Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File R. 11097, Joseph Walston, Va.

SERVICE
NUMBER
Va.
Walston, Joseph
P. 11097
CONTENTS

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. These 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, shewing the Service of Joseph Walston
   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.     Apr 1775 1 Pn. Capt Richard 80 Traditionary &   177- 8 same Capt S. Dick Var inadmiss.   1781 1 Pn.  
No allowance can be made excepting for such terms of duty as shall be set forth as required by the regulations. The nature of the service on board of a vessel should be stated, and whether she was a privateer or not. If the name of the vessel can be recollected it should I am, respectfully, also be stated.
Your obedient servant,
JAMES 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) _____, who has 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

29.984 Joseph Walton Kentucky
L. A. Spalding Sebanon Kentucky

1 State of Kentucky } Marion County }
On this the 4 th day of March in the year of our Lord 1834, personally appeared in open court before the County court of Marion now sitting, Joseph Walston a resident of the county & state aforesaid, aged Eighty years on the 19 th day of April next, 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 entered the service of the United States, under the following named officers & served as herein stated - In the year 1775 in the month of April he enlisted under Capt. William Richards of the Virginia state line, as a minute man & remained under him one month, after which time, he enlisted under Capt. Soney Dick to go to sea for an unlimited time, he states that his sea service, to the best of his recollections lasted Eight months - When he first entered the service he lived in King & Queen county Virginia & when he enlisted under Capt. Soney Dick, he resided in Caroline county Virginia. He states that after his time of service expired under Capt. Soney Dick, he volunteered under Col. Anthony Thornton & his Col. William Buckner & marched under their command from Caroline county Virginia down to Williamsburg, where he was stationed to guard the country from the invasion of the British - who were often coming in at that point, plundering the inhabitants & committing many depredations; he states that from his best judgment & recollection, he remained stationed at Williamsburg one month.

He states that after he was released by Col Thornton he volun- -ntered under under the command of Capt William Buck- -ner & major McCluer & served under them six weeks ,  1,19 marching from one part of Virginia to the other, in order to stop the British, who were coming in from Carolina Some time after this he was taken off in a detachment under Col Mathis & was attacked by Tarlton's corps near Williamsburg, when Col Mathis forces were routed, he states that before the detachment  army were entirely dispersed, he fired & killed one of the enemy & wounded a horse, then he made his escape leaving his clothes & what money he had behind - This took place in the year 1781. In the year 1781, while he was in the service under Capt William Buckner & Major McCluer he received a wound, in his left foot in marching, which though small at first, terminated into a cancer & disa- -ble him for better than two years, he further states that he was under several doctors, while he was afflicted with the said wound in his left foot, & that he paid Doctor Chaltron thirty guineas for attending on & curing the wound in his foot, which he discharged in a fine horse, the only horse he had. He states that he left the service of the united states in the year 1781 about the 1 st of July & that he was including the whole of his actual service , in the service of the united states  two years & six months to the best of his recollection & judgment. In his former declaration he stated that he was in the service about five years, in that statement, he states that he included all the time

& liable to be called on at any time that he was a minute man  not the time that he was in actual service, which time of actual service he states to have been two years & six mon - Thos - He states that on the termination of the war he received a discharge from Col l Mathes, but that it has been lost through length of time - He states that he was born in the year 1754 on the 19 th day of April, that he has no record now of his age, now , but that he saw the record of his birth on his father's Bible, from which he knows the year of his birth - When he was first called into the service he lived in King & Queen county Virginia - after the war he lived in Cumberland city Virginia till the year 1806 after which time he moved to Kentucky - Washington county, where he has resided ever since - he now lives in Marion county ky late a part of Washington county He states that Gen l Loddon, Gen l Mulenburg & Gen l Stephens were the commanding Generals, of the main army, from which he was detached, under Col l Mathes - He states that he has no documentary evidence & that he knows of no person, who can testify to his actual service, he hereby relinquishes every claim to a pension or annuity except the present & declares that his name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any state subscribed & sworn to the day & year aforesaid
Joseph Walston
I James Ramsey residing in the county of Marion & state of Kentucky do hereby certify that I have been well acquainted with Joseph Walston who has subscribed & sworn to the above declaration for fifty years, that I believe him to be eighty years of age on the 19 th April next, that he is reputed & believed in the neighbourhood where he resides

4 to have been a soldier of the revolution & that I do concur in that opinion - I do further certify that I have found always the said Walston to be a man of the strictest truth & veracity, & that he has been so esteemed by his neighbours - Since the war forty years ago, the said Joseph Walston made the same statements to me in relation to his service as a soldier in the revolutionary war, as he has sworn to in the above declaration, & he has at divers & different times told me the same since & I have no doubt in the truth of it - The wound which the said Joseph Walston received in his left foot, in the year 1781, I saw shortly after he received it, & I do hereby certify that the said wound did greatly disable & afflict him for better than two years & it was the general belief & known to every one, that the said Joseph Walston did receive the said wound while he was in the service of the united states - I further certify that I know of my own knowledge, that the said Joseph Walston did pay Doctor Chaltron thirty guineas , for attending on & curing the wound in his left foot, which he discharged in a fine horse the only horse he had. I do also state that I have examined the said left foot of Joseph Walston, a few days since & find the scar from said wound, still plain to be seen - In curing the said wound, he Walston was under six different doctors -

5- I do further certify that for ever since the termination of the revolution, no doubt has ever existed, in the neighbourhood but that the said Joseph Walston was a soldier in the revolutionary war, & served as he has stated subscribed & sworn to the day & year aforesaid I also certify that the said Joseph Walston is a member of the Baptist Church - subscribed & sworn to, James Presnell
We Thomas G. Harrison, Meshach Tucker, Alan Caskey residing in the county of Marion & state of Kentucky do hereby certify that we are well acquainted with Joseph Walston who has subscribed & sworn to the above declaration & that we have been acquainted with him for twelve years that we believe him to be a man of the strictest veracity & that he has maintained that character in his neighbourhood, & that we believe him to be eighty years of age in April next, as he states, that he is reputed & believed in the neighbourhood where he resides to have been a soldier in the revolution & that we concur in that opinion - subscribed & sworn to the day & year aforesaid
Thomas G. Harrison Meshach Tucker Alan Caskey
I Samuel B Robertson clergyman do hereby certify that I am well acquainted with Joseph Walston, who has subscribed & sworn to the above declaration, that I believe him to be eighty years old in April as he states, that he is a

man of good character & struck veracity & so esteemed in his neighborhood & that I have full confidence in his the above declaration, I also certify that he the said Walston is a member of the Baptist church — subscribed & sworn to the day & year aforesaid J B Robertson.
Questions by the county court of Marion, to the said Joseph Walston
1 Where & in what year were you born?
answer, I was born in the year 1754
2 have you any record of your age?
answer, no I have no record now, but I saw the record of my birth in my fathers Bible, from which I know my age
3. Where were you living when you was called into the service when have you lived since the war, & where do you now live
Answer , I lived in King & Queen county virginia I lived in cumberland county Va after the war till 1806, then I moved to Ky. Washington county, where I have lived since I now live in marion county, & state of Va — late a part of Washington county
4 how was you called into service?
answer I enlisted first & afterwards volunteered
5 th state some of the regular officers, who were with the troops you served with?
answer - I served under capt. Richards, & capt Buckner Col Thornton, Major M c Blumen, Genl. Lasser, Mulenburg & Stephens
6 Did you ever receive a discharge from the service?
answer) I did but it has been lost through length of time

And the said court do hereby declare their opinion after the investigation of the matter. & after putting the interrogatories prescribed by the war department that the above mentioned applicant was a revolutionary soldier & served as he states & the court further certifies that it appears to them that James Ramsey Thomas S Harrison Meshach Tucker Alan Caskey and Samuel B Robertson who have signed the preceding certificates are residents in the County of Marion formerly a part of Washington County Kentucky and that their statements are entitled to full faith and credit and also that Samuel B Robertson whose signature is to the foregoing certificate is a clergyman. all which is ordered to be certified to the secretary of the war department.
I Samuel Spalding Clerk of the court of Marion County do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said court in the case matter of the application of Joseph Walton for a pension.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office this 10 th day of March 1834 and 42 nd year of the commonwealth
Samuel Spalding Clerk of Marion County Court

Acts of July 14, 1862, and March 3, 1873.
11.094.
P. O. _____
Joseph Walston
Service: _____
REJECTED
Enlisted: _____, 18 .
Discharged: _____, 18 .
Application filed: _____, 18 .
Alleges: _____
Re-enlisted: _____
Attorney: _____
P. O. _____
_____ Recognized. _____ Contract.
Cert. of Dis. Searched for _____

Rejected, served I. M. as a Privateer and kept the six months in the as a militia man. See letter of May 1834 to Hon T. P. Moore. N. H.
11097

(Mr Pleasants, 13 th Street
May 14 th 34
Sir
I enclose you certain papers recd this morning to which, I respectfully ask your attention. The letter of Mr Willis contains has some matter not very relevant to the pension claims, let that pass.
Yours with great respect
T. M. Moore
James L. Edwards Esq Commissioner of Pensions

Joseph Watston's
Amended pension Declaration -
5 th May 1834.

State of Kentucky Marion County Kentucky ss.
On this 5 th day of May 1834 Joseph Walston a resident citizen of said county came personally before me a justice of the peace for said county, and being by me first duly sworn according to law, makes the following statement by way of amendment amendment, to his declaration heretofore forwarded to the department of War in order to obtain a pension under the acts of congress of 7 th June 1834,
He states that by reason of old age and the consequent loss of memory he cannot swear positively as to the dates of the different periods of the war of the Revolution, when he entered & was discharged from the service, but according to the best of his recollections, he served not less than the periods mentioned below, First I served one month as a minute man in the year 1775 commencing in the month of April of that year under and in the company of Captain William Richards in the Virginia state line, for one month and in the regiment commanded by Col. Thomas Solomon; about the time of the expiration of a month from his entering into the under said Richards minute service, the minute men were disbanded, when he was discharged. He had no written discharge, but was discharged by the Captain of said company & sent home - it was in the county of King & Queen in Virginia that he was discharged - In this service he was in no engagement with the enemy while in this service - this force was raised for & did defend the state of Virginia against the invasion of the Britons who were then ravaging the country, wherever they could - The second term of service in the American Revolution, he served as he has heretofore stated, in the company of Captain Sawyer or Alexander Dick in which he enlisted, at Frederick- -burgh Virginia, in a few days, after he was discharged from the minute men, which according to

his best recollection was about the last of May 1775. In this enlistment he entered for an unlimited time it was in the Naval service, and he enlisted and served in that service for eight months according to the best of his recollection, and was then discharged from that service - The vessel he sailed in was a privateer and engaged in the privateering service, and if she had any name he has now forgotten it, the vessel was called a row galley , the Lieutenants name under Captain Dick was Charles Thorne - Some prizes were taken by this vessel while he was in this service - The third tour he entered and served, as a volunteer in the company of Capt William Buckner in the Regiment commanded by Colonel Anthony Thornton in militia service this was in the year 1778 as well as his recollection serves him, in the defence of that year - his time of volunteering on this tour, was not specified for any particular length of time, but on such occasions it was usual, to remain as long as the commanding officers considered their services necessary to repel the threatened invasion's, on this tour he served one month, the most of which he was stationed at Williamsburg in Virginia. He was discharged by the colonel of the Regiment at Williamsburg - He again entered the service a fourth tour, as a volunteer soldier under the command of Captain Wm Buckner, and Major O'Callaghan, and under these officers he served as well as he can now recollect six weeks  he is confident it was not less than six weeks, in this tour he entered the service in the year 1780 he thinks in the latter part of the summer of that year, the circumstances of which service he has heretofore stated - Col Heth was the colonel who commanded the Regiment to which the company in which he served on this tour belonged. After this  service he again in the year Cornwallis surrendered 1781 in the summer of that year, volunteered again

under Captain William Buchner, and marched with other troops to a place called Maubere's hills in Charles City county, & was there stationed some time, and was then detached, under the command of Colonel Mathis who was the colonel of the forces at Maubere's hills and while in this detachment he was in the engagement I wounded of which he has made merit - on in his former declaration, in this tour he served seven weeks , and was discharged as he has heretofore stated - He knows of no living witness besides the one whose testimony he heretofore, by whom he can prove his service or any part of it, he has no documentary evidence, whatever of his service - and for the above service he claims a pension - The above statement is the best he can make now of his service after the lapse of time it has been since he served his country & his loss of memory - sworn to & subscribed before me the date above.
James Dever S.P.M.C. W. M. Mathis Joseph Walston
State of Kentucky Marion County Set.
I, Samuel Spaulding Clerk of the Marion county court do hereby certify that James Dever whose name is subscribed to the above affidavit as a justice of the peace for said county, is a justice of the peace in and for said county duly commissioned and qualified as such according to law & that his signature thereto is genuine. In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand and affix my seal of office this 5 th day of May 1834.
Samuel Spaulding "
Clerk of Marion County Court -