Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S. 13622, for Samuel Kelsey, Connecticut

SERVICE
NUMBER
born
Kelsey, Samuel Kelsey
S. 13622
CONTENTS
carded

14720 New York Sam e Kelsey
of Genesee in the State of New York who was a Private in the Company comman- by Captain Grosvenor of the Reg t commanded by Col. Hinman in the Genesee Militia for 2 years
Samuel Kelsey*
Recorded OK June 27, 1848
Inscribed on the Roll of New York at the rate of $10 Dollars — Cents per annum, commence on the 14th day of March, 1831.
Certificate of Pension issued the 10 day of June 1833 and sent to Sophia Batavia N.Y.
Arrears to the 14th of Mar 1833 $ 160.00 Semi-ant. allowance ending 4 Sep 33 40.00 $200.00
{ Revolutionary Claim, } { No. June 7, 1832. }
Recorded by Geo. B. Whiting Clerk, Book 6 Vol. 4 Page 61
Dead
Paid at the Treasury under the Act of the 6 th April 1838 from 4 th Sept 1837 to the 28 Jan y 1838 the day of his death. Age Notified 12 th June 1840

TREASURY DEPARTMENT,
Second Comptroller's Office,
April 29 th , 1840.
Sir:
Under the act of the 6th of April, 1838, entitled "An act directing the transfer of money remaining unclaimed by certain Pensioners, and authorizing the payment of the same at the Treasury of the United States," The child ren of Samuel Kelsey, a Pensioner on the Roll of the Albany, New York Agency, at the rate of Eighty — Dollars and  Cents per annum, under the law of the 7 th June 1832, have been paid at this Department, from the 1 st of Sept. 1837, to the 28 th January 1838, the day of his death.
Respectfully, yours,
William L. Harris
Comptroller.
To the Commissioner of Pensions,
Present.
14720

Samuel Nelsey Declaration
18338
L
Please make returns to Honore W. Soper Batavia, Onond Co, N.Y.
Examined found on Chandler Post as Saul Kelly

State of New York Genesee County ss
Simeon Catlin, of Ohio in said county, aged 77 years, being duly affirmed  sworn doth depose and say that he is well acquainted with Samuel Kelsey, who now resides in Sheldon in said county, that he was well acquainted with him during the Revolutionary war - that this deponent belonged to Capt. Giles Taylor's Company of teams belonging to the Continental army - that the said Samuel Kelsey belonged to the same company - that he knows of his the said Samuel's being at Valley Forge and at Valley Monmouth Battle that he understood at that time that he had enlisted for three years but that he cannot tell how long he served but that he saw him frequently in the service - and further saith sith that during one year he this deponent served with Timothy Kelsey one year who served as a substitute for Samuel Kelsey aforesaid - and further saith not. -
Simeon Catlin
Subscribed and affirmed this 16 th day of October 1832 before me
Moses Taggart Justice of the peace for said County State of New York Genesee County ss
I Timothy Fitch Clerk of said county, certify, that Moses Taggart before whom the above affidavit purport to have been taken and made was on the day of taking the same a Justice of the peace in and for said county, and that I am well acquainted with the signature of said Justice, subscribed to said affidavit and verily believe the same to be genuine. - In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my name and affixed my Official Seal this twenty fifth day of October 1832. Timothy Fitch Clerk By B. Pringle Deputy Clerk

And I further certify that Simon Catlin, who appeared before me and made the foregoing affidavit, is a credible person and that his statement is entitled to credit—
Moses Saggart J. P.
State of New York Genesee County
I, Timothy Fitch, clerk of said court, certify that I am well acquainted with the hand writing of Moses Saggart, the Justice of the Peace who has signed the above certificate and I do hereby believe the signature to the same to be his hand writing.
In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office this 4 th March 1833—
T. Fitch Clerk
Samuel Halsey 24/5/33

I John Stanclift of Collins County of Erie and State of Ohio do hereby certify that in the year of our Lord 1775 I levied the State of Connecticut County of Litchfield Town of Torrington and was personally acquainted with Samuel Kelsey who lived in the same neighborhood and listed at the same time and under the same Officers that I did very exact opposite Colonel Sherman's Regiment and that we marched together first to Albany then to Crownpoint and thence through the summer and in the fall went by water through Lake Champlain to Island one under command of General Schuyler from there went under command of General Montgomery and were at the taking of St. Johns after a siege of about six weeks in which time Major Brown took command and then we returned home our time of service which was seven months being in all which time I was intimately acquainted and served with the said Samuel Kelsey. Furthermore I fully believe from the information I have had and from particular circumstances and occurrences that he the said Samuel Kelsey did serve in Colonel Chandler's Regiment in 1777 but as I was in Colonel Bradley's Regiment I was not personally acquainted with him in that campaign although we were frequently brought together by circumstances that took place.
John Stanclift Erie County ss Personally appeared before Mr. Asa Warren Esq. one of the Justices of the peace in & for said County John Stanclift & duly made oath that the above declaration is in all respects just & true. Dated this 18 th day of August 1832
Asa Warren
And I further certify that John Stanclift who has appeared before me and made the foregoing affidavit, is a credible person and that his statement is entitled to credit. —
Dated March 18 th 1832 Asa Warren

State of New York Erie County ss
I Noah P Sprague Clerk of the said County do Certify that Ira Warren before whom the within affidavit purports to have sworn and also before whom the within power of attorney purports to have been acknowledged was at the date of the same one of the Justices of the Peace in and for said County and that I am acquainted with his hand writing and hereby believe his name subscribed to the said affidavit and the acknowledgment of the execution of the said power to be his proper hand writing and signature. Witness my hand and seal of office this fourth day of September 1832
Noah P. Sprague Clerk of Erie County
State of New York
Erie County ss As to officer do I certify that
Ira Warren Esq. before whom the within affidavit purports to have been taken and also was at the time of taking said affidavit a Justice of the Peace in and for said County duly authorized to take the same and that I am acquaint- ed with the hand writing of said Justice and do believe the signature "Ira Warren" subscribed to the certificate of taking said affidavit and also to the certificate of the credibility of John Stancliff to be genuine. Witness my hand and seal of office this 28 th day of March 1833.
Noah P. Sprague Clerk By Charles D. D. Deputy

New York Dec 1832 Roswell Loomis of New Hartford in the county of Oneida State of New York of more than seventy eight years of age being duly sworn makes affidavit & says that he was acquainted with Samuel Kelsey in the time of the Revolution - That the said Samuel Kelsey was a soldier of the Revolutionary army & performed service as such in company with this deponent - that according to the best recollection of this deponent the said Samuel Kelsey enlisted for three years - & this deponent believes he continued in said service of the army of the Revolution for the space of three years. Roswell Loomis
State of New York } Oneida County } ss }
On the 14 th day of August in the year 1832 before me came Roswell Loomis above named with whom I am well acquainted & made solemn oath that the above written affidavit by him subscribed is true. — SAM DAKIN Justice of the peace
And I further certify that Roswell Loomis who appeared before me and took the foregoing affidavit is a credible person and that his statement is entitled to credit. —
State of New York
Clerk's Office Oneida County ss:
I George Brown Clerk of the said County do hereby certify that Samuel Dakin Esq. before whom the above affidavit was taken and sworn was on the day of the date of the same a Justice of the peace in and for said County and duly authorized by law to act as such - and further that I am well acquainted with his hand writing and verily believe the signature "Samuel Dakin" subscribed to the same is the proper hand writing and signature of said Samuel Dakin.
In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand & affixed the Seal of said County this 9 th day of March A.D. 1833
Geo. Brown Clerk
Joseph B. Pease Dep. Clk.

Declaration of Samuel Kelsey, in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress, passed June 7 th 1832 State of New York } County of Seneca } ss
In this tenth day of October in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty two, personally appeared in open court, before the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, now sitting in the town of Waterloo in and for the County of Seneca, being a court of record and having a seal, Samuel Kelsey, a resident of the town of Sheldon, in the County of Seneca aforesaid, in the said State of New York, being a man aged seventy six years on the 30 th March 1832, 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:
That some time in April 1775, the day he cannot recollect, while he lived in the town of Torrington, in the county of Litchfield in the State of Connecticut, he enlisted in the Connecticut State militia for seven months, under Capt Shubael Griswold, who commanded his company, that Aaron Austin was Lieutenant, Daniel Grant, Ensign, and thinks he was attached to Col. Hinman's Regiment that he first marched to Albany and then to P'keepsie and was there stationed at Coeymans Point and remained there during the summer: That in the fall he marched to Syle & Lake Shore under Gen Schuyler, and then to St. Johns under Gen Montgomery and was at the taking of the fort that soon after the fort was taken, the time for which he enlisted having expired, he was verbally discharged at St. Johns and went home. The time at which he was discharged, he cannot recollect precisely.
That in the month of August, at the time the British took possession of New York he went there and was out as a volunteer about one month.
That in the month of April 1776, he went as a volunteer to Peekskill under Lieut. Miller and remained there about six weeks and then went home.

That immediately after he went to New York and in the fall of 1776 out of which at what time he cannot tell, he returned again and went into New Jersey and was with the army during all that fall and the ensuing winter he was with the army until spring and that he then went home which he thinks was in April 1777 and some time in that month he enlisted into the continental army for one year - Capt. Manso enlisted him and he was in his company - his Lieutenant was Dodge and was attached to Col. Chandler's Regiment of the Connecticut line - first went to Danbury and was there retreating and then marched to Peekskill and remained there until the latter part of June or first of July in his company - where he enlisted into a company of troops for three years and was in the team service in the United States Army, and attached to Col. Chandler's  and in Capt. Taylor's Company Regiment and drew baggage and ammunition wagons for his regiment for two years and that he then hired a substitute, Timothy Nelson, his brother, to serve in his stead the remainder of his enlistment. That he remained with the Regiment at Peekskill during the summer of 1778 and then went to New Jersey and Pennsylvania and went into winter quarters at Valley Forge and the next spring the went with the army into New Jersey, was at Monmouth Battle. That after the battle, marched northward and thinks his Regiment went back at Peekskill and that he remained there until some time in June after having served two years where he procured his substitute and was discharged and went home - That he knows of no person whose testi- mony he can procure that is now living, who knew of his service in the regular army except Rev. Wells Loomis and that John Standifft is the only person living that he knows of who can prove any of his other services.
That he was born in New Hartford, Connecticut, on the 30th March 1756 - That he has no record of his age, but believes he is of the above age from a copy of a Record in his bible and his information from his parents - That he has no documentary evidence of his service - That after the war he lived in Summers, Ct. one year - That he then went to Underfield, in Massachusetts and lived there about 6 years - Then went  Washington, N.H. to Cambridge and lived there about two six years - lived in Salem, in Essex County  Dorchester three years - lived in Sandy Creek, N.Y. six years and then went to

Sheldon where he has lived about thirty  twenty years — That Elda, Daniel Wooster and Israel D. Geer — live in the town of Sheldon and are acquainted with him and can testify as to his character for veracity and their belief in his services as a soldier of the Revolution. —
He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or an- nuity, except the present, and declares that his name is not on the pension roll of the Agency of any State.
Samuel Kelsey
Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid in open court
T. Fitch Clerk
We, David S. Wooster a Clergyman residing in the town of Sheldon in the county of Bennington and State of New York and Israel D. Geer residing in the same place both certify that we are well acquainted with Samuel Kelsey, who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration, that we believe him to be aged seventy six years; that he is respected and believed in the neighborhood where he resides to have been a soldier of the Revolution and that we are we concur in his opinion. —
David S. Wooster Israel D. Geer
Sworn and Subscribed, the day and year aforesaid — in open court
Timothy Fitch Clerk
And the said Court do hereby declare their opinion, after the investigation of the matter, and after putting the inter- rogatories prescribed by the War Department, that the above named applicant was a Revolutionary Soldier and served as he states, and the Court further certify that it appears to them that David S. Wooster who has signed the preceding certificate is a Clergyman resident in the town of Sheldon in said County and that Israel D. Geer who has also signed the same

is a resident in the same place and is a credible person and that their Statement is entitled to credit Isaac Wilson Robert Clarke Jr William Mitchell
I, Timothy Fitch, Clerk of the said Court of Common Pleas, certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said court in the matter of the application of Samuel Kelsey for a preceps. In Testimony Whereof I have hereunto set my hand and Seal of office this tenth day of October 1832.
Timothy Fitch Clerk

Rehr
13622 INVALID.
File No. 13, 622
Samuel Kelsey*
Prin. Rev. Union
Act: June 1 th 1832.
Index:—Vol. 1 , Page 258
[Arrangement of 1870.]
Samuel Kelsey* Records OK June 27, 1906.

BRIEF objections to the admission of Pension Claims , of which those answered in the negative, in red ink, will apply to the claim of Jane Henson 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? Ask all VI. Has he given the names of the officers under whom he served, in conformity with the regulations? Ask all 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?
[Handwritten initials: J.M.]
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?
XIV. † If the applicant has produced a witness or witnesses as to his service, has the magistrate who administered the oath certified that he, she, or they are persons of credibility? [Handwritten initials: J.M.] Has the official character and signature of the magistrate been certified by the proper officer under his seal of office?
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?
[Handwritten initials: J.M.]
XVI. Are the papers authenticated as the regulations direct?
[Handwritten initials: A.D.]
XVII. Are the seven interrogatories prescribed by the War Department answered satisfactorily? And, if not, which of them is not so answered?
[Handwritten initials: J.M.]
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 the 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.
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 authenticated 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 end 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.