then under the orders of Captain James Doharty, was surprissed [surprised] by the British at the plantation of Mr Mathers on John's Island, near Charleston, and the whole party either killed or taken prisoners. 
Deponent's husband was taken to Charleston, and confined aboard the prison ship Packhorse, then lying in the harbour of that city. This vessel was some time after ordered to the North, with the prisoners for the purpose of affecting an exchange. Off the coast of North Carolina Edward Barnwell and his companions, thirty five in number, rose upon the guard, took possession and ran the vessel into Halifax North Carolina. Thence after many hardships, they made their way through North Carolina to ^their several homes. Soon after his return, this deponent's husband was promoted, and continued constantly serving in arms against the enemy until the close of the war, when he had risen by regular promotion to the command of the Beaufort Regiment of Militia - and that since the war, he ever after, enjoyed the title of Colonel. 
Deponent swears she was married to the said Edward Barnwell on the 29th July seventeen hundred and ninety; consequently before the 1st day of January seventeen hundred and ninety four; and that he died at Beaufort So. Ca. of gout on the 15th Apl. 1808, and that she is still his widow and unmarried, and she refers to the proofs hereto annexed.
Mary Barnwell
Sworn to before me on the day & year above mentioned. 
J [illegable] M. Baker
Magistrate

Page 6

* And I also certify that no Judge lives within Eighty five miles of Mrs Mary Barnwells residence and that it is inconvenient to reach him and that the claimants disability is such that she cannot possibly attend Court or appear before a Judge.
Given under my hand & seal this twenty fifth day of October in the year Eighteen hundred & forty nine
J. M. Baker [signature]
Magistrate

State of South Carolina Beaufort District}
It is hereby certified that the above is the genuine Signature of John M Baker Esquire who was at the time an acting Magistrate in and for this District commissioned and Sworn and authorized by Law to take affidavits.
Witness my hand and seal of office this Twenty Ninth day of October A.D. 1849
Wm Youman Jr. [signature]
C. C. P.

Page 7

[Left side of page]

Affidavit of Edward Barnwell Junior Esq.

Edward Barnwell entered the service in 1775 served till toward the close of the Revolution -
at 18 years of age = at school -

No. [illegible] 2 or 7 or 4

Page 8

State of South Carolina Beaufort District}
Before me J M Baker Esq [signature] a magistrate in & for this District personally came Edward Barnwell Esq, aged about 64, sixty four years, a respectable & credible person, & a resident of this district, who being duly sworn, according to law, says on his oath that he is the son of Col. Edwd Barnwell deceased, an officer of the Revolution, by his first marriage; That Col. Edwd. Barnwell was born on the sixteenth November, seventeen hundred & fifty seven; that he was married (for the second time) on the twenty ninth July, seventeen hundred & ninety, to Miss Mary Wigg, now Mrs. Mary Barnwell, a claimant under the act of Congress, concerning the widows of deceased officers of the Revolution; and that since his death, she has remained & is still his widow. All of which facts also appear by reference to the Public Parish Register.
And with reference to the military services of his said father Col. Edwd Barnwell, he gives the following particulars on oath, which are derived from the tradition in the family from the reputation in the neighborhood, & also from the statements of his said father before his death, made in conversation with this witness. Viz, That his said father Edwd Barnwell being about eighteen years of age, & going to school, at the time the war broke out, received a Lieutenants commission in the troops raised by South Carolina. It was among the first issued, & accordingly entered the service of his country. And this deponent says, that his father has often been with him, on the battle ground of Port Royal in this district, when Genl. Moultrie engaged with brilliant success a British force under Major Gardiner in 1779. Killed one of their Majors, dismounted their howitzer, drove them back to their shipping in broad river, & made them lave seven dead upon the field. These particulars were related to him by his father, who also stated that this was the first action in which he was engaged with the British. The next action in which his said father was engaged, was upon one of the islands near Charleston, namely, at Mathews' Plantation, on John's Island on 25th May 1779.
The Americans were commanded by Capt James Doharty

Page 9

who was soon after killed. Edward Barnwell the father of this deponent was 1st Lieutenant on this occasion. The detachment was betrayed by a gentlemen in high estimation, & surprissed at the dead of night, a severe fight ensued, when deponents father's younger brother Robert Barnwell, who was also serving with the Americans, although but sixteen years of age, received seventeen wounds, many of which this deponent hath seen -
Subsequent to this, the surviving soldiers & officers were carried to Charleston, where many were transferred to the Prison Ship Pack horse, then in that harbor. Deponent's father Edward & his two uncles John & Robert Barnwell were among the officers confined there. An exchange of prisoners being ordered previous to the evacuation of Charleston, the schooner Pack horse was ordered to New York for the exchange - A favorable opportunity ^occurring off the coast of North Carolina, the prisoners in the Pack horse rose upon the guard, & ran the schooner into Halifax North Carolina from which place deponents father with thirty five others returned through the pine forrests of that state to their homes in a very delicate condition - Deponent has understood & believed that his father Edward returned to the public service soon after reaching home, but cannot state at this time, what rank he held afterwards, or when he rose in commission. But, during the war with Great Britain in 1812, this deponent held a Captains commission in the staff of Gen John Cuthbert, who commanded the Brigade in this section of the State, & in conversation with him in reference to the regiment in this district, & through which Genl. Cuthbert afterwards rose to the Brigade, he the said Genl Cuthbert informed this deponent, that his said father commanded the Beaufort Regiment towards the close of the revolution & held the rank by seniority of commissions, which was then the law of South Carolina. And this deponent says, he believes that it was in this command that he acquired the title of Colonel, by which he was afterwards known, until the time of his death, on the fifteenth of April Eighteen hundred and eight. Deponent has always understood, & believed, that his father the said Edward Barnwell, served as before stated, from the beginning until the close of the Revolution, in the various capacities above named. And further states, that the names of his said father, & of his uncles, John & Robert Barnwell, are to be found among those who signed the request to Genl Greene, that he would suffer no consideration of their safety, while prisoners on board the Pack horse, to suspend his threat of retaliation for the murder of Col. Hayne.

Page 10

Deponent states further, that his father, was first married to Miss Mary Bower Williamson, on Eighth June seventeen hundred & eighty three, & that he is the only issue of that marriage -
Edward Barnwell
Sworn to & duly certified before me this 9th day October 1849 
Jno. M. Baker
Magst

State of South Carolina
Beaufort District
I hereby certify that the above is the genuine Signature of John M Baker Esqr in and for St Helena Parish in this District commissed and Sworn and authorized by Law to take affidavits. Witness my hand and official Seal this [illegible] day of October AD 1849.
Wm Youman Jr.

Page 11

Barnwell claim
Certificate Phoebe Elliott.

Barnwell

Page 12

Beaufort Sep. 12th 1849

This is to certify that I remember the present Mrs. Mary Barnwell from my earliest youth, first as the daughter of Major Wm. H Wigg and afterwards as the Wife of Col. Edward Barnwell who was the Uncle and intimate friend of my Husband during their lives - I knew her intimately during her married life, and since as a widow for more than forty years - She living always in the Town of Beaufort
Phoebe Elliott

Page 13

[left side]
Dead
F. E. Hassler
Feby 1857 [or 1854]
[illegible] Apl. 27 185[illegible]
F. E. Hassler
March 3/55
Let. F. E. Hassler May 14/55

[right side]
5.347
South Carolina
Mary Barnwell
dow of Edward
SC Barnwell
ho served in the Revolution
r, as a Major Lt. C Capt & Pr
ncreased from $396.
nscribed on the Roll at the rat
420 Dollars 10
Cents per annum, to commence o
the 4th day of March, 1848.
Certificate of Pension issued th
23rd day of April 185
and sent to 
[stamp]
F. E. Hassler
Prese
—————————————
Recorded on Roll of Pensioners und
February 2, 1848, Page 304 Vol.

Page 14

Form with handwritten responses..

WIDOW, &c.
Revy
File No. 8352
Mary Barnwell
Wid
Edward Barnwell
Capt. Rev. War
Act: Febry 2d 1848.
Index:-Vol. A, Page 32

[Arrangement of 1870]

Page 15

W 13999
Mary Barnwell
S C
Letter Edward Cantwell 5th Decr 1849
" " same 12th Janry 1850
" Hon A. P. Butler 4 Febry 1850

Act 7 July 1838

Page 16

[form with handwritten information]

10845
South Carolina
Mary Barnwell
Widow of Edward Barnwell who was a pensioner under the Act of 
and who died on the 15 April 1808. 
of Beaufort in the State of So Carolina 
who was a Mayor & Lieut. Col. in the revolution 
commanded by Captain [blank] of the [blank] commanded by [blank] in the [blank] line for 11 months & 14 days 
—————————-
Inscribed on the Roll of Charleston at the rate of 286 Dollars 66 
Cents per annum, to commence on the 4th day of March, 1836.
—————————————
Certificate of Pension issued the 19th day of February 1850 and sent to Mrs Mary Barnwell Beaufort SC.
Total amount, $ [blank]
[Act July 7, 1838.]
Recorded by J P Chase Clerk,
Book D Vol. 1 Page 305

Page 17

[form with handwritten responses]

10845. Increase
South Carolina
Mary Barnwell
Widow of Edward Barnwell who was a pensioner under the Act of [blank]
 and who died on the 15 April 1808 
of Beaufort in the State of So Carolina who was a Capt. Majr. & Lieut Col in the [blank] commanded by captain [blank] of the [blank] commanded by [blank] in the Revolution [time for is struck through]
———————————-
Inscribed on the Roll of Charleston at the rate of 396 Dollars 66 Cents per annum, to commence on the 4th day of March, 1836.
————————————
Certificate of Pension issued the 16 day of July 1850 and sent to Mrs Mary Barnwell, Beaufort So Caro.
———————
Total amount Increase from $286.66
[Act July 7, 1838.]
recorded by J P Chase Clerk,
Book D Vol. 1 Page 305

Page 18

[form with handwritten responses]

10,843 [10,845]
South Carolina
Mary Barnwell
widow of Edward 
who died on the 15" April 1808 
of Beaufort in the State of S. Carolina 
who was a Major Lt. Col. Capt & private in the _ commanded by Captain - of the - commanded by - in the Revolution 
for 11 mo 14 dys Major & Lt. Col. 
         5 "     15        Captain 
          7 "        1.       private

Inscribed in the Roll of Charleston at the rate of 420 Dollars 10 Cents per annum, to commence on the 4th day of March, 1836.
Incd from $396.66

Certificate of Pension issued the 23d. day of April 1853, and sent to F. E. Hassler Esqr Present

Arrears to the 4th of [blank]
Semi-annual allowance ending [blank]

{Revolutionary Claim, Act July 7, 1838.}
Recorded by H. R. Weightman Clerk,
Book D. Vol. 1. Page 315

Page 19



[Form and handwritten responses]

8760 
South Carolina
Mary Barnwell 
widow of Edward Barnwell 
who was a Major & Lieut. Col. 
in the Revolution for 11 months & 14 days
————————-
Inscribed on the Roll at the rate 
of 286 Dollars 66 Cents per annum, to commence on the 4th day of March, 1843.
——————————
Certificate of Pension issued 
the 19th day of Febry '30 
and sent to Mrs Mary Barnwell Beaufort South Carolina
—————————-
Acts of March 3 1843, & June 17, 1844.
Recorded in Book A Vol. 2 Page 164

Page 20

[Form and handwritten responses]

8760. Increase 
South Carolina
Mary Barnwell 
widow of Edw Barnwell 
who was a Capt. Major & Lieut Colonel 
in the Revolution
————————
Inscribed on the Roll at the rate of 396 Dollars 66 Cents per annum, to commence on the 4th day of March, 1843.
——————————-
Certificate of Pension issued 
the 16 day of July '30 [maybe 50] 
and sent to Mrs Mary Barnwell 
Beaufort S. Car.
—————
[Acts of March 3, 1843, & June 17, 1844.]
Recorded in Book A Vol. 2 Page 164

Page 21

[Form with handwritten responses]

8.760
South Carolina
Mary Barnwell
widow of Edward
who was a {Major, Lt. Col. Capt & private
in the Revolution 
Incd from $396.66
——————————
Inscribed on the Roll at the rate
of 420 Dollars 10
Cents per annum, to commence on
the 4th day of March, 1843.
——————————-—
Certificate of Pension issued the
23d. day of Apl. 1833 [maybe 1853] and
sent to F. E. Hassler Esqr
Present
——————————
[Acts of March 3, 1843, & June 17, 1844.]
Recorded in Book A,
Vol. 2, Page 168

Page 22

[Form with handwritten responses ]

5347. Increase 
South Carolina
Mary Barnwell widow of Edward Barnwell who served in the Revolutionary war, as a Capt. Major & Lieutenant Colonel 
——————————-
Inscribed on the Roll at the rate of 
396 Dollars 66 
Cents per annum, to commence on the 4th day of March, 1848.
———————————-
Certificate of Pension issued the 
16 day of July 1830 [Maybe 1850]
and sent to Mrs Mary Barnwell 
Beaufort So Carolina 
———————————-
Increased from $ 286.66
Recorded on Roll of Pensioners under act February 2, 1848, Page 304 Vol. 2

Page 23

Let. to Hon Wm Aiken 16 Apr 52
[illegible] Refuted
See Hon A. P. Butler
Augt 20/52

Ex
see inside
Exd
W. [illegible]

Page 24

[Form with handwritten responses]
[left side]
5347.
South Carolina
Mary Barnwell
widow of Edward Barnwell
who served in the revolutionary
war, as a Major & Lieut. Colonel
for 11 mo. & 14 days.
————————————
Inscribed on the Roll at the rate of 
286 Dollars 66
Cents per annum, to commence on
the 4th day of March, 1848.
————————————
Certificate of Pension issued the
19 day of Febry. 1850
and sent to 
Mrs. Mary Barnwell,
Beaufort,
So Carolina.
————————————-
Recorded on Roll of Pensioners under act
February 2, 1848, Page 304 Vol. 2

Right side]
Let. to Edward Cantwell,
Feb. 28/50
—————————————-
" Hon. W. S. Ashe 27 Feb. 1850
" Edward Cantwell 8th Mar 1850
Hon. W. T. Colcock 17 Apl 1850
Edward Cantwell 9 May 1850
to same 24 June 1850
"   same 16 July 50

Page 25

Wilmington No. Ca
29 April 1850

Sir
No reply having been yet received by me, to my communication of the 15 [illegible], in the matter of the claim of Ms Mary Barnwell of So Ca. to the full amount of Pension allowed her by law, in which letter, I had enclosed the evidence required for the same, in your last report. I now respectfully request that the same may be acted upon, and the result communicated to me. 
I am Sir Very Respectfully
Your obedt servt
Edward Cantwell

Comr of Pensions
Washington City D.C.

Page 26

Wilmington No Ca.
11 June 1850

Sir:
Since my letter of 13 May last, in the case of Ms Barnwell, I have not been able to gather much testimony, in favor of her claim for increased pension, as I judge worthy of being filed in addition,
I would be glad to be informed by you, whether the new Certificates offered in your letter of the 9th May last, allowing further pension, have been yet applied for, and granted. 
I am Very Resplly
Your obt sevt
Edward Cantwell

Mary Barnwell 16th [illegible] 1848
Widow of Edward
charged to Wm. [illegible] June [illegible]

Page 27

[right side]
Comptrollers official certificate. -
Col. Barnwell
Major Lt. Col. in 1781. 1782
2 years service.
Every fact upon the record is stated. [illegible]
(No 2)

[left side- top]
May have been a stamp

[Left side- bottom]
[upside down]
In the claim of
Mary Barnwell
widow of Col. Edward Barnwell.
Comptroller Genl's Certificate
24 September 1849.

[middle page]
[upside down]
Edward Cantwell Esqr.
Wilmington
No: Ca:

Page 28

Comptroller Genl's Office
Columbia So: Ca: Septr. 24th 1849.

No 1084 Lib. Y } Issued 16 May 1786 to Edward Barnwell Esqr. One hundred and thirty five Pounds Stlg. for Duty as a Major, Lieut. Col. & Lieut. Col, Commandant in 1781 p acct. from the [illegible] No. 83 Principal £135 Interest £9:9:0. 

1084 Y } 15th May 1786 Edward Barnwell for duty as a Major, Lieut. Colo. & Lieut. Col Commandant in 1781 & 1782 - [illegible] to [illegible] -   £945. 
                Sterling 135.
                               9.00

Pay Mr. Wm. Desaussure the sum of £135 Sterl principal Interest & the interest due thereon & you will oblige
Your most obs
E Barnwell
May 6th 1786

Messrs. Boquet & Mitchell
Treasurers -
Charleston -
I do hereby certify the foregoing to be a true copy taken from the Records of this Office.
James A. Black
Deputy.

Page 29

Augt 06/12
Mary Barnwell
S.C.
Act
Maj [illegible]
Add [illegible]

Hon. [illegible maybe J. P. Barter]
U.S. Senate

Page 30

Comptroller General's Office
Columbia S.C. 11th Augt. 1832

Mo. 1084 Lib Y.} Issued 16 May 1786 to Edward Barnwell Esqr. One hundred and thirty five Pounds Stlg. for Duty as a Major, Lieut Col. & Lieut. Col. Commandant in 1781 pr. acct from the [illegible]
No 83 - Principal £135: Interest £9:9:0.

Pay Mr. WM. Deaussure the sum of £135: Stlg. principal Indent & the Interest due thereon & you will oblige \Your most obt.
E. Barnwell
May 6th 1786

Messrs. Bouquet & Mitchell
Treasurers
Charleston

No. 83
1084 Y.} 15th May 1786
Edward Barnwell for duty as a Major, Lieut. Col. & Lieut Col. Commandant in 1781 & 1782 
Amountg. to Curry. £945: ": 
                      Sterling £135: ": 
                                       9.00
One hundred and thirty five pounds Sterling
not certifd. 
Ead. J. Mc. A.G.
Tafo R.S. O.

I hereby certify the above to be a true Copy of the Indent on Record and voucher on file, in favour of Edward Barnwell now in this Office
11th August 1832 or 1833
J. B. McCully Compr. Genl.
Pv. Tho. Johns, Deputy

Page 31

I certify that J. B. McCully is the Comptroller General of the State of South Carolina & that no doubt exists as to the authenticity & correctness of this document.
Washington City August 18th 1852
W F Colcock

Page 32

Comptroller Genl's Office
Columbia So. Ca. April 12th 1850

I do hereby certify that I took Mr. William Devant's Boat on or about the first day of May 1779 to carry my detachment off the Island of Port Royal & that the said Boat was not again delivered to him till sometime in September & that the usual him was £3 p day
Beaufort 17th Jan. 1780 (signed) E. Barnwell Capt.
Return of Provisions for Capt Barnwell's Company of Militia on Duty at and about Beaufort Port Royal

[column headings: 1779 April. Days. No of [illegible]. Rations. [illegible]. Rice [illegible]. salt [illegible]. Receipts of]
1st & 2d. 2. 27. 54.81. -. -. -.
3d 4th & 5th. 3. 27. 81. 121 1/2. -. -. 19 April sent
6 negroes. 1. 3. 3. 4 1/2. -. -. -
6. 1. 19. 19. 28 1/2. -. -. with Detachment
7. 1. 19. 19. 28 1/2. -. -. to Pickneys Island
8. 1. 19. 19. 28 1/2. 14 men with 3
9. 1. 19. 19. 28 1/2. -. -. day rations and 
10. 1. 19. 19. 28 1/2. -. -. 1 Barrel Rice on
11. 1. 19. 19. 28 1/2. -. -. expenditure &
12. 1. 19. 19. 28 1/2. -. -. half a Bushell
13. 1. 19. 19. 28 1/2. -. -. salt
14. 1. 19. 19. 28 1/2. -. -. being beside the
15. 1. 19. 19. 28 1/2. -. -. annexed 404 Rations
16. 1. 19. 19. 28 1/2. -. -. (signed) E Barnwell Captn.
17. 1. 19. 19. 28 1/2. -. -. -
18. 1. 19. 19. 28 1/2. -. -. (Endorsed) April 1779 Capt Barnwell's Militia provision Return
19. 1. 19. 19. 28 1/2. -. 20 1/2. -.
Total. 20. 323. 404. 606. 606. 20 1/2. -
19. 3. 14. 42. 63. 600. 16. -
". 23. 327. 446. 669. 1.206. 36 1/2. -

From 20th April to 3rd May
both included
Captn. E. Barnwell - 14 ^days rations
& Drummer - 14 days - do- &c &c
10th May 1779
Capt Barnwell 10 rations &c &c (over)

Page 33

1779 May } Capt Ed. Barnwell's Militia
[column headings: -. Rations Beef. Rice pts. Salt Qrs. -]
3d Rations Bill himself & Drumr. 70. 105. 105. 3 1/2
Rict [illegible] Deveaux. -. -. 77. -. 4
6th Capt Barnwell for Co. Salt & rice 3 Bushell. -. -. 192. 8
10th for Co. -. 13 1/2. 15. -. 
11th Do. -. -. 15. -.
delivered their Qr. [illegible]. -. 195 1/2. 327. 15 1/2
or Capt accountable (signed) B Didier Comy. clk
(endorsed) May 1779
Barnwell Militia
on Port Royal
Beef 195 1/2 [illegible
Rice 327 pints
Salt 15 1/2 Qts

I do hereby certify the foregoing to be true copies taken from the original vouchers in the accounts No. 942 & 943, Book X which said accounts are in the name of William Deveaux "for sundrys for Public use in 1779 and 1780"
For Comptroller Genl.
James A. Black

Page 34

Comptroller Genl's Office
Columbia S.C. Novr. 14th 1849.

N 1084 Lib Y} Issued 16 May 1786 to Edward Barnwell Esqr one hundred & thirty five pounds stlg for duty as a Major. Lieut Col. & Lieut Col. Commandant 1781 no. 83 Principal £135 Interest £9:9:0-
no 83

1084 Y} 145th May 1786
Edward Barnwell for duty as a Major, Lieut. Colo. & Lieut. Colo. Commandant in 1781 & 1782 amounting to curry £945 -
sterling 135-
9.00"

(Enclosed)
"Pay Mr. Wm Desaussure the sum of £135 Sterl principal Indent & the Interest due thereon & you will oblige"
"Your most obt"
"E. Barnwell"
May 6th 1786."

"Messrs Bocquet & Mitchell
Treasurers
Charls-ton"
I do hereby certify the foregoing to be a true copy taken from the Records in this office -
For Comptroller Genl.
James A. Black
(No seal of Office)

Fee $3-

Page 35

Mary Barnwell
widow of Edward
Increase S.C.
Act July 7 1838 &c.
11 mo 14 d Maj. Lt Col $286.66
5. 15. cap 110.00
7. 1. pri 23.44
$420.10
per annum from
4 March 1836
deducting former payments
at $396.66

Cert to 
F. E. Hassler
Present

Page 36

Washington City Feb. 22/55
Hon A. P. Butler
U. S. Senate

Dear Sir
In the matter of the claim, of the representatives, of the late Col. Edward Barnwell of Beaufort S.C. for arrearage of pensions, for Revolutionary Services, now pending before the Hon. Commissioner of Pensions, a question has arisen as to whether Colonel Barnwell was, or was not, confined as an Officer, on board the prison vessel Pack Horse in the year 1781.
I beg to state, & through you, to the Hon. Commissioner that it is a fact, beyond dispute, that at the time of the imprisonment of Col. Barnwell on board of said

Page 37

vessel, he was a regularly commissioned Captain of Militia in the service of the United States & was imprisoned on account of being such, agreeable to the policy of the enemy to restrain retaliation for the execution of the [illegible] Hayne.
The foregoing I state as a fact of history presumed in the family of Col. Barnwell, & never called in question by any one.
I remain very Respectfully
& &
W. H. Wigg of South Carolina

Page 38

Charleston S.C.
5th July 1850

J. L. Edwards Esqr
Commissioner of Pensions
Washington

Sir:-
I have been requested to enclose to your department, the certificate of Mrs Mary Barnwell for an annuity pension, with the view of having a new certificate issued for an increased amount-
The other two certificates issued in the name of this Lady, were surrendered to the Pension officer here, on receiving the amount of pension which they called for and are now, I understand, to be found in the office of the 3d Auditor in Washington.
Very respectfully
Yr ob Svt
A G Rose

Page 39

Wilmington N.C. 1 December 1849.

Sir.
I have the honor to enclose an affidavit, that the signature, to the [illegible] & Indent referred to, by the Comptroller Genl of So Ca, in his Certificate is Ms Barnwell's claim, is [illegible] the handwriting of Col Edward Barnwell, of Beaufort So Ca, the husband of the claimant, which affidavit, I [illegible] may be placed on file, with the other papers in the Barnwell claim. -
Also a letter fr Wm Elliott Esq, the deponent, which will form the subject of another communication to you 
Very Respectfully
Edward Cantwell

Jas L. Edwards Esq.
Washington City D.C.

(Over!)

Page 40

Wilmington 1st December 1849

Sir.
In the matter of Ms Phoebe Elliott's claim, I respectfully request a perusal of the enclosed letter of William Elliott, the son of the claimant.
The statement [illegible] the [illegible] * therein, is respectfully submitted, under the qualifications stated, If Mr E's statement, of the declarations of the deceased, are admitted as testimony, I will have his examination taken under oath, and forwarded.
Very Respectfully
Edward Cantwell

Col Edwards
Commissioner [illegible]
Washington City

Page 41

Wilmington No. Ca
28 June 1850.

Sir.
I respectfully ask to be informed why the certificates in the case of Mary Barnwell of South Carolina, for the increased stipend, allowed her by you on the 9th May last, have not been issued, by the Department of the Interior?
In your letter of the 9th May, I am informed, that upon the return of the former Certificates thence issued in the same case, new ones for the increased rate would be forwarded.
Ms Barnwell writes me, that the said Certificates have been forwarded, at my direction; and I have accordingly to ask, that if this be so, that the new Certificate referred to, may issue, and be forwarded to my care, at this place.
I am Sir
Very Respectfully
Your obedient servant
Edward Cantwell
Mrs B's Atto:

James L Edwards Esq.
Washington City D.C.

Page 42

Wilmington No Ca
4 July 1850.

Sir.
I am this day informed by Mr Arthur G. Rose, President of the Bank of Charleston So. Ca. in reply to inquiries addressed by me, relation to the certificate on the claim of Ms. Mary Barnwell of So Ca. that; (there being three in all) two of them, were surrendered to the Pension Agent at Charleston, upon the payment by him, of the amount therein authorized, to Ms Barnwell, and are now on file in the office of the 3d. Auditors & included among the vouchers of his last quarterly account; the other is in the possession of Mr Rose, and has been detained in consequence of a misapprehension, as to the proper officer to whom it has to be returned.
I have written Mr Rose, requesting him immediately, to forward you the certificate in his possession, the others I presume are not within my control, what of Ms Barnwell but are I presume subject to your inspection in the office of the Third Auditor.
I hope that upon the receipt of the Certificate from Mr Rose, and the Certificate of the 3d. Auditors, the new Certificate will be issued. I [illegible] that they will be forwarded Ms Barnwell in the case of that gentleman (Mr Rose) for the ^greater convenience of the claimant, and I [illegible] to be apprized of the fact.
I am Sir
Very Resplly your obt sevt.
Edward Cantwell

Comr of Pensions

Page 43

Washington City Gadsby's Hotel
April 12/52
Hon. William Aiken, S.C.

Dear Sir
In the abscence of my friend & representative, the Hon. W. F. Colcock (whose return I do not expect for several weeks) I will be extremely obliged if you will do me the favor to procure for me, from the Pension Office, copies of the papers, used in the case of the application [illegible] for a pension for my Aunt Mrs. Mary Barnwell of Beaufort, in the year 1849.
These papers contain important testimony in a case of my own, now in the progress of preparation under the auspices of General Hamilton, whose arrival I expect in a day or two, & it is important that I should get these sooner, than I can do, by awaiting the return of Mr. Colcock - for this reason I hope you

Page 44

will excuse my application to you & put yourself at full liberty to comply with my request.
With great respect I remain
Yr. obt. servt. & fellow
citizen [illegible]
W. H. Wigg

Hon. James E Heath-
Dear Sir,
If the above request can be complied with - I should be very glad to be informed as soon as convenient.-
With great respect &c
William Aiken.

Washington
April 11th 1852

Page 45

Revolutionary
Mary Barnwall
act 1838
S. Ca

Cole
filed 14 April 1834
Hassler

Page 46

Washington City DC April 13th 1854
Hon. L.P. Waldo Commissioner of Pensions
Sir, In the matter of increase of Pensions for the late Mary Barnewell of Sea act 1838 I call attention to the certificate of the Comptroller of sea that paper signed by B. Didier Commissary clerk. Ratings from 20 April to 3 May 1779. 14as. As leapt, E. Barnwell & Drummer 14as
10th May 1779 = 10 Rating
11            1779 = 10
Which carries it to the 21st May 1779 the day after he was taken
Yours respectfully F. E. Hassler

Page 47

Wilmington No. Ca.
15 April 1850

Sir.
I respectfully enclose you, a certificate of the Comptroller Genl of So. Ca, which will I hope satisfactorily establish the service of Edward Barnwell of South Carolina, as a Captain of So Ca Militia, from 1st April 1779 to 17 Jany 1780 and entitle Mrs Mary Barnwell, his widow, under your Report of 4 July to a full pension.
I am Very Respectfully
Your obt. servt.
Edward Cantwell

The Commissioner of Pensions
Washington City D.C.

Page 48

Washington City DC
May 9th 1835

Hon. L. P. Waldo
Commissioner of Pensions

Sir.
I take the liberty of requesting that you will examine the claim of Mary widow of Edward Barnewall, who was a pensioner on the South Carolina Rolls act July 1838, & I hope after you have perused Wm Elliott's letter you will deem the same (were it put in the form of an affidavit) sufficient proof, that at the period Edward Barnewall was a Prisoner on board the Pack Horse, he held the Grade of Captain, & that his imprisonment was caused from that fact. Also that the identity of Captain Barnewall is satisfactory.
Yours respectfully
F. E. Hassler

Page 49

Increase
Mary Barnwell
wid of Edward
S.C.
Act 7 July 1838
allowed
11 mo 14 ds. Major & Lt. Col. 286.66
5" 15 - Capt 110.00
396.66

Also Act, 3 March 43 17 June 44 & 2 July 48, fm 4 March 1843. deducting what has been paid at the rate of $286.66 p an under all acts

Mrs. Mary Barnwell
Beaufort
S. Carolina

Page 50

Beaufort Feby 11th 1850

Sir
I have received through My Son Mr Wm Barnwell, the letter (J W Edwards, the Commissioner of Pensions) addressed to your Honor, and take the opportunity to return you my thanks for your kind and Polite attention in the business -
I willingly came out to accept, the Pension granted under the act of 7th July 1838 -x x- But in regard to My Claim for the Service of my Husband in the Revolutionary War as Lieutenant, Captn Lieutenant Col. Commandant I am fully under the impression that the certified copy, from the comptrollers office in Columbia South Carolina, fully bears me out, Mr Wm Elliott received it and swore to the hand writing of his Uncle it also specified that the Indents, were [illegible] for the service of 1781 & 1782 this Document is in Mr Cantwels possession -
I have the honor to be 
very respectfully
your, obt servant
Mary Barnwell

Hon. [illegible] P Buttler
U. S. Senator

Page 51

Wilmington No Ca
5 Feby 1850

Sir
I have this day been instructed by my client Ms Mary Barnwell of Beaufort So. Ca, that the proper applications has been made to Judge Butler and Mr Colcock the representative from Beaufort District, in Congress; the latter of whom, is also a [illegible] of the claimant, and I am at liberty to refer to them, for all further information you many require.
The enclosed letter of Hon R B Rhett, the nephew of the claimant, is forwarded for your satisfaction and has been prepared in obdience to your letter of the 5th inst.
We have now furnished I believe, all the proof in our [illegible], and await in the confidence your favourable decision.
I am Sir
Very Resplly
Yr obt sevt.
Edward Cantwell
Atty for M Barnwell

Page 52

W Allison

Page 53

Wilmington No Ca 13 May 1850.

Sir
Your letter of the 9th inst, in ^re Barnwell, is at hand, and the contents thereof carefully noted.
I observe with regret, that you decline in the present state of the claim, to allow Mrs Barnwell, the full pension she claims. We had hoped, that the Certificate of Judge Butler, and the striking co-incidence of her allegations with the proof, so far as the latter goes, would have entitled her statement of the service of her husband, during the whole war, to implicit credence. I am ordered to continue the prosecution of the claim, and am led to expect other and more satisfactory evidence of its justice, which will be soon produced if necessary.
I ask leave however previously, in reply to the [illegible], "there is nothing is the Indent to Decamp dated 17 January 1780, to know that he ^(Capt B) was at that time in service," - to call your particular attention, is the date of the Certificate, and the style of the signature thereto, and, in the same connection, the history of the times; the mode of carrying in the war, and particularly, the testimony of William Fennick, which I pray may be rexamined.-
The Certificate is dated at Beaufort, the head quarters of the company of Captain Barnwell, and the place where the men of whom it was composed resided. It is signed "E Barnwell Captain," not "ex" Captain, or "late" Captain,

Page 54

but "Captain" alone, precisely as he would have signed had he been there ^at the moment in service, and precisely as he would not have signed, had he not been at the moment in service, - In January 1780, the war was not over in South Carolina, ...Charleston was still unsubdued and the company though not perhaps in the field, was not disbanded. They were at home, in Winter quarters waiting for the season of action operations to begin, and their Captain was there with them,
If the [illegible] here submitted be correct, and I by in this connection that Fennicks testimony may be carefully re-examined, then Ms Barnwell is entitled to a further credit of four  months and two days service, beginning upon the 15t September 1779, the limit assumed, and 17 January 1780, when E Barnwells Certificate as Captain, was given, 
Then in addition, there is the period of his imprisonment, or the time aboard the Pack Horse, to be computed, this as will or can be ascertained, carry three months and thirteen days more; beginning on the 2d May 1781, or the period, when according to Ramsay the Historian ^(I Ramsay 462) 100 persons of condition, were taken away from their estates in the country, and forcibly put aboard the Pack horse & other prison ships, in direct breach of the terms of the Capitulation; and, expiring on the 15t August 1781, where the same prisoners united in a petition to General Green requesting him to retaliate for the murder of Hayne.
The names of the brothers, John, Edward and Robert Barnwell are signed and affixed to this [illegible], one of the most

Page 55

remarkable documents of the war, and a copy of which will be forwarded if necessary.
The three, according to Mrs Barnwell, and the testimony of Fennicks escaped, shortly after, and rejoined the service, wherein they continued, till the end of the war. 
All this is entirely reconcilable, with the hiatus in the comptrollers record concerning Edward Barnwell from ^1779-1780, to 1781. 1782. These show, that he was paid as Captain in the first named period, and as a Major (in 1781. 1782) the latter
Ms Barnwell and Fennick, swear that he held a Commission, (see Evidence) If therefore he was Captain in 1780, and Major &c &c in '81, '82, in the same Regiment, Corps and service, he must have risen and how? By promotion, certainly, and that is proof of continued service.-
If we add the period of captivity, and that of servie from September 1779 to Jany 1780, to that which has been admitted upon proof of other tours, then we have "a period of two years," and twenty three days, at "one, or more terms" (Act June 7th 1832), which entitles the claimant to the full pension, without the production of any additional proof
All of which is Respectfully Submitted by
Sir Your Very Respectfully
Edward Cantwell

Page 56

William Elliott Esq
Nov. 30. 1849.
Proves service of his father, under Barnwell, before 1783; beginning in '75
[stamp]CHARLESTON S.C. NOV 30 5

Edward Cantwell Esqr.
Wilmington No. Carolina

Filed by Mr Elliotts Attorney
Edward Cantwell
Wilmington N.C.

Page 57

Charleston 29th Nov. 1849.

Edward Cantwell Esqr

Dr Sir.
Your letter of 19th inst. requesting me to have the affidavit relating to the signature of Col. Edwd. Barnwell, made out certified and forwarded to you - has been duly received by me in the [illegible], and I have come to the City expressly to have it executed and to comply with your request as to the forwarding-
The document seems to me to be important - I should say conclusive, as far as my Aunt Mrs. Mary Barnwell is concerned.
At the same time that I obtained this document from the Comptroller Gel's office, I searched the records to discover my fathers signature to some of the receipts on file therein. There were no less than five indents issued to persons of the name of Wm. Elliott- (one of them, was evidently not the person sought for, being an illiterate who had placed his marks x he was in the upper country during the war, and was paid for services rendered as trooper, and waggoner, as the receipt thereof) the others were issued for the sums of 7. 9. 34 and 98 - or something near these, amounts - some of these signatures resembled my fathers - but I could not swear to them - they were all carelessly written, and in worse style than my father wrote - or I recollected his hand writing.
But when these indents were issued his hand writing may not have been formed, for after the war - he was entered a student in the law office of the late Genl. Jacob Read of Charleston - and in that school may have improved his writing and given it the form which it afterwards took.
*I know that my father, was with his uncle Edwd. Barnwell - throughout the war - that he served under him I believe as his Lieutenant - certainly he had a separate command on Savannah river - and visited a British fort to effect exchange of prisoners - those were things he told me - in my boyhood & but I have only his [illegible] for testimony - and that to ask for - and, given by a son, may not be evidence. These seem to me ^to prove that he served - as an officer - yours very respectfully Wm. Elliott

[left margin]P.S. Will W. Edwards maintain that none of these five indents were issued to my father? does he suppose that there were five Wm. Elliotts who did service to the state and he not one of them - If finally it be held that none of them were issued to him - it may be explained perhaps in this way - that [illegible] [illegible] in Georgia, after the war and engaged with his estate on the [illegible] - he omitted to present his claims  - or did not chose to do so - WE

Page 58

Beaufort Decembr 13th 1849

Dear Sir
I received your communication of the 9th of [illegible] instant a few days ago, would have answered before this but for the difficulty of accomplishing the requisition of the commissioner, No Judges of the Courthouse do pop through our Little Town at any time, but at present are all engaged in the business of the State Legislature at Columbia So Ca, I am therefore sure, there will be much delay - yet we will endeavor to get a Judge to consent (on their way down to Charleston) to stop, and attend to the business for me for my informities almost forbid the effort, at the age of 76 to attempt a journey to the City - However if I am in any way able to accomplish your wishes, you shall hear from me as soon as it is done. In reply to the reason why I did not apply for the pension untill this late day - is this I never knew of the act of 1837 until a Gentlam a friend of mine namely Mr Wm Elliott

Page 59

about 4 years ago passing through Washington discovered the fact - of my being intittled to a pension - as the Widow of a Revolutionary Officer - we then took some steps toward establishing the claim but found it so difficult, that we dropt it, for nearly two years But when your letter of July in the present year brought it again to my Notice I thought it desirable to make every effort in my power to procure the requisite proof - & with your kind assistance for which I thank you very much, have got thus far -
With much respect
I am yours
Mary Barnwell

Mr Cantwell

Page 60

Copy Comr. letter December 5. 1849.

Pension office
December 5. 1849

Sir.
The papers in the care of Mary Barnwell widow of Edward Barnwell who claims a pension under the Act of July 7. 1838, have been examined and filed.
Ms Barnwells declaration, and also the proof of her husbands identity with the [illegible] to whose Indent for £135.0.0 was issued are defective.
(1) The regulations require that all claims shall [illegible] before a Court of Record unless from bodily infirmity the applicant is unable to attend Court; [illegible] that case they may make their declaration upon a Judge of a Court of Record. The judge certifying to the particular disability
(2) This required also by the rules that the rank of a commissioned officer be established by the production of the commission or some other paper or record proof tantamount to a commission
(3) These regulations should be complied with, and some further evidence of the identity of claimants husband with the officer for who [illegible] the new claims a pension shd be produced.
It appears from the certificate of the comptroller genl that Col Barnwell gave an order to William Desausure for the amount due him for his service during the Revolutionary war. If the original account upon which that order was given can be withdrawn from the files of the Comptrollers office and transmitted to this Department together with some of the handwriting of Mrs Barnwells Husband by comparing them together they may possibly [illegible] the evidence of identity required. If Mrs Barnwells really be the widow of Col Barnwell whose services are certified by the Comptroller of South Carolina she must have known that she was entitled to a pension. The failure to present her claim until this late day, unless some satisfactory reason for this delay can be assigned is

Page 61

well calculated trail [illegible] presumption against its validity [illegible] requires my [illegible] and ample proof to be [illegible].
Very Resplly
Yr obt sevrt.

Edward Cantwell Esq
Wilmington
N.C.

Page 62

State of South Carolina Charleston District} s.s.
On this 29 day of Novr. 1849 before the subscriber & Magistrate in and for the District of Charleston, authorized by law to administer oaths, Personally came Wm. Elliott Esq, aged sixty one years, who being duly sworn, according to Law, says that he is acquainted with the handwriting of the late Edward Barnwell, who as an officer in the Revolutionary war, and whose widow Mrs. Mary Barnwell is now an applicant for a pension for his services. The Deponent says he has seen the original Indent and account in the office of the Compr. Genl. of South Carolina, for which it appears that he was paid one hundred and thirty five pounds (£135) for services in said war as Major, flag Lieutenant, Lt. Col. and Lt. Col. Commat., & that the receipt and order to his Account is in the handwriting of Edward Barnwell of Beaufort the husband of Mrs. Mary Barnwell aforesaid -
Wm. Elliott
Sworn to before me this 29th Novr 1849
Jos. Samson
"Not Pub"
Mag Ex Offr

State of South Carolina
Office Court Com Pleas & Q. S. Charleston District}
I, David Horlbeck, Clerk of said Court do hereby certify, that Jos. Samson who

Page 63

who has subscribed the attestation to the affidavit of Wm. Elliott is a Notary Public and Magistrate Ex Officio, duly authorized to administer oaths, and that his attestation is in due form of law -
Witness my hand and seal of said Court at Charleston this 29 Nov 1849
Danl. Horlbeck
C.Q.S. & C.P.

William Elliott
Proof handwriting of Edward Barnwell of Beaufort So. Ca. the husband of the claimant.

Edward Cantwell
Aty Wilmington N.C.

Page 64

Barnwell claim
Certificate of Mrs L. S. Fuller
[illegible line]

that Mary Barnwell, the widow of Colonel Edward Barnwell, and was married to him -
5

Page 65

South Carolina Beaufort District}
Personally appeared before me Mrs Mary Porteous the Sister in law and Mrs. S. P. Dunner the Niece of Mrs S. G. Fuller who being duly sworn maketh oath & says they know the within hand writing to be that of Mrs. S. G. Fuller who is now upwards of seventy years of age -
M. M. Porteous
S. P. Dunner
Sworn to before me this 9th day of Oct 1849
Jno. M. Baker
Magst-

The State of South Carolina Beaufort District}
It is hereby certified that the above is the genuine signature of John M Baker Esqr who was at the time an acting Magistrate in & for St. Helena Parish in in the District Commissioned & Sworn & authorized by Law to take affidavits
Witness my Hand & Official Seal this 11th day of Oct 1849 Wm Youman Jr
C. C. P.

Page 66

Mrs Mary Barnwell
Beaufort
S.C.

Page 67

I was made Happy a day or 2 ago at receiving your affa. letter my dear Cousin, I fraid you had [illegible] given me up, I frequently hear of you from Amelia Rose 
In Regard to your marriage I recollect being at it and was so young at the time is all I remember, that I had frequently spent weeks at a time in your house with Colonel Barnwell as your Husband & that you are now the widow of Colonel Edward Barnwell
With love to all your Children in which mine join me 
believe me aff. & Sincerely
S G Fuller
Edingsville
4 Octr- 1849

Page 68

Hon A P Butler

Dear Sir
My Mother Mrs Mary Barnwell, being too much indisposed to write to you, had requested me to do so for her, & offer you many thanks for your [illegible] attention, shod' her nephew Mr Wigg, to her letter of the 30th
Enclosed with this, she forwards you the "evidence" of her Husband being "Col" Edward Barnwell in the "Revolution" eleven months & a half (11 1/2 months), by a "Record" from the Department of State, furnished her by the Compr. General, in Novr. 14th/'49; her Husbands signature to the receipt therein given, was proved by his Nephew

Page 69

Mr Wm Elliott, to whom this "record" was forwarded -
I also enclose a letter of the 29th Jan/'50, from you to my Brother, which may serve to bring to your remembrance this subject more fully - all proofs regarding My Mothers claim to a "Pension" being already given, she deems no other papers necessary
She begs you will engage any "Agent" you may find requisites in prosecuting this "for Her claim" & should any "power of Attorney" be found desirable as suggested by Mr Hassler, she will forward it immediately
As soon as well enough to do so, she will write to Mr Wigg & begs you to "return" the enclosed papers, which have proved important

Page 70

With Renewed thanks
I remain respectfully
Yours
Sarah B Stoney

Beaufort - Aug 12th 1852

Page 71

[stamp] FREE
[stamp] WILMINGTON N.C. JAN 31

The Commissioner of Pensions
Washington City
D.C.

Feby 2 1850

Page 72

Wilmington No. Ca
30 January 1850

Sir.
I have received your letter of the 12th inst, and the case of Mary Barnwell, and have in reply to say, that if the requisitions of your letter, of the 5 December previous, have not been complied with, it is because they are not correctly apprehended.
I annex hereto a copy of your letter of the 5th refered to, from which we understand 4 things, to be required.
1st A Declaration taken as directed by law, before a Judge
2d. The production of a Commission or some record, equivalent thereto
3d. The original account or Record of the Comptroller Genl, with some of the handwriting of Col Barnwell
4th. Some explanation of the delay &c
These we complied with on the 2d, 15t, and 24t of December, by [illegible] declaration taken as directed, before Judge Gilchrist; the statement on oath that no Commission was now in existence or in the claimants ^reach or possession; the official letter ^and refusal from Comptroller Black; and the explanation the claimant [illegible] the delay: I filed moreover with you the affidavit of a witness, acquainted with the handwriting of the claimants husband, who swears that it is identical with that which appears in the Record: I have always understood, that when an original, cannot be produced (and in the case of records, sir, they are never produced) a properly authenticated copy, will be admitted.
If you permit, in requiring the original record

Page 73

when the officer who has it in his custody says, I shall not have it, the claim will be adjudicated, but upon a ground which I respectfully submit, is not satisfactory ^or just. I have faithfully tried to forward the original document, without success.
You have however, a certified copy from the proper officer, and the affidavit of an unimpeachable witness, that it is in the handwriting of the claimants husband. That "personal inspection" you require, is impossible, and if allowed, would be less safe and ^reliable than the testimony of a witness, acquainted with the hand of the person, whose writing it purports to be. - This is the best evidence according to the usual rules of law.
Your letter of the 12t in this case, makes no new requirements for proof, whatever, I am informed that it is necessary for her claim, to be backed by the influence and countenance of Messr Calhoun Butler and Barnwell Rhett & ^"those prominent men of So Ca". In the [illegible] of these gentlemen, am I so well acquainted, that I can ask it of Mrs Barnwell. She has thought proper to employ an Attorney to prosecute her claim, expecting that it will be decided according to evidence, and, under the information which I have lately had for Mr Hanly, of this State, but members of Congress feel need delicacy in urging pension claims, upon any department of the government, because they are unwilling to be ranked among those of them, who are paid for so doing. I hope you will not insist upon aid from that quarter.
The identify of Mrs Barnwells husband, and Col Barnwell is established by the oath of Twelve persons who are equally respectable and credible with either of the persons named, and the evidence of the service of that individual in the rank and for the time claim ^of the is evidenced by the oath of another

Page 74

witness, (who also proves his identity) and by the same record, which has proved a dozen similar claims to be true.
I am sorry to write so much, but it seems to be necessary to the proper discharge of my duty -
I am Sir
Very Respectfully
Your mo ob sevt.
Edward Cantwell
Attorney for Mary Barnwell

If you have any doubt of the respectability or credibility of the witness, please address a note to the ^present representative from Beaufort District, whose reply will I hope prove satisfactory -
Very Resplly
Yr obt sevt. E. C.

Page 75

1852
Mrs. Mary Barnwell
July 24
Beaufort SC
Reg

Revolutionary Papers
Mary Barnwell
South Carolina

Ex
F. E Hassler
Aug 1852

Page 76

Beaufort July 24th 1852
Mr Hassler

Sir - I write at this time merely to say that I received your last letter containing the Power of Attorney, returned me after some delay -
I shall have it prepared to send you as soon as I can but as I must send it 90 miles by mail to have the Seal of the State placed on it and then by mail to Charleston you must count on some delay -
I shall be very glad indeed to accept your services as my Agent, and if you do establish the claim I will be very prompt in sending you the percentage you may with Justice charge but cant think of admitting your first proposal - I am glad you mentioned Judge Butlers Name as I know full well from his past kindness, that he would be willing to face [illegible] the business by any thing he could do or say - The magistrate is not in place therefore you will not perhaps receive the package for a fortnight
Your very respectfully
Mary Barnwell

Page 77

No 13999
Mary Barnwell
wid of Edward
SC
Act 7 July 1838

Admd, 11 mo 14 days
as Major & Lieut Col
$286.66 p an
frm 4 March 1836

Admd acts
3 March 43
17 June 44
2 July 48} $286.66
frm 4 march 1843

Mrs Mary Barnwell
Beaufort
S.C.

Page 78

Wilmington No Ca.
December 15 1849

Sir.
In reply to your letter of 5 inst in the claim of Mrs Mary Barnwell of South Carolina, who is the widow of Col Edward Barnwell of the militia of that State, during the Revolution, I now enclose the original letter of the claimant, stating the reasons for the delay in her demand, and also the difficulties which at present ^embarrass the formal execution required, of her declaration. 
I have duly endeavoured, without success so far, to procure the use of the original record on file, at Columbia So Ca, from the Comptroller General, which are required, I do not believe they will be permitted to be withdrawn, I have forwarded the only proof in my poss, to wit - the testimony of a respectable witness, acquainted with the handwriting of Col Barnwell, who says that the signature and order, on the original Record, is in the handwriting of this claimants husband, Col Edward Barnwell of Beaufort So. Ca. This proof is on file. 
The enclosed evidence, of Col Barnwells service from 1775 to 1779 was omitted in making up the claim.
This witness William Phoenix, speaks also of the marriage, proves it as laid in the declaration, He is corroborated and sustained by the affidavit of Edward Barnwell, late Capt of the army of 1802, and therefore known to the Dept. & a formal certificate of credibility from  his pastor Dr. Fuller
I am Sir Very Resplly
Your most obt servant
Edward Cantwell

Page 79

State of South Carolina
Beaufort District
St. Helena Parish
Personally appeared before me Jno M baker Esquire Will Phoenix servant in the family of late Col Robt Barnwell & now belonging to Col Robt. Barnwell of this Town of Beaufort, who maketh the oath to the following enquiries. 1st question. what is your name, & age? In reply to 1st question this deponent saith, Will Phoenix is his name, & that he is about Eighty three years of age.
2nd question what was your occupation during the Revolutionary War - In reply to 2nd question Will Phoenix saith, he waited upon his old mistress the mother, & his young masters her sons, John, Edward, & Robert Barnwell.
3d Did you know Edwd. Barnwell, when did he enter the service. What was his rank, what relation to Robt. Barnwell. In reply to 3rd question Will Phoenix saith, he lived in the house with him from childhood, & he entered the service young from school, had a commission, but cannot say exactly what was its rank, & that he was older than his Brother Robert.
4th Were you present at the battle on Port Royal in 1779, between the Americans under Genl. Moultrie, & the British under Major Gardiner? Which of the Barnwell commanded the Militia there, & what relation to Edwd. Barnwell was he? In reply to 4th question Will Phoenix saith, he was not present at that battle, but on the Plantation a few miles off, that the eldest brother, John, commanded a small company of cavalry on that occasion -
5th If you say that Edward Barnwell was not Captain on that occasion, was he present, & in what capacity. In reply to 5th question Will Phoenix saith, he knows Edward Barnwell was there, and an officer, but what rank he cannot say exactly.
6th State what you know, or have heard relating to his service in any other battles, & in any other capacity, or rank. In reply to 6th question Will Phoenix saith, he remembers his three young masters, John, Edward, Robert Barnwell, & their nephew William Elliott were among the troops under Col. Stepn. Bull, sent by the council of Safety of Charleston, to assist the council of Safety of Georgia, to put down some alarms, & disaffections, about Savannah and Purysburgh. saith further, he knows Edward Barnwell was at the battle of Mathews' plantation on John's Island, because his young master Robert, was taken off the field, by his fellow servant Harry, the body servant of Edward Barnwell, & that Edwd. Barnwell was an officer there, but cannot exactly say what rank.
7th what afterwards became of Edwd. Barnwell, When did you see him again after this battle. where had he been? When he returned to
*History says March 1776.-

Page 80

Carolina, did he do duty in the Army, & in what capacity did he serve? What rank did he reach? In reply to 7th question Will Phoenix saith the three brothers & nephew, Wm Elliott, were confined in a prison ship in the harbor of Charleston, & as only a few servants were allowed, his fellow servant, Harry, waited on the Brothers, John, Edward, & Robert Barnwell, & their nephew Wm Elliott; saith Edward, was an officer in Capt Doharty's company, but cannot say what rank. Did not see any of the above Brothers, for nearly two years after this battle, &, when they returned from North Carolina.
8th question What do you know of his marriage? When did it take place? What was the lady's name? Is she the same, & known as Mrs. Mary Barnwell? Has she remained his widow? Where does she reside? In reply to 8th question, Will Phoenix saith, he waited on his then Master Robert Barnwell, at his Brother Edward's wedding to Miss Williamson, soon after the peace; but cannot say positively the year, that they had one child, a son, & that this lady died in a few years, & then Edward Barnwell married the 2nd time Miss Mary Wigg in 1790, when he was waiting on his master Robt. Barnwell; that this lady is now the widow of Col. Edwd Barnwell, & lives in Beaufort, in his house, where he died, on fifteenth April 1808, and further, that his master Robt. Barnwell married Eliza Wigg, sister to this Lady, & that his master & mistress are both dead.
William Phoenix
Sworn to & duly certified before me this 9th day October 1849 Jno. M. Baker
Magit-

State of South Carolina
Beaufort District
It is hereby certified that the above is the genuine Signature of John M Baker Esqr. who was at the time of affixing the same an Acting Magistrate in & for St Helena Parish in this District Commissioned and Sworn, and authorized to take affidavits.
Witness my hand & official Seal this 11th day of October AD 1849 
Wm Youman Jr
C C P
for Beaufort District

Page 81

Wilmington No. Ca.
24 December 1849

Sir.
I herewith respectfully forward, the declaration of Mary Barnwell, widow of Edward Barnwell, who was a Colonel of South Carolina, in the war of the Revolution, drawn and attested, as prescribed by you.
I am Sir
Very Respectfully
Your obt servant
Edward Cantwell

Page 82

Wilmington No. Ca.
2 Nov 1849.

Sir.
I very respectfully present herewith the claim of Mrs Mary Barnwell, of South Carolina under the Acts of 3 March 1837 and 3 February 1848.
The paper enclosed, will be found to establish the marriage of the claimant before 1st January 1794, with Col Edward Barnwell of Beaufort District So. Ca: the death of said Barnwell and his service in the Militia of So. Ca, for whatever period, is in the judgement of the Commission, covred by the payment of £135
That no doubt, may be entertained of this fact, that there was but one Col Barnwell in the service, I enclose the affidavit of many respectable persons to the same: in particular the Certifiate of all, the old residents of the town of Beaufort So. Ca.
Other papers are also enclosed, with a view to shed all possible light, up the investigation, my client claims by these papers, to prove the service of her husband, for two years.
I am Very Respectfully
Your most obt servant
Edward Cantwell
Mrs Barnwells Aty.

The Commissioner of Pensions
Washington City
D.C.

Page 83

Beaufort Feby 11th 1850

Dear Judge
Your envelope covering the letter of the Commissioner of Pensions of the 4th inst was safely read and shown this morning to our friend Robert Barnwell who advised my Mother - to accept the Pension as offered in the Commr's letter -. He also advised me to say to you that it is highly desirable that the Warrant be obtained and forwarded as soon as possible as my Mother- is very old and infirm. I am strongly impressed as well as you see my Mother is, that the Certificate sent from the Controler Generals Office with Wm Elliotts Affidavit on the back of it, stated that the Indents where of services rendered as Lieutenant Captain &c &c but the Certificate to which we allude may never have been sent by her Agent Cantwell as he had previously sent one on which might not have been so perfect. However - this we can see to afterwards, and we will thank you to see to the execution of this matter as promptly as you can conveniently make it. 
It is scarcely necessary for me to thank you for this evidence of your usual efficiency and promptitude. -
Yours with high respect
William Barnwell

Page 84

Revo Pension
addl. Proof
Mary Barnwell
widow
Edward
South Carolina
Act 1838
Admitted
2d. Feb 48
Cole
filed 2 March 1855
F. E. Hassler
Attrney

Page 85

To the Hon. A. P. Butler
My Dear Sir
I am told that my testimony may be important in determining the rank held by Edward Barnwell of So. Carolina at the time he was imprisoned on board the Pack horse in Charleston harbor in 1781. What I know in relation to this matter is what I learned from my Father, who was the nephew of Edward Barnwell, and was imprisoned and detained as hostage in the same vessel, and was liberated at the same time. He told me explicitly, that Edward Barnwell was a captain in command of a company, serving on Savannah river, while the British occupied the City of Savannah - at which time he commanded a detachment under him. This was prior to the capture on John's Island - on which occasion Edward Barnwell also acted as Captain though "Leacrass" - was in command of the port, at the time of the surprise. I suppose he was an older captain.

Page 86

These are all facts - bearing on the precise question of the rank held by Edward Barnwell at the time of his imprisonment - which I gathered from the conversations of my father, in reference to the inndents connected with his service in the militia of So. Carolina during the revolutionary war - none could know better than my father - who served with him throughout - and my conviction amounts to a certainty - that he was a Captain - at the least  - at the time of his imprisonment on board the Pack horse -
I am with great regard
yours truly
Wm. Elliott

Washington 28th Feb. 1855 -
Willards Hotel

Page 87

The foregoing letter is from a friend and a gentleman of the highest respectability; and his Statement may be entirely relied on
A. P. Butler -

Page 88

The State of South Carolina
Charleston District

Personally appeared before me Mrs Mary B. Maxey who being duly sworn deposeth that she is now about 73 years of age and was present at the marriage of her uncle Colonel Edward Barnwell to Miss Mary Wigg in the year 1790, that she has been intimate with this lady from childhood and that she knows she is at present and has been so for more than forty years the widow of Col Edward Barnwell.
Mary Bull Maxey

Sworn to before me this nineteenth day of October Anno Domini 1849.
Jacob Williman
Magistrate

I Daniel Horlbeck Clerk of Court Com Pleas for Charleston Dist. So. Ca. do hereby certify that Jacob Williman is a Magistrate duly authorized to administer oaths and that his signature is genuine & his attestation is in due form of law -
Witness my hand & seal of said Court at Charleston this 19 Oct 1849
Danl. Horlbeck
C. Q. S. & C. P.

Page 89

Payment to be made at Charleston by John C. Cochran Agent for paying Pensioners, in the Agency of South Carolina

Payable on the 4th September and 4th March

Recorded in the Pension Office on the Roll of Pensioners under act February 2d, 1848, Page 304 Vol. 2
J. P. Chase Clerk.

Page 90

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR.
WIDOW'S PENSION.

I certify that in conformity with the act of February 2d, 1848, Mary Barnwell of South Carolina widow of Edward Barnwell who was a Major & Lieutenant Col. in the revolutionary war, is inscribed in the pension list at the rate of two hundred & eighty six dollars and Sixty Six cents per annum, commencing on the 4th of March, 1848, and continuing for life, unless she should again marry; in which case the Pension is not payable after the time of such marriage.
[handwritten over paragraph]Cancelled
Given at the Department of the Interior this 19th day of February one thousand eight hundred and fifty.

[signature crossed out]
Secretary of the Interior. 

Examined and Countersigned
[signed] J L Edwards
Commissioner of Pensions.

Page 91

Barnwell Claim
Certificate Susan Joyner
Mary Wigg and Col. E Barnwell
married 1790. [illegible] his widow.

Barnwell Claim
Certificate Susan Joyner
Mrs Mary Barnwell's the widow of Col Edward Barnwell. -

No 4

Page 92

This is to certify that I have known Mrs. Mary Barnwell the daughter of Major Wigg, for a period of more than sixty years - That she was the wife of Colonel Edward Barnwell of Beaufort, who died about forty years ago, leaving her surviving, and that she has continued his widow always form thence until this time -
Susan Joyner
Beaufort 
September 13th 1849.

Page 93

Extract from Parish Records of St Helena Parish relating to Col Edward Barnwell dated March 1785.

(No 4.)

Page 94

Easter Monday being March 28th 1785 an Election took place at the Parish Church for Vestry men & Church wardens for the ensuing year -
Vestry men } 
Genl Barnwell
Nathl Barnwell
Edw Barnwell
Andw Aggnew
Wm Hazd Wigg
John Joyner
Danl. Jno Green

[left margin]Wardens 
Wm Joyner & Jno. M. Verdier } agreed to serve as Church Wardens for the present year -
At a meeting of the Vestry & Church Wardens at the Parish Church the 25th April 1785 They were qualified to serve for the present year - Present
Nathl Barnwell
John Barnwell
Andw Aggnew
William Hazd Wigg
Danl Jno Green
John Joyner
Edwd. Barnwell

Wm Joyner & Jno M Verdier} Church Warden
At the above making they came to the following Resolution that Col Ewd Barnwell do go to Charleston to meet the Vestry of the Parish of St. Philip and St. Michael on the 15th May next agreeable to a letter received from that Parish -

Filed to show Edward Barnwell of Beaufort was "Col. Barnwell" named [crossed out]rank, shortly after the war in the Comptrollers Certificate. -

Page 95

At a meeting of the Inhabitants at the Church in Beaufort Easter Monday the 17th April 1786 Proceeded to an Election for vestry & Church wardens for the year when the following Gent. were duly Elected
Vestry} 
Genl John Barnwell
Genl Steph Bull
Col Ewd. Barnwell
Capt John Joyner
Majr W. H. Wigg
Esqrs. } Andrew Aggnew
Nathl Barnwell

Danl. John Green & James Stuart } Church Wardens -

Beaufort Oct. 8th 1849.
This is to certify that this a true copy from the Records on the Books, now in the possession of the parish Wardens -
Church Wardens}
Arthur S. Gibbs
John J. Smith 
R A Barnwell 
[illegible]
Jos. R. Walker
Rector

Sworn to before me this 9th Oct 1849 -
Jno. M. Baker
Magst -

Page 96

State of South Carolina
Beaufort District}
Is is hereby certified that the foregoing Signature of John M Baker Esqr is genuine - and that he was at the time of affixing the same an acting Magistrate in & for St. Helena Parish in the District Commissioned and Sworn and authorized by Law to take affidavits
Witness my hand and official Seal this 11th day of October A.D. 1849 Wm Youman Jr.
C. C. P.

Page 97

Payment to be made at Charleston by John C. Cochran Agent for paying pensioners, in the Agency of South Carolina

Recorded in the Pension Office, in Book A A Volume 1 2 2 Page 305 164 304 by J. P. Chase Clerk.

Page 98

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR.
Claim for Military Service.
Increase.

I certify that, in conformity with the law of the United States, of the 7th July 1838, 3rd March 1843, 17th June 1844 & 2nd February 1848, the pension of Mary Barnwell of South Carolina widow of Edward Barnwell, who was a Captain, Major & Lieutenant Colonel in the the Revolution, has been increased from two hundred and eighty six 66/100 Dollars to three hundred and ninety six 66/100 Dollars per annum, Commencing 4th March 1836, and ending 4th March 1841, & from 4th March 1843, to 4th March 1848, & from that time for life or widowhood, after deducting what has been paid under said acts, at the rate of two hundred and eighty six 66/100 Dollars per annum.

Given at the Department of the Interior, this 16th day of July one thousand eight hundred and fifty
[signed] [illegible]
Secretary of the Interior.

Examined and Countersigned. } 
[signed] J L Edwards
Commissioner of Pensions.

Page 99

Colo. Ed. Barnwell
[illegible]
Receipt,
Verdier -
86 -
Edward Barnwell a Colo. in 1783

(No 1)

Page 100

Col Edward Barnwell Jno M Verdier Do
1783
Oct 6 9 3D Twoin 2/6 7/6 kegg Rethe to sy L 12.6
" 4D Tard rope 8d 2.8
23 1 kegg ruted 5  5
nis 7  9 gabrun 4/8  4.5
w/a L 1.4.10
1 splinter lock 1/1 scrubghert 2/4 60 oz shirt buttons 3/6.4
3 3/4 yr bath locking 68/ 1.10  1.16.4
L 3.1.2
Recd the fortenth in full 
Jno M Verdier

Page 101

Edward Barnwell of Beaufort was a col in 1785
No 2
Col Edward Barnwell
a/cth
Daniel John Greene &c
1785
2

Page 102

D  Colo Edward Barnwell in acct curr

1785
Nanry 1 To Amo of yoru acct in 1784 L 60.2.1 1/2
To Amo of your acc due Yancy & Newman 8.9.112
Amo of ditto due Daniel Greene for Note & int 83.-.7
Amo of ditto due Nan Broam J J Joyner 14.12.4
Amo of ditto due Jas Edwards 4.15.6
Amo of ditto  Fisher H & Edwards 7.
To our order in f fav as Fisher Jas Edwards for 310.14
421.19.4
L4821.6  
1786
Janry 1 To Ball bro down 168.4.9
To 20 month Interest on ditto from 785 to 1 Sept 78 19.12.6  L187.17.3
To Amo of your acc in 1785 69.14.2
To amo of Hugh ordr acc which you ass 36.10.4  106.4.6
To interest on 35.12/5 [illebible] ball of 106.46 & 68.6/9 for 8 mos 1.12.7
L295.14.4
Janry 1st To Ballce bro down 3.1.7
To Amo of Acc in 17886 to 10th March 
L228.3.10

Page 103

mt with Daniel John Green & Co 
1784
June 29 By 8 lds muslin twice journalized 7/ L 2.16
Augt 9 By 1 pc silk gloves cha you ins Mr M Barnwell 6.9 3.2.9
Decem By Amt of Indigo purchd 310.142
By Ballce carried down 168.4.9
L482.1.6

1785
Aug 29 By over cash int y acc in Janry 1785  2.5.4
Decem 13 By Hilderson Wigg L14 By DJ Greene S 2s  35.
By lumber for attys of John Gordon House 32.4.9
By over charge in your acct for 1784 Myds Ribbon chd at 2/insd 2d 1.2  68.6.9
By Ballce due carried down 225.2.3
L 295.14.4
Errors Exccpted
1st Sept 1786
Danl John Greene & Co

Page 104

Brief in the case of Mary Barnwell widow of Edward
County and state of South Carolina act July 7 1838 &c
Claim ("original" or "for increase")
Proof exhibited (if original)
Is it documentary, traditionary, or supported by rolls? If either state the substance.
Historical evidence that he served at least 2 years I am not satisfied that he seved in a higher cofau than private for the tim increased 

(If for increase)
Has additional evidence been filed since the admission of the claim? If so, what?
Thornton Triplett Examining Clerk
Name and residence of Agent FE Hassler Esq present

Page 105

Beaufort South Carolina
Colo Edward Barnwell
To James Simons Ho D
1786
Dec 7th To 2s yds supsn cloth a 23/4  2.18.4
2 yds do a 23/4 4 6/8 6 skeins silk a 5d 2/6 2 sticks twist a 5d 10d2.10
3 3/4 yds Linen a 2/4 8/9 2 yds buckidm a 1/6 3/  11.9
7th 6 yds sussn yorkshire cloth a 7/2 43/ 3 blankets a 7/21/ 3 4.
7 25th show a 4d 3/4 8th 4 doz gun flints a 4d 1/4 9.8
13 2d shott a 4d8d 1/2 gun powder a 1/69d 14th 1/2 doz check kkfs 7/6 8.11
1 3/4 yds corded dimmity a 4/8.8/2 3 doz small buttons a 3d9d 8.11
1a thread 5/.17th sundrys dld David Steell to the amt of 50/92 15.9
1/2tt smoaking tobacco 1/3 21st 1 doz shirt buttons 6th 1.9
13 1 Keg gun powder 6a a 1/6 9/ 28th shott a 4d 9/4 18.4
13 1 p white sattin shoes 14/. 24th 8 yds white ribbon a 11d 7/41 1.4
6 gallons Madierid wine a 10/10 1/2 3.5.3
28 2 check kkfs a 1/4 2/8 30th 1 pc brass buckles 10d 30th 1 w hyson Tea 11/8 15.2
30 2 1/2 yds corduroy a 51.12/6 1 yd bro holland 1/8 14.2
2 skeins silk a 5d10d 1 doz small gilt buttons 1/8 2.6
31 3 yds black silk Ferret a 3d 9d 9
31 18 gallons Madeera wine a 10/10 1/2 9.15.9
9 doz corks w/ 3/6 2/7 1/2 2 yds blk ferret a 3d6d 3 1 1/2
Jany 2nd 9 yds brown yorkshire cloth a 5/2 2.6.6
2 hands thread a 3d6d 8 yds sheeting a 1/4 10/8 11.2
2 3 ps stained paper a 3/6 17/6 1/2 ps border 2/ 19.6
5 ps stained paper a 2/4 11/8 1/2 ps border 1/6 13.2
2 8 yds linen a 1/4.10/8 4th have powder a 1/ 4/ 14.8
5 1t duck shot 4d 5th 1 yd green plains 2/2 2.6
6 [illegible] yds brown callimane a 1/2 14  [illegible]/4 s [illegible] yds linen a 1/2 14/ 1.5. 1/2 
7 1 pc shoes 6/ 1 pc do buckles 10d 9th 10 doz horn molds a 2d 1/8 8.6
12th 1 oz thread 7d 1 pc sticrd heel shoes 9/56 shot a 4d: 18/8 1.8.3
6th ditto a 4d 2/ 13th 8 yds dowlas a 1/2 9/4 14th 20 yds white plain 45/2/3 2.16.4
14th 1 hair broome 2/4 16th 7 yds linen a 4/10 33/10 1 16.4
19th 1 m 8d nails 10th a 8d 6/8 20th 4tt shott a 4d 1/4 8
28 24 yds red cassimere a 4/8 10/6 31st sundrys dld Mrs Steel 14/31 4.9
31 sundry goods dod Mrs Steel to the amt of 1.2.8 1/2 46.3 1/2
20th To Cash paid for 12tt cheese a 8d 8/  8
carried forward L 46.11 1/2
Re

Page 106

1786 Feby To , Amount brought forward   Lb. 46.11, 3  1 Girth  4/8 7th : 2 bushels Salt a 4/8 . 9/4   14  7  6 yds edging a 1/6/10th : 1 male pillion  4/8  10.8 , 1 pr. d straps 1/10 10th : 2 pr. white kid gloves a 1/6 3/  4/10, 13  doz. Gloves 1/. 14th : 1 skein silk 5d  15,  20  1 yd oznaburgs 7d : 1/2 : gun Powder a 1/6 9 d  14. 4 t@: shott  4@ : 1/4 21st : 1 pr. clouting diaper 21/9  1.31 , 28 2@ : shot a 4@ : 8@ :   ( total  82.16 )  March 1st  4@: shott a 4@ : 1/4 1 1/2  a Gun powder a 1/6, 2/3  3.7 , 4 broad Hose a 28/9/42nd : 2 @shott a 4@: 8@gun powder @  10.9, 9@ : 1 doz. whip saw files 107. 4 hand saw do  d@ 1/4 6 x do a 6@: 3/  14.4 , 9  2 tea pots a 9@ : 1/6 1 sugar dish 1/.2 milk pots a 8@ : 1/4  3.10 9  @ oz nutmegs a 1/6 3/ 16th@ : 1 milk pot 8 @ : 2pr salts a 1/.2/  5.8 3 pickle leaves a 1/2 2/4 2 oz. nutmegs a 1/6/3/  5.4 2 pr candlesticks a 11/.22/ 1 beef stake dish3/10  1. 5.10 2 dox. small plates a 2/8 1/4 1/2 doz small plates a 1/8 1/4  28  .3.14.7 , 6 To cash paid for your part of a Boat purchased by Mr. Simons 4.18  ( total  Lbs 57. 8 __.)  Aug '30 To  1 pr white plains  98 yds Momnard green do  52 ( total 150 yds ) a 2/4   17.10  had October 10th : 85 & entered in the memorandum book . 1 pr white negroe cloth  96 yds a 1 remnant do  28 yds .  1419 a 23 Lbs 13.7.9  1 pr : do 100 yds 1 pr : do 103 yds ( total 102 yds ) a  2/s  21.0.10 ( total 34.8.7 dediduct 8 yds returned a 2/s  16.8  ( totl Lbs 23.11.11 Q.. ( illegible )    To E.B. for Hugh Oard for amt the latters acct  8.12.9 Octobre 12. To Cash pd : for  25@ Gun powder a 1/8 2.1.8 ( total; Lb 118.19.7       April 3rd : To John Morgandoller for this sum 4.10, April 3rd :  To Mary Barnwell for  balance of his acct  35.13.5 , April 3rd:  To Daniel John Green for his  acct    164.10.4 including your note  ( total Lb 323.13.47 )  Received 9th Ap; 1787 the above in full James Simons ( strange illegible mark ) ( vertical on page ) ( 87 Col . Edward Barnett  11. 1/2 )

Page 107

Colo Edwd Barnwell
in 1783 L 25.10.3
Wedding nit
Colonel in 1783 at the clse of 
Rewnas in May 1783
War dncd April 1783 (see op July 13th 1825)
Tho Fell Charlston 
86
4

Page 108

Col. Edward Barnwell, To Est. Thomas Fell Do.
1783.
May .14. To Making his Suit ---- [British pound symbol] 2..5--..
silk, & twist ---- ..7--..
silk shirt lineing to silk westcoat ---- ..7..6
thread, stays, stiffing buttons ---- ..9..4
makg. 4 westcoats, & pr over alls ---- 2..--..--..
linen backs, & pockets, to all ---- ..12..--..
thread, buttons, fringe, hooks & eyes ---- 1..7..6
finishg. boys breeches, buttg westct.
& breeches ---- ..4..8
2 doz. small, & 3 large, thread ---- ..4..8
[British pound symbol] 7..17..8
June 4. To makg. his [illegible] ---- [British pound symbol] 1..1..9
1 1/2 yd Green Cloth ---- .26/.  1..19--..
linen, silk, & twist ---- ..7..6
thread & stays ---- ..2..6
10 small buttons, engraved ---- ..15..6
Makg. his westct. & breeches ---- 1..--..--..
2 3/4 yds white sattin ---- .16/1.  2..4..--..
linen, & white mode ---- ..17..--..
silk, twist, thread stays & buttons ---- ..7..6
.14.   Makg. your sattened breeches ---- ..9..4
linen, silk & twist ---- ..4..6
thread, & stays ---- ..1..6
Makg. his [illegible] Coat ---- ..18..8
linen, silk, thread, & stays ---- ..7..6
----- 10..16..3
July .26. To Makg. a habbitt & westcoat ---- [British pound symbol] 1..8--..
2 1/2 yds Green India [illegible] ---- 1..3..4
fringe, thread, & buttons ---- ..7..--..
----- 2..18..4
Nov -- .4. To Makg 2 Wastcoats, & 2 pr. breeches ---- [British pound symbol] 1..16..--..
silk, twist, thread, & stays ---- ..9..4
6 doz. small, & 6 large buttons ---- 1..12..8
[British pound symbol] 25..10..3
This  1st. Aug. [illegible] of Mr. John Rhodes
the Amount of the above in full
Geo. Abbott Hall
Adml.

Page 109

John Johnson 
87  1786
3

Page 110

Col Edwd Barnwell
To Jno Johnson
1786
Db 30 To maky a six [illegible] from  L 2.13.3
1 1/2 days work a hand c 1/4 14
L 3:7:3
Red Payment in full Mar 19 1707 John Johnson  
22:14:10
3:7:3
10.6
26.12:7

Page 111

Hon. R. Barnwell Rhett
Mrs Mary Barnwell of Beaufort the widow of Col Edward Barnwell of the Revolution - was married before (1794) the time.

[stamp] CHARLESTON S.C. 5 FEB 2 

[illegible] Cantwell
Atty at Law
Wilmington 
North Carolina

Page 112

Dear Sir Mrs. Mary Barnwell my Aunt has written to me  ... ( illegible ) letter of yours as to the Indents &  I understand that a copy of it was sent to you with  Mr. Wm. Elliot's certificate  on oath, that it was in the handwriting of Col Edward Barnwell . This is  old news and be true for it is impossible to use the original Indent  and   ..  ( illegible ) will be sufficient  : as to my certificate - that is  entirely  .. ( illegible ) the proof are abundant , that my Aunt ( was married before the time required. and that she was the widow of Col. Barnwell. ) ( underscored ) . All the ..( illegible )  next I suppose is a hearing . I have written to Judge Butler a justice from South Carolina to attend to it for me. Write to your agent whoever he may be , and and direct him to go to Judge Butler , and by his witness , the claim will be promptly considered. Yours truly P B Hull ( signed )   July 1st 1830  ( illegible name  to left of page)

Page 113

Washington - Feby 17th 1851

To the Hon J L Edwards

Sir -
The enclosed letter of Mrs. Mary Barnwell, expresses her determination in relation to her pension -
Will you have the goodness to enclose the Certificate to her
Mrs Mary Barnwell
Beaufort
So Ca
and oblige your obt servant
A. P. Butler

Page 114

Wilmington No. Ca.
24 June 1850

Sir
On the 11th inst, I asked to be informed, why the new Certificate, authorized by your decision in the claim of Mrs Mary Barnwell of So. Ca, had not been forwarded her, or me. I wrote her, that it was necessary that the old ones should be returned.
Not having had the pleasure of a reply, I again ask leave to call the subject to your notice.
Very Respectfully
Your obdt servt
Edward Cantwell.

Page 115

Wilmington 27 July 1850

Sir.
I have your letter of the 25, in the matter of Mrs. Barnwells claim, which I rejoice has been admitted and the Certificate issued.
May I ask by whose directive, the Certificate was forwarded to the claimant directly, and the amount of the monthly pay allowed?
Very Respectfully
Your obt servt.
Edward Cantwell

To the Commissioner of Pensions
Washingto City.

Page 116

U. S. Senate Chamber Feb. 11 / 53
J. E. Heath Esq
Comm: Pensions

Sir
I herewith enclose the Pension certificate, of Mrs. Mary Barnwell, of Beaufort South Carolina, & I ask the favour of you, to exchange it for the new one, to which she is entitled, & to send the same to me, as long before the rising of Congress as you can conveniently do.
I remain Sir very
Respectfully
Yr. obt. Servt. 
&. &. 
A. P. Butler
U. S. S. 
P. S. I will be glad to be informed, at the same time of the precise amount of arrears accruing to Mrs. B. by the present adjustment

Page 117

Wilmingtn No Ca
14 Feb 1850

Sir
Please inform me at your convenience, of the present situation of the claim of Mary Barnwell widow of Col Barnwell of the Revolutionary Army, for a pension, in which case, my letters of the 31 Jany and 5th [illegible], remain unanswered. & oblige.
Sir.
Yours Resplly
Edward Cantwell
Aty of M Barnwell

Page 118

Wilmington No Ca.
10th May 1850

Sir.
Nearly a month has elapsed, since, in obedience to the requirements of your letter of the 4th February [illegible], I pled with you, some additional evidence to establish the claim of Mrs. Mary Barnwell, of South Carolina, to the full amount of pension allowed by law, f the services of her husband Edward Barnwell in the Revolutionary war; and I am not yet honoured with your decision or reply.
Being heretofore favoured, with a prompt reply to my letters, upon the subject of this claim, I am persuaded that it has, in the multitude of others, escaped notice, and I unite to request, that it may be at once acted upon.
I am Sir
With great respect
Your obedient servant.
Edward Cantwell
Atty for Mrs Barnwell

Col. James L. Edwards
Commissioner
Washington City
D. C.

Page 119

24th Sep. '49

Dear Sir,
Please find enclosed a certified copy of Edwd. Barnwell's Indent & [illegible] - Every fact the Records will show is embraced in this copy - I hope it will answer.
I am now having this office reindexed and if hereafter I should find any new evidences in your two cases you shall hear from
Yours respectfully
James A Black
Dep. Compr.

Page 120

Washington City DC
Decre 23rd 1853

Hon. L. P. Waldo
Commissioner of Pensions

Sir.
I respectfully call the attention of the Pension office, to the annexed extract from the work entitled "Johnson's traditions for the Revolution in South Carolina, pages 260. & 261. 265 which will conclusively show the character of the capitulation of Charleston in May 1780. I would also refer to pages 267 - 268, showing the wording of the paroles - as well as the character of the proclamation of Lord Cornwallis dated 25 July 1780. - "from which I hope there will be found sufficient evidence to admit of an augmentation of Mrs. Mary widow of Robert Barnwell pension from its present sum to $600.00 per annum, She draws her pension in South Carolina.
Yours respectfully
F. E. Hassler

Page 121

Comptroller Genl's Office
Columbia S.C.
Decr. 14th 1849

Dear Sir
Yours of 8th inst, is before me. The rules of this Office will not suffer the withdrawal of any portion of the Revolutionary Records or of the Indent or account or the order of Col. Edwd. Barnwell issued in 1786 for any purpose whatever -
Very respectfully
Your obt. servt.
James A Black
Deputy.

Edwd. Cantwell Esq
Wilmington
N.C.

Page 122

Wilmington No. Ca.
7 March 1850

Sir.
In the matter of Mrs Barnwell, who alleges in her declaration that her husband Col. Barnwell entered the service as a 1st. Lieutenant in 1775, (June, 1775,) and served as such, until 1779. and in reply to your letter of the 4th February to the Hon A P Butler, now before me, I am requested by Mrs Barnwell to call your notice to the deposition of William Phoenix, which seems not to have entered into the decision of the 19th February.
She hopes, that this mite be found to contain the "satisfactory proof", required; of service independent of the Comptrollers evidence, and to justify you in allowing her the full pension. 
An [illegible] to my letter of 27 Feby., is not now requisite.
I am Sir. Vry Resplly
Yr obt servt.
Edward Cantwell

The Commissioner of Pensions.

Page 123

Wilmington No. Ca.
25 February 1850

Sir.
I am in debt for your letter of 22d. inst, the Certificate of W H Bishop therein referred to, was not found enclosed, as intended.
I am Sir. Very Respectfully
Yr obt. servt.
Edward Cantwell

James L. Edwards Esq
Comr Pensions
Washington City.

The Commissioner will please excuse me, for again requesting information concerning Mrs Barnwell of So Ca claim, in which I last addressed him 31 Jany, 5 February and 14 February, no reply having been received by me. 
Respy. Edward Cantwell

Page 124

Washington

To [illegible] J L Edwards -

Sir -
Allow me to call your attention to the case of Mrs Mary Barnwell, who is an applicant for a pension by nature of her marriage with a Revolutionary officer -
Col Edward Barnwell was one of the gentlemen who put his life & [illegible] patienchttps://catalog.archives.gov/images/misc/drag.pnge at stake in the Revolutionary struggle - and [illegible] the [illegible] he thought of was compensation - I [illegible] that he took no pains to procure his c

Page 125

Services have been noticed by one his trials Ransay & Monthe
If there is any family the may be regarded as the syre case of back in our state has that of Barnwell 
The son of Mrs Barnwell a most respectable gentleman has written to me about his claim and tho he may [illegible] under some mistake get all he says ma by 

certanly relied on I send his letter to you our paresal 
I hope Mrs Bs case well can [illegible] special attention
with great respect I am your obt svt
AP Butler

Page 126

Certificate of Keeper of the Parish Record.
Edward Barnwell and Mary Wigg married 29 July 1790. E B died 15 April 1808. -
Certificate of neighbors.

No 3.

Page 127

State of South Carolina
Beaufort District
I do hereby certify that the within is the genuine Signature of John M Baker Esqr who was at the time of affixing the same an acting Magistrate in & for the District Commissioned and Sworn and authorized by law to take affidavits.
Witness my hand & official seal this 11th October AD 1849
Wm Youman Jr
C C P

Page 128

State of South Carolina
Beaufort District
Personally appeared before me John M Baker Magistrate of St Helena Parish in the State and District aforesaid; the following persons (Mary Mackee Margt McKee. Phoebe Elliott Sarah B Barnwell. S. Fickling. C. Bull. Susan Joyer. M. Means. T. Gardner & W. Johnson) who being duly sworn maketh oath  - that they are well acquainted with Mrs Mary Barnwell of the Town of Beaufort in the State and District aforesaid - Widow of the late Col Edward Barnwell, and that her late husband could have been the only Captain or Colonel Edward Barnwell, who could have had any military connection with the Revolutionary War -
Mary MacKee aged 91
Margaret McKee aged 82 years
Phoebe Elliott - aged 77 -
Sarah B. Barnwell 69
Sarah Fickling 72
Charlotte Bull, aged 68
Susan Joyner - Aged 77 -
Mary Means 68 Years
Thos. Gardner aged 67
William Johnson 67.
Sworn to before me this 2nd. day of October 1849
Jno. M. Baker
Magistrate
[left margin]* N03 - The signor were all born and have always lived in or near The Town of Beaufort -

Certificate of the Keeper of the Parish Records to prove the marriage of Mary Barnwell.
State of South Carolina
Beaufort District
St Helena Parish
Before me John M Baker Esquire personally came Edwd. Barnwell and being duly sworn says that he is the Keeper of the Public Parish Register of St Helena Parish & that the following are correct & true copies from the records of said Parish, with the exception of the day, month, & year, which are written but, in exact conformity with the original records -
Viz: Edward Barnwell born sixteenth November seventeen hundred & fifty seven." "Married  by Revd. W Harrison on Eighth June seventeen hundred and eighty three to Mary Bower Williamson." "Married by Revd. S C Lewis July twenty ninth seventeen hundred & ninety to Mary Wigg "Died fifteenth Day of April eighteen hundred & eight of Gout."  
Edward Barnwell
Sworn to & certified before me the 9th October 1849
Jno. M. Baker
Magit

Page 129

The United States of America
State of South Carolina
Charleston District
On this twenty-fifth day of December 184[illegible] before me Robert B. Gilchrist Judge of the United States for the District of South Carolina, at the residence of William Henry Heyward in the City of Charleston State aforesaid, personally appeared Mary Barnwell of Beaufort District in State aforesaid, aged Seventy-five years, a credible and reliable person ^who being duly sworn, maketh the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of the 3d March 1837 ^* and 2d February 1848, granting Pensions to the widows of the Officers of the Revolution. That she is the widow of Edward Barnwell who was a Colonel of Militia, in the State Militia of South Carolina during the War of the Revolution. Said Edward Barnwell - elder brother of Robert, and younger brother of John, afterwards General Barnwell - entered the service in or about the month of June 1775, immediately upon or after the breaking out of the War. Said Edward Barnwell received a Commission of Lieutenant for the the Province; it was one of the first issued. He served with his brother-in-law Colonel Stephen Bull; sent in March 1776 by the Charleston Safety Committee to assist the people of Georgia. He was present at the battle on Port Royal early in 1779 and served then as first Lieutenant in the Cavalry Company of his brother [illegible] and he served with the same until May 1779, when being at Mathew's plantation on John's Island, the whole Command under Captain James Doharty, was destroyed by the British; and many of them taken prisoners. Edward Barnwell was taken prisoner there, carried to Charleston, and confined on board the Pack horse; that vessel being ordered afterwards northward to effect an exchange of prisoners, he with the other prisoners, rose upon the guard, took possession, ran [illegible] into North Carolina, and after many perils reached South Carolina in the latter part of 1781. That immediately after the arrival of her husband he was promoted, and that he continued serving his country until the close of the war when he had risen by regular promotions to the command of the Militia Regiment of Beaufort District. Deponent was married to the said Edward Barnwell on the 29th July 1790 - seventeen hundred and ninety- consequently before the 1st January 1794, and her husband died on the 15th April 1808, and she has in her possession none of the Commissions he received. Deponents reasons for not making application for the Pension to which she is entitled before this late day, are, that she was not aware of the existence of such a claim until four years ago, when a friend looking [illegible]

[left margin]uly 7, 1838 
arch 3d 1843
7 June 1844 and

Page 130

the Official Records at Washington discovered that under the Act of 1837 she was entitled to a Pension, as the widow of a Militia Officer of the Revolution; but she apprehended impediments to obtaining satisfactory proofs to substantiate her claims of such remote existence, prevented her at that time from making the application. Subsequent information in July 1849, induced her to renew her efforts; since which time she has exerted every means in her [illegible] to establish her claim as speedily as possible. And that nothing but [illegible] advanced age and many fold infirmities prevents her making this declaration in open Court as the Law requires.
Mary Barnwell

It is hereby certified that the above was duly sworn to and subscribed before me as aforesaid, and that the deponent from her physical infirmities and advanced age, cannot without great personal inconvenience attend Court, and it is further certified that the deponent is a respectable and credible person.
R B Gilchrist
Judge of the United States for the District of South Carolina

United States of America
South Carolina District
It is hereby Certified that the above is the Genuine Signature of the Honorable Robert B Gilchrist, who was at the time of Affixing the same, Judge of The United States for the District of South Carolina, and Judge of The United States District Court for the District aforesaid, of which I am the Clerk.
Witness my hand and the Seal of the said United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, at Charleston in the District aforesaid this twenty second day of December A.D. 1849, and in the Seventy fourth Year of the Independence of The United States of America
H. Y. Gray
[illegible] 
So Ca District

Page 131

Washington D.C.
October 26" 1853
Hon L. P. Waldo
Commr. of Pensions

Sir:
I respectfully request that a re-examination of the claim of Mrs Mary Barnwell, widow of Edward Barnwell, who is now a pensioner on the rolls of the State of South Carolina act of 1838 and continuations, at the rate of $495.00 per annum, for an increase of said stipend to $600.00 per annum may be made. The annexed additional evidence of his having been an officer is conclusive, in my opinion, of this point. I especially refer you to the following "Charleston 17 May 1781
"Gentlemen.
x x x to make such as their officers as commanded parties in this province. x x x Induced by these motives to seize your persons and retain them as hostages x x x x ."
"Torbay prison Ship
Off Charleston May 19, 1781
Sir:
x x x but the idea of detaining in close custody as hostages a number of men fairly taken in arms and entitled to the benefits of a solemn capitulation is so repugnant to the laws of nations x x x x "
Not doubting that a perusal of all the enclosures

Page 132

will afford you pleasure as indicative of national feelings highly laudable and deserving of the highest considerations from all officers of this republic. I have copied them in extenso, with the exception of the names of all the prisoners.
I would further suggest that the fact of these prisoners once having been free on parole is an additional argument of their having been commissioned officers, as I believe it is contrary to the custom of war to liberate any but officers on the simple word of honor.
I am, Sir, Very Respectfully
your obt svt.
F. E. Hassler

Page 133


32d CONGRESS, 1st Session. [SENATE. REP. COM. No. 248. 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES. 
AUGUST 20, 1852. 
Ordered to be printed. 
Mr. JAMES made the following REPORT: 
[To accompany bill S. No. 547.] 

The Committee on Revolutionary Claims, to whom was referred the case of William Hazzard Wigg, report: 

That this case is marked with very peculiar and interesting features. It is the only one, in the opinion of the committee, that has ever been brought before Congress, in which is involved the important doctrine of the international rights of hostages in war. A brief history of the events that have given rise to the claim is essential to a clear understanding of the subject.
Major Wigg was an officer of the militia of the State of South Carolina, and as such rendered valuable and distinguished services to the cause of independence during the war of the revolution. He was a gentleman of fortune, influential connexions, a bold, resolute spirit, and enthusiastically attached to the cause of his country. He had served with fidelity and distinction from the earliest stages of the war up to the month of March, 1780, when, in obedience to the proclamation of Governor Rutledge upon the invasion of the British army under Sir Henry Clinton, he hastened to Charleston, and as a volunteer assisted in the defence of the city, and it capitulated to the enemy in the month of May following. By the act of capitulation Major Wigg in the following terms became a prisoner of war, upon parole in the city, "which parole, as long as they observe, shall secure them from being molested in their property by the British troops." 
By the surrender of Charleston, and the success of the enemy in other parts of the State, it seemed for a time that the whole State was subjected to the authority of the British. The State government appeared to be annihilated , and the struggle for American liberty, in South Carolina, was virtually confined to the almost hopeless efforts of a few gallant partisans, here and there fighting without concert, in small detached bands. It is a fact of history, that at this stage of affairs, a new feature was given to the revolutionary contest, by the execution of Major Andre. That act greatly increased the asperity of personal feelings, and was denounced by the British as illegal and unnecessary, and it became their settled policy to revenge it. The fall of Charleston presented a favorable opportunity of carrying out that policy. It had placed in their possession a large body of officers and influential citizens, who could be made to serve as a check upon

Page 134

┃ 34
 their friends, so as to prevent retaliation by the Americans, in the event of any execution in revenge for the death of Major Andre being determined upon by the British authorities. The general feeling of asperity at this time, perhaps raged higher in South Carolina than in any other State of the confederacy. During the time, the State seemed to be subdued; the tories availing themselves of their temporary ascendency, perpetrated the most signal barbarities. Excited by these barbarities to more strenuous exertions, and encouraged by the advance of assistance from Congress, the patriots of South Carolina renewed the struggle, and regained the greater part of the State which had been lost. When their power was restored, they inflicted the severest penalties upon the tories in return for the injuries they had sustained at their hands. 
In this state of things the British commander at Charleston selected from among the prisoners of war at large upon parole, one hundred and thirty of the most important and influential, whom he sent on board of the Toobay and Pack Horse, vessels of war, and consigned them to close imprisonment, in the most reckless violation of the sacred guarantees of the articles of capitulation. On the day of their arrest, May 17, 1782 he addressed a letter to them, in which he informed them that the outrages of the American troops and the rigorous treatment of the loyalists had compelled him to make many regulations which had been disregarded, and it became his duty to try whether a more decided line of conduct would prevail, and whether a regard to the safety of their friends would induce the American troops to extend clemency to the loyal militia. "Induced," said he, "by these motives , I have conceived it an act of expediency to seize upon your persons and retain them as hostages for the good usage of all the loyal militia who are or may be made prisoners of war, resolving to regulate in the full extent your treatment by the measure of theirs." He informed them then that he had no objections to their making any proper use of this letter they may judge to their advantage, and tenders any flag of truce which may be necessary to carry copies of it to any officer commanding American troops. On the next day the prisoners forwarded a copy of this letter to General Greene, then in command of the southern army, accompanied by the memorable document which follows: 
"We have the honor of enclosing a copy of a letter from Colonel Balfour, Commandant of Charleston, which was handed us immediately on our being put on board of this ship; the letter, speaking for itself, needs no comment; your wisdom will best dictate the notice it merits. We would just beg leave to observe, that should it fall to the lot of all or any of us to be made victims agreeably to the menaces therein contained, we have only to regret that our blood cannot be disposed of more to the advancement of the glorious cause to which we have adhered." 
By the sacred terms of the treaty of capitulation these gentlemen were prisoners of war, on parole, and their estates guaranteed from molestation. The enemy basely violated the obligations of that treaty, seized upon their persons, cast them in prison on shipboard, and threatened to subject them to the same usage to which traitors fighting against their country, and taken with arms in their hands, would be subjected by the exasperated patriots. 
This was an act of perfidy and cruelty which has no parallel in the history of the American revolution, and doubtless every man of those prisoners would have died with swords in their hands, sooner than have submitted to such conditions. 
This treatment was met by the calm, dignified and modest, but brave and

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3
[ 348 ]
unfaltering letter above quoted. This letter was communicated immediately
to General Greene. The letter of Colonel Balfour was published in the
journals, and the condition of these persons as hostages was made known
to the public authorities and to the whole community. History is silent as
to the length of time these prisoners were detained in confinement as hostages, but the forty prisoners confined on board the schooner Pack Horse,
of which Major Wigg was one, are known to have remained in that condition
in Charleston harbor for a period of about fourteen months, dating
from May, 1781 until released in manner as will be presently related.
Having it in his power now to carry out the long cherished scheme of
revenge for the death of Major Andre, by the security from retaliation
which the possession of these hostages afforded, the British commander
hesitated no longer, but on the 1st of August, 1781, the well-known tragedy
of the execution of Colonel Hayne was consummated. It filled the minds
of all men with horror, and steeled the bosom of every patriot in South Carolina, who resolved from that day to die or to conquer in the struggle of liberty.
To these feelings Major Wigg was peculiarly obnoxious. He was the
brother-in-law, intimate personal friend and companion-in-arms of Colonel
Hayne, and had been permitted to attend him to the gallows and render
the last sad duties of friendship and affection. Feeling the deepest indignation
at the barbarity and injustice of the execution, he could not restrain the
expression of his feelings, regardless alike of the surveillance of an insolent
soldiery and the isolation of a floating prison. Aroused by the justice and severity
of his reproaches, the British immediately determined to visit him in turn
with their vengeance. His life they dared not touch, for their consciences
were surcharged with the blood of the martyr Hayne, therefore they resolved
to destroy his property. To this end an expedition by water was forthwith
despatched to his two plantations on the Oketee river, distant one hundred
and twenty miles from Charleston and quite out of the line of military
operations. This expedition reached its destination within three or four
weeks after the execution of Colonel Hayne, and neither going or returning
molested the property of any other man; particularly it passed and repassed
the Island of Callawassie, lying between the two plantations of Major
Wigg, on which was a large body of negroes, none of which were seized.
Hence it is evident that the plunder of Major Wigg's property was an act
of individual vengeance and carried into effect while the wrath he had excited
was still at its hottest.
As already stated, the Pack Horse continued in Charleston harbor, with
her hostages on board, up to the summer of the next year, when she was
ordered to proceed to the city of New York, and went to sea for that purpose; but on the voyage the forty unarmed prisoners on board assaulted
the crew and captured the vessel, and changing her destination carried her
into one of the ports of North Carolina, whereas they all [illegible] returned to
South Carolina, with the additional honor attached to their names of having
performed the most gallant and extraordinary naval achievement of that or
any other war.
After his return home Major Wigg became acquainted with the full extent
of his losses. The British had taken away from him the following pro-

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[348]  4
perty, the value of which is assessed at the lowest rates and upon reliable
date, to wit:

Ninety-six negroes, at $300 per capita $28,800
Fifteen head of cattle, at $13 "  195
Six horses, at $100 " 600
Fifty head of sheep at $3 " 150
Thirty head of hogs, at $5 " 150
One canoe -- four-oared boat 100
Carpenters' and coopers' tools, £25. 122
$30, 117
The negroes lost, Major Wigg ascertained, had been carried by the British
to St. Augustine, in Florida, at that time a Spanish province, and there sold
at auction, and that twenty or twenty-one of the number had been purchased
by Mr. Leavitt, a citizen of Georgia, who had brought them with him
into that State. These twenty or twenty-one negroes Major Wigg went
after, and recovered without molestation, and retained possession of them
up to the period of his death, and died under the impression that he was
not liable for their value; but in this he was mistaken, for his son after his
death was forced to pay for them in full, and he did so.
Major Wigg never made application to Congress for relief, in consequence
of his belief, up to the period of his death, in the poverty of the government, but it is evident that he designed doing so, from the fact that he
made an affidavit to the extent of his losses, (which original paper is among
the evidence in the case ) and left it in the possession of his brother-in-law
Thomas Hutson, Esq., who was also the magistrate before whom it was
executed, undoubtedly with the view of its being placed in the possession
of his son, at that time a youth in Princeton college, but it so happened
that Mr. Hutson also died soon after Major Wigg, and before the return of
Major Wigg's son from college. In this way the paper was lost sight of,
and never recovered until recently it was found, by W. M. Hutson, Esq.,
the grandson of Mr. Thomas Hutson, among some old and long-forgotten
papers of his grandfather, and by him given to the claimant, who lost no
time in prosecuting the case after he ascertained the nature of it.
The facts of this case are sustained by the histories of Garden and Ramsay, and by the affidavits of persons belonging to the most respectable
class of society in South Carolina, with the single exception of one colored
person, who is the sole survivor in South Carolina of the whole number of
negroes belonging to Major Wigg that were captured by the British in
1781; and it is the opinion of the committee that the case is clearly sustained
by the evidence and with a remarkable degree of accuracy when the
lapse of time is taken into consideration.
That Major Wigg was a legal hostage by the act of the British authorities
and by the acquiescence of General Greene, and that his property was taken
from him by the British while he was a hostage, and for causes growing
out of that condition of hostageship, is clearly proven to the satisfaction of
the committee. The committee are also perfectly satisfied that neither
Major Wigg nor any of his representatives have ever received any compensation
for his losses, either from the government of South Carolina or from
the United States.
The claim for indemnity or compensation rests entirely upon the relation
Major Wigg bore to his country at the time the loss occurred. He was

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5              4348 ]
then a hostage, and as such in close confinement on board a prison ship, and
totally deprived of the means of doing any thing for the protection of his
property. The highest duty which a sovereign power can require of the
citizen is the service rendered by a hostage, and the highest reach of
patriotism is the rendering of that service.
The terms on which the defenders of Charleston capitulated made them
prisoners of war on parole, and guaranteed that their property should not
be molested by the enemy. This comparative freedom and power to communicate
with the country while in confinement, left each prisoner at
liberty to take such steps as he judged best for the supervision and protection
of his property, which also, by the articles of capitulation, were under the
protection of British authority, so far as their own troops or their
adherents were concerned.
No one can read the firm and resolute letter from the hostages, quoted
herein, without the conviction that, if they had foreseen that their condition
was to be changed from that of prisoners upon parole, with the privileges
guaranteed to that of hostages in close confinement on shipboard, with the
threat of an ignominious death, to be inflicted upon the whim of a cruel
and relentless enemy, they would have preferred to be buried under the
ruins of the city they had lost. A hostage is a pledge to the enemy
for the conduct of his country, and his condition is one in which life, liberty,
subjection to ignominious punishment and loss of property are more completely
imperilled, than they can be in any other situation in which the
party can be placed. To place a citizen in such a position carries with
the act the most sacred obligations to indemnify him in full for all the losses
resulting from his position. Grotius states the doctrine:
"Hostages (we have said) are either such as freely give themselves, or are given by him
that hath the sovereign power. For he that is possessed of the supreme civil power, has a
right, both on the actions and the goods of the subject, but the Prince or State shall be
obliged to make satisfaction to him, or to his friends, for any losses he may thereby suffer."
This doctrine is so reasonable, and commends itself so strongly to humanity
and justice, that it need not be enlarged upon. But when a hostage is
seized by the enemy, and placed in confinement as such, and the act and
intention of the enemy is communicated to the government owning the
hostage, that government either authorized and consents to the condition
by acquiescing in it, or denies and disclaims it by protesting against it.
When the government is informed that its citizen, to whom it is bound to
give protection, has been placed in this situation, the duty of protecting the
citizen, places him, if the government does not disclaim the relationship or
release him from it, in the same position as if the act proceeded originally
from his own government. On these grounds the committee are of the opinion
that Major William Hazzard Wigg was clearly entitled to receive indemnity
or satisfaction" for the losses sustained by him, and that in addition to
the principal, as estimated herein, the payment of interest likewise should
be made to the claimant, for the committee regard this claim as a demand
for the payment of a just contract debt due by the Congress of the United States
to the claimant; for satisfaction for the loss of property, under the
law of nations, is the contract entered into between the sovereign power
and the hostage, and when the important, delicate and extraordinary nature
of the service rendered by the hostage which is so much superior to that
rendered by any other citizen, and which time cannot weaken or obliterate,

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[348]
6
is considered it cannot be denied that the obligation arising out of the condition of hostageship is of the most sacred and imposing nature, and such as should be met freely and unhesitatingly, and should be discharged most liberally and generously by government incurring it.  The committee report a bill agreeably to these views.

Page 139

Department of the Interior
Claim for Military Services Increased 
I certify that in conformity with the law of the United States, of the 7th July 1838 - 3d March 1843 - 17th June 1844 & 2nd February 1848, the pension of Mary Barnwell of South Carolina widow of Edward Barnwell, who was a Captain, Major & Lieutenant Colonel in the Revolution, has been increased from two hudred and eighty six 66/100 Dollars to three hundred and ninety six 66/100 Dollars per annum -
Commencing 4th March [illegible] & ending 4th March 1841 & from that time for life or widowhood after deducting what has been paid under said acts at the rate of two hundred and eighty six 66/100 Dollars per annum
Given at the Department of the Interior this 16th day of July one thousand eight hundred & fifty
T Euing
Secretary of the Interior
seal

Examiners [illegible] countersigned}
J. L Edwards
Commissioner of Pentions

I do hereby certify the above to be a correct copy of the original certificate - 
Jno. M. Baker
Notary Public

Page 140

State of South Carolina
District of Beaufort
Be it known that before me John M Baker a Notary Public in and for the aforesaid District and State, duly authorized to administer oaths, personally appeared Mrs May Barnwell aged 78 and made oath in due form of law, that she is the identical person named in an original Pension Certificate* hereunto annexed, No. . and bearing date the Sixteenth day of July 1850, and signed by T. Euing Secretary of Interior and that she now resides in Beaufort and has resided there for the space of 46 years past - and that she makes this declaration for the purpose of obtaining any arrears of pension that may be due her, under the laws of the United States; and that by these presents she does constitute and appoint F. E. HASSLER, of the City of Washington, her true and lawful attorney, irrevocably, with power of substitution for her and in her name, place and stead, to ask, and receive of and from the United States, and bounty land, extra pay, pensions, money or moneys that now is or are due her on account of services rendered by her deceased husband; advances made, property destroyed or taken by the Government, or any claim arising from intercourse between the United States and any foreign nation, and the Indians, disbursements made, or expenses incurred by him while in the service of the United States, or on any other account whatsoever, and in her name to give receipts and other sufficient discharges for such bounty land, pensions, patents, claims, and money due as aforesaid, and to attend to and prosecute any and all business of whatsoever nature she may have with or before any of the Departments of the Government or Congress, or any legally established commission of the United States, and, generally, to do any and every other act or acts that she might or could do, were she personally present at the doing thereof, she hereby ratifying and confirming whatsoever her said attorney shall do in and about the premises, by virtue hereof. 
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 17th day of July 1852.
Jno M Baker Notary Public SEAL
Mary Barnwell Seal
Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of} Two witnesses.
Sarah B Stoney
Emma B Stoney

State of So Carolina District of Beaufort} ss.
On this Seventeenth day of July 1852, personally appeared Mrs Mary Barnwell before me, and acknowledged the foregoing power of attorney to be her act and deed, for the purposes therein contained.
Jno. M Baker N.P. SEAL

J. M Baker having signed his name to the above power of attorney he [illegible] his name in presence of the witnesses before Mrs Barnwell signed -

Page 141

AND I HEREBY CERTIFY, that at the same time, personally appeared before me Sarah B Stoney and Emma B Stoney known to me, to be two credible witnesses, and who being duly sworn, deposes and says, each for himself, that the above named Mrs Mary Barnwell now present, is to their knowledge, the identical person named in the above deposition, and that the said affidavit is correct, as they verily believe; that they are acquainted with the said Mrs Mary Barnwell and that they are, each, wholly disinterested. 
Sarah B Stoney
Emma B Stoney
Subscribed and sworn to before me, upon the day and year first above written.} 
Jno. M. Baker
N.P.

State of South Carolina District of Beaufort} ss.
I hereby certify, that Jno M Baker Esquire, before whom the foregoing affidavits were taken, and who has thereunto subscribed his name, was at the time of so doing, a Notary Public in and for the said District and State, duly commissioned and sworn, and authorized by law to take the same. 
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the Circuit Court, (a Court of Record,) this 30th day of July A.D. 1852
[illegible] Clerk
[seal]

Put a copy of the certificate of Pensions

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Sept 15/52
Pow: Atty. &c in case of Mary Barnwell widow of Edward

Kirby
F. E. Hassler
Present.

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Washington City DC
September, 15th 1852

Honorable J. E. Heath
Commissioner of Pensions
Present

Sir.
Accompanying this letter you will receive a power of Attorney in my favor from Mrs. Mary Barnwell (widow of Edward) now a Pensioner on the Rolls of South Carolina at the rate of 396.66/100 per annum

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The object of filing this Power is to procure -
1st" An allowance of the difference between the pay of an officer of Infantry at which rate the allowance is made And that of an officer of Cavalry which said Edward Barnwell was.
2nd" That there be allowed for his time when a prisoner in Charleston fourteen months and to maintain this point

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will state the following Historical facts - We find in "Johnson's Traditions and Reminiscences of the American Revolution in South Carolina" p. 266 - that "the Capitulation of Charleston took place the 12 May 1780; On the 3d June 1780, a proclamation was issued by Sir Henry Clinton declaring that after the 10th of that month all paroles given to prisoners in the State, who were not included in the Capitulation

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of Charleston were revoked and declared Null and Void, and the late holders of them called upon to take "an active part in forwarding military operations" or be considered and treated as rebels against his Majestys Government." - On page 166 of Garden's Anecdotes of the Revolutionary War, we find his name as one of the prisoners on board the Pack Horse prison Ship - again, on page 185 of

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Johnsons History, we find "Robert Barnwell, with his two elder brothers John and Edward, were after the fall of Charleston confined in a British prison ship," which shows conclusively that Edward Barnwell must have been taken prisoner previous to the 12 May 1780, for had he been taken prisoner at the capitulation of Charleston - the proclamation of Sir Henry Clinton, would not have attached to him & he could have

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remained on his parole, until peace (as it was with others (see page 107 Garden's Anecdotes Article General C. C. Pinkney) or as prisoner on board the Pack Horse, until exchanged, which could not have been before the 9th July 1781. the earliest that any exchange was effected, and that exchange did not include any other prisoners than those exiled to St. Augustine. From the fall of Charleston

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12th May 1780, to 9th July 1781, is fourteen (14) months; but this could not be the time his confinement in the Pack Horse ended; for it is known from Historical facts that the Pack Horse with her prisoners on board was ordered to proceed to New York in the summer of 1781 (August) & that the prisoners rescued themselves in August or Sept 1781 and that he being one of those

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prisoner, must have been a prisoner from the 10th June 1780 to August 1781 - I refer to the enclosed Report of the Committee on Revolutionary claims 32d Con 1st Session-
3dly. We find by the Comptroller's Certificate; that Edward Barnwell approved certain accounts 17 Janry 170, he did this as an officer; the proof; these accounts were allowed and paid on his authority

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& he must have had authority for most certainly these accounts would not have been allowed on the Certificate of a person wholly unconnected with government, who certified to an account, a portion of which must have accrued without his Knowledge; had he not been in Service. This period of from 1 May 1779 to 17 Jany. 1780 was cavalry service. 
4thly. As conclusive proof that Mary Barnwell is entitled to a full

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Pension, we have
5 Ms. 20 ds April to Septer 1779 in Service allowed
14 ms. June 1780 to August 1781 in Pack Horse
11 1/2 ms. 1781 & 1782 by Comptrollers Certificate
31 ms 5 ds whole amount of Service
and this must be correct, as in any other computation of the time, you could not find him in service in 1782 -
I am respectfully yrs
F. E. Hassler
Attorney

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additional Evidence Claim
Mary Barnwell
widow
Edward -
Pensioner act 1838
at $495.-
on the South Carolina Rolls

filed 27 Oct 1853
F. E. Hassler
Present

Oct. 27, 1853
Addl. ev in case of Mary Barnwell, widow of Edward

F. E. Hassler,
Present

Page 154

Ramsey's History of the Revolution in South Carolina. 11" Vol., appendix note 45 page 297.
Charleston, May 17" 1781

Gentlemen:
Several prisoners on parole having been this day taken up and sent on board, Ship, the motives for which are explained in the enclosed copy of a letter to them. I am directed by the Commandant to desire you will insert the same in your next paper, for the information of the public. I am, Gentlemen Your Obt. Svt. 
H. Barry, Secy & D A General Messers Wells & Son printers to the King's most Excellent Majesty.

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Charleston 17 May 1781

Gentlemen:
Many have been the representations which the outrages committed by the American troops and their violations of all the humane principles of war have compelled me to make to such of their officers as commanded parties in this province; but more particularly have I been obliged to remonstrate against the rigorous treatment in many cases extending to death which the loyal militia, when made prisoners, most invariably experience. 
1

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These representations, Gentlemen, having been grounded on the truest principles of benevolence, and which it behooves each side equally to have advanced. I was as much surprized as I was mortified to find them in all cases practically disregarded, and in many, wholly disregarded. It is therefore become my duty, however irksome to myself, to try how far a more decided line of conduct will prevail, and whether the safety of avowed adherents to their cause may not induce the American troops to extend proper clemency to those whose principles arm them in defence of

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British Government.
Induced by these motives I have conceived it an act of expediency to seize your persons and retain them as hostages for the good usage of all the legal militia who are, or may be made, prisoners of war, resolving to regulate, in the full extent, your treatment by the measure of theirs and which my feelings make me hope many hereafter be more lenient. And as I have thought it necessary that those persons who some time since were sent from hence to St. Augustine, should, in this respect, be considered in the 
1

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same point of view as yourselves. I shall send notice there that they be likewise held as sureties for a future propriety of conduct towards our militia prisoners. Reasons so cogent, and which have only the most humane purposes for their objects will, I doubt not, be considered by every reasonable person as a sufficient justification of this most necessary measure, even in those points where it may militate with the capitulation of Charleston, though the daily infractions of it by the breach of paroles would almost warrant this procedure.
Having been this candid in stating to you

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the causes for this conduct. I can have no objections to your making any proper use of this letter you may judge to your advantage and will therefore, should you deem it expedient, grant what flags of truce may be necessary to carry out copies of it to any officer commanding American troops in these parts, and in the mean time the fullest directions will be given, that your present situation be rendered as eligible as the nature of the circumstances will admit. 
I am, Gentleman, Yr Most Ob Svt
(signed) N. Balfour

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7
To the militia prisoners of war late on parole in Charleston now on board a prison ship.

Prison Ship Torbay
Charleston Harbor 18 May 1781.
In conformity to your letter of yesterday we embrace your offer of forwarding a copy of the same, together with a roll of the prisoners on board this ship and a letter addressed to Major Genl. Green all which are enclosed. We could wish one of our number might be suffered to attend the flag of truce.

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We are, Sir, Your Ob Svts.
Stephen Moore Lt. Col.
John Barnwell Major - in behalf of ourselves and one hundred and thirty other prisoners.
Lt. Col. Nesbit Balfour

Torbay Prison Ship
Off Charleston, May 19, 1781

Sir.
Yesterday we transmitted to you a letter enclosing a copy of yours, with a list of one

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hundred and twenty nine prisoners of war confined on board this ship, which we hope is forwarded to Major Genl. Greene agreeable to your promise, and make no doubt but that your feelings as a gentleman will, upon this occasion, induce you to do every thing in your power to liberate from an unjust and disagreeable confinement those against whom there can exist no charge of dishonor, and whose only crime, if such it can possible be termed by men of liberal ideas, is an inflexible attachment to what they conceive to be the rights of their country, and who have scorned to deceive

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10.
you by unmeaning professions.
In justice to ourselves we must say, that if the Americans have at any time so far divested themselves of that character of humanity and generosity which have ever distinguished them, we feel ourselves most sensibly mortified, but are induced from generous treatment of Colonels Lechmere, Rugelly, Fennick, and Kelfall and their parties, and from a number of other instances which might be easily adduced, to believe, that the outrages which you complain of must be the effect of private resentment (subsisting between British

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11
subjects and those who after having availed themselves of the Royal proclamation have resumed their arms in opposition to that government) and totally unsanctioned by any American Officer, and which we are well convinced they would reprobate and would punish in the most exemplary manner, could the perpetrators of such horrid acts be detected.
In a war circumstanced as the present there will be some instances of enormities on both sides. We would not wish to particularize, but doubt not there are acts of cruelty frequently committed by the

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12
irregulars of your army, and are convinced that on your part as well as our own they are generally to be attributed to an ignorance of the rules of warfare and a want of discipline; but the idea of detaining in close custody as hostages a number of men, fairly taken in arms and entitled to the benefit of a solemn capitulation, is so repugnant to the laws of war and the usages of civilized nations there we apprehend it will rather be the means of increasing its horrors, than answering those of humanity you expect.
As a most strict adherence to the terms of our

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13
paroles and a firm reliance on your honor have been the only reasons of our being in your power at present, we trust that upon equitable proposals being made for our exchange by General Greene, no objections will be raised, but every thing done to bring the matter to a speedy issue. As you have thought proper to publish your reasons for seizing upon our persons, we request our answer may also be inserted in the next Gazette.
We are Sir, Your Mo Ob Svts.
(signed) John Barnwell
John Baddeley

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14
Charles Pinkney Jr.
Stephen Moore
Samuel Lockhart
Benjamin Guerard
in behalf of the whole.
Lieut Col. Balfour
Comm of Charleston

Prison Ship Torbay
Charleston Harbour May 18, 1781.
We have the honor of enclosing you a copy of a letter from Colo. Balfour commandant of

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16
we are Sir, Your Mo Obt & mo humble Servants
Stephen Moore Lt. Col. N.C. Militia
John Barnwell Maj. S.C. Militia
for ourselves and 130 prisoners.
Major Gel Greene -

On board the prison ship Torbay - William Axon, Samuel Ash, George Arthur, John Anthony, Ralph Atmore, John Baddely, Peter Bownetheam, Henry Benbridge, Joseph Ball, Joseph Bee, Nathaniel Blundell, James Bricken, Francis Boyle, Wm Basquin, John Clark Jr. &c. &c. &c. &c.

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15
Charleston which was handed us immediately on our being put on board this ship, the letter, speaking for itself, needs no comment. Your wisdom will best dictate the notice it merits. We would but beg leave to observe, that should it fall to the lot of all or any of us, to be made victims, agreeable to the menaces therein contained, we have only to regret that our blood cannot be disposed of more to the advancement of the glorious cause to which we have adhered. 
A separate roll of our names attends this letter. With the greatest respect

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17
On board Schooner Pack Horse
John Barnwell, Edward Barnwell, Robert Barnwell, William Branford, John Blake, Thomas Cochran, Joseph Craig, Robert Demar, William Desaussere, Thomas English, John Edward Jr., John W. Edwards, Wm Elliott, Benj Guerard + + + + + William Wigg, Charles Pinkney, + + Richard Yeardon, &c. &c. &c.

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Washington Feby 22 1855
Hon Lorin P. Waldo
Commissioner of Pensions

Sir:
I forward herewith a letter from my friend Majr. W. H. Wigg of So Ca relative to the application of the Heirs of Col. Edward Barnwell of Beaufort S.C. for [illegible] of Pension for Revy Services. Majr. Wigg is a relative of the family but has no pecuniary interest in the question. He is a personal friend of mine and the statements made in his letter are worthy of all credence. 
Very Respectfully, Sir
Your Obt Sevt.
A. P. Butler