Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File B. L. Wt. 2296-300, for Ezra Lunt, Massachusetts

SERVICE
NUMBER
Mass
Lunt, Ezra
B.L. Wt. 2296-300.
CONTENTS

Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Essex ss. Town of Newburyport. Be it known and made manifest to all whom the same doth or may concern, that on the sixth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty one, before me William Woart Notary Public for the county of Essex, by legal authority commissioned and sworn, and a Justice of the peace and Quorum in and for said county residing therein personally came, William Pike Lunt, Joseph Moody and Eleazer Johnson Jun r whose names, respectively, were signed to the annexed depositions in my presence, and severally made oath in due form of Law, to the truth of the facts and allegations stated therein. I do also certify that the within named Eleazer Johnson Jun r is Clerk of the said Town of Newburyport, duly elected to that Office and sworn according to Law and that the within named Joseph Moody is a Deacon of the First Presbyterian Church in Newburyport aforesaid.
In testimony whereof I do also hereunto set my hand and affix my seal of Office the day, month, and year first above written. Wm Woart Not Pub for Pa
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Essex ss.
I John Prince Jr. Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas do hereby certify that William Woart Esquire before whom the above affidavit was sworn is a justice of the Peace and Quorum within and for said County, and that I believe his signature thereto is genuine.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand & affixed the seal of said Court this ninth day of December A.D. 1831.
John Prince Jr. Clk 2
for 50/100

Ezra Sunit N. 2296

Washington 18 Nov. 1842
Sir:
I have enquired of Mr Blake, who informs me that the Land Office will act on a warrant to the heirs of Ezra Lunt, or which I think would be the better form to the legal representatives of Mr P. Lunt. Mrs Lucia Coffin, and Mrs — Brough / whose christian name appears in the papers filed in your Office.
Yours respectfully Cluett
J. L. Edwards Esqr

Hours of Captain Ezra Lunt
Jan 19 - 1833

STATE of Massachusetts } County of Essex }
I William Pike Lunt heir at law of Capt Ezra Lunt do, upon oath testify and declare; to the best of my knowledge and belief, that Capt Ezra Lunt — did enlist in 17 — for the term of during the war, and served in the regiment No. — — — under the command of Colonel Moses Little of the Massachusetts line; and that he continued in the service aforesaid, until the end of the War I further declare, that I have never received a warrant for the bounty land prom- ised to my Father Capt Ezra Lunt on the part of the United States; nor do I believe that he ever received it, or transferred his claim to it in any manner whatsoever: therefore,
KNOW all men by these presents, That I, William Pike Lunt aforesaid, do hereby constitute and appoint Gordon Huntington of Wadsworth to be my true and lawful attorney, for me and in my name to demand and receive from the Secretary of War of the United States, a Warrant for the quantity of Land due to me as aforesaid; and my said attorney is hereby fully authorized and empowered to con- stitute and appoint one or more substitutes or attorneys under him, for the special purpose above expressed.
Attest. John Litz, Lucius Selby
William P. Lunt
Personally appeared the above named William Pike Lunt subscriber to the foregoing declaration, and in my presence acknowledged the power of attorney thereto subjoined, to be his free act and deed, for the purposes therein mentioned.
Attest.
John Litz, Justice of the Peace.
In testimony that the above written John Litz was a magistrate authorized to administer oaths, and take acknowledgments, &c. in the State of Massachusetts at the above date, and that his name there subscribed appears to me to be his usual signature, I have hereunto affixed the county seal, and subscribed my name and quality, at Salem this eighteenth day of November 1830.
John P. Lunt C. Clerk, &c.

(A)
I, Eleazer Johnson Jr, Clerk of the Town of Newbury Port, as unto declare & say, that it appears by the original entries in the Records of said town in my custody,
That Ezra Lunt notified his intention of marriage with Eliza- beth Pierce, September 14th 1765: -
And that Ezra Lunt notified his intention of marriage with Mary Coffin January 9th 1768. -
Eleazer Johnson Jr

(B)
I, Joseph Moody, Deacon of the First Presbyterian Church in Newbury Port, on oath declare & say, that it appears by the original entries in the Records of said Church in my custody, That Betty, daughter of Ezra Lunt & Elizabeth his wife, was bap- tized November 2nd 1766:-
That Ezra Lunt & Mary Coffin were married January 24th 1768, & had the following children baptized at the times here- inafter specified, namely,
William Pike Lunt, April 30th 1769:-
Moody Lunt, August 18th 1771:-
Lucia Lunt, April 11th 1773:- &
Ezra Lunt, February 12th 1775:-
That on careful examination of said Records I do not find they had any other children:-
And that Mary Lunt, widow of Ezra Lunt, & mother of the four last named children, was buried in May 1808:-
Joseph Moody

I, William P. Lunt, of Newbury Port, in the County of Essex & State of Massachusetts, being lawfully sworn, do testify & declare as follows:
My father, Captain Ezra Lunt, died in Alexandria in the District of Columbia, in 1804, as I believe. After this war he resided some time at Ma- rietta, in Ohio; but I have no knowledge of his having ever left the United States.
I possess much knowledge of his family, as well personal knowledge as that derived from records & other sources, as to be positive that any estate of which he died seized, or any claims to which he might be entitled, could have descended only to three persons, his sole legitimate heirs, or to their legal representatives, - of which three I am one.
It appears by the Town Records of Newbury Port (See Doc. A), that September 14th 1765 Capt. Ezra Lunt notified his intention of marriage with Elizabeth Peirce. That marriage took place, & the only fruit of it was Betsey Lunt, my father's eldest daughter, who was baptized November 2nd 1766, as appears by the Church Records of the First Presbyterian Church in Newbury Port (See Doc. B).
This daughter, Betsey Lunt, was afterwards married to one Borough, as I have understood, who lived in or near the District of Columbia. She had previously removed from Newbury Port, & I have no knowledge of her subsequent history. If living, she is legally entitled to one third of Capt. Ezra Lunt's estate; or her children, if she has deceased & left children; & if she died without children, then of course

her share belongs to me & to the children of my sister Lucia hereinafter mentioned.
Soon after the birth of Betsey, her mother, Elizabeth Lunt, died, leaving no other child.
It appears by the Town Records (See Doc. A), that January 9 th 1768 bap t . Ezra Lunt notified his intention of marriage with Mary Coffin, whom he married January 24 th 1768, as appears by the aforesaid Church Records (See Doc. B). They had four children, namely William Pike (myself), Moody, Lucia, & Ezra. Moody & Ezra died in infancy. There remained myself & my sister Lucia, the only two children of that marriage, who arrived at maturity.
I was baptized in Newbury Port April 30 th 1769, as appears by the Church Records above mentioned (See Doc. B), and am of course in my 63 rd year.
My sister Lucia was baptized in Newbury Port April 11 th 1773, as appears by the same Church Records (See Doc. B). She was afterwards married to David Coffin, & had four children by him, three of whom are living, and all of these are adults, namely Rufus Coffin, who is now abroad, but was formerly a resident of this town, Lucia Ann Dow, married & residing in Wakefield in the State of New Hampshire, & Harriet Coffin, unmarried, who also lives in Wakefield. The fourth child of this marriage, Albert Coffin, is supposed to be dead, but the fact is not positively

known.
I am sure of the fact that my sisters Betsey & Lucia, or their respective legal representatives, & myself, are the only lawful heirs of Capt. Ezra Lunt, because I know the facts, herein stated, as to the children he had by his two wives herein named, and he never was divorced from my mother, his second wife, who survived him four years, having died in May 1808, as appears by the Church Records before cited (See B). If any persons, other than those I have mentioned, appear claiming to be his children, they must of necessity be illegitimate children or impostors.
William Rike Lunt

10
183 3 / 4
Gordon Huntington esq.
Windham —
Connecticut —
Single

To the honorable Daniel A. White, judge of probate for the county of Essex.
Respectfully shews William Pike Sunt, of Newburyport in said county, that he is a son and heir at law of Ezra Sunt, late of Newburyport in said county, gentleman, deceased, intestate, who was a captain in the Massachusetts line of the American army in the war of the revolution; which he is ready to verify. Wherefore he prays, that this fact may be entered of record in the probate office for said county, and a certificate of the same granted, so that he may obtain a warrant for the bounty land, promised on the part of the United States to his said father for his service in said army.
Ipswich, December 7, 1830. William Pike Sunt, by Gordon Huntington, his attorney.
Essex, ss. At a court of probate held at Ipswich in and for said county on the first Tuesday in December, A.D. 1830.
The foregoing petition being duly considered, It is thereupon decreed, that the prayer thereof be granted; it being made to appear, that William Pike Sunt, of Newburyport in said county, is a son and heir at law of Ezra Sunt, late of said Newburyport, gentleman, deceased, intestate, therein named.
D. A. White, judge of probate.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Essex, ss. Probate office, May 10, 1831.
I, Nathaniel Lord junior, register of probate for said county, hereby certify, that the foregoing is a true copy of record.
Witness my hand and the seal of the court of pro- bate for said county.
Nath. Lord jr.

2 I Aaron Pardee, of Newburyport in the county of Essex and commonwealth of Massachusetts, merchant, depose and say, that William Pike Sunl, of said Newburyport, is the son of the late capt. Ezra Sunl, a captain in the Massachusetts line of the American army in the war of the revolution.
Aaron Pardee.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
County of Essex. — Town of Newburyport.
Personally came the above named Aaron Pardee, and made solemn oath, that the above affidavit, by him subscribed, is true. On this seventeenth day of November, A.D. eighteen hundred and thirty.
Before me, John Tibb, justice of the peace.
Essex, ss. Probate office, May 10, 1831.
The foregoing is a true copy as on file.
Attest.
Nathl. Lord Jr., register.
W. Sunl, Horney.

Newbury Port 3 June 1839
Sir,
I beg leave to recall your attention to the Lunt claim, concerning which I corresponded with you in 1831 & 1832.
It has been or can be proved conclusively, by authentic evidence, that Mrs. Brough (Betty Lunt), Mrs. P. Lunt, & Mrs. Coffin (Lucia Lunt) are legitimate heirs of Capt Ezra Lunt , & entitled to his bounty land.
Their claim is contested by Ezra Lunt of Alexandria. But Ezra Lunt has not produced, & cannot produce, a title of evidence that he is a legitimate heir of Capt. Ezra Lunt.
Under these circumstances, it does seem to me very extraordinary that the legitimate children & heirs of Capt Ezra Lunt should be shut out of their rights, merely because a person who is a stranger in law, or at any rate only an illegitimate son of Capt Lunt, interposes a claim.
Mr. Taney, when Attorney General, suggested a suit to try the rights of the parties. But the true heirs are poor & cannot afford a suit. And moreover, how & whom shall they sue? -
What legal or plausible evidence of his claim does Ezra Lunt offer? None that I have ever seen. His application (or affidavit) sets forth that he is "now & one of the heirs at law of Ezra Lunt". But he gives no proof of the marriage of his mother, or indeed of his own parentage. (He does not even assert it)
The other affidavit, of Cobhagan & Welch, is mere hearsay, entitled to no regard whatever. They "sincerely believe"

that Capt. E. L. left no other children than the above named Eva & Mrs. Brugh; & if so, they verily believe a notorious falsehood; for it is provable to demonstration, by public records & a multitude of witnesses, that Mr. P. Lunt & Lucia Riffin are legitimate children of Capt. Eva Lunt, & that during the whole period of the cohabitation of Capt Lunt with the mother of Eva of Alexandria, Capt Lunt had a lawful wife living in Massachusetts.
I would respectfully ask to have this case record- ed upon its merits. Eva Lunt can produce no evidence of her own legitimacy; that of Mr. P. & of Lucia is, or can be made, satisfactory & conclusive to any mind whatever. I am,
Yours respectfully Clasbing
Mr. Gordon Esq.

B. 245 1
June 18.
Bounty Land Offer June 18. 1839.
The Will does not in my opinion affect the rights of the lawful heirs of Sent to the Bounty land
There appear to be from the document submitted to be to Mrs. Betty Lunt / Mrs. Priscilla / Mrs. P. Lunt & Lucia Lunt / Mrs. Coffin
J. P.

Brief - of the facts and testimony in the contested case referred to in the accompanying papers -
It is shown by the records in this Office that Ezra Sunt, was a Captain in the Massachusetts Continental line, and that, for his services therein, he acquired a right to bounty land from the U. States. At his decease in 1804, he had a vested right in 300 acres of land in the Military Reserve in the State of Ohio, appropriated by Congress for satisfying the Warrants for land bounties granted to the Officers and soldiers of the Continental lines of the Army; for which 300. acres of land, it appears no Warrant, or Patent, has ever issued; the same is therefore still due to his devisees, or heirs at law. In this land, conflicting claims were filed in this Office in 1832, and the same were, at that time, submitted to the Secretary of War, and by him referred to the Attorney General, whose opinion in relation thereto, will appear among the within papers. Since that opinion was made known to the respective claimants, the case has remained suspended and undecided, and is now sought to be revived, as will appear by the accompanying letter dated the 3 d inst from the Hon ble C. Cushing -
The testimony adduced by the claimants in Massachusetts, satisfactorily proves, it is thought, that Capt n Sunt, was first married in that State, in the year 1765, and that, his Wife dying in a year or two thereafter, he again married in the year 1768; that by his first marriage, he had a daughter named Betsey, now Betsey Brough, supposed to be living in the State of Kentucky - that, by his second marriage he had four children, two of whom died in their infancy. One, a daughter, died leaving children, and one, a Son, now living in Mass ts - that his second Wife died in the year 1808. Thereby surviving her husband about four years, he having died in Alexandria, in this District, in the year 1804, leaving a Will, a copy of which is herewith enclosed -
Capt n Sunt, it appears left Mass ts after the termination of the War and settled

in the State of Ohio, where, it is alleged, he again married (notwithstanding the existence of his lawful Wife residing in Mass ts ), by which alleged Marriage, he had one Son named Ezra Sunt, now residing in Alexandria — This Son, is one of the present applicants, and contends that, himself, and his sister Betsy Brough, (who, it appears is recognized by both of the contending parties) are the sole surviving Divisees, or heirs at law, of their father, Capt m Sunt, and have filed, in support of their claim the copy of the Will, before referred to — The bounty land in dispute, not being referred to by the Testator in his last Will, or specifically devised by any clause thereof, and the same being considered a part of the Real estate of the Testator, it is desirable to know, whether the clause in the Will in these words, Viz t — "And what legacies the law allows to be paid out to my lawful heirs which is all that I Will them to have of my property, except such of them as are hereafter named," is to be so construed, as to deprive the lawful heirs, except the two specially named, of a participation in the bounty land in question — I would, with great deference, here observe that, if the claim of Ezra Sunt, of Alexandria, is not sustained by the Will, it would necessarily follow that, he must be shut out altogether; inasmuch as, the Marriage of which he was the issue (if such Marriage was ever consummated) was unlawful, and the fruits thereof, illegitimate, it being in proof that, the second, and lawfully wedded Wife of Capt m Sunt, was then living in Mass ts and did actually survive him some three or four years.
Respectfully submitted to the Hon ble Secretary of War
by his Ob t Serv t
Wm Gordon
Bounty Land Office June 17 th 1839

Opinion of the Attorney General

Attorney General's Office January 15. 1832
Sir,
I have examined the papers shewing the conflicting claims made by two individuals to the bounty lands to which the late Capt Ezra Sunt. of the Massachusetts line was entitled.—
It does not appear to be a case proper for me to decide. Either party ought to have the opportunity of trying his title in court if he desires it. And I am unwilling to embarrass ei=ther party in the assertion of his right in a ju=dicial proceeding by advising an absolute con=veyance to the adverse claimant.
I therefore recommend that the parties be required by an amicable proceeding between themselves to have the right settled by a judicial decision before a grant to either is made by the Government.
I am Sir very respectfully Yr obt st—
R. B. Taney
The Honble
The Secretary of War

Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Essex, ss. Probate office. I Daniel A. White, judge of probate for said county, hereby certify, that William-Pike Lunt, of Newburyport in said county, is a son and heir at law of Ezra Lunt, late of Newburyport aforesaid, gentleman, deceased, intestate, who was a captain in the Massachusetts line of the American army in the war of the revolution; as appears by the records in said office.
Given under my hand and the seal of the court of probate for said county this seventh day of December in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty. D A White
Attest.
C Nath l Lordis, register.

Newport 25 June 1839
Dear Es:
I have yours of the 21st. - I have at hand the means of proving, according to the requisite forms, the heirship of Mrs. Bury, of Mr. P. Lunt, & of the children of Mrs. Coffin. But the heirs by the second marriage have no convenient means of acting in concert with Mrs. Bury or her heirs. Cannot the certificate be issued to Mr. P. Lunt for his separate share, & the same to the heirs of Mrs. Coffin?
I am
Yours respectfully
Cluett
Mr. Gordon Esq.

Newbury Port December 3rd 1831.
Sir:-
Mr William P. Lunt having consulted me in regard to his claim as one of the heirs of Cap. Ezra Lunt, I have caused affidavits to be taken, which are herewith enclosed, comprising, as I am instructed, a full & true exposition of the facts, covering all the points relevant to the application, which he has filed in the Bounty Land Office. If further information is needed, it will be supplied immediately, on your suggestion of any remaining subject of doubt or inquiry. -
The rights of the claimant, agreeably to the laws of descent established in this State, are very plain. If Betsey Lunt (Brough), or her heirs begotten of her body, be living; then Capt. Ezra Lunt's bounty claim should be divided into three equal portions, of which William P. Lunt will be entitled to one portion, and the children of Mrs. Lucia Coffin to the remaining portion; and if Betsey Lunt died, leaving no lawful heirs of her body, then William P. Lunt is entitled to one half, and the children of Lucia Coffin to the other half.
The fact that Capt. Ezra Lunt's second wife survived her husband, and that he was only twice lawfully married, can be proved by additional evidence , if requisite.
Very respectfully
Your ob. servt
Caleb Cushing
Wm Gordon Esqr Bounty Lands Office.