Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S. 2790, for Edward Mc Fadden, South Carolina

Page 1

(3-1776)

SERVICE | NUMBER 
S.C. | McFadden, Edward | S.2790

Carded

CONTENTS

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[Two panels]
[Left panel]

19,483
West Tennessee 

Edward McFadden 
of Maury Co. in the State of Tennessee 
who was a private in the company command  
by Captain Patter of the regt. command 
by Col Givins in the S. C. mila.
[struck out: line] for 8 1/2 months from 1775

Inscribed on the Roll of West Tennessee 
at the rate of 28 Dollars 33 Cents per annum 
to commence on the 4th day of March, 1831.

Certificate of Pension issued the 13 day of Sep
tember 1833 and sent to Hon J. 
K. Polk, Columbia

Arrears to the 4th of Sept. 33 $70.83 1/3
Semi anl. allowance ending 4 Mch 34 16.16 2/3
$85.00
=====

{ Revolutionary Claim, }
{ Act June 7, 1832. }

Recorded by Wm S Allison Clerk 
Book E Vol. 7 Page 89.

[Right panel]

Paid at the Treasury under 
the Act of the 6th April 1838 
from 4th Sep 1835 to 28 Janry 
1836 the day of his death 
Agt notified 4 September 1840.

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Declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the 
act of Congress passed June 7th 1832.

State of Tennessee } 
Maury County } On this [struck out: day] the [word struck out] fourth day of 
September in the year 1832, personally appeared in 
open Court before the Hon. Wm. B. Reese one of the Judges of the 
Court of Chancery now sitting, Edward McFadden 
a resident of Maury County in the State of 
Tennessee aged about ninety two years, who, 
being first duly sworn according to law, doth 
make the following declaration in order to ob
tain the benefit of the act of Congress passed on 
the 7th June 1832.

That he entered the service of the United States 
under the following named officers and served as 
herein stated.

That he entered the militia service as a 
volunteer in militia of Chester District South 
Carolina about the year 1775, and served under 
one Captain Patton, that he was in the battle 
of the Snow Camps on Roburns Creek in Lau
rens District, where Tory Robertson was [illegible]
& about 150 prisoners taken. Colonel Richard
son was commandant. This tour lasted about 
six weeks.

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The next tour of duty he served was as a 
drafted militia man under the same Captain 
Patton, & one Colonel John Gevin, in this tour 
which lasted about three months, he lay oppo
site Augusta.

The next tour was under Captain George Neely 
in which he was drafted, Colonel Lacy com
manded. in this tour he was stationed at the Con
garee fort. after that General Sumpter took 
the command & the army was encamped at 
a placed called Brows old field near An
crums ferry, where they waited to hear the 
result of the siege of Ninety Six.  In this tour 
of duty he was out wo months, when he 
was discharged.

The next tour was under Captain Cooper 
as a drafted man where he acted as Quarter master, and was out 
about seven or eight weeks.  That in none 
of the tours of duty that he served was he in 
any battle.  Colonel Mills was commandant.

This applicant states that he was born in 
Ireland on the 5th of July 1740 O.S. which 
record he now has at home.  He emigrated 
to South Carolina late in the year 1772, 
where he resided until the year 1817, when 
he removed to Maury County Tenn.

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where he now resides.  That he does not 
know of any individual living by 
whom he can prove his services, nor has he 
any documents by which the same can be 
established.  That he is known to Moses A. Wi
ley & Jacob Gillham who reside in his pre
sent neighbourhood [neighborhood] & who can testify as to 
his character for veracity & their belief as to 
his services in the revolutionary war. 

And the said Edward McFadden hereby relin
quishes every claim whatever to a pension or 
annuity except the present & declares that his 
name is not on the pension Roll of the agency 
of any state.
Sworn and subscribed the day & year aforesaid.
W. E. Gillespie clks Master | Edward McFadden

We Moses A Wiley and Jacob Gillham do hereby certify that 
we are well acquainted with Robert McFadden who 
has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration 
that we believe him to be ninety three years old or there 
abouts; that he is reputed & believed in the neighbourhood [neighborhood] 
he now resides to have been a revolutionary soldier & 
we concur in that opinion.
Sworn to & subscribed the day & year aforesaid | Jacob Gillham 
W. E. Gillespie clerks Master | Moses A. Wiley

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And the said William B. Reese, Judge &c as aforesaid 
hereby declares his opinion after the investigation 
of the matter, and after putting the interrogatories 
prescribed by the War Department, that the 
above applicant was a revolutionary soldier 
and served as he states, and the said Wm. B. 
Reese further certifies, that it appears to him that 
the said Moses A. Wiley and Jacob Gillham who 
signed the above certificate are residents of the 
County of Maury are credible persons & that 
their statement is entitled to credit
Wm B Reese

I William E. Gillespie, Clerk & Master of the 
said Court, do hereby certify that the foregoing con
tains the original proceedings of the said Court 
in the matter of the application of Edward Mc
Fadden for a pension.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set 
my hand and affixed my private seal there being no seal of 
office, at office in Columbia this 4th day of Sept 1832 W. E. Gillespie [word Seal encircled]

I certify that Wm. B. Reese Esqr. & W.E. Gillespie Esqr. whose certificates 
appear above, are the Judge & Clk of the Chancery Court at Colum
bia, that their signatures are genuine, and that there is I believe no 
public seal of said Court.  The foregoing I have no doubt is 
the certified declaration acted on in Court.  I am acquainted with 
Jacob Gillham & M.A. Wiley, who have certified to their belief of 
his service, & know them to be persons worthy of credit
Sept 1st 1832.  James McEwn

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TREASURY DEPARTMENT, 
Second Comptroller's Office, 
August 22d, 1840.

Sir:

Under the act of the 6th of April, 1838, entitled "An 
act directing the transfer of money remaining unclaimed by certain 
Pensioners, and authorizing the payment of the same at the Treasury 
of the United States," the children of Edward McFadden 
a Pensioner on the Roll of the Nashville, Tenn. Agency, at 
the rate of Twenty eight Dollars and 33 Cents 
per annum, under the law of the 7th June 1832, has 
been paid at this Department, from the 4th of Sept. 1835, 
to the 28th January 1836, the day of his death.

Respectfully yours,

Albion K. Parris
Comptroller.

To the Commissioner of Pensions, 
Present.

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10.506 Edwrd McFadden  Maury Co. Tennessee From 1775  private  8 1/2  months  $ 28.33/100  56.66 = 14.15 ( total  70.83 )  Hon J. K. Polk Columbia

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BRIEF in the case of Edward McFadden 
County of Maury in the State of Tennessee 
(Act 7th June, 1832.)

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

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

3.  How old is he? 92 years

4.  State his service, as directed in the form annexed.
==================================================================
Period. |
_______

In 1775 |
Duration of Service. |
_________________ |
Years, Months, Days. |
| 1 | 12 |
| 3 |
| 3 |
for 8 weeks | 1 | 12 |
Rank. |
______ |
As a |
Private |
" |
" |
Qtr Master |
Names of General and Field Officers 
under whom he served.
_______________________________
Gen.
Capt Patton | Col Richardson
Capt Patton | Col Gevin 
Capt Neely | Col Lacy
Capt Cooper | Col Mills

5.  In what battles was he engaged?  Snow Camps

6.  Where did he reside when he entered the service?  Chester District S. Carolina 

7.  Is his statement supported by living witnesses, by documentary proof, by traditionary evidence, by 
incidental evidence, or by the rolls? Traditionary

8.  Are the papers defective as to form or authentication? and if so, in what respect?
The Clerks seal is defective no device or inscription

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

Richard Cutts
Examining Clerk.

[Math calculation left margin]
2
3
2
1 15
___
8 15 
[illegible math calculation]

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Rev War  2790 INVALID File No 2790 Edward McFadden Pvt S.C. Milit. Act P June  7th / 32 Index: - Vol. A Page 243 [ Arrangement of  1870 ]

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WAR DEPARTMENT, 
Pension Office, 
April 22d 1833

SIR:

I return herewith the papers in support of the claims of the persons whose 
names are hereto annexed.

These papers are in several respects defective.  Each case is accompanied 
by a brief.  The objections are contained in the negative answers, in red ink, 
given to the questions.

Particular attention should be paid to the accompanying regulations and to 
the explanatory notes subjoined to the brief.

The extraordinary press of business in this office, arising from the great 
number of claims under the act of June 7, 1832, has hitherto prevented us from 
attending to the applications sent by you.  The investigation of the cases pre
sented under this law has been difficult and laborious, and notwithstanding the 
greatest exertions have been made by this Department, an earlier attention to 
your business has been found impracticable.

The brief has been prepared to meet all cases, and thus to save the exces
sive labor which would otherwise be imposed upon the office, and which would 
consume so much time as to render the delay two fold greater than it now is in 
the investigation of claims and writing letters.  Each case is considered correct 
in all respects except in relation to those questions to which a negative answer is 
affixed.  No other alteration or addition will be required.

I am, respectfully, 
Your obedient servant

JL Edwards

Charles Mason Esq } Edward McFadden
Columbia } Isaac Ferris 
Tennessee } Jacob Gillham

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Edward McFadden

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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 
Edward McFadden which require 
further proof or explanation.

I.  Does the declaration show where the applicant resides?  Yes

II.  Did the declarant make the declaration in the county where he resides?  Yes

III.  If the applicant did not make the declaration in the county where he resides, is there any reason 
assigned for his not doing so?

IV.  Has the declarant mentioned the period or periods of the war when he served?  No

V.  *Has he mentioned with precision the length of his service, and the different grades in which he 
served, in language so definite so as to enable the department to determine to what amount of pension 
he is entitled?  No

VI.  Has he given the names of the officers under whom he served, in conformity with the regulations?  Yes

VII.  Has he made a relinquishment of every claim to any other pension than the one under the Act of 
June 7, 1832?  Yes

VIII.  Has the Court given their opinion?  Yes

IX.  Has the Clerk given his certificate?  Yes

X.  Is the Clerk's seal affixed?  And if so, has it a device or inscription by which it can be distinguished 
from any other seal?  No device or inscription 
No

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2

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 revolu
tionary service?  No

XII.  If the clergyman's affidavit has not been produced, is there any reason assigned for not obtain
ing it?

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

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

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? 

XVI.  ‡Are the papers authenticated as the regulations direct?  No

XVII.  Are the seven interrogatories prescribed by the War Department answered satisfactorily?  And, 
if not, which of them is not so answered?  Yes

_________

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 recol
lection he served not less than the periods mentioned below, and in the following grades; For _____
year _____ months, and _____ days, I served as a _____ For _____ months 
and _____ days, I served as a _____; and for such service I claim a pension.

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3

It is important in all cases to determine with precision the period for which each applicant served, 
and the particular rank he held, as the law  directs the pension to be paid according to the grade of the 
pensioner and the length of his service.  The use of the phrase about three or four months is to in
definite, and all such qualifying expressions are objectionable.  Some persons who apply for pensions 
merely state they served two years in the militia, &c. without specifying the tours; the names of the 
officers, and other particulars respecting their service.  This form of a declaration is highly objection
able.  It must in every case be clearly shown under what officers the applicant served; the duration 
of each term of engagement; the particular place or places where the service was performed; that the 
applicant served with an embodied corps called into service by competent authority; that he was either 
in the field or in garrison; and for the time during which the service was performed, he was not em
ployed in any civil pursuit.  
†QUERE XIV.  Proof of Service.
In a case where the name of the applicant is not found on the records of the Department, he must 
prove his service by two credible witnesses, who are required to set forth in their affidavits the time of 
the claimant's entering the service, and the time and manner of his leaving the same, as well as the 
regiment, company, and line to which he belonged.  The magistrate who may administer the oaths 
must certify to the credibility of the witnesses, and the official character and signature of the magis
trate must be certified by the proper officer, under his seal of office.
‡QUERE XVI.  Mode of authenticating papers.
In every instance where the certificate of the certifying officer who authenticates the papers is not 
written on the same sheet of paper which contains the affidavit, or other paper authenticated, the cer
tificate must be attached thereto by a piece of tape or narrow ribbon; the ends 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.
👉In every case where the clerk of the court, or other certifying officer, has no public seal of 
office, the certificate of a member of congress, proving the official character and signature of the 
certifying officer, should accompany the papers.

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(post mark ) [ COLUMBIA SEP 3 ] Free James L. Edwards Esq. Commissioner of Pensions War Department  Washington  City

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Columbia .Tenn Sept. 15th  1833 J.L. Edwards Esq. Com. of Pensions Enclosed  I return the declaration of  Edward McFadden  accompanied  by my  certificate as to the  official character of the Judge and Clerk  before whom  the  same was originally taken . I   enclose also an amended declaration  made by Mr. E. McFadden before a Justice, the applicant being  an old and infirm  as to be unable to appear  personally at Court. From the character of  this applicant  I have full confidence in the truth  of his statements as to his services. If a pension be granted enclose the certificate to me  & I will  carry it to the applicant I have the honor to be very respectfully  yr obt. servt. James K. Polk ( signed )

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State of Tennessee } Edward McFadden, about ninety three 
Maury County } years of age, a resident of said 
State and County, has personally appeared before 
me, John O. Cooke, an acting Justice of the peace 
in & for said County, this 31st day of August 
1833. Who being first duly sworn agreeable to law 
doth make the following declaration, in order to 
obtain the benefit of an act of Congress passed on 
the 7th June 1832, for the benefit of officers and 
soldiers of the revolutionary war.

That he entered the service as a volunteer in the 
month of January 1775, in a company of militia 
in Chester District in the State of South Carolina 
commanded by Capt Robert Patton in a regt. 
commanded by Col. John Winn in which 
service he continued two months; and acted as 
a private soldier, in which time we marched to 
Rudy River & routed tory Robinson & his party 
& made prisoners of upwards of 120 of his party. 
Colonel Richardson was the commandant of that tour. 
The next tour of duty he served was as a 
drafted militia man, under the same captain 
Patton, and Col John Winn, which he entered in 
the month of March 1776.  General Williams, or Williamson, 
I do not recollect which his name was, had the command

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and we was marched to Savanna River, oposite [opposite] to 
Augusta in Georgia, where we continued three months 
and was legally discharged.

The next tour he served was under Capt. George Neely 
of said Chester District in which he was a private in 
a drafted militia company, that he entered the ser
vice he thinks in June 1777 or 1778, and was sta
tioned at the Congaree fort; at which time Capt Thomas held 
the command of the fort; we lay at said fort 
sometime, he does not recollect precisely the length 
of time, untill [until] General Sumpter came to the fort 
and, we was than marched to a place called Browns old 
fields, near Ancrum's ferry, where they waited to 
hear the result of the siege of Ninety six. that he was 
in the service at that time two months, or perhaps more 
he does not precisely recollect the length of time 
and was regularly discharged.

The next tour he was drafted as a private in a 
militia company, commanded by Capt Jacob Cooper 
in Colonel John Millses Regiment, which was in 
the month of October, the does not recollect what 
year; that they was marched to Orangeburg in 
South Carolina, and placed under the command 
of Col. John Henderson, and continued there until 
the British left Charleston; the does not recollect the 
length of time they continued there; that he was 
appointed quarter master immediately after ar
riving at Orangeburg & continued to act in that

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department during their continuance at that 
place, which was untill [until] he was discharged.

This aplicant [applicant] states that he was born in Ireland 
on the 5th of July 1740 O. S. agreeable to the 
records in his possession.  That he emigrated to 
South Carolina in the year 1772, where he 
resided untill [until] the year 1817, when he remo
ved to Maury County, State of Tennessee 
where he now resides.  That he does not know 
of any person living by whom he can prove 
his services.  Nor has he any documents by which 
the same can be established.  That the discharges which 
he obtained during said revolutionary war are lost, or 
so mislaid that he cannot find them.  That from 
the lapse of time, his old age, and defect of memory 
he cannot recollect precisely the length of time he served 
nor the precise dates, having no papers, or documents 
to aid his memory.  That he is known to Jacob Gilham 
and Moses A. Wiley who reside in his present neigh
borhood & who can testify as to his veracity, and their belief 
as to his services in the Revolutionary War.  And the 
said Edward McFadden hereby relinquishes every claim 
whatever to a pension or annuity except the present 
and declares that his name is not on the pension Roll 
of the agency of any State.
Sworn. to and subscribed } Edward McFadden 
the day & year above written }
John O. Cooke J.P

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State of Tennessee } I do hereby certify, that from the 
Maury County } age, and apparent infirmity of Edward 
McFadden, who has signed the within declaration I would not 
consider him to be able to ride to Columbia, without 
considerable inconvenience & fatigue of body.
31st August 1833.  John O. Cooke JP

State of Tennessee Maury County, I Thomas J Porter 
Clerk of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions for said 
County of Maury certify that John O. Cooke is an act
ing magistrate as above stated in and for said County 
of Maury (and that the foregoing signatures purpor
ting to be his are genuine) duly commissioned and 
qualified according to law and as such full faith 
and credit are due to all his official acts
Given under my hand and 
seal of office at office in 
Columbia this 2d day of 
September AD 1833
Thos. J. Porter Clerk 
of Maury County Court 
By Wm. E. Erwin Deputy Clerk