Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File R. 6330, for Walker Lewis, Connecticut

SERVICE
NUMBER
Conn.
Lewis, Walker Sarah
R. 6330
CONTENTS
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House of Representatives Committee Room Revolutionary Pensions May 27. 1856
Hon. J. Elliott Chairman of Pensions Sir,
You are respectfully requested to furnish for the use of the Committee on Revolutionary Pensions the Papers on file in your department in the Pension Claims of Abigail Jackson and Rebecca Lewis children of Sarah Lewis the widow of Walter Lewis a Revolutionary Soldier, under either the acts of July 4. 1836 or 1838 granting Pensions to certain widows &c.
Very Respectfully, Yours Oblt Servt. Jacob Brown Ch m Comm ee

Record Division.
February 7, 1900.
Mr. Albert W. Brickwood Jr.
American Consul,
Puerto Cortes, Honduras.
Sir:
In reply to your letter dated the 28 th and received the 30 th ultimo, I have the honor to advise you that the original papers in the claim of Sarah widow of Walker Lewis, Rejected File # 6,380, were forwarded in 1856 to the Committee on Revolutionary War pensions, House of Representatives, and have never been returned to this Bureau, and the records of this Bureau afford no further information than that the claim was not allowed as sufficient proof of marriage and service was not furnished.
Very respectfully,
Commissioner.
It was impossible to make definite answers to 13 questions in A.W.B.'s letter as there were no papers upon which to base anything, and he had been told as much when he came here & saw the case

Mrs Lewis
Sherman Creek 3 terms in 76-7. Blackmans Dragoons - 2-1-1 = 4-
Lewis
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1908 Feb 7. A. W. Buckwood info original papers not on file as cause of ref. aw
REJECTED 6330
P. O.
Sarah Lewis
Service: wid Walker Lewis Papers sent 1856 to the Committee on Pensions
Enlisted: _____, 18
Discharged: _____, 18
Application filed: _____, 18
Alleges: _____
Re-enlisted: _____
Attorney: _____
P. O. _____
_____ Recognized. _____ Contract.

(3—047.)
O. W. and N. Div.
Department of the Interior,
BUREAU OF PENSIONS,
Washington, D. C., _____, 18_____
Respectfully returned to _____
It does not appear from the records of this Office that an application for a pension in the name of _____

Suspended list of N. Y. under Act of July 4, 1836 shows Sarah Lewis widow of Walker Lewis, residence Fredonia N.Y. Chautauque, Suspended for further proof

3200
Sarah Lewis widow of Walker NY
✓ Ingraham Mch 8 1838 M rs Jackson June 20 1853 ✓ Let to Wm S. Brown May 31/56
6330
Act July 4 1836

Copy
War Dep. Pen. Off.
Mar. 8. 38.
Sir:
The claim of Mrs Sarah Lewis widow of Walker Lewis decd. has been examined & her papers filed in this office.
The evidence of the marriage is not as satisfactory as it should be of a fact so generally susceptible of documentary or record proof. and it would appear from the declaration and evidence that he was not 60 mos. in military service excluding the alleged service in the Commissary Dept, & in pursuit of the purchase of his oxen.
Nor does the declaration set forth with the requisite precision a term of service after the alleged date of the marriage and no evidence whatever of such service is adduced.
The statement as to the service in purchasing supplies and superintending the butchering and packing pork & beef for the army was probably under civil with a purchasing commissary and cannot be deemed military service.

within the act of 7 June 1832 unless it is shown by record or documentary proof that he was duly commissioned by the competent authority
John Crane Esq. Freedonia N.Y.
The letter to Hon. D. Broom of May 31, 1806 is a letter of transmittal of papers to Congress, no date, Mr. Lingley says -

Copy
Pension Office June 20, 1853.
Sir:
The application of Sarah Lewis dec'd. widow of Walker of N.Y. - Act July 1836 - has been reexamined and I have to inform you that if he served as alleged evidence of that fact ought to be found in the Office of the Comptroller or Secretary of State of Cont. to whom application should be made.
The date of the marriage should be established by the Records of the Town Clerk of the town in which that event took place or the family register should be furnished.
A certificate of Court showing the date of the death and the number and names of the surviving children must be furnished. The court must also submit to this office the evidence upon which it bases its certificate.
W. H. Jackson Esq. Salem Cross Roads N.Y.

Andania Chautauqua Co. N.Y. Feb. 21. 1838
Hon. J. R. Painsitt } Secy of War }
Sir,
Enclosed I send you the Declaration of Sarah Lewis, applicant for a Pension under act of Congress July 4. 1836.
As soon as the case shall have been acted upon, please advise me addressed as above.
W. M. Lent
J. Crane

January 29, 1908.
To the Honorable, Commissioner of Pensions, Pension Bureau, Washington, D. C.
Sir:
Referring to "Old War Widow Claim, 6330,"
I ascertained, on a recent visit to your Honorable Bureau, that the following papers were on file:
(1) Letter to the Secretary of War from one I. Crane, of Fredonia, Chautauqua County, New York, dated February 21st, 1838, with which said Crane enclosed the declaration of Sarah Lewis, (widow of Walker Lewis), applicant for a pension under Act of Congress, July 4th, 1836; (2) Letter from Chairman of the Committee on Revolutionary Pensions of the House of Representatives, dated May 27th, 1856, to the Commissioner of Pensions, requesting that the Committee on Revolutionary Pensions, be furnished the papers on file in the office of the Commissioner of Pensions in the Pension Claim of Abagail Jackson and Rebecca Lewis, children of Sarah Lewis, the widow of Walker Lewis, a revolutionary soldier, under either the acts of July, 1836 or 1838, granting pensions to certain widows etc. (3) (A slip reading):
Mrs Lewis,
Sherman Lewis - - Witness, 3 terms, in 76-7. Blackmans Dragoons 2-1-1 = 4
The endorsement on the envelope that contains the few papers above mentioned, indicates that all the papers in the Pension Claim, were sent to the Committee on Revolutionary Pensions of

the House of Representatives, in 1856. I have learned, that in 1904, all the old pension papers and records, were transferred to the Adjutant General's Office, War Department. In a letter to me, of date January 23d, 1908, the Adjutant General sets forth the information, that he has on file record of one Walker Lewis, who served in 1779 in the defense of New Haven, Connecticut. That information is also contained in "History of Connecticut's Men in Revolution," to which volume I have had reference. The book at point, showed that the name, Walker Lewis, appeared on a pay abstract of Captain Elnathan Nichols' Company, Major Starr's (3d) Regiment Connecticut Light-Horse Revolutionary War, showing that he "marched" July 5th, 1779, and was discharged July 6th, 1779.
It is possible that the Walker Lewis, who served in 1779, was not the same Walker Lewis, who served in 1776 - 1777, or else the 1779 service, was an additional service not referred to in the memorandum on file in your office, or it might be possible that the Walker Lewis, who served in 1779, was the Walker Lewis, on account of whose revolutionary service, his widow applied for a pension.
I desire to ask the following questions, if you will have the kindness to answer them:
(1) Why was Old War Widow Claim, 6330, rejected, and how did it happen that Sarah Lewis, the widow, did not get the pension during her own lifetime? (2) Did Sarah Lewis die before the question was answered? (3) Was the pension rejected for that reason? (4) Was not Walker Lewis' service, part of the regular revolutionary service?

3-Hon. Com'r Pensions.
(5) Is there not a record of Blackman's Dragoons, and was there not a Walker Lewis, who served therein? (6) What does the reference 2-1-1- = 4, refer to? (7) Were not Captain Elnathan Nichols' Company, Major Starr's (3d) Regiment Connecticut Light-Horse Revolutionary War, recorded as part of the revolutionary troops, and is there not something to show how long he served? (8) Is there not an affidavit on file, of Sherman Lewis? (9) Did not Sarah Lewis establish satisfactorily, as the wife of Walker Lewis, her claim for pension? (10) Did not Abagail Jackson and Rebecca Lewis establish satisfactorily, proofs of their being children of Walker Lewis? (11) Was the application for pension of Sarah Lewis predicated upon the service of Walker Lewis in 1776 - 1777, or was it predicated upon the service of Walker Lewis in 1779? (12) Was the New Haven Walker Lewis considered in the Pension Claim that was filed? (13) Should the widow, Sarah Lewis and the daughters, Abagail Jackson and Rebecca Lewis, have applied for a pension from the Walker Lewis, who was with Captain Nichols?
It does not seem that there could have been any serious mistake made in the application for pension, as, by figuring it up, we infer that Walker and Sarah Lewis must have been married at the time of the Revolutionary War, as the daughter, Abagail, was born some where near 1780. I understand that Walker Lewis died in 1825, and the Widows' Pension Act was passed in 1836, fifty odd years after the close of the War. It is not strange, if confusion might have been made in applying for the pension, but it is not conceivable that the daughter would press such a claim unless her father had, in fact, been in the service.

4-Hon. Com'r Pensions.
Would you be kind enough to give me an abstract of the information that you have on hand and may be able to obtain.
An early reply will greatly oblige,
Thanking you in advance for the rendering of the favor asked, I have the honor to be,
Your obedient servant,
Albert W. Brickwood Jr.
American Consul at Puerto Cortes,
Honduras,
C/O 35 Ashland Boulevard,
Chicago, Illinois.