Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S. 30734, for Daniel Thrasher, Massachusetts

SERVICE
Nass.
Thrasher, Daniel
NUMBER _____
S. 30734
CONTENTS

80 Hymns
as the rate of 26 Dollars per annum to commence on the 14th day of March, 1831.
and the
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I David Weston of Middleboro in the County of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts of the age of Seventy eight years, testify and say, that I was a soldier in Capt. Amos Wade's company, enlisted for eight months in April 1775 immediately after the battle of Lexington, and that said company served eight months at Roxbury and Dorchester. I further testify and say, that Daniel Thrasher then of Middleboro, now of Plymouth, and an applicant for a Pension, was a soldier in said company and served eight months in said company in Plymouth Dor- chester and Roxbury. I have always known said Daniel Thrasher. The company was a month or six weeks at Plymouth.
David Weston
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Plymouth ss. 8 th Aug. 1832 Then personally appeared the above named David Weston, and made oath that the above Deposition by him subscribed is true. And I further certify said David Weston is a credible witness.
Wm. Thomas, Justice of the Peace, & Commissioner, appointed by the Circuit Court for the Mass. Dist. to take Depositions.

I Nathaniel Thomas of Plymouth in the County of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, of the age of seventy six years, testify and say - That I was a soldier in Capt. Wadsworth's company in the Revolutionary War, and enlisted in April 1775, and was stationed in Plymouth. Doing duty about one or two months when orders came to join the Regiment in Roxbury. Capt. Wade's company of Middlesex marched at or about the same time - That company had been stationed at Plymouth. I further testify and declare that I well knew Daniel Thresher to be a soldier in Capt. Wade's company, knew him at Roxbury, and have known him ever since. He served eight months, and returned. I remember to have been on guard with him while at Roxbury. While at Plymouth I remember to have been on an expedition with him to Nantucket after flour from a Tory vessel, which we succeeded in getting for the troops at Roxbury.
Nathaniel Thomas

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Plymouth County ss.
12 th July 1832 - Then personally appeared, before me the subscriber, the within named Cathaniel Thomas and made oath, that the within declaration by him subscribed is true - Said Thomas being well known to me, as a man of truth and good character.
William Thomas, Justice of the Peace and Commissioner, appointed by the U.S. Circuit Court for the Mass. Dist. to take Depositions in all cases, in which Depositions may be taken in said Court.

I Levi Wright of Hingham in the County of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts of the age of seventy four - years, testify and say, that I was a soldier in the Revolutionary war in 1775 in Capt. Sampson's company, stationed at Roxbury in the vicinity of Boston. I further testify and declare that I knew Daniel Thresh- er formerly of Middleborough and now of Plymouth, and that he was a soldier in the company of Capt. Wade. I recollect him at Roxbury and he continued there throughout the enlistment, which was for eight months, to the best of my recollection and belief. I have known said Thresher ever since that time, he having afterwards married a sister of mine, who is now dead.
Levi Wright

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Plymouth County ss.
18 th July 1852. Then personally appeared, before me the subscriber, the within named Levi D. Dight and made oath, that the within declaration by him subscribed is true. And I further certify said Deponent is a credible witness.
Jonathan Parker Justice of the Peace
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Myrs. ss.
I, Nathaniel Holmes Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, being the Court of Records, in the County of Myrs. do hereby certify that William Holmes and Jonathan Parker signers before whom the foregoing affidavits were sworn are parties of the Peace for the County of Myrs. and that their names subscribed to said affidavits are their true and proper signatures.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of said Court on this twentieth day
of August 1852
Nathaniel Holmes

Daniel Thrasher Massachusetts No 6187.
admitted 8 Months
Hon. S. Capt. Jr Hon. S. 2 names

BRIEF in the case of Daniel Thrasher  of Plymouth County in the State of Massachusetts (Act 7th June, 1832.)
 1. Was the declaration made before a Court or a Judge? about  2. If before a Judge, does it appear that the applicant is disabled by bodily infirmity?  3. How old is he? 78 Years.  4. State his service, as directed in the form annexed. 
   Period. Duration of Service. Rank. Names of General and Field Officers under whom he served.   Years, Months, Days.     April In 1775 " 8 " Private Gen. Col Theophilus Cotton Lt Col Alden Colonel Wash, Comfy  
 5. In what battles was he engaged? none  6. Where did he reside when he entered the service? Plymouth Co. Mass  7. Is his statement supported by living witnesses, by documentary proof, by traditional evidence, by incidental evidence, or by the rolls? Three Living witnesses & Traditionary  8. Are the papers defective as to form or authentication? and if so, in what respect? no 
Certificate annexed
I  Certify that the foregoing statement and the answers agree with the evidence in the case above mentioned.
Chas. Little Examining Clerk.

Samuel Forster
Application for pension
Albany - N.Y.
No 6187.
...and that their statement is entitled to credit. also as to the amount, is a reasonable one. and is a credible who has ...is a gentleman residing in the town of ...to them that ...the government application was a constitutional soldier, and served as he states. And ...the investigation of the ...after the investigation of the ...the day and year aforesaid. ...the town of Albany, in the neighborhood of the residence of the said soldier of ...years of age; that he is ...who has subscribed and sworn to the above ...that we are well be- ...residing in the

REVOLUTIONARY PENSIONERS.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
COUNTY OF PLYMOUTH, ss.
ON this fourteenth day of August 1832, personally appeared in open Court, before the Court of Common pleas now sitting at Weymouth within and for said County of Plymouth, Daniel Thrasher a resident of Plymouth in said County of Plymouth, and Common- wealth of Massachusetts, aged seventy eight 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, 1832. He hereby relinquis- es every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present, and declares that his name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any State. That is to say, that he entered the service of the United States under the following named officers, and served as herein stated.
That in April 1775 immediately after the battle of Lexington he enlisted in the company under command of Capt. Alnos Wade, St. Archipas Cole, and Ensign - Wood, Col. Theophilus Cotton's Regiment, for eight months, and that he served eight months in said company. Said company with three other companies were a month or two in Plymouth under St. Col. Alden, and then joined the Troops in Dorchester and Roxbury. While in Ply- mouth the Applicant was one of a party, that manned out boats and crossed to Nantucket, and took a cargo of Flour out of a Tory vessel, which Flour was sent on for the supply of the Troops in the neighbourhood of Boston.
And the Applicant declares that he served eight months in the Militia, and had no written discharge - That he was born in Middleborough in said County of Plymouth in the year 1754, and that his birth age, as he believes, is recorded on the Town Books of that town. That he was

born in said Middleborough and has always been a resident of that Town until about seven years ago, since which he has lived in said Plymouth, and excepting a few years during immediately after said service, when his father moved to Plymouth, and he lived with him. He is known to the Hon. Wilkes Wood of Middleboro', Judge of Probate, and to Major Joseph Thomas, who served throughout the War, and to John B. Thomas, Clerk of the Judicial Courts, the two last of Plymouth.
Edward H. Thomas
Sworn and subscribed on the day & year aforesaid in the Court of Common Pleas
White & W. H. Thomas Clerk

We, Joseph Thomas  a clergyman , residing in the town of Weymouth and William Thomas residing in the same town hereby certify, that we are well acquainted with Daniel Harkness who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration; that we believe him to be seventy eight years of age; that he is reputed and believed, in the neighborhood where he resides, to have been a soldier of the revolution, and we concur in that opinion. Joseph Thomas
Sworn to, and subscribed, the day and year aforesaid. Wm. Thomas
in the Court of Common Pleas West. Mr. Thomas Clerk 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 abovenamed applicant was a revolutionary soldier, and served as he states. And the Court further certifies, that it appears to them that Joseph Thomas who has signed the preceding certificate, is a clergyman , resident in the town of Weymouth and that William Thomas who has also signed the same, is a resident in the town of Weymouth and is a credible person, and that their statement is entitled to credit.
By order of the Court West Mr. Thomas Clerk
I, John B. Morris of the Court of Common Pleas do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court in the matter of the application of Daniel Harkness for a pension.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office, this thirteenth day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty two
John B. Morris

30734 Reg  INVALID.
File No 30,734
Daniel Thrasher
His Rev. Jan
Act: June 7 th 39 th
Index:—Vol. 2 , Page 481
[Arrangement of 1870.]

BRIEF objections to the admission of Pension Claims , of which those answered in the negative, in red ink, will apply to the claim of Daniel Thrasher which require further proof or explanation.
I. Does the declaration show where the applicant resides? Yes, II. Did the declarant make the declaration in the county where he resides? Yes, III. If the applicant did not make the declaration in the county where he resides, is there any reason assigned for his not doing so? IV. Has the declarant mentioned the period or periods of the war when he served? Yes, V. * Has he mentioned with precision the length of his service, and the different grades in which he served, in language so definite as to enable the department to determine to what amount of pension he is entitled? Yes, VI. Has he given the names of the officers under whom he served, in conformity with the regulations? Yes, VII. Has he made a relinquishment of every claim to any other pension than the one under the Act of June 7, 1832? Yes, VIII. Has the Court given their opinion? Yes, IX. Has the Clerk given his certificate? Yes, X. Is the Clerk's seal affixed? And if so, has it a device or inscription by which it can be distinguished from any other seal? Yes,

XI. Has the applicant obtained the evidence of a clergyman and another respectable citizen as to their belief respecting his age and the general belief in his neighborhood relative to his revolutionary service? No,
XII. If the clergyman's affidavit has not been produced, is there any reason assigned for not obtaining it? no
XIII. If the applicant has no documentary evidence, and has not obtained the testimony of at least one living witness, has he stated in his declaration that such proof cannot be had? Three
living witnesses
XIV. † If the applicant's name is not found on the rolls of military service, has he produced a witness or witnesses as to his service? Yes
If he has produced direct proof as to service, has the magistrate who administered the oath, certified to the credibility of the witness or witnesses? Yes
Has the proper officer certified to the official character and signature of the magistrate as the regulations direct? Yes
XV. Does it appear from any of the papers that the witness was in such a situation, or of such an age, as to have a personal knowledge of the applicant's service? Yes
XVI. ‡ Are the papers authenticated as the regulations direct? Yes
XVII. Are the seven interrogatories prescribed by the War Department answered satisfactorily? And, if not, which of them is not so answered? Yes,
EXPLANATORY NOTES.
* QUERE V. In a case where the applicant cannot, by reason of the loss of memory, state precisely how long he served, he should amend his declaration by making an affidavit in the following words:
"Personally appeared before me, the undersigned, a Justice of the Peace, &c. A. B. who, being duly sworn, deposeeth and saith, that, by reason of old age, and the consequent loss of memory, he cannot swear positively as to the precise length of his service, but according to the best of his recollection he served not less than the periods mentioned below, and in the following grades; For _____ year _____ months, and _____ days, I served as a _____ For _____ months and _____ days, I served as a _____; and for such service I claim a pension."

It is important in all cases to determine with precision the period for which each applicant served, and the particular rank he held, as the law directs the pension to be paid according to the grade of the pensioner and the length of his service. The use of the phrase about three or four months is too indefinite, and all such qualifying expressions are objectionable. Some persons who apply for pensions merely state they served two years in the militia, &c. without specifying the tours; the names of the officers, and other particulars respecting their service. This form of a declaration is highly objectionable. It must in every case be clearly shewn under what officers the applicant served; the duration of each term of engagement; the particular place or places where the service was performed; that the applicant served with an embodied corps called into service by competent authority; that he was either in the field or in garrison; and for the time during which the service was performed, he was not employed in any civil pursuit.
† QUERE XIV.  Proof of Service.
In a case where the name of the applicant is not found on the records of the Department, he must prove his service by two credible witnesses, who are required to set forth in their affidavits the time of the claimants entering the service, and the time and manner of his leaving the same, as well as the regiment, company, and line to which he belonged. The magistrate who may administer the oaths must certify to the credibility of the witnesses, and the official character and signature of the magistrate must be certified by the proper officer, under his seal of office.
‡ QUERE XVI.  Mode of authenticating papers.
In every instance where the certificate of the certifying officer who authenticates the papers is not written on the same sheet of paper which contains the affidavit, or other paper authenticated, the certificate must be attached thereto by a piece of tape or narrow ribbon, the ends of which must pass under the seal of office of the certifying officer, so as to prevent any paper from being improperly attached to the certificate.
¶ In every case where the clerk of the court, or other certifying officer, has no public seal of office, the certificate of a member of congress, proving the official character and signature of the certifying officer, should accompany the papers.