Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S. 19548, Asa Bliss, Mass.

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Mass. Bliss, Asa S. 19548
carded

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1688

Massachusetts

Asa Bliss

of Bristol in the State of Massachusetts
who was a Captain in the company commanded
by Captain of the Regiment commanded 
by Colonel Shepherd in the 
line for 2 Corps

Inscribed on the Roll of Massachusetts
at the rate of 88 Dollars 0 Cents per annum,
to commence on the 4th day of March, 1831.

Certificate of Pension issued the 9th day of November 1832 and sent on
Bassett in Bedford, Massachusetts

Arrears to the 4th of September 1832   $132
Semi annual allowance ending March 1833  $44

     $176

Revolutionary Claim,
Act June 7, 1832

Recorded by Asa Bliss Clerk,
Book D, Vol. 2, Page 39

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Asa Bliss

No. 3488

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Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Bristol

At a court probate holden at Dighton in and said County on the seventeenth day of August, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two before the Honorable Hodijah Baylies, Judge of the Probated &c for said County, personally appeared Asa Bliss a resident of Rahoboth in the County and Commonwealth aforesaid, aged seventy one years, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth on his oath, in order to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress, passed June 7th, 1832, make the following declaration.

The enlisted in the army of the United States and served in the regiment called the fourth Regiment of the Massachusetts line under the following named officers; to with; under Captain Bannister whose first name I did not know, nor do recollect the, Ensign Samuel Day, orderly Sergeant Richard Fairbrother, Colonel William Shepherd I do not recollect the name of the Lieutenant Colonel and am not believe the Major's name was Rice, the Adjutant was John Davis; I enlisted on the ninth day of February in the year seventeen hundred and eight one for three years, and was discharged on the last day of December in the year seventeen hundred eighty three; the particulars of my service I will state in my reply to the fifth interrogatory;

and futher declares as follows, in reply to the iterrogatories propounded by the Secretary of War; to wit;

1. Where, and in what year were you born
Answer. That he was born in Rehoboh in the County of Bristol and State of Massachusetts in the year one thousand seven hundred and Sixty.

2. Have you and record of your age; and if so, where is it? My birth is recorded on the book kept by said, and I have recently inspected it.

3. Where you living when called into service; where have you lived snce the Revolutionary War, and where do you now live?
I have always lived in Rehoboth.

4. How were you called into service; where you drafted, did you volunteer, or were you a subsitute? and if a substitute, for whom?
I enlisted asforesaid

5. State the names of some of the Regular Officers who were with the troops when you served; such Contintental and Militia Regiments as you can recollect; and the general circumstances of your service.

I was first mustered at Taunton whence I march to Springfield, there was again mustered and entered the aforesaid Company at Westpoint. Whence I marched from said Springfield; stayed at Westpoint a month or two, then was detached, a sergeant Corporal and twelve men being sent to guard ammnition to Philadelphia, thence we returned to Westpoint, stayed there till the latter part of the year, and was then detached towards the British lines to collect stores; in the winter of seventeen hundred and eighty one, I was detached and our party occupied a for on the Jersey Shore below Kingsbridge; in the following spring we went back to Westpoint where our rgiment was inoculated for the small pox at York huts; we then after our recovery marched and crossed the river to what was called the south redoubt, and stayed there till in the fall; Afterwards my recollection is indistinct as to our marched and stations, but I remember that our ensign Day resigned, and several other officers, to with Lt. Wood and Lieutenant Sheldon at different time were in our company, changes being quite frequent, I remember being at a place called Hordeneck where in a skirmish with a party of British, Lighthouse was killed one of their guides. In November in the year seventeen hundred eighty three, we marched into New York The British having evacuated that city; from New York we marched up the north river to what was called the Connecticut Huts whence I received a discharge. Before this three year campaign, I had served several different terms of service in the State Troops and militia in all nearly two years; which I dn not now particular or declare for under the present act. I did not obtain a pension under the former acts on account of property.

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6. Were you a Soldier or an Officer? if a Soldier, did you ever receive a discharge from the service; and, if so, by whom was it given, and what has become of it? if an Officer, did you ever receive a commission, and if so by whom was it signed, and what has become of it? 

[added by hand "I was a Corporal & received my discharge."] 
[crossed out text "Sergeant & received"]

7. State the names of the persons to whom you are known in your present neighborhood, and who can testify as to your character for veracity, and their belief of your services as a Soldier of the Revolution.

[added by hand "I conceive this to be unnecessary in my case"]

And the said [added by hand "Asa Bliss"] doth further declare that he hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present, and that his name is not on the Pension Roll of the Agency of any State. [crossed out text "or (if any) only on that of the agency of the State of"]

Sworn to and subscribed, the day and year aforesaid.

[added by hand "Asa Bliss"]
[added by hand "H. Baylies,"] Judge of Probate.

[crossed out text "WE _ residing in _ and _ residing in the same _ hereby certify that we are well acquainted with _ who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration; that we believe him to be _ years of age; that he is reputed and believed, in the neighborhood where he resides to have been a soldier of the Revolution, and that we concur in that opinion. Sworn to and subscribed, the day and year aforesaid. Judge of Probate."]

AND the said Court do hereby declare their opinion, after the investigation of the matter and after putting the interrogatories prescribed by the War Department, that the abovenamed applicant was a Revolutionary Soldier, and served as
he states. [crossed out text "And the Court further certifies, that it appears to them that_who has signed the preceding certificate is_resident in the Town of_in said County of Bristol, and that_who has also signed the same is a resident in said Town, and is a credible person, and that their_statement is entitled to credit."]

[added by hand "H. Baylies,"] Judge of Probate.
[crossed out text "Register of Probate."]

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS,
BRISTOL, SS.
I [added by hand "Anselm Bassett"] Register of the Court of Probate in and for said County do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court in the matter of the application of a [added by hand "Asa Bliss"] of [added by hand "Rehoboth"] in said County, for a Pension.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and the seal of the said Court the day and year first above written.
[added by hand "Anselm Bassett"]
[seal illegible]

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3488

Asa Bliss

The final settlement Certificate

Corporal 

$88

Anselm Bassett
New Bedford
Massachusetts

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3488

Brief in the case of Asa Bliss of Rehoboth
Bristol in the State of Massachusetts
 Act 7th June, 1832.

1. Was the declaration made before a Court or a Judge? a Court of Probate

2. If before a Judge, does it appear that the applicant is disabled by bodily infirmity?

3. How old is he? 71

4. State his service, as directed in the form annexed.

Period. 9 February '81 - 31 December '83
Duration of Service. 1 Year, 10 Months, 21 Days
Rank. Corporal
Officers. Captain Bannister. Colonel Shepherd

5. In what battles was he engaged? Skirmish at Horseneck

6. Where did he reside when he entered the service? Rehoboth

7. Is his statement supported by living witnesses, by documentary proof, by traditionary evidence, by incidental evidence, or by the rolls? No living witnesses

8. Are the papers defective? No clergyman certificate

I certify that the foregoing statement and the answers agree with the evidence in the case above mentioned.

W. C. Easton
Examining Clerk.

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19.548

Revolutionary War

INVALID.

File No. 19.548
Asa Bliss
Corporal, Revolutionary War

Act: June 7, 1832

Index: Vol. 2, Page 41

[ Arrangement of 1870. ]

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3488

Asa Bliss

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BRIEF objections to the admission of Pension Claims, of which those answered in the negative, in red ink, will apply to the claim of [added by hand in black ink "Asa Bliss"] which require further proof or explanation.

I. Does the declaration show where the applicant resides? [added by hand in black ink "Yes"]

II. Did the declarant make the declaration in the county where he resides? [added by hand in black ink "Yes"]

III. If the applicant did not make the declaration in the county where he resides, is there any reason assigned for his not doing so? [a long tilde added by hand in black ink]

IV. Has the declarant mentioned the period or periods of the war when he served? [added by hand in black ink "Yes"]

V. *Has he mentioned with precision the length of his service, and the different grades in which he served, in language so definite as to enable the department to what amount of pension he is entitled? [added by hand in black ink "Yes"]

VI. Has he given the names of the officers under whom he served, in conformity with the regulations? [added by hand in black ink "Yes"]

VII. Has he made a relinquishment of every claim to any other pension than the one under the Act of June 7, 1832? [added by hand in black ink "Yes"]

VIII. Has the Court given their opinion? [added by hand in black ink "Yes"]

IX. Has the Clerk given his certificate? [added by hand in black ink "Yes"]

X. Is the Clerk's seal affixed? And if so, has it a device or inscription by which it can be distinguished from any other seal? [added by hand in black ink "Yes"]

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XI. Has the applicant obtained the evidence of a clergyman and another respectable citizen as to their belief respecting his age and the general belief in his neighborhood relative to his revolutionary service?
[added by hand in black ink "No"]
XII. If the clergyman's affidavit has not been produced, is there any reason assigned for not obtaining it?
[added by hand in black ink "No"]
XIII. If the applicant has no documentary evidence, and has not obtained the testimony of at least one living witness, has he stated in his declaration that such proof cannot be had?
[added by hand in black ink "No"]
XIV. [dagger footnote] If the applicant has produced a witness or witnesses as to his service, has the magistrate who administered the oath certified that he, she, or they are persons of credibility?
[long tilde added by hand in black ink]
XV. Does it appear from any of the papers that the witness was in such a situation, or of such an age, as to have a personal knowledge of the applicant's service?
[long tilde added by hand in black ink]
XVI. [crossed dagger footnote] Are the papers authenticated as the regulations direct?
[added by hand in black ink "Yes"]
XVII. Are the seven interrogatories prescribed by the War Department answered satisfactorily? And, if not, which of them is not so answered?
[added by hand in black ink "No as to 7th"]

EXPLANATORY NOTES.
QUERE V. In a case where the applicant cannot, by reason of the loss of memory, state precisely how long he served, he should amend his declaration by making an affidavit in the following words:
"Personally appeared before me, the undersigned, a Justice of the Peace, &c. A. B. who, being duly sworn, deposeth and saith, that, by reason of old age, and the consequent loss of memory, he cannot swear positively as to the precise length of his service, but according to the best of his recollection
he served not less than the periods mentioned below, and in the following grades: For ____ year ____ months and _____  days, I served as a _________.  For _________ months and _______ days, I served as a __________; and for such service I claim a pension."

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It is important in all cases to determine with precision the period for which the applicant served, and the particular rank he held, as the law directs the pension to be paid according to the grade of the pensioner and the length of his service. The use of the phrase [italicized] about three or four months [/italicized] is too
indefinite, and all such qualifying expressions are objectionable.

QUERE XIV. [italicized] Proof of Service. [/italicized]
In a case where the name of the applicant is not found on the records of the Department, he must prove his service by two credible witnesses, who are required to set forth in their affidavits the time of the claimants entering the service, and the time and manner of his leaving the same, as well as
the regiment, company, and line to which be belonged. The magistrate who may administer
the oaths must certify to the credibility of the witnesses, and the affidavits must be properly anthenticated, as above directed.

QUERE XVI. [italicized] Mode of authenticating papers. [/italicized]
In every instance where the certificate of the certifying officer who authenticated the papers is not written on the same sheet of paper which contains the affidavit, or other paper authenticated, the certificate must be attached thereto by a piece of tape or narrow ribbon, the end of which must pass under the seal of office of the certifying officer, so as to prevent any paper from being improperly attached to the certificate.