Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S. 11,057, for Enoch Merrill, Massachusetts

SERVICE
NUMBER
Mass N.H.
Merrill, Enoch
S. 11,057
CONTENTS
carded

10.8218 New Hampshire
Enoch Merrill
of Rockingham in the State of N.H. who was a Prisoner in the company commanded by Captain _____ of the Regt commanded by Col Gage in the N.H. line for 9 days.
Mass. 71. H. mch 25/05. Records completed. R.
Inscribed on the Roll of _____ at the rate of 30 Dollars _____ Cents per annum, to commence on the 14th day of March, 1831.
Certificate of Pension issued the 29 th day of Oct 1833 and sent John Kelly Secretary N.H.
Arrears to the 14th of Mar 1833 $60- Semi-ant. allowance ending 4 Feb " 15- $75-
{ Revolutionary Claim, } { Act June 7, 1832. }
Recorded by J. H. M c Blain Clerk, Book 6, Vol. 1, Page 102.

15646 Enoch Merrill Wadsworth
Plate 9 Mrs
$30-
Geo Kelly Exeter N.H.

County of  BRIEF in the case of  Enoch Merrill  of Rockingham  in the State of  New Hampshire  (Act 7th June, 1832.)
 1. Was the declaration made before a Court or a Judge? Court  2. If before a Judge, does it appear that the applicant is disabled by bodily infirmity?  3. How old is he? 78 yrs.  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.     Vol In 17 75 " 3 Private Genl. Stark   " " " 2 " Capt Gage Col Frye   " " " 11 " " " Milfordbury.   " " Allen " Waldo  
 5. In what battles was he engaged? None  6. Where did he reside when he entered the service? Massachusetts  7. Is his statement supported by living witnesses, by documentary proof, by traditional evidence, by incidental evidence, or by the rolls? traditional & living witnesses  8. Are the papers defective as to form or authentication? and if so, in what respect? Correct 
I Certify that the foregoing statement and the answers agree with the evidence in the case above mentioned.
M. Claggett  Examining Clerk:

10554-00057 State of New-Hampshire.
County of Rockingham, ss.
ON this tenth day of October A.D. 1832 personally appeared, in open Court, before the Justices of the  Judge of Probate  The Court of  Probate now sitting at Exeter in said County
Enoch Merrill a resident of Salem in the County of Rockingham and State of New-Hampshire, aged Seventy five 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 provision made by the Act of Congress, passed June 7, 1832:
That he on the 18 th of June 1775 being Sunday left his place of residence then in Breccford in the State of Massachusetts and proceeded to Cambridge in said State of Massachusetts , & that about the 20 th of June 1775 he entered the Army of the Revolution at said Cambridge in the Company commanded by Capt. Nathl. Gage of said Breccford - Col. Grye of Andover M aj . was the Commander of the Regiment to which he belonged - & was stationed at Cambridge College - That he continued and served as a soldier in said Gage's Company the term of three full months and upwards, which term expired near the last of September 1775 - That he has made diligent search and inquiry and can find no one now alive who served with him at the time above named to testify to that fact - That sometime in the latter part of the month of September 1775 he again engaged as a soldier in the Revolution - in the Company commanded by Capt. Elisha Woodbury - Benjamin Hall was Lieutenant in said Woodbury's Company at that time - was stationed at Winter Hill so called in said State of Massachusetts , and that he served as a soldier in said Woodbury's Company for the term of two months and upwards - Gen. Stark was the Commander of the Regiment to which said Woodbury's Company belonged at that time - That immediately after leaving said Woodbury's Company he joined the Company commanded by Capt. John Allen , having Stone for Lieutenant and Thomas Spofford of Pelham was an Ensign in said Allen's Company - That he continued a soldier in said Allen's Company and served therein for the term of four full months and upwards - Col. Waldo was the Commander of the Regiment to which said Allen's Company belonged at the time he served as a soldier in said Allen's Company - That he has no written discharges, not having rec d any at the expiration of either of his periods of his services in the Revolutionary war -
He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity, except the present, and he declares that his name is not on the Pension Roll of any Agency in any State.
Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid.
Enoch Merrill
John Kelly Regr Prob.

And the said Court hereby declares its opinion that the above named Applicant was a revolutionary soldier and served as he states
John Harvey Judge of Probate I John Kelly, Register of Probate and Clerk of the Court of Probate for said County do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court in the matter of the application of Enoch Merrill for a Pension
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and the seal of said Court this tenth day of October Anno Domini 1832
John Kelly, Reg. Probate
Enoch Merrill Applicant
[Faint, mirrored text from the reverse side of the page, likely bleed-through from the original document.]

Rev. and 1812 Wars Section AWF/cel
April 9, 1929
Bernice Stewart 912 So. Carondelet Street Los Angeles, California
Madam:
I advise you from the papers in the Revolutionary War pension claim, S.11057, it appears that Enoch Merrill, while residing in Bradford, Massachusetts, on June 18, 1775, marched to Cambridge and enlisted, June 20, 1775, and served three months in Captain Nathaniel Gage's Company, Colonel Frye's Massachusetts Regiment.
In the latter part of September, 1775, he enlisted and served two months in Captain Elisha Woodbury's Company, Colonel John Stark's New Hampshire Regiment and immediately after enlisted and served four months in Captain John Allen's Company, Colonel ✓ Waldron's New Hampshire Regiment.
He was allowed pension on his application executed October 10, 1832, at which time he was living in Salem, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, aged seventy-five years.
There are no data as to family.
The above noted Enoch Merrill is the only soldier
✓ See N. H. Bk R Volume 1- Page 476

100-331_00010 of that name found on the Revolutionary War records of this bureau.
Respectfully,
E. W. MORGAN Acting Commissioner.

Rev Mar
11.057 ✓ INVALID.
File No. 11.057
Enoch Merrill
Dis Rev Mar
Act: June 1 st 32
Index:—Vol. A , Page 254
[Arrangement of 1870.]
1929 April 9—Hirst to Bernice Stewart See her letter in Agassiz Northway W2419 and 3.

Moses Austin, Affidavit -
Enoch Merrill, Affidavit -
15646

I Moses Austin of Salem in the County of Rock- ingham & State of New Hampshire testify and say, that I am seventy seven years of age, and that I know and am well acquainted with Enoch Merrill of said Salem and have been intimately acquainted with him for seventy years last past and upwards, that in the summer of the year 1775 I joined the Army of the Revolution and was stationed on Winter Hill, so called, in the state of Massachusetts and continued a soldier in said Army until the latter part of April or first of May 1776, when the term of service for which I had enlisted expired - during my time of service in said Army as above named, I knew and was well acquainted with said Merrill as a soldier, that in the month of September 1775 said Merrill belonged in the Company commanded by Capt Elisha Woodbury, having Benjamin Hall for Lieutenant - said Merrill continued in said service commanded by said Woodbury as Capt. for the term of two months or upwards - during which time I served as a soldier in the same company with said Merrill - at the expiration of two months service or upwards of said Merrill in said Company, said Merrill joined the Company commanded by Capt John Allen, having Butts Stone for Lieutenant - in the Regiment commanded by Col - Waldo - Thomas Spofford of Pelham N.H. was an Ensign in said Allen's Company - I knew and was well acquainted with said Merrill, while he served as a soldier in said Allen's company for more than four months, the latter part of the service of said Merrill above named. I was a soldier, in said Allen's Company & were stationed at said (Winter Hill). -

10054_00045 Col John Stark since was the commander of The Regiment, to which since Woodbury's company belonged at the time above named — from the appear- ance of said Merrill, and from my very intimate acquaintance with him I should think he was seventy five years of age or upwards — Attest David W Dickey
May 29 Day
State of New Hampshire Rockingham ss September 18. 1832. The the above named Moses Austin personally appeared and made solemn oath that the above affidavit by him signed is true before me — David W Dickey Jus. Peace.
I David W Dickey
I hereby certify that I am acquainted with Moses the Austin, who signed the above affidavit, and that he is considered a man of truth and veracity — October 10. 1832 David W Dickey Jus Peace.

State of New Hampshire County of Rockingham
I John Kelly Register of Probate and Clerk of the Court of Probate for said County do hereby certify that David W Dickey is a Justice of the Peace for said County and that his signatures to the foregoing certifi- cates are in his own hand writing
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of said Court this tenth day of Octo- ber Anno Domini 1832
John Kelly Reg d Probate

BRIEF objections to the admission of Pension Claims, of which those answered in the negative, in red ink, will apply to the claim of Enoch Merrill 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? Yes VI. Has he given the names of the officers under whom he served, in conformity with the regulations? Yes 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? No XII. If the clergyman's affidavit has not been produced, is there any reason assigned for not obtaining it? No 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? Witness 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? Yes Has the proper officer certified to the official character and signature of the magistrate as the regulations direct? Yes 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? Yes 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?
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, deposeh 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.