Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S. 5159, for Ebenezer Plympton, Massachusetts

SERVICE
NUMBER
Mass
Plympton, Ebenezer
S 5159
CONTENTS
carded

15346 Massachusetts
Ebenezer Dympton
Resided in the State of Mass who was a Private in the Company commanded by Captain Miller of the Regt commanded by Col Reed in the Mass Line for 8 mos Private 5 8 " Sergeant 3
78 Moolery
Inscribed on the Roll of Massachusetts at the rate of 66 Dollars 17 Cents per annum to commence on the 4th day of March, 1831.
Certificate of Pension issued the 23 rd day of June 1833 and sent Isaac Lusk to Samuel Dympton Arrears to the 4th of March 1833 $133.34 Semi-ant. allowance ending 1/Sept r 33.33 $166.67
{ Revolutionary Claim, } { Act June 7, 1832. }
Recorded by W.H. Johnson Clerk Book 7 Vol. 9 Page 64

Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Massachusetts ss.
On this day day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty two, personally appeared in open Court, before the Honourable Judge of the Court of Probate, in and for the County of Middlesex aforesaid, now sitting, Ebenezer Dympton a resident of Sudbury in the County of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, aged seventy six 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, A. D. 1832: That he entered the service of the United States under the following named officers, and served as herein stated:
My Revolutionary Service commenced on the morning of the memorable 19 th of April 1775 when I was at Concord when the first Blood shed at North Bridge. In the Town of Lexington I Disarmed a British Soldier of His Gun. and pursued the Enemy to the Burrows of Concord and Remained at Concord for 6 days. In November 1775 I enlisted in Capt. Asahel Wheeler's Company and Colo. Read's Regt. and was stationed at Roxbury, and was Discharged the 1 st of February 1776. In the Month of June or July in 1776 I enlisted for 5 Months in Capt. Asahel Wheeler's Company and Colo. Jonathan Read's Regt. and Genl. Brattle's Brigade and was Stationed at Ticonderoga on the west side of Lake Champlain and was Discharged 1 st of December 1776. In 1777 I enlisted For thirty Days for to Reinforce and Help Captain Burging a few days Previous to the Company. Marching I was called on to my Father's Farm and take a load of Beef at Middlebury and proceeded to Bennington in the State of Vermont. when we arrived at Worthington in the State of Massachusetts was ordered to store Beef it took all of thirty days to perform the journey.

for 1879 I enlisted into the United Service for Eight Months was appointed a Sergeant and ordered to March the men raised in Indiana to Head Quarters at White Plains where I joined my Regt which was commanded By Colo Poor and Company commanded by Lieut. Eliphalet Harkness afterword by Capt Caleb Newton at the White Plains in the State of New York Some time in July said Regt was ordered to West Point When Stationed at West Point I was engaged at the Quartermaster Department for the purpose of collecting Forage and Forage under Giles Gallard and paid my discharge of said Gallard for the remainder of my eight months service
I have for Ten years past been afflicted with Rheumatism as to be unable to any distance without a crutch which I believe rendered me Lying in a tent on wet ground while I was when Stationed at Secondarage in 1876 and been Subject to that Complaint at times ever since
Edward P. Lyman
[Faint, mirrored text from the reverse side of the page]

No 5398

in 1778 I enlisted for eight  six months, when I was appointed Sergeant and to march the men raised in Litchbury to Ticonderoga at which place I was joined by my Regt. commanded by Col. Poor and Co. commanded by Stephen Hasting afterward by Caleb Newton at the White Plains in the State of New York. Some time in July said Regt. was ordered to West Point where stationed camped  at West Point I went into the Commissary's Department under Giles Galloway and Recd my Discharge from said Giles Galloway for the Remaining Part of the eight Months Service and have since lost said Discharge Ebenezer Plympton
I was born 4 th of July 1756 at Litchbury - I have no record of my birth; I lived at Litchbury when I went into the Service & have lived there ever since. I voluntarily enlisted; - I knew General Ward at Morristown & Head Quarters at his Quarters in at Ticonderoga I knew Genl. Gates & Genl. St. Clair; in 1778 I knew Col. Poor, Col. Morgan - I never received a Discharge as I remember, except the last one, when I received a Discharge from Giles Galloway, which I have since lost - 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 any state, Ebenezer Plympton
We, Isaac Fiske a clergyman, residing in the Litchbury aforesaid and William Rice hereby certify, that we are well acquainted with Ebenezer Plympton who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration; - that we believe him to be Seventy Three years of age: that he is reputed and believed, in the neighbourhood where he resides, to have been a soldier of the Revolution, and that we concur in that opinion. Isaac Fiske William Rice
Sworn and subscribed the day and year aforesaid.
And the said Court do 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 certify, that it appears to them that Isaac Fiske who has signed the preceding certificate, is a clergyman, resident in Litchbury and that William Rice who has also signed the same, is a resident in Litchbury and is a credible person; and that their statement is entitled to credit.
J. P. Fay  W. B. I Isaac Fiske Register of the Court of Probate in and for the County of Middlesex, do hereby certify, that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court in the matter of the application of Ebenezer Plympton for a pension. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office on the day year first aforesaid. Isaac Fiske

Y o 5398 Ebenezer Plymton
Augt 8 Mus
Plant 8
16
16 4 16 06
Jan'y 12 1833
40 00
26.67
66 67
P 216
Isaac Fiske Esq Fort Cambridge
J. Fiske Esq. Mus
C. Camb. Mus.

BRIEF in the case of Ebenezer Plympton of the county of Middlesex in the State of Mass. (Act 7th June, 1832.)
 1. Was the declaration made before a Court or a Judge? year.  2. If before a Judge, does it appear that the applicant is disabled by bodily infirmity?  3. How old is he? 76 years  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.     In 1775 Nov. — 2 — Private Gen. Col. Reed, Capt. Wheeler   '76 — 5 — ditto Same Officers   '77 — 1 — Lt. Capt. Burgoing   '78 — 8 — Sergt. Col. Poore, Capt. Haskell & Newton.  
 5. In what battles was he engaged? none  6. Where did he reside when he entered the service? Sudbury  7. Is his statement supported by living witnesses, by documentary proof, by traditionary evidence, by incidental evidence, or by the rolls? Depositions  8. Are the papers defective as to form or authentication? and if so, in what respect? 
I Certify that the foregoing statement and the answers agree with the evidence in the case above mentioned.
Levin Bell Examining Clerk.

Reyn
5159
INVALID.
File No. 5159
Ebenezer Playton Sgt. Rev War
Act: June 7 th 1832
Index:—Vol. M , Page 298
[Arrangement of 1870.]

No 5398
Ebenezer Plympton
J. Fiske Esq.
C. Cambridge Mass. Aug 2

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 Plympton 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? 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? 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? no Has the official character and signature of the magistrate been certified by the proper officer under his seal of office? 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? no 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 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.

23 John Balcom of Sudbury in the County of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts Aged 76 years - do testify and say in the Month of November Eben C. Plympton Esq. of Sudbury County and Commonwealth of Massachusetts enlisted in Capt. Asahel Wheeler's company and Col. Reed's Regt. the service commencing on the 10 th Day of December 1775 said Regt. was stationed at Roxbury near Boston I was a soldier in the same company during the two Months with the said Plympton and was discharged the beginning of February 1776 John his Balcom Mark
Middlesex ss: Sudbury August 16 th 1832
Then the above named John Balcom personally appeared and made oath to the truth of the above Deposition before me
Ashe Goodnow Just of the Peace
I also certify that John Balcom who made oath to the above affidavit before me is a credible person
Ashe Goodnow Just of the Peace

John Goodnow of Sudbury in the County of Middlesex and in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts aged 70 years do testify and say that Eben s Plympton Esq r of said town and County & Commonwealth of onesaid that I enlisted in the United States Service for eight months in the year 1778 & joined the Regiment at the White Plains in the State of New York in June or July commanded by Col. Bacon & in the company commanded by S r liffit Hasting & afterward by Capt n Mollen that said Plympton enlisted at the same time and in same company and acted as a sergeant in said company & that we Marched from the White Plains to West Point & there I was taken sick and carried to the Hospital. — John Goodnow
Middlesex ss. Sudbury August 15 th 1832 then the above named John Goodnow personally appeared and made Oath to the truth of the above deposition before me Asher Goodnow Just of the Peace
B — I also certify that John Goodnow who made oath to the above affidavit before me is a credible person. Asher Goodnow Just of the Peace

Nathaniel Pierce
Deposition
[Faint, mirrored handwritten text, likely bleed-through from the reverse side of the page]

I Nathaniel Rife of East Sudbury in the County of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts Aged 72 years
Do testify & say that Ebenezer Wheeler of Sudbury in the County of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts was Intested in Capt. Asahel Wheeler Company in July Seventeen Hundred seventy five for five months and March 1 to Concord and at the expiration of said term of five months we were discharged and that I was in the same company
Nathaniel Rife
Middlesex ss. Sudbury July 26, 1882
Then the above named Nathaniel Rife personally appeared and made Oath to the above deposition
Before me Ashe Goodnow Justice of the Peace I also certify that Nathaniel Rife above named who signed & made oath to the above affidavit before me is a credible person. Ashe Goodnow Justice of the Peace
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Middlesex ss. August 17, 1882
I Isaac Fisher Register of the Court of Probate in & for the County of Middlesex, hereby certify that Ashe Goodnow is a justice of the Peace within & for said County & that his own proper signature is set to the foregoing & two annexed affidavits marked A & B.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand & seal of office this seventeenth day of August 1882 Isaac Fisher