Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S. 29503, for Elijah Thomas, Massachusetts

SERVICE
NUMBER
Mass.
Thomas, Elijah
S. 29503
CONTENTS

15069  Massachusetts  Elijah Thomas of Barnstable in the State of Mass s who was a Pri t in the Comp y commanded by Captain Lincoln of the Reg t commanded by Col Bradford in the Massach s line for 6 months
Cash
Inscribed on the Roll of Massachusetts at the rate of 20 Dollars — Cents per annum, to commence on the 14th day of March, 1834.
Certificate of Pension issued the 22 d day of May 1833 and sent to J. W.  Bishop Lenox Mass s
Arrears to the 14th of March 1833 $ 117.00 Semi-ant. allowance ending 4 Sept. 10 " 00 $ 127.00
{ Revolutionary Claim, } { Act June 7, 1832. }
Recorded by J. W. Clapp Clerk, Book E. Vol. 2 d Page 84.
73 Berkshire
Doc 21-15414 B

139 19
Elijah Thomas Map
on Roll of Honor 6 Months
Private 6 Months
H. W. Burk L. E. Senior Map

BRIEF in the case of  60 of Berkshire
Elijah Thomas  in the State of Mass  (Act 7th June, 1832.)
 1. Was the declaration made before a Court or a Judge? Open Court  2. If before a Judge, does it appear that the applicant is disabled by bodily infirmity?  3. How old is he? 71  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. As a Gen.     14 th Reg. Genl. Troops 22 July In 1780 enlisted 6 Private Gen. Cap. Lincoln Col. Bradford  
 5. In what battles was he engaged? None  6. Where did he reside when he entered the service? Barnstable Mass  7. Is his statement supported by living witnesses, by documentary proof, by traditional evidence, by incidental evidence, or by the rolls? Traditional  8. Are the papers defective as to form or authentication? and if so, in what respect? 
X Certify that the foregoing statement and the answers agree with the evidence in the case above mentioned.
George Payton
Examining Clerk.

13919 Elijah Thomas.
Declaration -
Snax Mann
Sept 11. 1832

Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
County of Berkshire, ss.
ON this Eleventh day of September A. D. 1832 personally appeared in open Court, before the Honorable WILLIAM P. WALKER, Judge of the Court of Probate, within and for said County of Berkshire, now sitting,
Elijah Thomas a resident of the town of Cones in the County of Berkshire and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, aged Seventy One 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.
That he entered the service of the United States under the following named officers, and served as herein stated. to wit. He enlisted at Barnstable in the County of Barnstable, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, on the twenty second day of July A. D. 1780, for the term of six months, passed muster at Springfield in said County of Massachusetts - from thence proceeded to West Point in the State of New York & was attached to the 14th Regiment, continental troops, commanded by Colo. Bradford. & served as follows - in Capt. Lincoln's Company, which Company was then (the Capt. being absent) under the command of Adjutant Haskell - the Lieutenant of said Company was then said to have been under arrest & afterwards was cashiered & discharged, as he understood. - The Ensign's name was, Read or Read - The Lieut. Colo. name was, Barabiah Bassett - The Major's name was, Wiley - From West Point he marched with the Army having crossed the River to King's Ferry on Blauvelt's Point - from thence into the Valley & continued marching thro' New Jersey, making occasional halts of a week or fortnight, until the latter part of October, when he returned to West Point, where he remained until about three weeks previous to his discharge, when he was called upon as one of a band of a hundred men, who were marched to a place then called Ringwood about thirty miles West of the Hudson River, to guard a magazine of stores &c - doth not recollect the name of the Officer of the band. They were all strangers to him. A few

days previous to the expiration of the term for which he had enlisted. he applied to the Captain of the Guard. & the Capt. gave him a pass to return to West Point. & he accordingly returned. & was there discharged on the 22 d day of January A. D. 1781. he received a written Discharge, which he thinks was signed by Col. Bradford, & which he has lost. — Recollects that James Childs, Barkley Hodges, & Asahel Adams & three others, all residing in Barnstable, enlisted at the time when he enlisted. —
At the time he enlisted, he resided in said Barnstable. (when he was born) and was employed by the Selectmen of that town to join the army, as one of the Number of men, whom they were called upon to furnish for Six Months. —
He knows of but one man, who may be living who served with him — his name is Asahel Adams. — He supposes that he resides in said Barnstable about two hundred miles from the town of Lenox, where he then said Elijah now lives. — He was born in the year 1761. in said Barnstable — he has no record of his age, except a remnant of the ages of the members of his father's family, kept by his father in an old acct. book, which is now in his possession.
He resided in said Barnstable until about the year 1795. then removed to said Lenox. lived there a few months. then removed to the adjoining town of Lee, where he lived four or five years & then returned to said Lenox, where he has ever since lived —
The Rev Samuel Shepard, of said Lenox & Asahel Adams, to whom of said Lenox  he personally known, will testify to his character for veracity & their beliefs of his services, as a Soldier of the Revolution.

He hereby relinquishes 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
Elijah Thomas
Sworn to, and subscribed, the day and year aforesaid.
W. P. Walker J. Probate
We Samuel Shepard , a Clergyman, residing in the town of Lenox in Berkshire Co. Mass ts and Asahel Sanders residing in said Lenox hereby certify, that we are well acquainted with Elijah Thomas who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration; that we believe him to be seventy one 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.
Samuel Shepard, Asahel Sanders
Sworn and subscribed, the day and year aforesaid.
W. P. Walker J. Probate
And the said Court doth 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 Samuel Shepard who signed the preceding certificate is a Clergyman, resident in the town of Lenox — in the County of Berkshire and Commonwealth of Massachusetts . and that Asahel Sanders — who has also signed the same, is a resident in the town of Lenox — in the County of Berkshire and Commonwealth of Massachusetts and is a credible person, and that their statement is entitled to credit.
W. P. Walker J. Probate
I, HENRY W. BISHOP, Register of the Court of Probate within and for the County of Berkshire in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court, in the matter of the application of Elijah Thomas for a pension.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office of said Court of Probate, this eleventh day of September in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and thirty two
Henry W. Bishop. Register of Probate

December 13, 1937
Elijah Thomas S. 29503 BA-I/ANF
Mr. Carl H. Thomas 8775 Petoskey Avenue Detroit, Michigan
Dear Sir:
Reference is made to your letter in which you request the Revolutionary War record of Elijah Thomas of Berkshire County, Massachusetts.
The data which follow were obtained from papers on file in pension claim, S. 29503, based upon the service of Elijah Thomas in the Revolutionary War.
Elijah Thomas was born in the year 1761 in Barnstable, Massachusetts. The names of his parents were not given.
While a resident of Barnstable, Elijah Thomas enlisted July 22, 1780, served six months as private in Captain Lincoln's company, Colonel Bradford's 14th Massachusetts regiment.
He moved in 1795 from Barnstable to Lenox, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, lived a few months and moved to Lee, Massachusetts, where he lived four or five years, and returned to Lenox.
He was allowed pension on his application executed September 11, 1832, then a resident of Lenox, Massachusetts. He died December 21, 1841.
The papers on file in this claim contain no reference to wife or children.
No charge is made for the search of the records

and this report.
Very truly yours
A. D. HILLER Executive Assistant to the Administrator

29 503 Very INVALID.
1937 Dec 13 - liisn to Carl H Skoman
File No. 29 503
Eliph Thomas
His Rev. wife
Act: June 7 n 82 n
Index: —Vol. 9 , Page 415
[Arrangement of 1870.]

13919
Elijah Thomas

BRIEF objections to the admission of Pension Claims , of which those answered in the negative, in red ink, will apply to the claim of Ebenezer Thomas which require further proof or explanation.
I. Does the declaration show where the applicant resides? yy II. Did the declarant make the declaration in the county where he resides? yy 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? yy 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? yy VI. Has he given the names of the officers under whom he served, in conformity with the regulations? yy VII. Has he made a relinquishment of every claim to any other pension than the one under the Act of June 7, 1832? yy VIII. Has the Court given their opinion? yy IX. Has the Clerk given his certificate? yy 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? yy

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? yes
XII. If the clergyman's affidavit has not been produced, is there any reason assigned for not obtaining it?
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? yes
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?
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?
Has the proper officer certified to the official character and signature of the magistrate as the regulations direct?
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?
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, deposeth 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.

CARL H. THOMAS 8775 Petoskey Avenue Detroit, Michigan.
November 27, 1937.
Veterans Administration Washington, D. C.
Gentlemen:
In the published Revolutionary War Records of Massachusetts Soldiers, mention is made of one Elijah Thomas (Elijah Thomas, Jr., Elijah Thomes), who responded to several "alarms" on the northern frontier from Williamstown or vicinity, Berkshire County. Was any pension or bounty ever granted to this individual or to any relative, based on his service, from the application(s) for which facts in regard to his life might be obtained?
This information is sought for genealogical purposes, to secure additional knowledge concerning Elijah Thomas and his family. Kindly state your policy in regard to examining records for such facts. ✓
Very truly,
Carl H. Thomas,