Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File R 19,362, Isaac Bowman, Va.

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                     SERVICE                                                              NUMBER
                         Va.                        Bowman, Isaac                    R 19,362
                                                                                                   Va. Half Pay

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ISAAC S. BOWMAN & GEORGE BRINKER, Surviving Executors of ISAAC BOWMAN, deceased
v.
THE UNITED STATES.
        __________
Judge BLACKFORD delivered the opinion of the court.
        __________

This claim was presented to the Treasury Department in 1834, and was rejected by the Secretary, Mr. Woodbury, on the ground that the evidence was not deemed sufficient in the absence of all record proof of the testator's services.  In March, 1853, the case was submitted to Mr. Heath, the Commissioner of Pensions, and the claim was rejected.  In September, 1853 the case was submitted to Mr. Waldo, the Commissioner of Pensions, and the claim was again rejected.  In October, 1853, the decision of the Commissioner Waldo was affirmed by the Secretary of the Interior, Mr. McClelland.  A petition was afterwards presented to Congress in favor of the claim.  On the 13th of February, 1854, the Senate Committee on Pensions made a favorable report, submitting the following resolution: "Resolved, that the claim of Isaac Bowman, legal representative of Isaac Bowman, deceased, for half-pay due his father under the act of the general assembly of Virginia of May, 1779 be referred to the Secretary of the Interior for liquidation, under the act of Congress of July 5, 1832, and that the Committee on Pensions be discharged from the further consideration of the case."  That resolution was adopted by the Senate.  On the 16th of February, 1854, the House Committee on Revolutionary Claims reported favorable, submitting the following resolution: " Resolved, that the petition in the case of Isaac Bowman be referred to the Secretary of the Interior for liquidation, under the act of July 5, 1832, and that the committee be discharged from its further consideration."  And, in the next month, the House committee reported as before, and the resolution last above named was passed by the House.  In consequence of those resolutions, the claim was again presented to the Secretary of the Interior, Mr. McClelland.  The claimant contended that the resolutions required the Secretary to allow the claim, and relied on the opinion of a former Attorney General, in 1849, in the case of Churchill Gibbs.  (5 Att. Gen., 82.)  The Secretary referred the question, in 1854, to the Attorney General then in office, who gave his opinion that the resolutions had not the effect of a law, but that it would be proper for the Secretary to re-examine the merits of the claim, (6 Att. Gen. 680;) in which opinion the Secretary concurred.  The Secretary accordingly

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re-examined the merits, evidently with great care, and, in September, 1854, gave a lengthened written opinion adverse to the claim.
  The case is now submitted to the consideration of this court.
  With respect to the effect of the separate resolutions of the two Houses of Congress, referring this claim to the Secretary of the Interior, in 1854, the opinions of the then Attorney General and Secretary are, in our opinion correct.  Those resolutions did not direct the Secretary to allow the claim, and if they had, they would not have been obligatory upon him.  They justified him in re-examining the case, and that was all.
  The petition states that Isaac Bowman, the testator, was a lieutenant and quartermaster, also called horsemaster, in the Illinois regiment commanded by Colonel George Rogers Clark, in the war of the revolutions ; that whilst he, the testator, was in service in the line of his duty, and commanding a detachment of said regiment, the troops were attacked by the Indian allies of Great Britain, in which attack the testator was severely wounded and taken prisoner ; that he was detained as a prisoner from November, 1779 till April, 1780, when he was sold by his captors to an Indian trader, by whom he was taken to New Orleans, and from there to Cuba, from whence, passing through Philadelphia, he returned to his home in Virginia ; that he never resigned as lieutenant or quartermaster, otherwise called horsemaster ; that he was never again ordered into service after his return from captivity ; that he was never dismissed from the service ; and that he died on the 9th of September, 1826.  The petition therefore claims that the testator was entitled, under the laws of Virginia, to the half-pay of a lieutenant and quartermaster from the close of the revolutionary war until the time of his death ; that the claimants, as his executors, are now entitled to receive the same from the United States, and that payment has been demanded at the proper department and refused.
  This claim is founded on an act of the Virginia legislature of May, 1779, and an act of Congress of the 5th of July, 1832.  The Virginia act is as follows:  "All general officers of the army being citizens of this commonwealth, and all field officers, captains, and subalterns, commanding or who shall command in the battalions of this common-wealth on continental establishment, or serving in the battalions raised for the immediate defence of this State, or for the defence of the United States,  *  *  *  *  * provided Congress do not make some tantamount provision for them, who shall serve henceforward, or from all such officers who have shall become supernumerary on the reduction of any of the said battalions, and shall again enter into the said service if required so to do, in the same or any higher rank, and continue therein until the end of the war, shall be entitled to half-pay during life, to commence from the determination of their command or service."  (10 Hen. Stat. 25.)
  The act of Congress above referred to, so far as it need be stated, is as follows:
  The first section provides for the payment by the United States to

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the State of Virginia, the amount which said State had paid to the officers commanding in the Virginia line in the war of the revolution, on account of half-pay for life promised said officers by that State.
  The second section provides for the payment by the United States to the State of Virginia, the amount of the judgments which had been rendered against her on account of the promise contained in her said act of 1779, in favor of the officers or representatives of officers of the regiments and corps (among others) " of Colonels Clark and Crockett, and Captain Roger's troop of cavalry, who were employed in the Illinois service."
  The third section (the one immediately applicable to this case) provides, that the Secretary of the Treasure (now the Secretary of the Interior) adjust and settle those claims for half-pay of the officers of said regiments and corps, which had not been paid or prosecuted to judgments against the State of Virginia, and for which said State would be bound on the principles of the half-pay cases decided in the supreme court of appeals of said State. (4 Stat. at Large 563.)
  The claimants, therefore, to sustain the present suit against the United States for the half-pay in question, must show that the testator might, in his lifetime, have recovered said half-pay from Virginia on the principles of the half-pay cases which had been there decided previously to said act of Congress.
  The principles of those half-pay cases in Virginia, referred to in said act of Congress, and upon which the case now before us depends, were fully discussed, and settled in 1930, in the Virginia court of appeals, in Markham's case, 1 Leigh's Rep., 516 to 524, and Lilly's case, same volume, 525 to 565.  Those principles are, that the officer for whose life the half-pay is claimed must have served in the revolutionary war and in the Virginia State line from the time said act of 1779 was passed, or from the time of his being commissioned, until the end of the war, or until he became a supernumerary.
  The material evidence in the case is as follows:
  A.  A certificate by John Douthitt, clerk of the board of commisioners of the Illinois grant, dated the 29th of August, 1834.  This certificate states that it appears from the books and papers in the office that Isaac Bowman served in said Illinois regiment as a lieutenant, and that he was allowed 2,156 acres of land in said Illinois grant, to wit, lots Nos. 1, 158, 213, 289 --five hundred acres each, and 156 acres in No. 32.
  B.  An ex parte affidavit of Samuel Kercheval, dated the 8th of August, 1834.  The affiant states that he became acquainted with Captain Isaac Bowman, of Shenandoah country, Virginia, about the year 1784, and continued afterwards intimately acquainted with him until his death, on the 9th of September, 1826; that said Bowman was known through life as an officer of the Illinois regiment of the army of the revolution ; that he repeatedly stated to the affiant that, late in the fall of 1779, while coming from Kaskaskias (as affiant understood on furlough) to the Falls of Ohio, they (the party_ were attacked by the Indians, when all but him were killed, or never afterwards heard of; that he was wounded in five places, the

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scars of which the affiant had often seen, and was taken prisoner ; that he was afterwards purchased by an Indian trader and taken to Natchez, from whence he went to New Orleans, and the Havana, on the island of Cuba, and then obtained a passage to Philadelphia, and returned to his home; that he was long a cripple, so unable to have joined his regiment or performed military duty, probably for year or two, and that he said he lost his commission and papers when taken prisoner.
  C.  An ex parte affidavit of David Stickley, dated the 8th of August, 1834.  The affiant says that he was intimately acquainted for about forty years with Captain Isaac Bowman, of said county,  (Shenandoah, Virginia,) deceased ; that said deceased, during that time was known and reputed to have been an officer in the Illinois regiment of the war of the revolution, and to have been wounded and taken prisoner by the Indianas, and kept in captivity for some time ; that affiant had often heard the history of the same from Captain Bowman himself, who said that, in ascending the Ohio river, he was attacked by the Indians (the party with him) nearly all killed; that he, himself was wounded in several places, and taken prisoner, and retained some time in captivity, when he was purchased by an Indian trader and taken to Natchez, from whence he went to New Orleans and the island of Cuba ; that having obtained a passage for Philadelphia, he returned to his residence adjoining the affiant's, where the affiant believes said Bowman was born, and where he died about the 9th of September, 1824.  From common report, and Captain Bowman's known character for truth, and his freqent recurrence to said transactions, the affiant says he is as fully convinced the reality of Bowman's service and captivity as he could possible be of anything which he did not see.
  D.  An ex parte affidavit of Colonet ABraham Bowman, a revolutionary officer, dated the 23d of June, 1832.  The affiant says that his brother, Isaac Bowman, a lieutenant in the Illinois regiment of the Virginia State line of the army of the revolution, was taken prisoner, as he has been informed by his said brother, and believes, on the Ohio river, about forty miles above the mouth, in November, 1779, being then, at the time of his capture, a lieutenant of said regiment, and having been in service from the spring of 1777; that he was with the Indians as a prisoner until April, 1780, and was then purchased by a man named Turnbull, and went to New Orleans, thence to Cuba, and thence to Philadelphia, which the affiant thinks was in the fall of 1781.
  E.  An ex parte affidavit of Colonel Anthony Crockett, of the army of the revolution, dated September 4, 1832.  The affiant says that Isaac Bowman was a lieutenant of the Illinois regiment, in the fall of 1779, at Vincennes ; that the affiant, at that time, was returning into Virginia, and knows not how long Bowman continued in service.
  F.  A statement of George M. Bibb, saying that he was well acquainted with Anthony Crockett, who, by reputation and the public records, was an officer in Colonel George R. Clark's regiment, called the Illinois regiment ; that he was a man of integrity , and entitled

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to full credit; that he, Bibb, also knew Colonel Bowman, who was a man of high character, and to whose statements full credit is due. And a statement of James Guthrie, saying that he knew said Crockett, and knows all that the Hon. George M. Bibb has said of him ; and that he knew Colonel Bowman by character, which was unquestionably good.
  G.  An ex parte affidavit of Archibald Lovelace, dated 12 April, 1852.  The affiant says, that he was acquainted with Daniel Orear of Fauquier county, Va., who was a soldier in the Illinois regiment in the war of the revolution; that he heard orear say, when speaking of his revolutionary services, that he was a part of his time under lieutenant Isaac Bowman of the Illinois regiment, who was a valuable officer, and who, whilst serving as first lieutenant in said regiment, was taken prisoner on or near the Ohio river, and kept as such a considerable time; that Orear further said that lieutenant Bowman lived and died in Shenandoah county, Virginia, leaving an honorable and intelligent family.  The affiant says that Orear made said statement, in substance, more than once, and that he was a man of strict integrity, and is now dead as the affiant is informed.
  H.  This paper contains a copy of the Auditor's office of Virginia of an account against that State, presented by Isaac Bowman in June, 1783 as follows:
  "1779, May 12.  The State of Virginia, Dr. to Isaac Bowman.
  "To my services as horsemaster in the Illinois regiment until I was defeated by the Indians, which was 17th day of November, and then until October the 11th, 1780, before I got home, which is sixteen months and twenty-nine days."
  There is also, from said office, the following copy of a certificate as to the above account:
  "24 June, 1783.  I certify that Mr. Isaac Bowman was appointed horsemaster in the year 1779, in the Illinois department, but how long he continued I not.
                                                                                                 "G. R. CLARK."
  The following, from said office, is a copy of the decision on said account, made by the Virginia commissioners fro settling western claims:
  "The commissioners are of opinion that Mr. Isaac Bowman ought to be allowed for his services as horsemaker, from the 12 May, 1779,
until the 17 Nov., 200 days, at 1/4 per day, amounting to [British pounds sign] 63.6.8 ; equal to a quartermaster's pay. They are further of opinion, that he was out of the service of this State at the time he was captured, and, consequently, has no legal claim for the time he remained in captivity, but beg leave to refer it to the consideration of the Hon. the Executive."
  The said paper H also contains, from said office, copies of two receipts given to Isaac Bowman at Fort Clark, in June, 1779, one by one Montrey for $18 for taking up and securing three horses belonging

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to the State of Virginia ; the other by one Piangraf for $12, for four men taking care of the State horses six days.
  I.  Copies of other papers from said office, to wit:  A letter to the Govenor of Virginia from John Todd, who was lieutenant of Illinois county, dated Richmond, 2 June, 1780.  The following is an extract from that letter:  "Mr. Isaac Bowman, with seven or eight men and one family, set off from Kaskaskias the 15th November last, in a bateau, attended by another bateau with twelve men and three or four families in it, bound to the Falls of Ohio.  I judged it safer to send to the Falls many articles belonging to the commonwealth by Bowman than to bring them myself by land.  Bowman's bateau fell into the hands of the Chickasaw Indians, and the other arrived in March or April at the French Lick on Cumberland, with the account that Bowman and all the men except one Riddle were killed and taken.  I enclose your excellency a list of such articles as belonged to the State, as well as I can make them out from my detached memorandum ; my books and many necessary papers being also lost."
  An order for raising troops, headed "By George Rogers Clark, esp., in the western department, &c., &c., &c.," dated Headquarters, Falls of Ohio, 30th Sept., 1779.
  "A provision return of the troops at Fort Clark under the command of Col. George Rogers Clark, commencing the 10th and ending the 12th May, both days included, 1779," signed "James Robertson, Qr.  Mr.       G.R. Clark."
  "An account of public horses purchased and delivered in the western and Illinois department under the direction of William Shannon, Q. M. Gen., & c"   Among other entries in this account is the following:   "1779, June 14.   Delivered Capt. Bowman, H. M., as per receipt, 38 horses."
                                                                                                                   "FORT PATRICK HENRY,
                                                                                                                                        "July [in italics] 10, 1779
  "SIR:  Please to deliver to Isaac Bowman all the goods remaining of the plunder taken at this post, with an inventory of the same, and your compliance will oblige your humble servant, Jos. Bowman.
  "To the Quarter Master."
  "Inventory of sundry stores delivered to Isaac Bowman, by order of the Major at Fort Patrick Henry, July 10, 1779."  Here follows various items, such as blankets, &c.
  K.  Extracts from a small book in said office, on the first page of which book is written "Plunder Store Acct.  Mr. Isaac Bowman, Q. M. Accts."   Copies of accounts in said book against several persons are given, one of which is as follows:
  "Dr. Isaac.                                                                                                                                                   Cr. Bowman.                                                                                
  "May 21.  To 8 yds. of," &c.  The aforesaid auditor states that the upper corners of the greater part of said book is illegible ; but when legible, it is invariably headed 1779.  He also states "that so far as it had been practicable to search the mass of papers connected with the Illinois expedition, no evidence of a resignation by Isaac Bowman had been discovered."

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  L. A certificate, as follows:
  "This is to certify that there is on file in this office, in the second volume of Illinois papers, an account headed thus: 'An account of quartermaster's stores, &c., issued in the Illinois and its dependencies commencing the 1st day of June, 1779, by John Reid, quartermaster of the Illinois regiment, viz:' which is very lengthy; the first entry therein dated 1 June, 1779, and the last on the 11 October, 1779, and is dated Falls of Ohio, Oct. 31, 1779, and signed, John Reid, Qr. Mr. Ills. Regiment, and verified by G. R. Clark, 4 Novermber, 1779. Given under my hand in the office of the auditor of public accounts, Richmond, Virginia, this 15th March, 1853.  Ro. Johnston, Aud. of Pub. Accts."
  M.  A. letter from the Secretary of State of Virginia, dated Richmond, May 19, 1853.  He states that he could not find any record that commissions did issue or not to the officers; but that instructions were given to Colonel Clark to take the command of five other companies raised under the act of assembly, which, if completed, would have orders to join him, and to the lieutenant colonel, with blank commisions for the officers of five companies to be filled up, &c., and that those instructions, as well as those to John Todd, who was appointed county lieutenant or commandant of the county of Illinois, are stated on the journal of the 12th of December, 1778, to have been issued by the governor.
  N.  Copy of the proceedings of the commissioners for adjusting the claims of the officers and soldiers of the Illinois regiment to the lands given them under a resolution of the general assembly of Virginia, of Jan. 2, 1781, agreeably to an act of assembly of that State, passed October session, 1783.
  The board met at Louisville on the 2d of August, 1784, Colonel Clark being one of the members present; and on the next day the following resolution was adopted:
  "That all officers and soldiers who marched and continued in service till the reduction of the British posts on the northwest side of the Ohio; that all who engaged and enlisted in the Illinois regiment afterwards, and served during the war or three years, are entitled to a share of the grant under the resolution and act of assembly; that all those soldiers who have enlisted in said regiment since the second day of January for three years, or during the war, are not entitled, as there seems to be no provision made  under the resolution for those who should thereafter be incorporated in the said regiment; that the officers of the regiment are entitled to a share of the land in proportion to the commission they respectively held on the 2d day of January, 1781, and not in proportion to the commision they have since held in consequence of promotions, and that, therefore, officers commissioned since that period are not entitled at all; and that those soldier who enlisted to serve twelve months after arrival at Kaskaskias, agreeable to an act of assembly of the fall session, 1778, for the protection and defence of the Illinois county, who did not re-enlist in the regiment, are not included in said resolution ; that those officers

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who were commissioned under said act, and resigned before the expiration of the twelve months, are not entitled; last, that those who continue during the year, and then retired, not having a command, are entitled."
  The board met on the fourth of August.  The same members were present as on the third.
  The claims of many persons were presented, and most of them were allowed  The name, "Isaac Bowman, Lt.," is on the list of the applicants whose claims were allowed.  By an order of the board, a subaltern officer was entitled to 2,000 acres of land.  The board present, when a deed was executed to Isaac Bowman for his four surveys of 500 acres each.
  O.  Extracts from a journal of the Western Commission, which journal is on file in the auditor's office at Richmond, Virginia, as follows: and Capt. Isaac Bowman, were laid before the board, which were examined, and finding them necessary for the settlement of other accounts, take them with them to the Falls of Ohio."  March 22, 1783. "An account of Capt. Isaac Ruddle was laid before the board for his company and rations when the Illinois country was taken by Colonel Clark.  The money has been drawn by Colonel Montgomery at the treasure, and carried by him to Kaskaskias, from whence he sent it and on the passage, Isaac Bowman being taken by Indians, and his papers destroyed, yet saved the money, and after he was at liberty, gave it to Mr. Pollock; for this reason, and as part of it seems to be a private account, the commissioners could not settle it."  These extracts of Mr. Isaac Bowman's account of his services as horsemaster to the Illinois regiment as notice in the aforesaid paper marked H.  They also refer to Romney and Winchester pay rolls noticed in the next paper.
  P.   Extracts from a book in said auditor's office, endorsed "Romney & Winchester's Copy Pay Rolls," showing that Isaac Bowman was an ensign, in 1775, in Captain Joseph Bowman's company of Virginia militia. 
  The foregoing is, in substance, the evidence on which the claimants rely.
  The first question is, was the testator a lieutenant or quartermaster at any time in the Virginia troops under Colonel Clark in the revolutionary war?
It is certainly not proved that he was a quartermaster.   The meaning of the paper marked K is too obscure to have any weight; whilst the papers marked  I and L contain evidence against the idea of his being such officer.  Indeed, his account, in paper marked H, against the State, presented by himself in 1783, was for his services as horsemaster (not quartermaster) in the Illinois regiment; and for part of the time charged, he was paid six shillings and four pence per day, "equal to a quartermaster's pay."  He was, no doubt as Colonel

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Clark certifies, a horsemaster for a while, in 1779, in the Illinois department, but such an employment, and a per diem payment for the service, are no evidence whatever that he was a quartermaster.
  It may be considered, from the evidence, that the testator was a lieutenant in the troops under Colonel Clark, in the summer of 1778 The general assembly of Virginia, on the 2d of January, 1781, resolved : "As Colonel George Rogers Clarke planned and executed the secret expedition by which the British posts were reduced, and was promised, if the enterprise succeeded, a liberal gratuity in lands in that country for the officers and soldiers who first marched thither with him, that a quantity of land, not exceeding 150,000 acres, be allowed and granted to the said officers and soldiers, and the other officers and soldiers that have been since incorporated into the said regiment, to be laid off," &c.  (10 Hen. Stat., 565.)  In 1783, a board of commissioners was appointed to settle and determine the claims to land under said resolution.  (11 Hen. Stat., 335.)  That board, at its session at Louisville in 1784, recognised the testator as a lieutenant, and allowed him a lieutenant's share in said grant of land. It seems proper, therefore, that we should view him as such officer for the time required to entitle him to such share in the grant.  The same board, at its session in August, 1784, stated, in accordance with said resolution of 1781, that all officers and soldiers who marched and continued in service till the reduction of the British posts aforesaid, were entitled to a share of the grant.  They said allowance of the commissioners, therefore, goes no further than to show that the testator was a lieutenant in said service until the reduction of those posts.  Nor is there any other evidence, in our opinion, sufficent to show that he was such officer,at a subsequent period, in the Illinois regiment.  The certificate of Douthitt amounts to no more than what is shown by the action of said board of commissioners at Louisvile ; and the ex parte affidavits of Kerchival, Stickley, and Lovelace are only as to rumors and matters of hearsay.  The ex parte affidavits of Colonels Bowman and Crockett of the testator's being a lieutenant in said regiment in the fall of 1779, are insufficient, when viewed in connexion with the other evidence in the case, to establish the fact to which they relate.  They are only parol evidence and are liable to the objections to which, in such cases, such evidence is subject.  They were made more than fifty years after the time they allude to, and do not state in what manner the affiants' knowledge was obtained.
  The next question is, whether the testator's being a lieutenant in said troops when they captured the western posts, shows hime to have been a lieutenant in the Illinois regiment referred to in the aforesaid act of Congress of 1832?  And we think that it does not.  The officers thus alluded to by said act of Congress were of the class of those to whom Virginia had conditionally promised half pay by the aforesaid act of 1779; but that Virginia act only applies to officers of the regular line who were in service when that act passed, or were commissioned afterwards.  The troops which marched against the western posts were not of the regular line.  They were militia, raised by the mere order of the governor of Virginia, without legislative authority, and for a

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temporary purpose.  Their term of service expired when the posts were reduced.  The times of the reduction were as follows: Kaskaskias, on the fourth of July, 1778; Cahokia, a day or two afterwards.  The inhabitants of St. Vincents took the oath of allegiance to Virginia about the middle of July, 1778, through the influence of Mr. Gibault, under the instructions of Colonel Clark; and about the middle of August following, Captain Helm, by order of Colonel Clark took command at that place.  So that said posts were reduced about nine months before the passage of the Virginia act of 1779.  On the 15th of December, 1778, Mr. Hamilton, a British governor from Detroit, retook St. Vincents, but Colonel Clark, with one hundred and seventy men, raised at or near Kaskaskias without authority, (the term of the Virginia militia having expired,) marched from Kaskaskias and captured St. Vincents on the 24th of February, 1779, which was between two and three months before said act of 1779 was passed. (Clark's Journal, in Dillon's History of Indiana, 1 vol. 132 to 173.)   Indeed the said Illinois regiment was not in existence when the western posts were reduced as aforesaid.  It was raised afterwards, by an act of the Virginia legislature, for the avowed purpose of protecting the inhabitants of the country in which those previously conquered posts were situated.  This appears by the following extract, under date of November, 1778, from Marshall's life of Washington:  "While the frontiers of New York and Pennsylvania were thus suffering the calamities incident to savage warfare, a fate equally sever seems to have been destined for Virginia.  The western militia of that State had made some successful incursions into the country northwest of the Ohio, and had taken some British posts on the Mississippi.  These, by and act of the legislature, were erected into a county called the county of Illinois, and a regiment of infantry, with a troop of cavalry, to be commanded by Colonel George Rogers Clark,  *  *  *  *  * were ordered to be recruited fro its protection.  This corps was divided into several detachments, the principal of which remained with Colonel Clarke at Kaskaskias."  (3 Marshall's Life of Washington, 565.) That regiment continued in service until the end of the war.  It is plain, therefore, that we cannot infer that the testator was a officer in the Illinois regiment referred to in said act of Congress, merely because he was an officer in the militia force that conquered the western posts.  That the force that made those conquests was composed of militia, is expressly stated in the preamble to the Virginia act for establishing the county of Illinois  (9 Hen. Stat. 552.)
  The last question is, even supposing the testator to have been a lieutenant or quartermaster in said regiment when said act of 1779 passed, did he serve till the end of the war or become a supernumerary?
  We think it was quite certain that the testator did not serve until the end of the war.  After his release from captivity, instead of going to his regiment, he went home in October, 1780, and there, so far as we are informed, he remained till the war ended.  If, after his release, he joined the regiment and continued in service whilst the war continued, the burthen [burden]of proof of those facts was on the claimants ; but they have furnished no such proof.  Besides, the testator's name not

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being on the list of those entitled to half-pay, as reported by the board of officers hereinafter particularly noticed, is very strong evidence that he did not serve till the end of the war.
  With respect to his becoming a supernumerary, the facts are as follows:  On the 15th of November, 1779, he, with seven or eight men and one family, set off from Kaskaskias in a bateau for the Falls of Ohio.  On the 17th of the same month, they were attacked on the Ohio river by the Indians, when the testator was severely sounded and taken prisoner.  He was afterwards purchased from the Indians by a trader, and got to his home as aforesaid.  That is the last we hear of him until June, 1783 when he presented his account against the State of Virginia, for services as horsemaster in the Illinois regiment, from May the 12th, 1779, till his defeat by the Indians on the 17th of November, and then till the 11th of October, 1780, before he got home.  There is nothing in those facts to show that the testator was a supernumerary officer.  The Virginia act of 1779, in speaking of the officers entitled to half-pay, says: " And all such officers who have or shall become supernumerary, on the reduction of any of the said battalions, and shall again enter into the reduction of any of the said battalions, and shall again enter into the said service if required so to do," &c.  If the testator, therefore, became such supernumerary officer, it was because the number of privates in said regiment had been so reduced as to occasion a surplus of officers, and he had been dismissed from active service, by the proper authority, as such an officer.  In the Virginia court of appeals, one the judges in commenting on the statutory provision now before us, says: " What is a supernumerary?  He is just as much an officer as any other; but his battalion or corps has been reduced or disbanded, or so arranged in some way as to leave him for the present no command, and the State to save the expense of full pay and subsistence, discharges him from actual service."  (Lilly's case, 1 Leigh's Rep., 529.)  Now, nothing can be clearer than that the testator was not within this definition of a supernumerary officer.  About the time of his release by the Indians and his return home, Virginia had great cause for increasing her military force on her western frontier, and was making great exertions to do so.  In October, 1780, (the month in which the testator got home, ) the legislature passed the following act: "And for defence of the western frontier against the invasions of the Indian or British enemy. Be it enacted, that the governor, with advice of council, shall have full and ample power to cause to be recruited and fully completed upon the best terms possible, the regiment under Colonel George Roger Clark's command, and that they be allowed the same pay and rations with other officer and privates on continental establishment, and be ordered into service whenever the governor, with advice of council, shall think proper."  (10 Hen. Stat. 389.)  This regiment, therefore, was not then to be reduced, but, on the contrary, it was to be recruited and fully completed upon the best terms possible.  There is no evidence that there were too many officers in the regiment, and that the testator was dismissed from active service as a supernumerary officer.  Nor does it appear from any source, not even from his own narratives of the affair to Kerchival or Stickney, th

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he at any time after his release from captivity joined the regiment or offered to do so, or even gave notice of his release.  The suit must therefore fail for the reason, were there no other, that it is not proved that the testator served to the end of the war or became a supernumerary.
The following facts connected with the cause tend strongly to show that there is no foundation for this claim:
  1.  The revolutionary war ended in 1783, and in 1784 the half-pay for the first year became due for those entitled to it, and the same continued to fall due at the end of each subsequent year during the officer's life.  Now the testator resided in Virginia in 1784, and continued to reside there for more than forty years afterwards, yet he does not appear to have ever claimed any such payments.  That he was ready to claim anything from the State to which he  supposed himself entitled is evident from his claim, before noticed, for his services as horsemaster, which he made at Richmond in 1783.
  2.  If he was entitled to half-pay, he was also entitled under a general law of Virginia, to bounty land, to wit, to 2,000 acres; which quantity was afterwards considerably increased.  (10 Hen. Stat., 160, 375.)  Yet there is no evidence that the testator ever received or applied for the bounty provided for by those statutes.
  3.  The testator's name is not found on any of the muster or pay rolls extant of the Illinois regiment.  The Commissioner of Pensions, Mr. J. E. Heath, in a letter of the 17th of March, 1853, says: "There are on file in this office copies procured from Virginia of various muster and pay rolls, and other records of the service of officers of the Illinois regiment, but nowhere does the name of Isaac Bowman, as lieutenant, appear.  This circumstance, coupled with the fact that quite as may officers have received half-pay for service in that regiment as ever belonged to it, raises at least a reasonable presumption against the present claim."  Mr. J. F. Adams, an examiner in the Pension Office, in a communication of the 9th of August, 1853, to the Commissioner, says: "I have carefully read over all the rolls of the Illinois regiment as it was before November, 1779; Bowman's name does not occur on any pay roll or muster roll of that [in italics the following] that period, when, it is said, he was a lieutenant [end italics].  I only find it in one list; it is that of the adjusting board of 1784."
  That list of the adjusting board of 1784 is a list of those who claimed shares in the special grant of 150,000 acres of land, and does not, as before shown, affect this case.
  4.  In November, 1781 the Virginia legislature passed an act as follows: " And whereas, by the reduction of the battalions and corps in the State service, a considerable number of officers have become supernumerary, Be it enacted that a return of all the State officers shall be made to the next assembly, wherein the corps, the rank of each officer, the date of his commission, the number of men at first raised in each corps, number of men when reduced, and time when reduced, shall be particularly specified by the executive; and the executive are hereby empowered and required to set on foot proper inquiries to discriminate such officers as be unworthy conduct, or by any means whatever be thought unfit to be considered as entitled to half-pay."  (10 Hen. Stat. 466.)  Afterwards a list of officers, as

Page 14

12 [Centered Top]

required by said act, was made out by a board of officers who sat at Richard in February, 1782; which list purports to contain the names of the officers of the Illinois regiment entitled to half-pay.  That list, though not the exclusive test as to the officers entitled, is very high authority.  It is spoken of a by a judge of the Virginia court of appeals, as follows:  "In consequence of this law, [said act of 1781,] a board was formed who reported to the executive a list of the officers as entitled to half-pay, and the executive approved of it, and sent it to the auditors for their guide in issuing warrants."  (Lilly's case, 1 Leigh's Rep., 534)  We have examined that list, which now before us, and find that Isaac Bowman's name is not on it.  (See list in Report No. 191, House of Rep., 22d Congress, 1st sess.)
  We here close the examination of this case.  Our opinion is, that Issac Bowman, the testator, never had any right against the State of Virginia for the half-pay described in the petition; and that the present claimants, as his executors, have not now any right to such half-pay against the United States.

Page 15

Memorandum in the 
case of Isaac Bowman
Act of July 5, 1832

Page 16

In the matter of the application of the heirs of Isaac Bowman and for Half Pay under the Act of July 5, 1832.
  On this case I find that Isaac Bowman late of the county of Shenandoah in the State of Virginia deceased, was in his life time, to wit, in the year 1777 a Lieutenant in the Minor's Regiment [lined out - in the Revolutionary war, that he was] of the Virginia State line of the army of the Revolution; that he was taken prisoner by the Indians on the Ohio river about forty miles from  its mouth on the 17th day of November 1779 at which time he was a Lieutenant of his Regiment; that he remained with the Indians until the month of April 1780 when he was purchased by a man by the name of Turnbull and went to New Orleans, there to Cuba, from there to Philadelphia and to his residence in Virginia which he reached on the 11th day of October 1780; That he was not in the actual service during the war after this date; that at the close of the war, to wit on the 24th day of day of June 1785 he presented his account against the State of Virginia to the proper offices of that State for his  service as Horse Master in the Minor's Regiment from May 12, 1779 to October 11, 1780, and was paid on the 20th day of April 1785 the sum of sixty four Pounds nine shilling and two pence being the

Page 17

pay of a Quarter Master from his 12th day of May to 17th day of Nov. 1779, the balance of his claims being postponed. [underlined] Death  I further find that said Minor's Regiment was in service to the end of the war, that said Isaac Bowman was severely wounded on the 17th, November 1779 from the effect of which he did not recover so as to be able to join his Regiment or perform military duty therein for a year or two, that he never resigned his commission [lined out and illegible word] and was never required again to enter into said service, that he never became [illegible]  (lined out - or was in any manner a prisoner of war] except he was made so by the facts aforesaid, nor was he a prisoner of war except as above stated.

Page 18

.                                            4.   That the offfical are entitled, in ? to the Commissioner

                                                    they expecting held on the 1st  2d day of January 1787 &

                                                    not in ? to the commissioner they have ? held 

                                                    inconveyance of ? & that officers commissioned

                                                    since that person are not entitled at all


Act of 1778                            That there officiers who now commissioned under new act

                                                    & reissued before the expiration of the 12 months, are not

                                                     entitled but that were also ? during the year

                                                     & then retired not having a command are creditable.


                                                     "Mr Isaac Bowman with 7 or 8 men and one family ? 

                                                      " from Kentuckia, the 15th Nov ? in a batteau attended another Battalion

                                                      " with 12 men & 3 or 4 families in it bounded to the Ohio.  I judged it

                                                      "safer to send the full many articles belonging to the commonwealth by

                                                      "Bowman them to bring these myself by land.  Bowmans ?

                                                      "fell in the hads of the Chickasaw Indians and the other arrived in March

                                                      "arrive at the French Lick on Cumberland with the account that 

                                                      "Bowman and all the men except one ?  was killed & taken."

                                                       Extract from Cd Jno. Todd 's letter to the Govenor of Dec 

                                                        and June 2, 1780. --- Todd was Governor of the Illinois Dept.

Page 19

The depositions to ? Isaac Bowman were
filed in the office Nov. 8, 1832.


Levi Woodburys Letter of Rejection is dated Dec. 24, 1834


                                                In the House of Delegates   Nov. 23, 1778

Whereas, ? information has been received that Lieut Col

George Rogers Clarke with body of Virginia Militia, his

? the British feud in the Western part of the Commmonwealth

on the ? Mississippi, and it branches, great advent -

ures may arrive to the ? cause of American as well as will as

this Commonwealth in particular


?, that the thanks of this House are jointly due

to ? Col. Clarke and the name officer and men under

his command for their extraordinary resolution and ?

? in 10 ? are ? ? and further the im -

portant service which the ? thereby rendered this

country."  Note in ? History of Virginia

at page 319


Instructions given to Col Clarke Jan 2, 1778

"He  was to ? 7 companies if 50 ? officers

in the usual ? & ? this ? was to attack

the British Post at ?, a


See paper files in John ? case


This was put in this ? ? of 1785

one part,  H ? to was retaken by the service of  ? Dec

15, 1778 - and Clark ? ? ? ?  - Feb 22

1799 - ? ? ? ?

Page 20

1779   The State of Virginia

May 12                          D? to Isaac Bowman

             to my servics in ? ? in the Illinois

             Regt unit I was defeated by the Indians

             which was 17 days of NW and there until

             October the 11th 1789 before I got home which

              in 16 Mo 19 days


24 June 1783           I certify that Isaac Bowman was

            appointed ? ? in the year 1779 in

             the ? Department but how ? he con

             tinued I know not                       G R Clarke

             The commission appointed by the Execution for

             settling and legmidating claim in the Western

             county in consequence of a ?of the Legis 

             lature of the 21 June 1781 allows Bowman his 

             pay until he was taken prisoner  Nov. 17. 1779

              any ? they are of opinion he was not in the service

              of the sate at the time he was captured.


John Reid was Quatermaster of Illinois Regt from

             June 1, 1779 to October 31, 1779 ---

             The act of Virginia Legislature granted half pay was passed in Mar 1779 ---

             The officers ment then be ?  or as to here commanded or ? ?

              in the ? ? of has stated of ? 

             Bowman was here ?, May 12, 1779 to Nov 17, 1779 an ? ? ?

             afterward. ---

Page 21

If either of them questions seems an affirmation ?

then the representative of the wid Issac Holmes are

entitled to receive equal to the half

pay of a Lieutant from the 17th day of Nov. 1779 to 

the 9th day of October 1826 a period of 46 years  9

months and twenty two days and will amount the 

sum of $7,489.78

Page 22

Isaac Bowman Case,
Testimony
Archibald Lovelace, says he was acquainted with [underscored] Daniel Oreen of Fauqueir County Virginia who was a soldier in the Illinois's Regiment in the war of the revolution. He has heard [underscored] Oreen say that he served a part of his time under Isaac Bowman of the Illinois Rgt. what while Bowman was serving as first Lieutenant in said Rgt. he was taken prisoner on or near the Ohio River; that Bowman lived and died in Shenandoah County Virginia Oreen made the above statement more than once. 
                        [Illegible word] to April 12, 1852
Abraham Bowman, says "that his brother Isaac Bow-
                    "man a [Revolutionary Officer -stuck out] Lieutenant in the Il-
                    "linois Regt. of the Virginia state line of the army 
                    "of the Revolution was taken prisoner as he has
                    "been informed by his said brother and believes on 
                    "the Ohio river about forty miles above the mouth 
                    "in the month of November 1779 being then at the
                    "time of his capture a Lieutenant of said Regt. having 
                    "been in Illinois from the Spring of the year 1777. - 
                    "that he was with the Indians as a prisoner until

Page 23

"the month of April 1780 and was then purchased
                         "by a man named Turnbull, when he went to New 
                         "Orleans, there to Cube & from there to Philadel-
                         "phia which deponent thinks was in the fall of the year 
                          "1781"                 (Taken June 23, 1832)

Col Anthony Crockett, says that "Isaac Bowman 
         "was a Lieutenant of the Illinois Rgt. in the 
         "fall of the year 1779 at [illegible] that he 
         "afficant at that time was returning into Virginia 
         "and knows not how long the said Bowman 
         "continued in service."
                                               (Taken Sept. [written above month that was crossed out] 4, 1832)

Geo. M. Bibb &
James Guthrie} by a letter to Hon John S. Barber
        dated April 18, 1853. Speak of the respectability of the two witnesses last above named in the highest terms. --

John Couthill Clerk of the Board of Commission of the Illinois grant do hereby certify that [following underlined] it appears from the books and xxxxin in this office that Issac Bowman served in said Illinois Regt. as a Lieut. and that he

Page 24

[underscored the following] was allowed two thousand one hundred and fifty six acres of land in said Illinois grant, to wit, sets [underscore ends] N.  1. 158. 213. L 789 five hundred acres each & 156 acres in No. 32            Signed August 29, 1834. -

Samuel Kercheval, says he became acquainted with Capt. Issac Bowman in the year 1784, afterward related by marriage & [illegible]  to the day of his [illegible] in the month of September 1826 
        "He was known through life as an officer of 
        "the Illinois Regt. of the arm of Revolution,"
 He related to deponent the incident of his capture in 1774. All his comments were [illegible] is not after ward heard of.  Bowmen himself wounded in four places. --
        "That he was long a cripple unable to have 
        "joined his Regiment and performed military duty
        "probably not for a year or two. Bowman said he lost his communication when he was captured. --
                                                                 Taken August 8, 1834
D. Stickly. says Bowman in Sept. 9, 1826. --
Taken Aug 8, 1836           He recapitulates the story of above witness. -- Both make Bowman return to his home after his captivity! -
                                         - not afterward in service
                                                                    (Both certified credible)

Page 25

Received Evidence

1779 Jun 1    John Reid QuarterMaster of the Illinois

Regt. --- ? from ? to October 11th 1778 and

is acted  Falls of the Ohio October 31, 1779, and signed

                                                                                     John Reid


Document Marked C

Bowman was taken prisoner  Nov 1779


"Plunder ? Amount"

where legible "A"s invariably ? 1779

Isaac Bowman's private account ?

May 11. ----


" M Isaac Bowman's 2 M. Acts."

This is evidene Mrs. Bowan  2 N? in May 1779

See Doc marked D.


Copy of the ? of the commissioning for ? th

claims of the ? and soldier of the Illionis Regt

? August ? 1784 ? met according to

?   Paper copies before John C Paker July 21

1834  Markd are the marjin Dec 22 1834

Upon this roll is the name of Isaac Bowman Lieut


Aug. 3 ? to the following ?

1.  that all ? & soldiers who were his ? in

service till the ? of the British post or the NW ?

of the Ohio


2.  that all who engaged was enlisted in the Illinois Regt

aftward & During the war or three years are ?

to ? ?  of the ? under the resolutions of the ?


3.  New soldiers who have enlisted in and Regiment & ? ?

20 day of Jany for three years a during the war and 

not entitled.

Page 26

January 12, 1940.


                           C. J. Johnson
                           7032 Nashville Avenue                                                                         BA-J/ILL
                           St. Louis, Missouri.                                                                                Isaac Bowman
                                                                                                                                         R. 19362


Dear Sir:

Reference is made to your letter in which you request information in regard to Isaac Bowman, who served as an officer in George Rogers Clarke's Northwestern Expedition, and died in 1826 in Shenandoah County, Virginia.

The data which follow were obtained from the papers on file in the pension claim, R. 19362, based upon service of Isaac Bowman in the Revolutionary War.

Isaac Bowman resided in Shenandoah County, Virginia, at the time he entered service in the  Revolutionary War. His age was not given, nor the name of his parents. He had a brother, Abraham Bowman, who was living in 1832.

Isaac Bowman entered service in the spring of 1777, names of officers not given who served from May 12, 1779 in the Illinois Regiment of Virginia troops, commanded by Colonel George Rogers Clarke, first as quartermaster (called Horsemaster), then as lieutenant and was at Vincennes in 1779; afterwards, he left Kaskaskia with a detachment in a small boat for the Falls of the Ohio and on November 17, 1779, was attacked and severely wounded by the Indians, receiving four or five wounds, after which he was held by the Chickasaw Indians until April 1780, when he was sold to an Indian trader, by whom he was carried to New Orleans, from there to Cuba, and from there went to Philadelphia, thence to his home in Shenandoah County, Virginia, where he arrived December 11, 1780.

On account of his service as stated above, Isaac Bowman was allowed two thousand one hundred fifty-six acres of land by the State of Virginia. Lots Nos. 1, 158, 213, 289 for 500 acres each, and

Page 27

no. 32, for 167 acres were issued in his behalf.

This officer, Isaac Bowman, died September 9, 1826 in Shenandoah County, Virginia. He was referred to as Captain Isaac Bowman. It was stated that he was survived by "an honorable and intelligent family", but the name of his wife, date of marriage, and members of his family were not designated,except one son, Isaac S. Bowman.  In 1854, Isaac S. Bowman, of Shenandoah County, and George Brink, of Frederick County, Virginia, were the surviving executors of this officer's estate.

Said Isaac S. Bowman and George Brinker applied in 1854 for the Virginia half pay pension which might have been due on account of service of Isaac Bowman in the Illinois Regiment of Virginia troops. Their application was made in bahalf of this officer's heirs. The claim was not allowed as there was then no provision of law under which heirs of Revolutionary War soldiers were entitled to pension, based upon service in that war.

It is suggested that further information in regard to this Isaac Bowman might be obtained from The Adjutant General, War Department, this city, and from the Virginia records in Richmond, Virginia.

                                                                                           Very truly yours,

                                                                                           A. D. HILLER,
                                                                                           Exectutive Assistant
                                                                                           to the Administrator

                                                                                                        2.

Page 28

October 23, 1939

Mrs. R. B. Nelson                                                              BA-J/ady
Harrodsburg                                                                      Isaac Bowman
Kentucky                                                                           R. 19362

Dear Madam:

        Reference is made to your letter relative to soldiers of the Revolutionary War, Jacob Bowman, Joseph Bowman, and Andrew House, also requesting the names of the children of Isaac Bowman, a soldier of the Revolutionary War.

       There is no claim for pension or bounty land on file based upon service in the Revolutionary War of a Jacob Bowman or a Joseph Bowman, all spellings of the names searched.

        In order to identify the record of the Andrew House in whom you are interested it is essential that you furnish as much as possible of the following data in regard to him: approximate dates of birth and death, places of residence at enlistment and after service and given name of widow.

        There is only one claim of any kind on file based upon service of an Isaac Bowman in the Revolutionary War. All papers in that claim ( H.19362), have been examined and only one person designated as his child.  The name of that child was Isaac S. Bowman. It is shown that the above named officer, Isaac Bowman "lived and died in Shenandoah county, Virginia, leaving an honorable and intelligent family".

        It is suggested that further information in regard to the family of this officer might be obtained from the records at the county sear of Shenandoah County, Virginia.
        
Very truly yours,
 
A. D. Hiller
Executive Assistant
to the Administrator

Page 29

St. Louis Mo
                                                                      Dec 23 1939

Veterans Administration
Washington, D.C. 

       Will you kindly furnish me any information you may have on file in connection with pension or bounty claims of Isaac Bowman who was Ensign and then Lieutenant in George Rogers Clark's Northwestern Expedition and who died in Shenandoah County Va., in 1826.
        I am working on a family history and am particularly interested in references to any relatives of Isaac Bowman that may be contained in papers filed in connection with claims he may have made.

                                                                        Yours truly,
                                                                        C S Johnson
                                                                        7032 Nashville Ave
                                                                        St. Louis Mo.

[Upside down stamp] Dec 26 39
                                   MAIL SUB DIV
                                   Reader No. 20
                                   VETS ADM

Page 30

Harrisburg Ky.
Sep 29 1939

The Veterans Administration
Washington DC

[stamp to the right of the address]
Received
Oct 2 1939
MAIL SUB-DIV
Reader No. 4
VETS-ADM

Dear Sirs:
        There is a record here in the Mercer Co Court House in an old court order Book July 1793 a barg[a]in sale between, Isaac Hite, Jacob Bowman a John Bowman of one part and Abraham Bowman of the other was proved to be the act & deed of said Isaac, Jacob & John -- sale between Isaac Hite, John Bowman, & Jacob Bowman & Abraham Bowman of the other with the original certificate of Samuel McAfee & Hugh McGary Esqs ordered recorded July 23 1773_also this found in an old Entry Book in Court House of Jefferson City of Louisville where [check mark] Jacob [underscored] Bowman had a land grant for land 29-50-P°L ck. Now [check mark} Joseph had a son Jacob as to whether this is the son or brother I am trying to get it clear. I have several deeds where it state Jacob is the heir at law of Joseph. On deed Bowman to Hite DB2 - P34 - 1792- another DB2 P21-1793. So if you have the pensions of these two men or soldiers will you send them to me. There is ? another soldier listed in John H Gwaltny's Virginians in Rev. He is listed in Clarks Ill Reg. He is listed as having land in Fayette Co 5-17-1789.
        I have a record of Isaac Bowman's Pension Papers and they state he was taken a prisoner for 1 year.

Page 31

and there was a case in Federal Court. Where could I find this case. In Va. I suppose I just wanted to know where I could get a list of his children. Do you have it or will I have to write there. I thought I might get it from the Gov.  in some way. I am sure you have a record somewhere they sued the Gov. after war but lost. I only wanted a list of his children complete.
        Hoping to hear from you soon.
                      Sincerely,
(Mrs. R. B)       Bess G. Nelson

Page 32

[top left hand side of document]
1939 Oct. 23. Mrs. R. B. 
Nelson adv. as to children
etc.    ADY.
[line dividing from the above mentioned]
1940-Jan. 12 - Hist. to C. J. Johnson
ILL

[right side of document & crossed out]
No. 1936
ACT OF FEBRUARY 14, 1871
WAR OF 1812
3029

[below & legible]
Isaac Bowman
VA Line       [Lined out - "REJECTED"]
Revolution
Discharged ______________________, 18
[handwritten below]
1-0
3029

Page 33

[top left hand side of document]
1939 Oct. 23. Mrs. R. B. 
Nelson adv. as to children
etc.    ADY.
[line dividing from the above mentioned]
1940-Jan. 12 - Hist. to C. J. Johnson
ILL

[right side of document & crossed out]
No. 1936
ACT OF FEBRUARY 14, 1871
WAR OF 1812
3029

[below & legible]
Isaac Bowman
VA Line       [Lined out - "REJECTED"]
Revolution
Discharged ______________________, 18
[handwritten below]
1-0
3029

Page 34

.                         Court of Claim

                          Feburary 24, 1858


Isaac S. Bowman & another

Executors of Isaac Bowman

                     vs.

The  United States


In this case the Court made the

following order.


To the Hon. The Secretary of the Interior

You are hereby requested to furnish

to Court of Clams to be used as 

evidence in the above case   Copies

of any opinions of the Commisioner 

of Pensions or of the Secretary of the

Interior heretofore given in the above

case, & such other information on 

the subject as the Secretary may

deim important.


A true copy of record

In testimony whereof

I have hereunto set

my hand and af -

fixed the seal of

said Court at

Washington this

24th day of February 

1858

E M Garrett

Asst Clerk

Page 35

Department of the Interior

Official Business

                                Chief Clerk                                         


The whole of the papers         

in the half pay claim of

heirs of Issac Bowman


Commissioner of Pensions

sent to Court of Claims

by ? of Commissioner

Present

                           March 2/58

(See Rev Letter Book)
of March 2/58                R. G.
se

Page 36

.                                            Pension Office     September 22, 1853


In the matter of the application of the heirs of Issac

Bowman deceased for Half Pay under the Act of July 5, 1832


In the case I find that Isaac Bowen late of the 

County of Senandoah in the State of Virginia deceased

was in his life time, to wit, in the year 1778 as a Lieuten -

ant in the Illinois Regiment of the Virginia State line

of the Army of the Revolution; that he was taken pris -

oner by the Indians on the Ohio Rvier, on the 17th day

of November 1779 being  then a Lieutenant of said Regi - 

ment; that he remained with the Indian until the

month of April 1780, when he was purchased by a man

by the name of Tumball, and went to New Orleans and

to Cuba and from there to Philadelphia and to his resi -

dence in Virginia which he reached on the 11th day of

October 1789; that hew was ? wounded on the 17th 

day of November 1779, from the effect of which he did

not recover so as to be able to join his Regiment, or to

perform duty therein for a year or two, and that he was

not in actual service again during the war.  I further find

that after the close of the war, to wit, on the 24th day of June

1783 the said Isaac Bowman presented his account

Page 37

against the State of Virginia to the proper officers of said

states for his services as Horse ? in said Regiment

from the 12 day of May 1779 to October 11, 1780, and

was paid by said state; on the 20th day of APril 1785

the sum of sixty four pounds nine shillings and two pence

being the pay of a Quarter Master from said 12th day of

May to the 17th day of November 1779, the balance of

said account being postponed.


I further fined that the said Isaac Bowman died

on the 9th day of September -- 1826, and that Isaac ?

Bowman of Shenandoah County and George Brinker

of Frederick County, Virginia are the Executor of his last

will and testament.


I further find that the said Illinois Regiment was in

service from April 1779 to the ? of the tour that said

Isaac Bowman never resigned his commission therein

and was not required after the 17th day of November 1779

to enter into said service; that he never became ?

except he was made so by the facts reference, and 

by the following facts to wits   In May 1779 said Regiment ? 350 men; in August 1780

? to 130 .  In I ? 1781 includes ? 130.

nor was he either a prisoner of war or on ? ? 

as before stated


Upon these facts I would respectfully submit to the 

Hon Secretary of the Interior the following questions

to wit.  First In as much as the said Isaac Bowman

Lieutenat is aforesid  did not  become ?

Page 38

. but the reduction of the said Illinois Regiment epaalit as before stated and inasmuch

as he did not continue in actual servicec to the end of the war.

was he entitled during his life to hlaf pay under the act

of the Virigina Signature passed May 1799?

Second.  Was he a prisoner of war or a prisoner on

parol after the month of April 1780?


If either of them questions received an affirmation

answer the I find that the respresentative of the said

Isaac Bowmand decd, are entitled to receive a ?

equal to the half pay of a Lieutenant of Infantry

from the 17th day of November 1779 to the 9th day

of September 1826, a period of 46 years 9 months

and 22 days, and will amount to the sum of $7, 489.98.

If both question receive a negative answer then I find

that said representative can not entitled to

receive said sum or any part there of.


All the papers in the case are herewith submitted

                                                I have the honor to reced

                                                Your obedient serv


                                                L P Waldo 
                                               Commisssioner


Hon R McClelland

Secretary of the Interior

Page 39

Saml H Huntington

Mch. 2.

Page 40

.                                       Pension Office, March 2, 18585


Sir,

In response to the order of the Court of Claims

for copies of any opinions of the Com -

missioner of Pensions or of the Secretary

of the Interior heretofore gvin in the care

of Isaac S. Bowman and another Executor

of Isaac Bowmn who claimed half pay

under Act of July 5, 1832 and als Aug 11 other in -

formation on the subject on the ?

may been important," I herewith trans -

mit to said coms the whof of the original papers

in said case.


A return of these papers at an

early days is respectfully requested

                           Very respectfully

                            Your Obt Servent

                                         GC


Samuel H. Huntington, Esqr

Chief Clerk Court of Claims

Washington, D. C.

Page 41

? in ?

Issac Bowman

Page 42

Isaac Bowman

             11  ? ? -- A ? is ?

? of ?  - ? as ?


Minors Regt wholly indepedent ?  Hon new

? with the militia


?  I care those that Bowman was in the Illinois

Regt.  I will ? ? ?


I          John Doughthat's certificate

I  F       Extract of Issac Bowman Questions ?

             certified by the Auditor at Richmond
 
I F F     Allowance & payment as Horse Master equal

              to Quarter Master

I V        Certificate & Rogers Clark in June '83

V           Report the ? of Concl in August 1784


2  officers   Abarham Bowman

                       Anthony Crockett

Anthony Crockett has been ? & paid ? ? ?  . --- as

of the Illinois Regt. ---

Page 43

Colonel Bowman had ? into the ? County

? them ? ? ?

History of Virginia 359. ----


Smith's Report p 7. ----

Could not be a staff officer ? he was ? sub -

? ----


Isaac Bowman name does not appear on

the Roll of the Militia in the ?


Mr. Francis Dickens has a copy of the report of the

Commission ? not at the ? of Ohio in

1784.  ? ? is the name of Isaac Bowman

? Clerk of the Illinois Regt. ---

"See ? ?"

Page 44

Court of Claims

Feb. 24. 1858


Order of Court for 

Papers in the case of

Issac S. Bowman

& ?: U. S.



Respectfully refered 

to the Commissioner of 

Pensions with the re -

quest that he well trans -

mot the copies to the Court 

of Claims

Dept Int              Moses Kellis

Feb. 25/58          Chf Clk


Rec'd 25 Feb."58

M. Rhett

Page 45

.                          Court of Claim

                            February 24, 1858


Sir

I transmit herewith an 

order of the Court of Claims for

copies of papers in the case of

Isaac S. Bowman & another ?

of Isaac Bowm vs the United 

States

                    Very respectfully

                     Your Obt Servt

                         E M Garrett


Hon. J. Thompson

Secretary of the Interior

Page 46

.Whereas, authentie information has bein received that

Lieut. Col. George Rogers Clarke, with a body of Virginia

Militia has ? the British forts in the Western

part of the Commonwealth, on the river Mississippi, and

its branches, whereby great advantages may ? to the

common cause of America, as will as the Common wealth

in particular.


Resolved, That the thanks of this House ? ?

the said Col. Clark, and the brave officers and men under

his command for their extraordinary resolution and  ?

? in to ? and ? and for the important

serving which they have thereby rendered the country


In the House of Delegates Nov. 23 1778

With ? to plan and certainity to execut Col George

Rogers Clarke saved his back settlement from Indians ?

+ + Previous opportunities and judicious ? had ?

the Legislature to plan under his command a ? of the

public ?  Girardin, History of VIrginia, 317.

(This was in the commencment of the year 1781)

Even on the present occasion he could obtain a small ?

only, between two and three hundred men.

They ? with ? tours of Karkaskins on the river Misssissippi

"These towns & forts were taken in ? & ? of parties."

Page 47

These other tours further up the Mississippii were

returned with equal success    ? the obnoxious

governor was sent to Virginia & c. --- ? 381


Service of Infanry & Calvary were ?  to be  ?

to ? the ? and and triumphant heard ?

of Patriots, who had afftected this important ?

and where receiving  were to justly rewarded with the

? of their grateful country (an astrerick has

points to the Resolution of the Virginia delegates)


Col Clark aid ? in it s full extent the are

? ?


Hamilton the Governor of Distrct with ? God

men took Ft St Vincent on the 15th of December

1779           Col Clarke retook the for February 21,

1779  page 321. ----

Page 48

.                          Pension Office    September 23, 1853

Sir,

I have examined the application of the heirs of Isaac

Bowman deceases for Half pay under the Act of July 5,

1852.  I find it satisfactorily proved that Isaac Bowman

late of the County of Shenandoah in the State of Virginia

deceased was in the year 1779 a Lieutenant in the Illionis

Regiment of the Virginia State line of the Army of the Rev -

olution that hew as taken prisoner by the Indians

on the Ohio River, on the 17 day of November 1779

being then a Lieutenant of said Regiment; that he

remained with the Indians with the Indians until the month of April

1790, when he was purchased be a man by then name 

of Lumball, and went to New Orleans and to Cuba and

from thences to Philadelphia and to his residence in Virginia

which he reached on the 11th day of October 1780; that 

he was severely wounded on the 17th day of November 1779

from the effort of which he did not recover to as to be

able to joing his Regiment, to perfor duty therein

for a year or two, and that he was not in actual ser -

vice again during the war.  I further find that after

the war, to wit, on the 24th day of June 1783, the said

Isaac Bowman presented his account against the

State of Virginia to the ? offices of said state for

Page 49

his services as Horse Master in said Regiment from 

the 12th day of May 1779 to October 11, 1780 and was

paid by said state on the 20th day of April 1785 the

sum of sixty four pounds nine shillings and two pence

being the pay of a Quarter Master from said 12th 

day of May to the 17 day of November 1779, the balanace 

of said amount being postponed.


I further find that the said Illinois Regiment

was in the service from April 1779 to the close of the wwar

that in May 1779 ? three hundred and fifty

nine; that in August 1789 it was reduced to one hundre

thirty nine, and that in January 1781 including

accounts, it contained one hundred and thirty nine; but

I do not find any reductions of its companies from its organiza -

tion to the close of war.  I do not find that

Isaac Bowman ? resigned his commission in

said Regiment, or that he ever was required to ?

or ? enter the service of the 17th day of Novem - 

ber 1779.


Upon these facts I am of opinion and therefore ad -

judge and determine that the said Isaac Bowman

was not a ? according to the true intent

and meaning  of the Act of the General Assembly of

the State of Virginia passed May be prior 1779, that

he was not a prisoner of war or a prisoner an paid

after the month of April 1780, but an office ?

from service not by compulsion but by choice and

Page 50

that he is continued from April 1780 to the ? of the war


Consequently I am of opinion and herefore adjudge

and determine

that the said Isaac Bowman was not in his life

time, entitled to the half pay pensioned by the Act of

Virginia passed May 1779, and that he claimant

do not bring themsleves within the provsions of the

Act of July 5, 1832. --- The applciation of the Heirs of 

? Isaac Bowen therefore rejected. ---

                             I have the ? to ?

                              Your obedent servnt



Hon J S. Barber

Present

Page 51

all general officers of the army, being citizens of the 

Commonwealth, and all field officers, captains and ?

commanding or who I have commanded in the battalion of

this commonwealth on ? establishment or

serving in the battlations earned for the immediate defence of

this state is for the defence of the United States; and all

chaplains, physicans, surgeons and surgeons's mates

appointed to the said battalion, or any of them, being

citizens of the commonwealth, and not being in the service

of Georgia , or any state foresaid  Congress do not

make some ? provisions for them, who I ?

? ? forward, a from the time of this being com -

missioned, until the end of the war:   and all ? officers who

have a whole become ? or this ?

of any of the mid battalions and shall again enter into

said service of ? to to do, in tthe same or any

higher rank, and contune therein until the end of the

war,  shall be entitled to half pay during ? to

? from the determination of their ?

or ?


Act of the General Assembly May 1779


?  9, ? 36 ? that an office in the

state ? of Virginia ? became ? after the

passed of the Act of May 1779 to entitle ? to ? ?

officer of the time who returned to end of the war

? take ? ? ? could not


? officers who ? not again return to ? ?

not entitled to reg pay.   Return case 9 Sept 56

But this was a case of unofficial in the continental line