Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File R. 10,829, Garret Vanosdaln, Va.

SERVICE
Ua.
Vanosdahl, Garret
NUMBER
R. 10.829
CONTENTS

State of Virginia } County of Morgan }
Is. - On this fifth day of April 1834, personally Appeared before me John Hutchinson a justice of the peace in and for said County, Garret Vanosdale
of the County of Hampshire, in the State aforesaid aged about 77 years, who being first duly sworn in due form of 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 from old age, infirmity and the consequent loss of memory he can not with precision state the times and places where & when he served as a soldier in the war of the revolution; but he submits the annexed Statement, which is true and to the best of his memory correct, altho' he thinks the statement of facts may not be placed in their proper order of time. viz.
That altho' he can not remember his times of service, he thinks he served at least three years as a private in the war of the revolution: his Captains were, Pickering (he thinks that was his name) Vanswearingin, Forman, and Jones. He can not now remember in which company he first entered, but thinks it was in Pickerings. He marched thro York & Lancaster to Philadelphia Pa. thro Jersey and to New York, was on Long Island at fort Washington, was in the army when the Skirmish took place at fort Lee, but was some distance off - was in several places in the State of New- Jersey; Trenton, Brunswick, Raritan and Pluckamin. He was in the army when General Green took about 700 Hessian prisoners at a place called Mon- mouth; he thinks this was in the State of Jersey - He was at the taking of the Tories at Cedar Swamp in Jersey under General Morgan - He was in New York when the plague prevailed there. He was in the service when the action took place at Bunker- Hill, but he was then some distance off - In this campaign he served at least one year. Most likely more or it is quite possible that the aforesaid services were not done in one campaign, but that his decayed memory does not enable him to separate dates -
He served another campaign under Captain Swearingin (called Indian Swearingin) against the Indians. The time of his service was at least 9 months, perhaps as much as 11 months - He entered at Martinsburg Va. Morrow was Col. He marched to the big crossings across the Alleghany Mountains thence to fort Pitt. There joined the Brigade under General McIntosh. From thence down the River and built a fort about 19 miles below Pitt. Thence across the Country to- wards the Muskingum and built another fort, and returned by the way of fort Pitt same time in February; the year he cannot remember but the time he well recollects; for the snow was very deep, and he had neither shoes nor Stock- ings; He and his fellow soldiers made a kind of boots out of Bear Skins with the woolly side in, which answered for shoes & stockings.
He served another campaign under Captain Forman, and thinks it was

was this time he went through Virginia, he remembers being at Alexandria and Dumfries. He can not remember the length of this campaign, but thinks it was at least 6 months and it might have been 12.
He thinks he served another campaign under a Captain Jones, and thinks this service was performed in Jersey.
He submits his Statement defective as it is, He has endeavored to be particular; but from his weak state of mind, it is very likely that there may be many errors of times and dates. As to the service under Captain Swan against the Indians he thinks he can not be mistaken. But as to the other services his mind is so confused that he can not in conscience be positive; this he knows, that he does not state any thing designedly untrue, and feels well assured that he served near three years in the army altho now he cannot trace out the particulars.
He relinquishes hereby every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present and he declares that his name is not on the pension roll of any agency of any State.
Sworn to and subscribed the day & year aforesaid; his Garret mark Vanosdalen
Question 1. st Where and in what year were you born?
Answer. In the State of New Jersey, on the 19 th of March 1757.
Quest. 2. Have you any Record of your age; if so where is it?
Answer. My age was recorded in my father's Bible in the Low Dutch language.
I still have the Bible, but the page on which my age was entered has been torn off.
Ques. 3 rd How were you called into service? were you drafted, did you volunteer, or were you a Substitute? if a Substitute, for whom?
Answer. I allways rather than stand a draft, volunteered. I never was drafted.
I served one campaign as a Substitute for a man of the name of Cookes of Shepherdstown V a . I think this tour was six months and the shortest one I served.
Ques. 4 th where were you living when called into service, and where do you now live?
Answer. When called into service I was living in Berkeley County V a . - Berkeley then comprehended in its bounds the present County of Berkeley, Jefferson and part of Morgan. In my different trips I allways marched from either Martinsburg Charles town or Shepherdstown, I now live in Hampshire County very near the line.
Question 5 th 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 such service
Answer. In addition to what I have said, I remember, that in the tour against the

The Indians, Lyle of Berkeley commanded a company --- When I was in Jersey I remember Captain Darke; and Washington was commander in Chief. I saw him many a time - I now recollect Glenn Lucas and Col. Joseph Swann.
Quest 6. th State the names of those persons to whom you are known in your present neighbourhood and who can testify to your character for veracity and their belief of your services as a soldier in the war of the revolution.
Answer - Mr. Hutchinson who now qualifies me knows me well, Messrs Jno. & Jacob Huff John Bechtel. Aaron Harlan, Israel Dawson Jacob Zeiler, and all the neighbours know me -
Garret his Vanosdalen mark
Sworn to and subscribed this 5 th day of April 1834, before me
John Hutchinson J. P.
We Jacob Huff and John Bechtel do hereby certify that we are well acquainted with Garret Vanosdalen who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration; that we believe him to be about 77 years of age; that he is quite infirm, and that he is reputed and believed in the neighbourhood where he resides to have been a soldier of the Revolution and to have served as he states, and that we concur in that opinion.
Sworn to and subscribed this 5 th day of April 1834
John Hutchinson J. P.
Jacob Huff his John X Bechtel mark
Morgan County Set.
I John Hutchinson a justice of the peace in and for Morgan County in the State of Virginia, do hereby certify that the foregoing are the original proceedings of Garret Vanosdalen, in order to obtain a pension under the act of trespass of June 7 th , 1832. I certify that he this day made oath before me to the statements to which his name is above subscribed; he is very infirm and in my opinion not able to attend court without very great inconvenience, if at all. He lives in Hampshire County, but very near the line, and there is no justice of the peace near him to whom he could conveniently apply in this case. I live in Morgan, very near the Hampshire line. I certify that Jacob Huff and John Bechtel who have signed and sworn to the above certificate are men of credit. I am well acquainted with the applicant Garret Vanosdalen, and after investigating the matter and putting the foregoing questions I am of opinion that he was a soldier of the Revolution as he states. I am a clergyman of the Baptist denomination. Given under my hand this 5 th day of April, 1834.
John Hutchinson
P.S. Garret Vanosdalen on his oath aforesaid says further Question. Did you ever receive a discharge? if so by whom was it signed & what has

has become of it?
Answer. Yes. I had several, 3 or 4. I gave them to an older Brother for safe-keeping. He went down the Ohio many years ago - and I have never heard of him since - I can not remember what officers signed these discharges. Sworn to as above this 5 th April 1834.
John Hutchinson J. P.
his Garret Vanosdalen mark
State of Virginia } ss. Morgan County }
I Jacob Richard, Clerk of the County Court of Morgan (it being a Court of Record) do hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy of the original proceedings had before John Hutchinson Esquire, by Garret Vanosdalen on the 5 th Instant, in order to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress of June 7 th , 1832. and now filed in the office of the Clerk of said Court - I further certify that the Rev. John Hutchinson, before whom the said Garret Vanosdalen made his declaration, and was sworn to it, - and who qualified Jacob Huff & John Bechtolt as witnesses, is, and was at the time, a justice of the peace, & a justice of the Court of said County of Morgan, duly commissioned, and legally qualified, and that full faith and credit are due, to all his official acts as such, as well within Court, as out thereof - and further, that I believe his signatures as above made, to be genuine.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my name, and affixed the seal of the said Court, this 10 th day of April, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and thirty four. - 1834.
J. Richard.
Garret Vanosdalen J.P. 30.6/76

May 1, 1935.
Mrs. S. F. Overstreet P. O. Box 184 Fort Pierce, Florida.
BA-J/ILL Garret Vanosdaln R. 10829
Dear Madam:
Reference is made to your letter in which you state that the Garret Vanosdel whose Revolutionary War record you desire, was born in Frederick County, Virginia, served from Virginia and had a wife whose name was Sarah, also a son, Cornelius.
There is no claim for pension on file based upon service of a Garret Vanosdel identical with the one described by you, under any spelling of that surname. The record of one has been found who served from Virginia and applied for pension while a resident of that state; his record is furnished heroin, as it may aid you in your research.
Garret Vanosdaln, as his name is shown, was born March 19, 1757, in New Jersey; the names of his parents are not shown.
On April 5, 1834, he resided in Hampshire County, Virginia, "near the line". He applied then for pension on account of his service as a private in the Revolutionary War and stated, that he served at various times between the time of the battle of Bunker Hill and the surrender at Yorktown, amounting in all to about three years, under Captains Pickering, Joseph Swearingen, Forman, Lyle and Jones, Colonels Morrow and Shepherd, that he was in New Jersey at the time the Hessians were taken, at Fort Lee in a skirmish, was in the campaign against the Indians below Fort Pitt under General McIntosh, and was in Virginia after the surrender of Cornwallis, but he did not give the definite dates of service. He stated further that he lived in Berkeley County, Virginia (which then included Berkeley, Jefferson and part of Morgan County) and marched each time from Martinsburg. Charles

Town and Shepherdstown, and that he served a tour as substitute for a man in the last named town.
His claim for pension was not allowed as he failed to furnish proof of service as required by the pension laws.
Not true - Jan 18 34 Garret Vanosdall stated that he received several discharges while in service and that he entrusted them to his older brother who "went down the Ohio" many years ago; he did not state the name of this brother. (This statement was made in 1834.)
In 1834, one Cornelius Vanosdall was aged about thirty-five years, and was a neighbor of the soldier; he stated that he had been acquainted with the soldier since infancy, but did not state any relationship between them. There is no reference to the soldier's wife.
Very truly yours,
A. D. HILLER, Executive Assistant to the Administrator.

Garet Vanasdel Virginia
Discharged -
Letter 13 Sept. 1834
Henry A. Bryan -
10829

Clarkburg, W. Va.
Nov. 30, 1921.
Dept of Interior:
Comm. of Pensions,
Washington, D.C.
Dear Sir:
Is there a record of Garrett van Odel having been pensioned or applying for a pension after the Revolutionary war . He was born 1758- died 1848. Married Sarah - (don't know her maiden name) Cornelius van Odel was a son of Garrett and

Sarah Vanordel. Would appreciate an early reply - Thanking you for same - Yours Truly Mrs. Glenn F. Williams. Lyons Apt "M". Clarkburg. W. Va.

1921, Dec. 16 hist. to Mrs. Glenn F Williams - En 1935 - May 1 Hist. to Mrs. F. F. Overstreet I. L. L.
108 pg.
P. O. _____
Garret Vanosdalen
Service: _____ Vanosdaln
A.O.T. Aug. 24, 1906 REJECTED
Enlisted: _____, 18
Discharged: _____, 18
Application filed: _____, 18
Alleges: _____
Re-enlisted: List of rejected claims printed in 1852 shows cause of rejection "No proof of service" En
Attorney: _____
P. O. _____
_____ Recognized. _____ Contr.
_____ Cert. of Dis. Searched for _____, 18

Mar 2nd
pg
Feb 13-1834
In If Garret Vanarsdale has lost his memory so that he cannot give a distinct and consistent account of his services and evidence from other sources not being furnished, no basis but conject- ure is left for the ascertaining whether he entitled to any allowance under the act of 1832. This Department possesses no power to grant pensions but upon well established facts. There being none such in this case, the papers will not remain on file until they are furnished. If no satisfactory proof of actual service is made the application must fail.
Henry A Byrne Esq Berkley Springs Virginia

Department of War Pension Office April 26-1834
Sir:
I have examined the declaration of Gault Mans= dier, and have herewith returned it, for amendment.
The rules require that the Service should be distinctly stated, both as to time and duration - that each term be separately set forth, whether in the Militia or the Con= tinental, or State Troops. The Militia terms in Virginia were three months during the revolutionary war. The applicant will therefore furnish the Department with the required amendment. -
I am Respectfully Yr. Ob. Servant J L Edward
Henry C Byrne Esq Barkley Springs Va

April 18, 1935.
BA-J/ILL
Mrs. S. F. Overstreet P. O. Box 134 Fort Pierce, Florida.
Dear Madam:
Reference is made to your letter in which you request the Revolutionary War record of Garrett Vanosdale or Van'orsdale, born 1758 and died 1848.
In order to identify the record of the particular soldier with that name in whom you are interested, kindly state, in addition to the date of his birth and death, his residence at enlistment and after service, and the given name of his wife, or widow. Another search of the records will be made then, and a report furnished.
Very truly yours,
A. D. HILLER, Executive Assistant to the Administrator.
Several (3) one b. 1758, one 1757 - deaths (Pa - service + pay) not shown.

Rev. War Section. 1910829 u
December 16, 1921.
Mrs. Glenn F. Williams, Lyons Apt. M., Clarksburg, W. Va.
Madam:-
In response to your letter dated November 30, 1921, you are advised that from the papers in the claim Rof. No. 16829, Rev. War it appears that Garret Vanosdaln was born March 19, 1757 in New Jersey, and was living in Berkeley County, Virginia at the time of the Revolution.
He alleged that he served 3 years under Captains Pickering, Swearingen, Forman and Jones, and Colonels Morrow and Shepherd, dates not stated.
He applied for pension April 5, 1834, while residing in Hampshire County, Virginia, but his claim was not allowed as he failed to furnish satisfactory proof of his services as required by the pension laws. It is not stated whether he was married.
Very respectfully,
Commissioner.

STATE OF FLORIDA NORTH ST. LUCIE RIVER DRAINAGE DISTRICT
OFFICE OF SECRETARY FORT PIERCE, FLORIDA
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS N. F. ENNS, PRESIDENT L. L. CARLTON E. HARTMAN S. F. OVERSTREET, SEC'Y
April, 25 1935
Veterans Administration Washington, D.C.
Att: mr. A.D.Hiller
Dear Mr. Hiller:
Your letter of April, 18th has been received.
I have very little information concerning the Revolutionary War Record of Garret Vanosdel . He was born in Frederick County, Virginia and enlisted from there. Or at least that is the record that has been given me. His wife's name was Sarah and they had one son, Cornelius Vanosdel. Garret Vanosdel was born 1758 and dies 1848.
I wrote to the State Historical Society, Richmond, Va., asking for any information that they might have but they wrote that their records were so incomplete that they could give me anything concerning him, and asked that I write the Veterans Bureau.
Thanking you for the favors past I am,
Yours very truly, Mrs. S.F. Overstreet Mrs. S.F. Overstreet P.O.Box 184 Ft. Pierce, Fla.

Berkeley Springs V a Sept. 9 th 1834
Sir.
Enclosed you have Garet Vanosdalns declaration for a pension made in April last, with amendments now made, agreeably to your letter herewith returned.
The amendment is still in my view somewhat imperfect. But I am satisfied it is the best he can possibly make. Mr. Vanosdaln was always as I am informed by his neighbors of a very simple and innocent turn of mind, and old age has now nearly reduced him to dead dotage. All his neighbors bear unswerving testimony to his veracity & integrity as far as his memory goes. He bids me ask the department to look over his papers again, and if his description of his services or of any of his campaigns is satisfactory, to make him the lawful allowance, and let me know the result. Should his application be rejected entirely, he wishes  wants to know the result thro' me. Yrs respectfully
Henry A. Byrne

State of Virginia } ss. On this eighth day of September 1834, personally appeared Morgan County. } before me John Hutchinson a justice of the peace of said County, Garret Vanosdale, and being duly sworn, does on his oath make the following amendments to his declaration, of the fifth April 1834 in order to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress of June 7 th , 1832, viz. That he cannot remember the year in which he served in Captain Swearingin's company, but it was that year in which Col. Morrow & Major Scott marched from Berkeley west, against the Indians, Lyle's company from Berkeley formed part of the Regiment, when we got to the west Genl. McIntosh was the general. The two forts he helped to build as stated in his former declaration, were called forts McIntosh & Laurens. He is still very confident he served at least 9 months this campaign for he went out early in the Spring, and did not leave fort Pitt, on his return until the next January or February.
The next season he served an other campaign, under the same Capt. Swearingin pretty much the same route as the last, only that he was discharged on the Ohio Riv- er a little above Wheeling, as there was a report that the Indians had fled; this campaign lasted 3 months, or a little more. He thinks the Col's name was Shep- herd, Col. Morrow was not out this time; In both these tours under Swearingin, he volunteered, and was principally induced to do so by promises of western bounty land. The campaign which he served as a substitute for Cookes, he thinks was under Capt. Pickering Pickering, and it was in this as well as he recollects, that he marched thro. Pennsylvania New Jersey, to New York &c. as set forth in his former declaration. This term of service he is still of opinion was 6 months, such was the terms of the draft., and he served it out fully - He does not remember the year, but in either this or in an other cam- paign served by him in the same part of the country, the defeat of the Tories at Cedar Swamp took place, and other circumstances mentioned in his declaration.
He served two other campaigns under Captains Forman & Jones, as well as he recollects, such were their names. One of these campaigns he served in Virginia, and during it was at Alexandria, Dumfries, & other places in that part of Virginia; it was in this town he thinks, his company fell in with some of the prisoners taken at York- town under Cornwallis; he was employed with the rest of the company to guard them on to York P a Then they were delayed a good while by a mortal sickness among the British prisoners; and afterwards he marched on with these prisoners eastwards in the direction of New York, but did not reach so far, when he was discharged. In this tour he thinks he must have served 9 months, but at least six months. The other of these campaigns he has a very indistinct recollection of; owing he thinks to its having been served in nearly the same parts with that under Pickering - viz in New Jersey and about New York; he served no campaign of less than three months;

and to the best of his memory none less than six months, except the second one, under - Swainson against the Indians, as before stated.
He has no documentary evidence of his services; nor does he know of any person now living who could prove them - The above is as distinct an account of his services as his de- cayed memory enables him to give of them in the war of the Revolution, he submits it as it stands, and asks for such allowance as from the nature of the case may seem right, to the War Department.
Subscribed & sworn to this 8 th day of September 1834 before me
his Garret (X) Vanosdall mark
John Hutchinson, J. P.
I Cornelius Vanosdall aged about thirty five years do certify that I am a near neighbour to Garret Vanosdall, the above applicant; that I am well acquainted with him, and have been so from my infancy. That he is reputed and believed in the neighbourhood where he resides to have been a soldier of the Revolution, and that I concur in that opinion. As far back as I can recollect, I have heard him speaking of his services in the war of the Revolution. Especially, I have often, when I was a boy, heard him and a certain Thomas Bennett (now deceased) a miller of our neigh- bourhood, who was said to have been a soldier of the Revolution, recounting to each other their services and sufferings in the Revolutionary War. The applicant Garret Vanosdall has now lost his memory to a very great extent. Sworn to and Subscribed the day & year aforesaid, before me
John Hutchinson J. P.
3 Cornelius Vanosdall
Morgan County Set.
I John Hutchinson, a justice of the peace of said county certify that Garret Vanosdall, who has signed and sworn to the foregoing amen- -ded declaration, is the same Garret Vanosdall who made his original declara- -tion before me on the fifth day of April 1834 for the same purpose; and that he still continues, as then, weak & infirm and appears to be of very de- -cayed memory - And I further certify that it appears to me that Cornelius Vanosdall who has signed and sworn to the above certificate, is a credible person, and that his statement is entitled to credit. Given under my hand this eighth day of September 1834.
John Hutchinson, J. P.

State of Virginia } To wit: Morgan County. }
I Jacob Richard, Clerk of the County Court of Morgan, (it being a Court of Record,) do hereby certify that the foregoing is a copy of the original, (annexed) proceedings had before John Hutchinson Esquire, by Garret Vanosdall on the 8 th day of September 1834 in order to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress of June 7 th , 1832; and now filed in the office of the Clerk of said Court. — I further certify that the Rev. John Hutchinson, before whom the said Garret Vanosdall made his amended declaration, and was sworn to it, and who qualified Cornelius Vanosdall as a witness, is, and was at the time a justice of the peace, and a justice of the Court of said County of Morgan, duly commissioned, and legally qualified, and that full faith and credit are due to all his official acts as such, as well within said Court, as out thereof. — and further, that I believe his signatures as above made to be genuine.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my name and affixed the seal of the said Court, this ninth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty four. — 1834.
J. Richard.