Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File R. 17141, Thomas B Witham, Privateer (Mass.)

Handwritten text
St. John, Thomas S.S.
No. 17/41
CONTENTS
Blank lined area for contents
Blank lined area for contents

11.747
P. O. Thomas B Witham
Service: _____
Enlisted: _____, 18
REJECTED
Discharged: _____, 18
Application filed: _____, 18
Alleges: _____
Re-enlisted: _____
Attorney: _____
P. O. _____

Thomas D. Witham
Maprenus etc.
Receipt 23 May 1833
140 54
117 217
Mr Mount B Newburyport Mass

BRIEF in the case of  Thomas B. Witham  Co. of Essex  in the State of Mass  (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? 68.  4. State his service, as directed in the form annexed. 
   Period. Duration of Service. Rank. Names of General and Field Officers under whom he served.   Years, Months, Days. As a Gen.     April In 1795 enured on board the private Armed Ship called the Genl. Stark   6th Decr - Served 6   1790, Same Ship 2   1791. Same Ship captured by a British Frigate carried to   Hallifax Prisoner 19 months  
5. In what battles was he engaged? severe action with a British Packet - captured her and an other enemy
6. Where did he reside when he entered the service? Gloucester Mass
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?
I Certify that the foregoing statement and the answers agree with the evidence in the case above mentioned.
George Payson
Examining Clerk.
The Ship was private property

BRIEF objections to the admission of Pension Claims, of which those answered in the negative, in red ink, will apply to the claim of Thomas D Witham  which require further proof or explanation.
I. Does the declaration show where the applicant resides? yy II. Did the declarant make the declaration in the county where he resides? yy 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? yy V. * Has he mentioned with precision the length of his service, and the different grades in which he served, in language so definite as to enable the department to determine to what amount of pension he is entitled? yy VI. Has he given the names of the officers under whom he served, in conformity with the regulations? yy VII. Has he made a relinquishment of every claim to any other pension than the one under the Act of June 7, 1832? yy VIII. Has the Court given their opinion? yy IX. Has the Clerk given his certificate? yy 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? yy

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? yy
XII. If the clergyman's affidavit has not been produced, is there any reason assigned for not obtaining it?
XIII. If the applicant has no documentary evidence, and has not obtained the testimony of at least one living witness, has he stated in his declaration that such proof cannot be had?
XIV. † If the applicant'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?
Has the proper officer certified to the official character and signature of the magistrate as the regulations direct?
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? yy
XVII. Are the seven interrogatories prescribed by the War Department answered satisfactorily? And, if not, which of them is not so answered?
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.

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 too indefinite, 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 objectionable. It must in every case be clearly shewn 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 employed 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 claimants entering the service, and the time and manner of his leaving the same, as well as the regiment, company, and line to which he belonged. The magistrate who may administer the oaths must certify to the credibility of the witnesses, and the official character and signature of the magistrate must be certified by the proper officer, under his seal of office.
†QUERE XVI. Mode of authenticating papers.
In every instance where the certificate of the certifying officer who authenticates 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 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.

Thomas B. Witham
1405-4.

Declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress passed June 7th 1832
State of Massachusetts, County of Essex ss.
On this nineteenth day of September A.D. 1832, personally appeared in open Court, before the Honorable Solomon Strong, one of the Justices of the Court of Common Pleas, being a Court of Record.
personally appeared in open Court, Thomas B. Witham, a resident of Newburyport, in the county of Essex, and State of Massachusetts, aged sixty eight years and upwards, who being first duly sworn, according to Law, doth on his oath make the following Declaration, in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress passed June 7th 1832:
That he entered the service of the United States, under the following named Officers, and served as herein stated:
He entered and shipped as a Boy on board the private armed Ship General Stark, commanded by Captain William Eaves - Thomas Haskell first Lieutenant - John Knight Second Lieutenant, James Scaram, sailing Master, and Josiah Smith Surgeon - said Ship mounting Eighteen guns, double fortified six pound carriage guns, and manned with about one hundred and twenty men and boys; they sailed from Gloucester Cape Ann, on the 3rd or 5th of April 1779, on a cruise for six months. - Off Cape Ann we captured two English privateers, one a Sloop, mounting six carriage guns called the Porcupine, the other a Sloop of fourteen carriage guns: we also captured a British Packet of Eighteen guns, and about ninety men, after a sharp and severe action of about two hours, in which they had many men killed and five wounded: the loss of the enemy was much greater: she was called the Earl of Halifax, a Kings Packet, commanded by John Balderson: got all their prizes, and prisoners in safe: arrived early in October following, having been absent on the said cruise a little more than six months: and having captured several other vessels; and in all more than sixty carriage guns, belonging to the enemy, and between two and three hundred prisoners:
In October 1780 he again entered on board the same Ship, having the same commander, and now mounting Twenty six carriage guns, and manned with from one hundred and twenty, to one hundred and thirty men; on this cruise they captured a British Schooner from New York for Newfoundland; got her safe in to Newburyport: afterwards they were chased by two frigates, which they supposed to be British, and to effect their escape, threw overboard all their main deck guns except one: and after having effected their escape fell in with a British Letter of Marque of sixteen guns, bound from Glasgow for New York, and after a battle of about an hour and an half, were obliged to abandon her; they returned home after a cruise of two months.
In the autumn of the year 1781 he again entered on board the same Ship, having the same commander, and mounting twenty six carriage guns, for a cruise of six months: on the day after sailing from Gloucester, they were captured by the British Frigate Chatham commanded by Sir John Douglass, carried prisoner to Halifax, where he remained prisoner until the Spring of the year 1783 when he made his escape and returned to the United States: having been detained prisoner nineteen months.
That he was born at Cape Ann in the year 1764 - has no record of his age, except town books lived in Gloucester when he entered said service voluntarily, did not serve as a substitute is known to Mr. Abram Wheelwright, Ebenezer Wheelwright and Thomas B. Clark Esq., to whom he can refer for testimony as to his character for veracity and their knowledge of his services in the revolutionary war - now lives in Newburyport; has resided there for nearly forty years past previous thereto he lived in Cape Ann - He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension except the present, and declares that his name is not on the pension rolls of the agency of any State.
Thos B. Witham
Sworn to and subscribed the day and year last mentioned
S. Strong J.P.

We James Morris D.D. a clergyman, residing in Newburyport aforesaid and William W. Oates Esquire, a Magistrate residing in Newburyport aforesaid, do hereby certify that we are well acquainted with Thomas B. Witham, who has subscribed and sworn to the within declaration: that we believe him to be sixty eight years of age and upwards: that he is respected and believed in the neighborhood where he resides to have been a soldier of the revolution, and are current in that opinion.
subscribed and sworn to before.
James Morris W. W. Oates
And the said Court hereby declares its opinion, after the investigation of the matter, and after putting the interrogatories presented by the War Department, that the above named applicant was a Revolutionary Seaman, and served on board private armed vessels, as he states -
And the Court further certifies that James Morris D.D. who has signed the preceding certificate, is a clergyman resident in said Newburyport, and that the said William W. Oates Esquire who has also signed the same is a Magistrate resident at said Newburyport, and is a credible person and that their statement is entitled to Credit.
I John Prince Junr, Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, being a Court of Record for said County, do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court, in the matter of the application of Thomas B. Witham for a pension -
In Testimony whereof I have also hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the said Court this nineteenth day of September, A.D. 1832.
John Prince Clerk