Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S. 35677, Eliphalet Trafton, Continental Mass.

SERVICE
NUMBER
Continental Mass.
Trafton, Eliphalet
S. 35677
CONTENTS

Maine. 17,439
Eliphalet Trafton, of York co ty in the state of Maine who was a private in the regiment commanded by Colonel Patterson, of the Massach ts line, for the term of one year.
Subscribed on the Roll of Maine, at the rate of 8 Dollars per month, to commence on the 12. of November, 1819.
Certificate of Pension issued the 8. of June 20, and sent to Daniel Sewall, agent, Kennebec, Maine.
Arrears to 4th of March, 1820. $: 30. 10.
Semi-ann. all ce ending 4. Sept r 118 "
3 mo s 19 } 1820. $: 18. 10. 8 4 30 } 31 }
{ Revolutionary claim, Act 18th March, 1818. }
Note of death on A.B.

5566.
Eliphalet Trafton, York county, Maine. 12. November, 1819.
Col o . Patterson's reg t . Massachusetts line, 12 months, 1776 - 1777.
Service proved by the testimony, oaths, of two persons, certified to be credible persons.
Admitted.
Daniel Sewall, agt. Kennebunk, Maine, rec d . 30. Dec r . 1819.
Eliphalet Trafton's claim for pension -
York, District of Maine.

State of Massachusetts.
I Eliphalet Grafton a Citizen of the United States, now resident at York in the County of York in the State aforesaid, do on oath testify and declare, that in the War of the Revolution, on or about the last day of April, in the year seventeen hundred and seventy five
I entered and was engaged in the land service of the United States on the continental establishment, and served accordingly from that time to the last of December, 1775, in Capt. Samuel Derby's company, in the regiment commanded by Col. James Scanman . And I further served the United States on the continental establishment from the first day of January, 1776, to the first of January 1777, in Capt. William Wyman's company in Col. Patterson's regiment as a private soldier  excepting aboard three months on furlough in 1776 against the common enemy, without any interruption or absence: that I belonged to Capt. Samuel Derby's company the first eight months, in Col. James Scanman's regiment , and in the year 1776, I belonged to Capt. William Wyman's company in Col. Patterson's regiment
and that I left the service on or about the first of January 1777, having continued in said service twenty months, except as aforesaid; and that by reason of my reduced circumstances in life and poverty, I stand in need of assistance from my country for support, being now of the age of sixty four years .
[Handwritten signature of Eliphalet Grafton]
And I hereby relinquish all claims to every pension heretofore allowed me by the laws of the United States, if any may be or hath been so allowed.
Nov. 12, 1819.
Eliphalet Grafton
Commonwealth of Massachusetts. District of Maine. York ss. BE IT REMEMBERED, That on this twelfth day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and nineteen , Pursuant to a law of the United States, entitled, "An Act to provide for certain persons engaged in the land and naval service of the United States in the revolutionary war," made and passed on the 18th of March, A. D. 1818, personally appeareth before me Jonas Clark, Judge of the Court of Probate within and for the county of York in the Commonwealth aforesaid ,
the abovenamed Eliphalet Grafton , and after due examination and caution to testify and declare the whole truth, he maketh oath to the declaration aforesaid, and subscribes the same in my presence; and, on examination duly made by me the said Judge, it appeareth to my satisfaction that the said declaration is true.
Jonas Clark And

And it appeareth to my satisfaction from the depositions hereunto annexed, that the said Eliphalet Frafton served for the term of more than nine months at one period of the war of the revolution on the continental establishment against the common enemy. And also that the said Eliphalet Frafton is in such reduced circumstances in life, that he stands in need of assistance from his country for support.
And I hereby certify the testimony in the case, and the proceedings had thereon, to the Secretary of the department of War.
In testimony whereof, I hereunto set my hand, and have caused the seal of the said Court to be hereunto affixed, the 24 th day of November, A.D. 1819.
Jonas Clark, Judge.
(Daniel Sewall, Reg d )
This is to certify that Eliphalet Frafton an inhabitant of the Town of York in the County of York and District of Maine, who served his country in the Revolutionary war as a private soldier is by reason of his reduced circumstances in life, in need of assistance from his country for support.
Witness my hand this 15 th day of November A.D. 1819.
Alex. McIntire Joseph Jenkins, Jr. Joseph Keare
Selectmen & Overseers of the poor of the town of York.

I Joshua Trafton of Shapleigh in the County of York and State of Massachusetts, Seventy Three years of age, do testify and say, that in the year one thousand seven hundred and seventy five I enlisted Eliphalet Trafton now resident in York in the aforesaid County of York, as a private Soldier in the service of the United States who faithfully served the United States the term of his enlistment which was eight months in the Company commanded by Capt. Samuel Derby, I being an Ensign in the said Company - I also further testify and say that I enlisted the same Eliphalet Trafton after the expiration of his eight months service, and that he faithfully served the United States as a Soldier in Captain William Wyman's Company twelve months in the year one thousand seven seven hundred and seventy six - I was an Officer in the same Company - He faithfully served the terms of both his enlistments amounting in the whole to twenty months.
Joshua his + Trafton mark
York ss. Taken and sworn to at Shapleigh this nineteenth day of November -- in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and nineteen nineteen. I further certify that the said Joshua Trafton is a credible witness.
Whiting Stevens Justice of the Peace

I Joseph Tinker of Shapleigh in the County of York and State of Massachusetts, Sixty five years of age do testify and say that in the Revolutionary war, in the year Seventeen hundred and Seventy five I personally knew Eliphalit Trafton none of York in said County of York to be a soldier eight months in the service of the United States, he then belonged to Capt. Samuel Derby's Company - I also further testify and say that in the year Seventeen hundred and Seventy six. I knew the same Eliphalit Trafton to be a soldier twelve months in the service of the United States, he then belonged to Captain William Myman's Company.
Joseph Tinker
York ss. November 19 th 1819
Joseph Tinker . Then the above named Joseph Tinker personally appeared and made solemn oath that the above deposition by him subscribed is true before me. I further testify certify that the said Joseph Tinker is a credible witness.
Whiting Stevens Justice of the Peace
York ss.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
I the subscriber, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Common Pleas within & for the county of York, hereby certify, that Whiting Stevens esquire, before whom the annexed depositions of Joshua Trafton & Joseph Tinker were taken, is a Justice of the Peace within & for said county, duly qualified to act as such.
In testimony whereof, I hereunto set my hand, & the seal of the said Court, the twenty fourth day of November, A. D. 1819.
Daniel Sewall.

December 21, 1931
BA-J/MMHF:MLB
Honorable Carroll L. Beedy
House of Representatives
My dear Mr. Beedy:
Reference is made to your letter of December 17, in behalf of Miss Lilian E. Trafton, of Cape Neddick, Maine, relative to securing pension on account of the services of her great grandfather, Eliphalet Trafton, in the Revolutionary War.
The Revolutionary War records of this office show that Eliphalet Trafton enlisted the last day of April, 1775, and served until the last day of December, 1775, as a private in Captain Samuel Derby's company, Colonel James Scammon's Massachusetts regiment. He enlisted January 1, 1776, and served one year in Captain William Wyman's company, Colonel Paterson's Massachusetts regiment.
He was allowed pension on his application executed November 12, 1819, at which time he was living in York, York County, Massachusetts (District of Maine), and was then sixty-four years of age. His pension certificate, No. 18439, was issued June 8, 1820, for $8 per month, to commence November 12, 1819, the date of his application under the Act of March 18, 1818.
The records show that he was paid under the Act of March 18, 1818, and that under a subsequent act passed May 1, 1820, his pension was suspended.
The records do not show that he ever filed a schedule of his property, which was a requirement of that law, in order to be restored to the pension roll, if the amount of his property was not too great.

There is no provision of the law under which the descendants of soldiers of the Revolution are entitled to pension based upon service in that war.
Very truly yours
A. D. HILLER Assistant to Administrator

35 677
Rev INVALID.
File No. 33677
Eliphalet Drafton His Rev Dad
Act: 18 th March 18 th
Index: —Vol. 2 , Page 425
[Arrangement of 1870.]
1931- Apr. 30 Miss Lillian E. Drafton adv. rel. to date of last payment of pension etc. MMT 1931- Nov. 9- Miss Lillian E. Drafton advised rel. to the laws governing payment of pen. MMT that no present law entitled her to pen. etc. MMT 1931- Dec. 8- Miss Lillian E. Drafton advised further in regard to pension etc. MMT 1931- Dec. 21 Hon. C. T. Becke adv. rel. to pen. claimed by Miss Lillian E. Drafton. MMT 1931- April 10- H. Fish L. Lillian E. Drafton

Stamps are returned if I enc- close them from these Depts. N.Y.
Tuesday April 7, '81.
The Commissioner of Pensions
Dear Sir:-
The War Department lately referred me to you as a possibility of gaining some information about the Am. Rev. War service, and a pension in land grant, of my great grandfather, Elisha G. Trafton of Old York, Me.
You will find two enclosures, which please return, one from the War Dept. and one from the Mass Archives Division of State. You see none of these campaigns overlap each other in point of time of service. Seems to me as if the company and regimental officers of the two campaigns, listed by the War Dept. might be located in files, and from that the places from which these companies were recruited, and so gain some knowledge from where Elisha G. Trafton of the War Dept. files came from, and if he was identical with

with the Old York Eliphalet of Mass. Arch. Div.
By my father I have been told that Eliphalet Trafton received a pension for Rev. War service, in a grant of land - to the Westward - which he never claimed. It was told me to the West , but I've heard that Rev. War land grants were to the Eastward. also to the North of me here. - One to Capt. Joshua Trafton, Eliphalet's brother, in Shapleigh, York Co., Me. I have read in his.
Please try your best to find if any land grant pension was made (in your dept., or any of the depts over which you have control) to Eliphalet Trafton, of York Such a find should give one the list of his campaigns, in which he served and also if all Eliphalet Traftons listed were one and the same person, or not, of Old York?
(Me) (Niece)
Very truly yours,
Lillian E. Trafton.
R.D. Cape Neddick P.O., Maine.

C O P Y
OCEAN NATIONAL BANK Kennebunk, Maine
October 19, 1931
Miss Lilian E. Trafton Cape Neddick, Maine
Dear Miss Trafton:
Your letter addressed to Mr. A.W. Meserve, has been turned over to me for attention. We have no interest tables which would give the amount due at compound interest for which you inquire.
We know of no reason why any bank in which $300.00 has been left on interest for one hundred years or more, should not pay this money on demand to the legal heirs of the original depositor. This is a matter that has never come directly to my attention before as there are very few banks that have been in business for the length of time mentioned.
Yours very truly
(Signed)
M. S. Estlin President (PMS)
NPE:EWN

Rev. D 1812 War Sec.) A. N. W. M. & B.
Thurs. April 16, '31.
Commissioner of Pensions, E. W. Morgan, Act. Com.,
Dear Sir:-
Your letter of April 10, received.
Will you please reply directly to a few of my questions, relative to my great grandfather, Elephalet Trafton? You note that Elephalet Trafton, living in York, Dist. of Maine, was allowed pension on his application, executed Nov. 13, 1919, at which time he was 64 yrs of age.
Please tell me what form this pension was in, - a stated sum of money paid regularly or in a land grant?
During my growing up I was told by my father, Eben Trafton, (also by my mother) that the aforesaid Elephalet Trafton was a Revolutionary soldier, and at one time my

2 father, Asa Trafton, had his grand father's pension paper from his father Storer Trafton (Eliphalet Trafton's eldest son) and with whom he spent his last days and who lived here on Eliphalet's farm and was Eliphalet's heir. —
Eliphalet Trafton of York did not marry until he was forty yrs. old and then a woman of twenty. They had thirteen children in all; two at least are here in the farm burying ground. In 1818, when he applied for a pension (your wife), his eldest son, Storer, was but 20 yrs. old; and there must have been a number of that thirteen children younger than Storer, to bring up.
Eliphalet died in 1824, his wife died in 1824 and Storer married in 1825.
The story in our family was that Eliphalet Trafton never claimed his pension, which was in land, in what was then the West. — How could he have gone personally to claim land so distant in those days, with a partly grown

family
3
of children? It must have been a bitter disappointment to him, for the government to give him something he could not get, after his service to it.
After I was told, by my father, of his grandfather being in the Amer. Rev. War. I asked about this of my father's brother and sister, living here on their grandfather Elphalet's farm. They said it was not true; that Elphalet Trafton was not in Amer. Rev. War but in the war of 1812, in the Navy. I grew up with the idea that perhaps father was mistaken; and though he and my mother said my father had his grandfather Elphalet's pension papers from his father Storer Trafton, I thought little of it for years. Last July I began to ask questions of War Dept.
Both my father and his only older brother had ideas of going West at different times; but only the elder of the two started, went five miles; and, after two years, returned home to his father's home. I don't know if he was first given his grandfather Elphalet's pa-

free or not. My father - my mother truly told me - took three pension papers of his grand father, Elephalet Trafton, to a lawyer in Portsmouth, N.H. on nearest city - and that the name of that lawyer was Stillman B. Allen, who asked my father to leave these papers to look over; when my father went for them Mr. Allen was not in but his assistant handed father the pension pa- pers and said they were no good. Father took them to another lawyer, who opened them before father and said, the seals have been removed; they aren't any good but I will look them over. Father left them with this lawyer - named Day, my mother believed; and never went back to get them. - Seems as if father would have look- ed over these papers before he took them to any- one and noticed if seals were there; but they might have been removed by the brother of my father, who got five miles on the road West and returned. This brother was one, who told that Elephalet Trafton was in War of 1812 & not Am. Rev. & he was always jealous of father getting anything

he wanted, even if he couldn't get it himself.
Would a land claim, if not claimed personally, revert, after a number of years, to the U.S. Government? Escheat, are the lawyers say? There was no one who could go West until my father's generation. I store had to work here on the farm and keep things going for his father, Eliphaleet; the two next younger brothers, Dummer & Rudolph went to N. B., where they were Tony Traffone settled; the fourth son, Thaddeus is here in the burying ground, as a youth he died; the youngest son, Forrest, must have been quite young in 1819. When large enough learned the trade of cabinet-maker & lived his life in Portsmouth, N. H. He had 3 sons - two of whom left a few children.
Forrest's grandchildren are in comfortable circumstances. My father's elder brother has but one son living now but father's eldest sister has 4 daughters living most of them not young but with children to care for them.
I and my sister, who has been since infancy

e an epileptic of the reverer form, live mostly by the help of friends and one relative - not a Traf- ton. I am a semi invalid and the last few yrs. we have needed more help than formerly, for my sister is 65 yrs. old and her mind is growing less and less bright with age and file.
I'm only telling you this; perhaps there is no use in it. Hope I've not taken too much time and wish we could get some good from it.
Very truly yours,
(Miss)
Lillian E. Traflon
R.D. Cape Neshannick P.O., York, Maine
On margin of a report from Mass. written to Miss Traflon, she stated she asked the Sec. of the Commonwealth about a land grant in the West & did not receive reply to that ques- tion, also that Mass records did not show his service in 1776 & wanted to know why records varied so.
Sec. Report returned to Miss Traflon Apr. 20 - 1931

Mon. Oct. 19, 1931.
Rev. & 1812 War Section-
MMHF:MLB.
Bureau of Pensions, Acting Com. E.W. Morgan, Dear Sir:
Your last letter, dated April 30, 1931, was received soon after that date; and, as you suggested in that letter, that in order to obtain the date of last payment on the pension of Elephalet Trafton, the name and address of the person paid and possibly the date of Elephalet Trafton's death, I should apply to The Comptroller General, General Accounting Office, Records Div. at Washington. The aforesaid pension claim, S-35476 and Certificate 17439, etc.
On May 6, 1931 I did as you had suggested in your letter of April 30, 1931. On Sept. 14, 1931 I received the reply from The General Accounting Office, dated Sept. 11, signed by W. W. Richardson, Chief of Records Division. I quote it as follows:-

1812 War Section.
MMHF:MLB.
In reply to your letter of May 6, 1981, wherein you request information concerning the date of last payment of pension to Eliphalet Frazar, certificate no. 17489, Maine Agency, you are advised the records of this office do not show that payment was ever made on said certificate, from the pension rolls of Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts or New Hampshire pension agencies.
For the Comptroller General of the United States.
Respectfully,
Signed (M. W. Richardson) Chief, Records Division
I did not reply to the above quoted letter, thinking it not necessary but you can verify this quotation and a reply was to quote Records Division R-PDF-EF.

1812 War Section
MMHF:MLB.
I should have acquainted you with this reply to my inquiry before but on Sept. 14, 1901 I was very sick with nervous prostration and am only yet able to write not long at a time or I have a relapse.
Very much it looks, from your two letters, and this one from the General Accounting Office, that our great grandfather, Eliphalek Trafton, of York, Me. never was paid the pension that was granted him by the United States Government, in recognition of his service in the American Rev. War. Are, or were, there many cases similar to this one and does not the government or pension bureau do anything, where such cases are found out?
Whenever, and rarely, that this subject was discussed in my family it was said that Eliphalek Trafton was a Am. Rev. War pensioner but never was paid or received his pension.

Eliphaleth Trafton died in 1826, from the date on his grave stone. It does not give the month or day of decease. He died 7 years before my father was born, in 1833. My father's father, Eliphaleth Trafton's eldest son, Storer Trafton, kept his father's pension papers, and before his death passed them on to my, or our father, Asa Trafton of York, Me.
We are two sisters and only children living, of Asa Trafton's marriage, in 1864. We live on the same spot, or house site, and on part of the same farm, that Eliphaleth Trafton lived his last days upon and was buried from, and which he tilled the ground there of. His grave stone is in sight of our front yard and, I believe not too ill, as his grave is kept up, or, if not able personally get some one to go to see to it if possible. Last May, the day after Memorial Day I succeeded in having a flag placed, for the first time since he died, on his grave.
It was through Eliphaleth Trafton's brother

Daught. Joshua Trafton's, great granddaughter, that I found out how I could get our great grandfathers, Eliphalet Trafton, Am. Rev. War Records. My first letter was to the War Department and was replied to July 10, 1900; and they referred me to the Sec. of State for Massachusetts and The Commissioner of Pensions, at Washington D.C., saying that their collection of Rev. War Records was far from complete; they finding record of war service of one, Eliphalet Trafton, but did not know where his home was situated or of what town he was a native. If you wish, I will send to you these papers from the War Dept. and from Mass., from the Sec. of State.
It seems there is all the proof need, that Eliphalet Trafton, of York, in the then Province of Maine, was a veteran of the American Revolutionary War.
As yet I do not know the month or day of

Eliphalet Trafton's death, the year was 1826, but I will try to get it from our town records. If he had lived until May 12, 1826, he would have been entitled to 6 years and 6 months pension and this at $8.00 a month would have been $72. for one year and $42. for 6 1/2 yrs., without any interest paid on the annual of $72. a year; because his promised pension went unpaid to him. - With interest compounded at 6% and the $72. added in yearly, instead of $42. the amt. would have been $780.00, at the time the pension in 1826 was likely to have ceased, with Eliphalet Trafton's death.
Now, I can't see why the United States Government, by not paying Eliphalet Trafton's pension did not have the use, and does not still have the use of the amount of that pension, to this day?
Lately I have asked a bank president here about, if a given amt. were deposited in a bank and left there undisturbed for 100 yrs. or more, if

decease of the depositor could be proven and there was proof of the rightful heir, that the bank would not pay to the heir or heirs the sum, which had accrued on the original deposit. I enclose his reply. United States Government less re- liable than any bank in the U.S.?  See copy of his letter herewith. Orig. returned to L.E.T.
I can understand that one case is not exact- ly the other, yet. — Pensions are usually obtained as help in old age, disability from service and de- pendents, though our great grandfather, Eliphaleb Trafton, did not usually apply for it on these grounds, as I understand your letter.
Eliphaleb Trafton of York, Me. had a number of descendants, living in my generation, who would stand in the same relationship that I and my sister stand, but all of them have children to care for them or sisters that are able to do this, or they are able themselves, to care for themselves. My sister & I never married; we are the only living or dead heirs of our father, then Trafton, of York, Me.; deceased in 1901, grandson of

Elephalet Trafton, son of his eldest son Storer Trafton. (In this old family the bulk of the property went to the eldest son and only bequests were made to younger children.)
To our father, Green Trafton, was given, by Storer Trafton, his father, the pension papers of Elephalet Trafton. These papers were mutilated when our father got them back, from the lawyer, to whom he first took them, and rendered invalid, - my mother told me.
There are two reasons are those, which make me believe that my sister and I have a stronger claim than the others. - My sister has been an epileptic, since less than two years of age, of the severe type, and was born partly paralyzed on one side. She has been a lifelong care and the fits have made her mind weak and childish, - none so lately, for she is 44 yrs. old. Also I have been an invalid for 30 yrs. or more. If it were not for charity, the last few years, we would have had to go to

The Town Farm and board out our place, or then on the town, completely; for charity is rather an unstable thing, and may cease suddenly and finally for all one can tell.
I can get letters from two cousins, from two, who have known us well for years passed, that what I've written as to our financial situation is true, and true regarding our ability to care for ourselves or each other.
Any amount of money will, at 4% compounded interest, compounded annually, double itself in 17 yrs. 246 days. Just $24.-what the U.S. government would have paid Eliphalet Trafton in a pension for 6½ yrs.-without any interest, before May 12, 1826- would today in 105 yrs. amount to $39,936. and the 12 th of next May $41, 583. would be the amt. with a years interest at 4%.
If my sister & I could have the yearly interest on this accrued amt., as long as either of us are living, it would place us beyond need (and have it accrued to us by the U.S. government for that time) if I've no desire to use the Law, our father didn't-

R. D. Cape Neddick P.O., Me.
Thurs. Nov. 5, 1931.
Reference to Rev. r 812 War Section MMHF: MLB - - -
The Commissioner of Pensions, Veterans Administration Bureau of Pensions, Dear Sir:-
On the 22 d of last Oct. I sent to you a letter of some length, relating to the pension claim, S 35677, of my great grandfather, Eliphalet Trafton, of Old York. I did not enclose a stamp for reply, as they had, from different Federal Dept., returned my stamp, when replying and as the replies were franked.
It will be two weeks Saturday since it is likely you received my letter and I have received no reply. It seems as if some reply was due me, - in less time than the four months it took the General Accounting Office to forward the answer to my inquiry in regard to payments made on Eliphalet Trafton's claim?
I can't see why the United States Government had not the use of the amount of money granted

 h 30 Eliphalet Trafton in a pension, that the Gov- ernment never made any pay upon, do you? — Your dept. writes that he, Eliphalet Trafton, was granted a pension of $8.00 a month; and the General Accounting Office wrote me R-PDE-EF , that there is no record of any payment "was ever made" on cer- tificate No. 17489, from any Agency in New Eng- land. — There are conceited Americans, who make the boast, that the United States is the greatest and richest country in the world. If it got its riches in part, even, from not keeping its promise to the soldiers in the American Revolutionary War, — men who helped make the U.S. a nation, it is not to the credit of the United States.
That Eliphalet Trafton of York, Me. did not refer to wife or children in his application, does not prove he didn't have either. He had both; but he did not marry till he was about 40 yrs. of age, so in 1819 some of his children were not adults.
There is no other known Eliphalet Trafton of York, Me., either from descendants or from records.

21 was as a brother, from records, to Capt. Joshua Traphon, whom you must have on record at the Pension Office, as he was a Rev. War pensioner.
Eliphalet Traphon had 5 sons and 8 daughters, from our family record. Two of the sons, when grown enough, left the U.S. for New Brunswick; perhaps on account of the way their father was treated in regard to his pension claim, and they stayed there. One son is here in the burying ground, as a lad. That left only the eldest son, Stone, & the youngest son, Forrest alive. (Of the daughters two died, if no more, young; two of three living married, that I knew of; but one of these I never heard her mar- ried name and she went West to live. The other married daughter left no children as far as I can find.)
Forrest, the youngest son left the farm and learned a trade and lived in Portsmouth N.H.
The eldest son, Stone my sister's & my grand- father, lived here on the farm, of his father, all his life. He had two sons, my father's brother, Alvah, and our father. Alvah was the elder.

was the principle heir to Storer Trafford's property in the farm and elsewhere; but Storer Trafford gave to my father, his father, Eliphalet Trafford, pension papers.
It was my father who told me that his grandfather, Eliphalet Trafford, was a Rev. soldier; after he told me, I spoke of it to the my father's brother and unmarried sister, who lived in the big house here on the farm. They said that was not so; that Eliphalet Trafford was in the War of 1812 and in the navy. - That is why I have asked of the War Dept. and State Dept. of Mass about this matter; and you all corroborate my father's word to me, that great grandfather was an Am. Rev. War soldier, - and never received the pension, he was granted, in the last 6 + years he lived. That was not honorable or right or fair.
I am willing to answer any questions you wish; but I want to know, why the U.S. Government is to keep for itself, what, for years, it owes to others? Keep and profit by the same?
Say truly yours, (Mme.) Selina E. Trafford

Nov. 18. 1981
BA-J/MMHF
Mr. A. D. Huler, Adms. Acct.,
Dear Sir: -
In the third paragraph of your letter, of Nov. 9, 1981 to me, you state, in reference to a pension to Eliphlet Trafton that, " The records show he received the amount of pension due him under the act of March 18, 1818."
Now please tell me clearly what records show that the aforesaid Eliphlet Trafton received any pension under the Act of March 18, 1818? Where are these records or are they even once?
You write that under a subsequent act, passed May 1, 1820, said act provided that no pension under the act of March 18, 1818 be continued after the payment of that due on March 4, 1820. How could any act go into effect nearly two months before it was

I gather from what you write and presume Eliphlet Trafton did or did not do, that only those in indigent circumstances could qualify for a pension; and yet those indigent men, (and also old men most of them must be), could, only by sending to a court a schedule (or inventory) of their whole estate, and they have any chance of getting less than $2.00 a week pension & that chance would and could be brought to no effect by the verdict of the Sec. of War.
Just how many indigent men could af- ford to pay a clerk and court fees - courts & clerks don't work for nothing - and then likely to have the Sec. of War throw out their claims after all?
I don't see your presumption is in point. I know the farm, in the woods, that Elephat Trafton lived on - it's in woods to-day - and tried to get a living upon for himself, wife & a large family; I live on a small piece of it.

no, I did not suppose there was a law, under which the descendants of soldiers of the Revolutionary War are entitled to pension , based upon service in that war; but even people are liable to their just debts, incurred in whatever way, how much less is a government liable to pay its just debts?
Very truly,
(Inver)
Lilian E. Pratt
P.O. Cape Neddick P.O., Maine.
P.S. It would be interesting to know how many men, who saw service in Am. Rev. War, were ever able to get a pension paid to them at all.?
L.E.P.

Copy of let. to Hon. C. L. Beck which let. was ret. to him
R. D., Cape Medrick P. O., Maine. (Signed) William E. Norton (Miss)
owed, as a moral obligation, or a legal one. part with money without some kind of right, even though it was impossible for them to
A. D. Miller was a sort of departmental scape-goat.

C O P Y
Original Feb. 20 Hon. C. L. B.
December 10, 1931
Hon. Carroll L. Beedy
Dear Sir:
You will find enclosed two departmental letters, received within a week.
That alphabetical index of Mr. Flagg's in the Maine State Library letter may be what A. D. Hiller referred to as a record of Eliphalet Trafton receiving a pension, which it is not, in face of other proof, I had.
As pensions were paid through agencies in different states, and there is no record, according to the Acting Comptroller General of the General Accounting Office, that any pension was ever paid to Eliphalet Trafton of York or Me. Dist., how can any record any where set that record aside as of no account, as A. D. Hiller seems to be trying to do?
It looks to me odd that the Acting Commissioner sent me to the General Accounting Office for data and then, as soon as I wrote him what the Acting Comptroller General wrote me, turn me over without replying to my letter, to this A. D. Hiller of the Admis. Dept. It don't look right to me; looks like A. D. Hiller was a sort of departmental scape-goat.
Of course, I suppose it would be impossible for them to part with money without some kind of fight, even though it was owed, as a moral obligation, or a legal one.
I will send registration fee for my papers when you think it best to return them to me. You are very busy now, I expect any way; I hope the Hunger Marchers did you all no harm.
Mr. Hiller's presumptions, as to our great grandfather's estate and his reason for not giving returns as to the same, look queer also, to me, who know more than he does of the property here, now and what it must have been over 100 years ago.
Very truly yours (Signed) Lilian E. Trafton (Miss) R. D., Cape Neddick P. O., Maine.

December 8, 1931
BA-J/MHEF
Miss Lilian E. Trafton R.F.D. Cape Neddick, Maine
Dear Madam:
Reference is made to your letter of November 18, 1931, regarding further information relative to the pension of Eliphalet Trafton, Revolutionary War soldier.
The statements contained in office letter to you of November 9, 1931, are true as found of record in this office in regard to the pension and to the laws which governed the admission and rejection of pensions.
It might interest you to know that you, or someone designated by you, may examine and collect data from the papers on file in claim of Eliphalet Trafton(S.35677) by calling at this office, which might prove more satisfactory to you.
The claim has been thoroughly examined in your behalf and you have been advised in regard to all findings.
Very truly yours
A. D. HILLER Assistant to Administrator.

November 9, 1931
BA-J/MMHF
Miss Lilian E. Trafton R.F.D. Cape Neddick, Maine
Dear Madam:
Reference is made to your letter of recent date relative to pension which you state might be due on account of the services of Eliphalet Trafton, War of the Revolution.
As stated in office letter of April 10, 1931, he was allowed pension on his application executed November 12, 1819. As further stated in office letter to you on April 30, 1931, his pension certificate, No. 18439, was issued June 8, 1820, for $8 per month to commence November 12, 1819, the date of his application under the act of March 18, 1818.
The records show that he received the amount of pension due him under the act of March 18, 1818.
Under a subsequent act, passed May 1, 1820, his pension was suspended. Said act provided that no pension under the act of March 18, 1818, be continued after the payment of that due on March 4, 1820, unless the pensioner exhibited a schedule of his whole estate, the original of which was to be filed in the office of the clerk of the court and a certified copy of the soldier's schedule and oath, and the opinion of the court in regard to his circumstances, delivered to the Secretary of War. The Secretary of War could then strike from the pension list the names of all pensioners who, in his opinion, were not in indigent circumstances.
No such schedule was ever presented to the Secretary of War by said Eliphalet Trafton. It is presumed that he knew according to the requirements of the act of May 1, 1820, he possessed too much property to entitle him to continuance of pension, therefore useless to exhibit his schedule.
see Report of Rev. J. May 1835, (Yates envelope)

There is now no provision of law under which the descendants of soldiers of the Revolution are entitled to pension based upon service in that war.
Your letter from the president of the Ocean City Bank, of Kennebunk, Maine, is returned herewith.
Very truly yours
A. D. HILLER Assistant to Administrator.

April 30, 1931
Miss Lilian E. Trafton R. D. Cape Neddick P. O. Maine
Rev.& 1812 Wars Section MMHF:MLB
Dear Madam:
Reference is made to your letter in which you request further information in regard to Eliphalet Trafton (S. 35677), a soldier of the Revolutionary War.
The pension which was allowed this soldier was at the rate of $8 per month.
In order to obtain the date of last payment of his pension, the name and address of the person paid, and possibly the date of his death, you should apply to The Comptroller General, General Accounting Office, Records Division, this city, citing the following data:
Eliphalet Trafton, Certificate 17439, issued June 8, 1820, rate, $8 per month, to commence November 12, 1819, Act March 18, 1818, Maine Agency.
There is no reference to wife or children in his claim for pension.
There is no record of an application to the United States for bounty land on account of his services in the Revolutionary War.
The record of his service furnished you in bureau letter of April 10, 1931 is from the soldier's sworn statement in his application for pension.
Very truly yours
E. W. MORGAN Acting Commissioner

April 10, 1931
Miss Lilian E. Trafton R. F. D. Cape Neddick, Maine
Rev.& 1812 Wars Section AWF:MLB
Dear Madam:
You are advised that it appears from the papers in the Revolutionary War pension claim, S. 35677, that Eliphalet Trafton enlisted the last day of April, 1775 and served until the last day of December, 1775 as a private in Captain Samuel Derby's company, Colonel James Scammon's Massachusetts regiment. He enlisted January 1, 1776 and served one year in Captain William Wyman's company, Colonel Paterson's Massachusetts regiment.
He was allowed pension on his application executed November 12, 1819, at which time he was living in York, District of Maine and was sixty-four years of age.
There are no data as to his family.
The above noted Eliphalet Trafton is the only soldier of that name that is found on the Revolutionary War records of this bureau.
Very truly yours
E. W. MORGAN Acting Commissioner