Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S. 33370, for John Leonard, New Jersey

SERVICE
NUMBER
New Jersey
Leonard, John
S. 33370
CONTENTS

19.489. R
John Persons
John Leonard
of Choc 6 th in the State of Pennsylvania who was a Private in the Company commanded by Captain Morgan of the regiment commanded by Colonel Wick in the Pennsylvania line, for the term of one year from Dec 1775 to Dec 1776.
Inscribed on the Roll of Miss Patten at the rate of 6 Dollars per month, to commence on the 8 th of July 1825
Certificate of Pension issued the 28 th of July 1825 and unto Hon. S. Condit Morristown N. Jersey
Arrears to 4th of Semi-ann. all'ce ending Sept. 1825  15:25
6. 19 1. 15 8 15:25
$ 15:25
{ Revolutionary claim Acts March 18, 1818 and May 1, 1820.
March 1. 1825
1

Declaration of John Lenzend in order to obtain a pension, under acts of Congress.

State of New Jersey Essex County, ss - } At an inferior court of common pleas held at Newark in and for said county at the term of June in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty five, personally appeared in open court on the second day of July in the year of our Lord (said court being a court of record, proceeding according to the course of the common law, with a jurisdiction unlimited in amount, keeping a record of its proceedings and having a seal) John Leonard a resident in said county, aged sixty nine years, who being duly sworn according to law, made the following declaration in order to obtain the provisions made by the acts of congress of March 10 th 1810, and March 1 st 1820. That he the said John Leonard enlisted for the term of one year in the month of October or early in the month of November as he verily believes and in the year of our Lord 1775, in the company of Captain Joseph Morris in Colonel Linds Regiment of the New Jersey line, which Regiment was laid up on the continental establishment as this deponent believes immediately after the declaration of independence by congress in July 1776, and this deponent further states that in his first declaration made before this court for the purpose of obtaining his pension in the term of January last (1825) he then declared the time of his enlistment to have been in February 1776 in the city of New York, yet upon further reflection and conversation with his old comrades & particularly with Nyeal Munden, Ezra Brown and Thomas Mitchell he is perfectly satisfied that in that respect he was mistaken, owing to lapse of time and the effects of age upon his memory. That his company lay in New York so long before their embarkation for Albany and Canada, as to make a strong impression on his mind that it was in that city where his enlistment was made, he is now well assured that he was at Captain Morris house as one of his company when it was inspected & reviewed, by Review Master Dayton immediately before marching for Elizabeth Town in 1775 November 1775. Many incidents occurring upon that occasion and upon that march

being now fresh in his recollection. & that his enlistment was in Morris County, in the latter part of October or early in November 1775. That he served faithfully in the said Company and Regiment for the whole period of his enlistment, and principally upon the Northern Campaign in Canada. Under General Sullivan and others, that his Company and Regiment embarked for Albany at New York some time in May or June 1776. and proceeded to Ticonderoga and across Lake Champlain and down the Iroq River into Canada. That he was one of the Boatmen selected by Colonel Winds to row his barge down the Iroq, that he was present at personally engaged in the Battle of the Three Rivers, & returned with the retreating American Army to Ticonderoga, where he was dismissed with the rest of the Company & permitted to return home, about the last of November or first of December 1776. Whilst serving in this Northern Campaign Ezra Brown & Thomas Mitchell were his comrades, and during duty with him in the same company, and were intimate acquaintan- ces before enlistment as well as ever since their discharge. Nahal Munson and Philip Scudder belonged to Capt. Howell's Company in the same Regiment, (viz Col. Wind's) & we also were well acquainted, being each other daily & social in our duties, as well as in our diversions, and this deponent further saith that about the month of            in the year of our Lord seventeen hundred and seventy seven, he again enlisted in Captain Cutler's Company in Colonel Woodhull's Regiment of the Connecticut Line at Chatham in Morris County in New Jersey, and was afterwards transferred to Captain Shelton's Company and served in this Regiment about six months & was dismissed at Chatham, was at the battles of Monmouth, Brim Spring (now called Metuchen) Connecticut Farms, at the Skirmish at Elizabeth Town point, and at the taking of eighteen prisoners at that place when he received a musket shot from the enemy, in his groin, which for a time disabled him from duty.

afterwards he was in the engagement of Skirmishes at Springfield, Second River, Bergen and other places, & afterward performed some of Militia duty for several years, in which he encountered much peril & fatigue & suffering. This deponent relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension except the present, and states that his name is not on the roll of any state as a pensioner, he made application for a pension at the General term of Essex Court in 1820, and the then reason why he had not made earlier application was his hope of being able to subsist by his daily labour, his reluctance to ask his country's aid, and his entire ignorance of the mode of proceeding. And in pursuance of the act of the 18th May, 1820, I do solemnly swear that I was a resident citizen of the United on the 10th day of March 1810 and that I have not since that time by gift, sale or in any manner disposed of my property or any part thereof with intent thereby so to diminish it as to bring myself within the provisions of an act of Congress entitled "An act to provide for certain persons engaged in the land and naval service of the United States in the Revolutionary war" passed March 18th 1810. and that I have not nor has any person in trust for me any property or security, contracts or debts due to me, nor have I any income other than what is contained in the schedule hereto annexed and by me subscribed. In the year 1812 I owned a small lot of two acres of ground in Morris County, upon which I built a small house, hoping to be able to pay for the building by my labour, in this I was disappointed & was obliged to sell both house and lot in that year. Samuel Robert  Ward and Benoni Ward were the purchasers. Since which time I have not owned a foot of land, nor a dwelling or tenement of any kind, four years past I owned one cow, but since then, to this day I have not owned a cow, or horse, or sheep, or hog

nor have been any means of subsistence except my daily labour, about nine years since an unfortunate disagreement occurring between my wife & myself we parted, and she returned to her friends & children she had by a former marriage, she left the few moveables we had in the house to our three daughters Chloe, Phebe and Betsey, being principally the remains of the furniture she brought me on our marriage, it consisted of one poor feather bed & bedding one large and one small spinning wheel, one fiddle, one tea kettle, one iron pot, five or six old chairs, a few old plates and a few cups and saucers, an old trunk and chest, half a dozen knives and forks, and 4 or 5 spoons, with these articles, which always have since been considered as belonging to my daughters we have made out to keep together as a family, in a tenement rented by me from year to year & paying for it in my labour, these articles and perhaps one or two old pails and tubs, with a meat bowl an ax and hoe and a few remnants of black smiths tools and the clothes on my own and my childrens backs, are all the goods in my possession or in any wise appertaining to me, or to the premises which I occupy, these articles were not included in my former application for a pension because I have always considered them to belong to my daughters, not having myself exercised any claim or control over them, my wife died about two years since and I am now a widower, I am by occupation a blacksmith but have not been able to work at my trade since the year 1826, in consequence of an injury in my shoulder, my health is tolerably good for my age, except the piles, a disease which has afflicted me many years, and in consequence of which I can now seldom work more than

half a day at a time, and often in extreme pain, I have ten children most of them married and living at a distance. Some in the western part of New York State and some in Ohio, all of them poor most of them with large families, and none of them able to aid me in living, I have two sons at home, namely Charles. twentyone years old, a shoemaker, who works for himself, and assists his sisters in clothing and procuring some family necessaries, Benjamin is about 19 years old, works out by days labor, has his own earnings, but contributes nothing to his fathers support. I have two daughters at home viz. Phebe aged 15. subject to asthma, & unable to do any hand labor, she spins a little but cannot maintain herself without help from her brothers, Betsey is aged twelve years has good health, and her brothers aid her in clothes, I am indebted to some neighbours necessaries furnished me, to about the amount of ten dollars, and have no other mode of payment than by my daily labor, and if they should sue for their debt to judgment & execution, it must inevitably shut me up in prison. unless I am aided by my family
John Leonard
Sworn in open court before me this second day of July A.D. 1845-
John Dodd.
New Jersey
County of Essex ss.
I Adee Whitelock, clerk of the inferior court of common pleas in and for said County of Essex, do hereby that the foregoing declaration oaths and the inventory therein contained are truly copied from the records of the said court and do further certify that it is the opinion of the said court that the total amount of in value

of the property exhibited in the aforesaid declaration for the sum of twelve dollars.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the said court this eighth day of July Anno Domini 1825.
Ada Whitbread,

This Bureau can furnish the military record of only such Revolutionary soldiers as were pensioned or whose widows were pensioned for their services.
Such of the original master and pay rolls of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 as are now in the possession of the Government are on file in the Record and Pension Office, War Department. Original rolls and other records pertaining to service in the Revolutionary War may also be found on file in the archives of many of the original States.
O. W. & N. DIV.
REVOLUTIONARY.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
BUREAU OF PENSIONS,
WASHINGTON, D. C.,
March, 18, 1897.
Sir:-
Replying to your request for information concerning the military records of John Dunn and John Leonard , soldiers of the Revolutionary war, you are advised that a very careful search has been made and from the data given the name of John Dunn has not been found upon the Revolutionary war pension records on file in this Bureau.
John Leonard made an application for pension on January 7, 1825, at which time he was 83 years of age and residing in Essex County, N. J., and his pension was allowed for one year's actual service as a private in the New Jersey troops, Revolutionary war; a part of the time he served under Capt. Morris and Col. Wines. He enlisted in New York City, N. Y.
Very respectfully,
Commissioner.
Mr. C. W. Leonard,
Plainfield, N. J.

33 370 Rev INVALID.
Mar 1897 King - W Dr Leonard Plainfield n JH 3
File No. 33,370
John Leonard Pr Rev War
Act: 18 th March 18 th
Index:—Vol. 2 , Page 408
[Arrangement of 1870.]

New Jersey } ss: On this seventh day of May, 1825, before the Morris County } subserba, one of the judges of the inferior Court of common pleas, & c justice of the peace in & for said County, personally came Ezra Brown, a resident of said county & to me well known for many years, as a respectable citizen, of good repute & fully entitled to belief who being duly sworn deponent & saith, - that he enlisted in Capt. Joseph Morris' company, Col. Winds' regiment, New Jersey line, in Oct. or November 1775 to serve for one year, - at the township of Hanover in Morris County N. Jersey - that soon after the review of said company they were marched to Elizabeth town - thence they went to New York & Long Island, & in May or June following, they sailed with the regiment to Albany, thence went to Ticonderoga, across Lake Champlain & down the river Sorel to Canada for the purpose as he understood of coopera- ting with the Northern Army under General Montgomery. - That meeting the American army retreating from Canada, - Winds' regiment returned to Ticonderoga, & this deponent being sick was left at the mouth of Sorel, & afterwards in the Hospital at Fort George, & as he understood, the regiment, or Morris' company, was discharged on the expiration of their term of service. - This deponent further saith, that he well remembers John Leonard enlisted in Capt. Morris' company, in Winds' regiment & was with said company, doing active service as a soldier, during the whole of the Northern campaign, & was always esteemed by his comrades as a faithful soldier, until the company was dismissed, at the expiration of the term of enlistment. - And this deponent further saith that he well knows that John Leonard, who has applied for a pension, & whose name is subscribed to a declaration accompanying this deposition, is the same John Leonard who was associated with him in Morris company & in Winds' regiment upon the Northern campaign in 1776, & that  Philip Leonard , Thomas Mitchell & Uzal Munson, were all well known to this deponent, as fellow soldiers & comrades in Capt. Morris' company on the same expedition. And this deponent further states, that when Morris' company was first reviewed at his own house in Oct. or November 1775, he is confident that Leonard was then present & served as one of the com- pany & marched with them to Elizabeth town. The foregoing is the 16 th line, & the name of Philip Leonard was was done by direction of the deponent before signing & taking the oath. Sworn & subscribed at Morris-town before me the day first mentioned
Ezra Brown
Edward Cordeill Justice of the peace

New Jersey } p. On this 7 th day of May, A.D. 1825. Morris County } Before the subscriber, one of the judges of the inferior Court of common pleas, & justice of the peace in the said County, personally came Thomas Mitchell & Royal Munson, both of said County & to me well known personally, for more than twenty years, as persons of respectability & of good repute, & fully entitled to belief, - who being duly sworn depose as follows, viz: - Said Mitchell declares, that he served as a private soldier in Captain Joseph Morris' company, in Col. Wind's regiment of the New Jersey line for one year, viz: from October 1775 to November 1776, upon the Northern cam- paign under General Sullivan & General Gates. - Said Munson declares under oath also, that he served for the same period, at the same time & expedition, in Captain Silas Howell's com- pany, in Col. Wind's regiment. - That the companies of Morris & of Howell, were both raised in the same neighborhood, & the men of both companies were well acquainted with each other, that the companies, being in the same regiment, were associated together during the whole campaign. - And their deponents both declare that they were well acquainted with John Leonard, now an applicant for a pension, & that they once remem- ber him as a soldier in Morris' company, & Wind's regiment on the Northern campaign - that he was esteemed a good soldier, punctual & faithful in the discharge of all his duties - that he descended the river Poel with the regiment, & was felicitous by Colonel Wind as one of the best men to cover his baggage down the river, - that he was with him at the battle of the three rivers, & all the way on the retreat to Ticonderoga, when, the time of enlistment having expired, the regiment of Col. Wind was dismissed in November 1776. - Said Mitchell is fully confident, that Leonard was with the company on their review at Capt. Morris' house in Hanover in October or November, immediately before they marched for Eli- zabeth town barracks, & said Munson expresses his full belief & convic- tion that on his arrival with Howell's company at Elizabeth town, when they joined Morris' company in November, at the barracks, that Leonard was there as a soldier, doing duty in Morris' company. And their deponents further state that they were well acquainted with Sige Brown & Philip Ladd, who were their associates & comrades in the same regiment & expedition. Second subscribers before me at Morris town, the day before mentioned.
Legal witnesses
Isaac M. Mitchell
Edward Condit Justice of the peace

New Jersey Morris County
I Zephaniah Drake, Clerk of the County aforesaid do hereby certify, that Edward Condit Esq. before whom the within depositions were taken, is, & was at the taking thereof duly commissioned, as one of the judges of the Inferior Court of common pleas of said County, & a justice of the peace, & that full faith & credit are due to his official acts. - And I do further certify that the signature of his name, is the proper hand writing of the said Edward Condit.
In testimony whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name, & affix the seal of the County at Morristown, this 21 st day of July 1825.
Zephaniah Drake

State of New Jersey } Personally appeared before me Morris County } Benjamin P. Loom
are of the parties of the premises of them and for the County of Morris Philip Scudder to me known as a Petitioner of the Revolution: who being duly sworn by me Did depose and say that he was well acquainted with John Leonard the petitioner herein named at the time he sets forth as his enlistment and long previous thereto was going to his enlistment in the Revolutionary War in the early part of February 1776 under Capt. Morris in Col. Winds Regiment that the S d Leonard was to the northward with this deponent in S d Regiment and served as he verily believes faithfully as a good Soldier for nine months and upwards in actual service in S d Regiment was at the Battle at the Three Rivers and on the arrival of Dayton & Potter's Regiments from Fort Stanwix at Ticonderoga the place where myself and this applicant then lay with our Regiment we were never the loss of the month of November 1776 permitted to return home that the S d Leonard myself and many others left the army by permission at that time to return to New Jersey the place of our homes, and further this deponent sayeth not —
Sworn and subscribed to before me this Thirtieth day of December 1824 —
Benj n P. Loom
Philip Scudder

J. L. Edwards Esq.
Rev: Pension office

Morris-town N. Jersey, July 22 d , 25
Dear Sir,
Enclosed are the papers of John Leonard, an applicant for a Rev. pension. — I have conversed fully with those who were associated in service with him & am fully satisfied he served our entire year on the Northern campaign, as they state. — I have known him these 20 years, & during the whole of that period, he has always been poor enough , in all conscience. — I do not believe that in that time, the whole of his household goods & moveables, would have brought fifty dollars, & I am very confident he tells the truth as to his little lot & house.
Then being some defect in his former declaration, it has been removed in open Court. — Should it be allowed, would it not be practicable to have his pension commence with the date of his first declaration? — He has this day called on me with his papers from Essex Court, & is as much an object of pity & commiseration as I know of. — His clothing is very ragged — but it is all he has — & he has had the ague & fever these several weeks, & can scarcely walk the street, he is so very feeble.
You will greatly oblige me by an early attention to his business, & in notifying me of the result of the examination.
In haste — & with much esteem,
Your friend
Yours truly
Lewis Bondait.
J. L. Edwards Esq.
Pension office

John Seaman P.O. Box 60 N.Y.
Hon. Lewis Cass Minister of War Washington D.C.
Recd 23 July 1825
Hon. James
For the Pension Office.
22
Recd July 25 1825

19.558
Declaration of John Leonard for a pension
Asa Whitehead Esq. Newark New Jersey

State of New Jersey County of Essex ss.
At an inferior court of common pleas held at Newark in and for the County of Essex at the term of January in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty five.
Be it remembered that on the seventh day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty five, personally appeared in open court in the said court being a court of record, which proceeds according to the course of the common law, with a jurisdiction unlimited in amount. Keeping record of its proceedings and having a seal. John Leonard a resident in the said County of Essex aged sixty nine years the seventh day of June next who being only known according to law makes the following declaration in order to obtain the provision made by the acts of Congress of the eighteenth March 1818. & the 1 st May 1820. — That he the said John Leonard entered into the Army of the United States in the early part of February one thousand seven hundred & seventy six under Captain Morris in Col. Morris Regiment being the 1 st New Jersey Regiment in the City of New York, that this Regiment was on the continental establishment, and served in the same until the last of November in the same year, when he was dismissed at Fredericksburg & permitted to return home.

That in seventeen hundred & seventy seven he enlisted in Captain Butler's company in Colonel Worcester's Regiment at Chatham New Jersey, and was afterwards transferred to Captain Phelps' company. That he continued in this Regiment about six six months, and was dismissed at Chatham, that he was in the battle of Three Rivers, and at Monmouth. That while he was afterwards in the Militia he was in the battle of Connecticut Farms and at Monmouth.
And I do solemnly swear that I was a resident citizen of the United States on the 10 th March 1818 and that I have not since that time by gift sale or in any manner disposed of my property, or any part thereof with intent thereby to diminish it so as to bring myself within the provisions of the act of congress entitled "an act to provide for certain persons engaged in the land and naval service of the United States in the revolutionary war," passed 10 th March 1818, and that I have not nor had any person in trust for me to my knowledge or belief any property or securities, contracts, or debts due to me, nor have I any income whatever and I am unable to support my- self without the aid & allowance of

My count grown to before me this John Leonard. 7th January A.D. 1826 in open court, D.D. Crane.
State of New Jersey County of Essex ss.
I Asa Whitehead Clerk of the aforesaid court, do hereby certify that the foregoing is truly copied from the Records of said court.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name and affixed the Seal of said court this second day of February A.D. one thousand eight hundred and twenty five.
Asa Whitehead
and I do further certify that it was shown to the satisfaction of the court at the time of the foregoing proceedings that the said John Leonard had no real or personal estate whatever.
Asa Whitehead.

Papers relating to John Leland's Application for a pension

The Petition of John Leonard of the township of New Providence county of Essex and State of New Jersey a Soldier late of the Revolutionary War praying to be placed on the Pension Roll list of the New Jersey agency. Respectfully represents that he Enlisted in the army of the Revolution on the first of February 1776 under Capt. Joseph Morris in the City of New York in Col William Minda's Regt. and served in said Regt. continually until the last of the Month of November of said year being detained by our Commanders at Flanders until released by Col. Dayton & Potter's Regiments from Fort Stanwix which took place in the latter part of Novem- ber 1776. that he served in that campaign between nine and ten Months that he was in the Engagement at the Three Rivers against Burgoin and was Repeatedly by the British twice in the same day. That Your petitioner again Enlisted in 1777 under Capt. Cutler in Col. Mooster's Regiment at Pottsville now Shippensburg New Jersey some little time after was detached under Capt. Phelps in Genl. Stephens & Mansfield's Reg- ts a Brigade was at the Battle of Monmouth, (Pond town or Metuchen, and Connecticut Farms was at the skirmish at Elizabeth town point and at the taking of eighteen prisoners at that place and while confronting the British troops at that place received a Musket shot from the British in his groin which for a time disabled him from duty, was afterwards in the engagements at Springfield, Second river and Bergen and many other places not now recollected. Your petitioner suffered much fatigue and Labour and many privations in the Regular army and in the Militia for 5 or 6 years during the Revolutionary War is now Destitute

of any means of support except his own Labour at which he can do but little being worn down by infirmities and old age is hardly able to subsist on what he gets by his labour is now in his 69 th year without any Real or personal property or Home whereon to Rest his aged head He therefore prays your Honours to see him placed on the Pension List so as to prevent him from Becoming chargeable to the town and County of Morris the place of his Birth and Your petitioner as in duty bound will Ever pray Bathurst New Brunswick December 30 1824 - John Leonard
Robert H. Clarke Esq. Attorney to John Leonard of Bathurst N. Brunswick