Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File R. 18641, James Vanbibber, Va And 1785-1788

SERVICE
NUMBER
Ua and
Vanbibber James
II 1864.
1785-1788
CONTENTS

26. 846.
James Vanbibber

State of Missouri County of Callaway } ss on this twentyoth day of May in the year eighteen hundred and thirty three personally came and appeared in open court before the County Court of Callaway County, aforesaid now sitting. James Vanlibber a resident of New Madrid Township in the County of Callaway aforesaid in the State of Missouri aged sixty six years, 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 7 th 1832. — that he was born in he believes Halifax County, Virginia, and before he can recollect removed with his father to a Settlement in the same State on Green Briar River about one hundred and eighty miles from the mouth of the Great Kanawha that he remained there until for many years, that whilst he was living there, he thinks in '81 the Shawnees and Mingos having proposed to Col Thomas Lewis who Commanded at the Mouth of Kanawha to go over to Scioto Salt Licks and meet them there in order to treat of peace, Col Lewis having accepted the proposal was proceeding thither with several of his men when they were attacked by a party of the same tribes of Indians at a place called Raccoon Creek west of the Ohio and several of his men were killed and himself taken prisoner, those who succeeded in escaping having reported the capture of Col Lewis as soon as it was known at the Settlements on Green Briar a party of volunteer militia was raised in which this applicant was enrolled which under the Command of Captain John Vanlibber marched with the intention of rescuing Col Lewis and punishing the Indians

2 but when the party had proceeded as far as the mouth of Penawawa they there and found the same Col Lewis who had succeeded whilst a prisoner in making a sort of a treaty with his captors and the balance of their tribes by whom he had been released, the Company after a considerable absence finding the object of their expedition obviated returned to Green Bay. This was in the year '81 — it was probably some two years after this that , the same tribes having again broken out into hostilities against the whites, that this applicant together with the family having moved down to the mouth of Penawawa he together with one of his brothers  cousins one day went out in search of horses which were killed and hobbled at some distance from their habitation after searching for some time in the woods they heard the bells and going in the direction of the sound they supposed they had reached worth ten pieces of their horses where they were fired upon by two Indians and a French man in the game of an Indian who had found their horses and having taken off the hobbles and bells rang the bells in order to decoy the owner of whomever might go out in search of the horses — the last Cousin of this applicant was immediately killed but he himself as having been helped succeeded in making his escape to the fort —
In October 85 two of the brothers of this applicant having gone out from the fort for the purpose of bringing in a bear that had been killed were fired upon by the Indians one of whom was left for dead and the other taken

the next page is inserted by mistake
prisoner by the Indians who after remaining in captivity about 11 months succeeded in making his escape and got into the settlement — The Country about the mouth of the Penanga being exposed to continual incursions of the Indians it became necessary to establish a regular system of defence which would protect the inhabitants from surprise and enable them to attend to the cultivation of their fields with some degree of security Accordingly the Company of the militia was ordered to be raised to be kept in service as rangers, scouts, spies & during all that part of the year which is favorable to Indian Inroads Captain Leonard Cooper Commanded that Company and this applicant entered it as a volunteer at first when the Company commenced operations in February '87 and was continually engaged in active, dangerous, and hard service until the coming following Autumn about the the last of November In this Company my brother was a Lieutenant and I was ensign — in the following Spring '88 I entered as a volunteer in the Company Commanded by Capt Hugh Caperton — James Kelly Lieut. ensign not recollected — we were out again in February and continued, scouting, and occasionally skirmishing with the Indians until in Nov. of the same year we were engaged all the time in active service affording protection to the Settlements and pressing when necessary bands of depredating Indians — The following year '89 I again went out as a volunteer in the same service under the command of Capt Moses Hana James Vanbibber Lieut. & Morris Reynolds Ensign and continued in it until from February until November — I can not say what was the number of days or months I served in these three campaigns

but I very well recollect 4 that I was paid by the genl Govt. as I supposed, for 27 months service and therefore believe I must have served that length of time - If I ever rec d a discharge in writing I have forgotten it - Col. Lewis who resided at the mouth of Kanawha and had the Military Command of those settlements was the only general officer with whom I was at all acquainted, the three companies in which I served were all subject to his orders.
I was born in the year 1766 on the 8 th of May but have no record of my age
I am known to several persons as having served as I mention, my Cousin Isaac Vanburen who I expected to see here to day knows it perfectly well and Thomas Harrison Sen r who is here present either knows it of his own knowledge or has had such undoubted evidence from the statements of others that as it amounts to actual knowledge - I am known to many other persons in this Country for I have lived here many years and have served as a Spy in this Country during the last year under the Command of Genl Howard -
I have never before applied for a pension nor have my name on the pension roll of the agency of any state or of the United States - and I do hereby renounce all claim to pay or pension for revolutionary services except what may be granted me under the law of 7 th of June last -

I am well known to Mr William Coats who has been a preacher of the gospel for many years in this country - I left Kentucky in 1808 and came to this country and have lived for the last fifteen years in this county -
I am also well known to old Mr. Sitton who is here present - I had a commission as ensign in one of the campaigns I have mentioned signed by a governor of Virginia but I have examined my papers for it and can not find it now - I suppose it is lost - I think it was in 1795 that I removed from the mouth of Kenawa to Kentucky -
Sworn to and subscribed in Open Court before me James Vanbibber Clerk of the Callaway Court Court this 20 th day of May A.D 1833
Jerry O. Rockaday Clerk
Mr William Coats - a clergy man, residing in the County of Callaway and Thomas H. H. H.  Jerry Sitton & Nathan Round residing in the same County hereby certify that we are well acquainted James Vanbibber who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration, that we believe him to be in the sixty seventh year of his age; that he is respected and beloved in the neighborhood where he resides to have served as he states, and that we concur in that opinion
Sworn to and subscribed before me Clerk of the Callaway Court in Open Court this 20 th day of May A.D 1833 J.O. Rockaday Clerk
William Coats Jerry Sitton Nathan Round

And the said Court do hereby declare their opinion, after the investigation of the matter and after putting the interrogatories presented by the War Department, and being personally acquainted with the applicant and his character that the above named applicant was a Revolutionary Soldier and served as he states - and the Court further certifies that it appears to them that William Coates who has signed the preceding Certificate is a clergyman resident in the County of Callaway aforesaid and that Thomas Harrison and Jeffray Sitton who have also signed the same are residents in the same County and are credible persons and that their statements are entitled to credit
Sam l T. Alvord James McKinney John Conger
I Irvine O. Hochaday deputy clerk of the County Court of Callaway County in the State of Missouri do certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court in the matter of the application of James Vanbibber for a pension.
In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of said Court at Office this 20 th day of May A.D. 1873 and in the 13 th year of the State
Irvine O. Hochaday Clerk

No. 846
Liben James Vanbibber Missouri
Rejected — service not 6 months, prior to 8 th Sep. 1783
Claimant
Hulton Callaway County Missouri
declared the Ag. Sw.

WAR DEPARTMENT,
Pension Office,
Sir:
The evidence in support of your claim, under the act of June 7, 1832, has been examined, and the papers are herewith returned. The following is a statement of your case in a tabular form. On comparing these papers with the following rules and the subjjoined notes, you will readily perceive that objections exist, which must be removed, before a pension can be allowed. The notes and the regulations will shew what is necessary to be done. Those points to which your attention is more particularly directed, you will find marked in the margin with a brace, (thus: { ). You will, when you return your papers to this Department, send this printed letter with them; and you will, by complying with this request, greatly facilitate the investigation of your claim.
A Statement, showing the Service of James Vanbiber
   Period when the service was rendered. Duration of the claimant's service. Rank of the claimant. Names and rank of the field officers under whom he served. Age at present, and place of abode when he entered the service. Proof by which the declaration is supported.   Years. Months. Days.     1787. Col. Vanbiber 44 years Grenbriar Co. Va Rejected  
I am, respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
J. L. EDWARDS,
Commissioner of Pensions.

REGULATIONS UNDER THE ACT OF JUNE 7, 1832.
The following regulations have been adopted:
This law has been construed to extend, as well to the line, as to every branch of the Staff of the Army, and to include under the terms "Continental Line," "State troops," "militia," and "volunteers," all persons enlisted, drafted, or who volunteered and who were bound to military service, but not those who were occasionally employed with the army upon civil contracts, such as Clerks to Commissaries and to Store Keepers, &c., Teamsters, Boatmen, &c. Persons who served on board of private armed vessels are also excluded from the benefits of the law, as well as persons who turned out as patrols, or were engaged in guarding particular places at night, and were not recognized as being in actual military service.
Four general classes of cases are embraced in this law:
 1. The Regular Troops.  2. The State Troops, Militia, and Volunteers.  3. Persons employed in the Naval Service.  4. Indian Spies. 
As rolls of the regular troops in the Revolutionary War exist in this Department, all persons claiming the benefit of this law as officers, non-commissioned officers, musicians or privates, will, in the first instance, make application by transmitting the following declaration, which will be made before a Court of Record of the County where such applicant resides. And every Court having by law a seal and Clerk is considered a Court of Record.
DECLARATION,
In order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress of the 7th of June, 1832.
State, Territory, or District of } ss. County of }
On this day of personally appeared (a) before A. B. a resident (b) of in the county of and State, Territory or District of aged (c) years, who being first duly sworn, according to law, doth on his oath make the following declaration, in order to obtain the benefit of the provision made by the act of Congress, passed June 7th, 1832. That he enlisted in the Army of the United States in the year (d) , with and served in the (e) regiment of the line, under the following named officers:
[Here set forth the names and rank of the Field and Company Officers; the time he left the service; (and if he served under more than one term of enlistment, he must specify the particular period, and rank and names of his officers;) the town or county and State in which he resided when he entered the service; the battles, if any, in which he was engaged, and the country through which he marched. This form is to be varied so as to apply to the cases of officers and persons who belonged to the militia, volunteers, navy, &c.]
He hereby relinquishes every claim (f) whatever to a pension or an annuity, except the present, and he declares that his name is not on the Pension Roll of any Agency in any State, or (if any) only on that of the Agency in the State of
Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid.
A. B.
[And then will follow the certificate of the Court.]
And the said Court do hereby declare their opinion (g) that the above named applicant was a revolutionary soldier, and served as he states.
I of the Court of do hereby certify (h) that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court in the matter of the application of for a pension.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office (i) this day of &c.
If, on examination of the proper record, the names of applicants, making such declaration, cannot be found, they will produce such proof as the rule given in note (j) points out.
Every applicant who claims a pension by virtue of service in the State Troops, Volunteers or Militia, except those who belonged to the New Hampshire Militia and State Troops of Virginia, will make and subscribe a declaration similar to the foregoing, with the following additions, viz:
(k) We, A. B., a Clergyman, residing in the and C. D. 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 and subscribed the days and year aforesaid.
[And then will follow the certificate of the Court.]
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 above named applicant was a Revolutionary Soldier, and served as he states. And the Court further certifies, that it appears to them that A. B. who has signed the preceding certificate is a clergyman, resident in the and that C. D., who has also signed the same is a resident in the and is a credible person, and that their statement is entitled to credit.
I, Clerk of the Court of do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court, in the matter of the application of for a pension.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office, this day of &c.
Every applicant will produce the best proof in his power. This is the original discharge or commission; but if neither of these can be obtained, the party will so state under oath, and will then procure, if possible, the testimony of at least one credible witness, stating in detail his personal knowledge of the services of the applicant, and such circumstances connected therewith, as may have a tendency to throw light upon the transaction.
If such surviving witness cannot be found, the applicant will so state in his declaration, (l) and he will also, whether he produce such evidence or not, proceed to relate all the material facts, which can be useful in the investigation of his claim, and in the comparison of his narrative with the events of the period of his

alleged service, as they are known at the Department. A very full account of the services of each person will be indispensable to a favorable action upon his case. The facts stated will afford one of the principal means of corroborating the declaration of the applicant, if true, or of detecting the imposition, if one be attempted; and unless, therefore, these are amply and clearly set forth, no favorable decision can be expected. All applicants will appear before some Court of Record in the County in which they reside, and there subscribe and be sworn to, one of the declarations above provided, according to the nature of his case.
The Court will propound the following (m) interrogatories to all applicants for a pension, on account of service in the Militia, State troops, or Volunteers, except the Militia of New Hampshire and the State troops of Virginia.
 1. Where and in what year were you born?  2. Have you any record of your age, and if so, where is it?  3. Where were you living when called into service; where have you lived since the Revolutionary war, and where do you now live?  4. How were you called into service; were you drafted, did you volunteer, or were you a substitute? And if a substitute, for whom?  5. State the names of some of the Regular Officers, who were with the troops, where you served; such Continental and Militia Regiments as you can recollect, and the general circumstances of your services. 
6. { To 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? { To an Officer. } Did you ever receive a commission, and if so, by whom was it signed, and what has become of it?
7. State the names of 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.
The Court will see that the answers to these questions are embodied in the declaration, and they are requested to annex their opinions of the truth of the statement of the applicant.
The applicant will further produce in Court, if the same can be done, in the opinion of the Court, without too much expense and inconvenience to him, two respectable persons—one of whom should be the nearest clergyman, if one lives in the immediate vicinity of such applicant, who can testify, from their acquaintance with him, that they believe he is of the age he represents, and that he is reputed and believed in the neighborhood to have been a Revolutionary soldier, and that they concur in that opinion. If one of these persons is a Clergyman, the Court will so certify, and they will also certify to the character and standing of other persons giving such certificates.
The traditional evidence of service is deemed very important, in the absence of any direct proof, except the declaration of the party. And the Courts are requested to be very particular in the inquiry whether the belief is general, and whether any doubts have ever existed upon the subject.
Applicants unable to appear in Court, by reason of bodily infirmity, may make the declaration before required, and submit to the examination, before a Judge or Justice of a Court of Record of the pre sen county, and the Judge or Justice will execute the duties, which the Court is herein requested to per form and will also certify that the applicant cannot, from bodily infirmity, attend the Court.
Whenever any official act is required to be done by a Judge or Justice of a Court of Record or by a Justice of the Peace, the certificate of the Secretary of State or Territory, or of the proper Clerk of the Court or County, under his seal of office, will be annexed, stating that such person is a Judge or Justice of a Court of Record, or a Justice of the Peace, and that the signature annexed is his genuine signature. supported.
No payments can be made on account of the services of any person, who may have died before the taking effect of the act of June 7, 1832; and in case of death subsequent thereto, and before the declaration herein required is made, the parties interested will transmit such evidence as they can procure, taken and authenticated before a Court of Record, showing the services of the deceased, the period of his death, the opinion of the neighborhood respecting such services, the title of the claimant, and the opinion of the Court upon the whole matter.
[a] The declarant must appear in open Court, unless prevented from doing so by reason of bodily infirmity; in which case the declarant will follow the rule laid down for his guidance.
[b] The declarant must make his declaration in the county where he resides. If he should fail to do so, he must assign a sufficient reason for not conforming to the rule.
[c] The age of the claimant must invariably be mentioned.
[d] The declarant must mention the period or periods of the war when he served.
[e] Every continental officer or soldier must give the name of the Colonel under whom he served; otherwise a satisfactory examination of the claim cannot be had. Every claimant must state, 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. 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 that 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 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 employed in any civil pursuit.
[f] The law makes the relinquishment indispensable.
[g] The opinion of the Court is always required.
[h] The Clerk must give his certificate in every case.
[i] The Clerk must fix his seal, and if it has no device or inscription by which it can be distinguished from any other seal, or if he 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.
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 papers 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.
Proof of Service.
[j] 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 magistrate must be certified by the proper officer, under his seal of office.
[k] The notes from [a] to [i] are all equally applicable to the cases of Militia men, Volunteers and State Troops. The proof required by rule in note [j] applies to continental troops only.
[l] This traditional evidence is indispensable in militia cases.
[i] If a witness cannot be found, the declarant must state the fact.
[m] The answers to the interrogatories must all be written, and sent to the War Department, with the declaration.

Act 7 th June 1832
Rejected
See letter 11 th October 1833 to. Claimant
Fulton
Calhoun County Missouri

Important Index no duplicate

Acts of July 14, 1862, and March 3, 1873.
Rev
18641
P. O.
James Vanbiber
Service: _____
REJECTED
Enlisted: _____, 18
Discharged: _____, 18
Application filed: _____, 18
Alleges: _____
Re-enlisted: _____
Attorney: _____
P. O. _____
_____ Recognized. _____ Contract.
_____ Cert. of Dis. Searched for _____, 18