Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File B. L. Wt. 496-100, John Burns, Penn.

SERVICE
NUMBER _____
Penn.
Burns, John
B.L. St. 496-100
CONTENTS

No 496.
John Burns.
private.
Leam. Line.
W. Ipswich & delio. to the Hon. a.
Robert Seaking. M.P. +

District N o . 2 N o 405 = 200 as
Rec d 17 th Decem r 1808 to James Burns, in right of John Burns Rec d

Lot No 404.
East- 261.
Draught 17 th Dec r 1808 by James Burns in Right of John Burns dec d .
In Pursuance of an act of General assembly of the State of Pennsylvania passed the 24 th day of February 1785 Entituled an act for directing the mode of Distributing the Donation Lands promised the Troops of this Commonwealth & by order of the Surveyor General with the approbation of the Honble the Executive Council, I have Surveyed in the 12 th day of December 1785 the above described tract of two hundred acres of land & the Allowance of Sixty Cent for Roads No CCCCCV, Situate in District No 2 on the West side of Allegany River in Westmoreland County.
W m Henderson D r
To John Lukens Esq r Surv r Gen l
I certify the above to be a true Copy of an original Draught remaining in the Surveyor General's Office, for which a Patent issued to James Burns in Right of John Burns deceased, as his Donation promised by the Commonwealth of Penn a for his services as a Soldier during the Revolutionary War.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto Set my hand and the Seal of said Office at Lancaster this 19 th day of Decem r 1808.
Sam l Lockhart S r

James Burns claim to land, lodged by M. Jenkins

Andrew Ellicott Secretary of the Land Office of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Do hereby certify that from an Examination of the United States Return of Soldiers entitled to receive Donation lands from the State of Pennsylvania for their Services in the late Revolutionary War with Great Britain - I find, entered on said Return, the name of John Burns, a Soldier, as being entitled to receive lands, & whose claim does not appear to have been satisfied so far as relates to the Commonwealth of Pennsylv a .
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my Hand and the Seal of the Land Office of Pennsylvania, aforesaid, at Lancaster, this Twenty Sixth day of October, One thousand, eight hundred and eight.
And o Ellicott Secy of Office

For a valuable consideration I do assign, transfer & set over unto Thomas M. Thompson, of the Borough of Lancaster, all my right, title, interest & claim to One hundred acres of land which my late brother John Burns dece d was entitled to, as a bounty for his services, as a soldier, in the late army of the United States & which hath descended to me as the eldest brother & heir at Law: Witness my hand & seal the fifteenth day of October - One thou- sand, eight hundred & eight
James Burns
Sealed & Delivered in the presence of
Tho s Boudé
Lancaster County ss. Personally appeared before me the subscriber one of the Justices of the peace in & for the county afo d , in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the above named James Burns and acknowledged the above instrument of writing to be his act & deed. Witness my hand and seal the 15 th day of October Anno domini in 1808
W m B. Boudé
Lancaster County ss.
Personally appeared before me the subscriber one of the Justices of the peace in and for the County of Lancaster Thoms Boudé Esqr who being duly sworn according to Law, doth dep- ore and say that he was acquainted with John Burns mentioned in the above assignment. That said John Burns was a Soldier in the late American Army in the first Penn a Regiment commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Harmar. That he was enlisted for and during the War. That he died in the Year

Eighteen hundred and One thousand seven hundred and eighty three. That he left no heirs of his body, and that James Burns whose name is subscribed to the foregoing assignment is and at the time of his death was his eldest brother Further this dispensent saith not
Sworn and subscribed the 15th October 1808
Before me Ymrs J. S. Beatty
Thos Bourde

Washington (Penn. a ) Feb. 13 th 1809
Dear Sir,
I duly received your fav. r of the 3. d instant, in which you mention that Mr. Boudes deposition does not state Burns to be the heir at Law" and that as soon as that the fact is substantiated, the warrant will issue — Whether James Burns is heir to his brother, the deceased soldier, is a question of law, which the deposition of Mr. Boudes, if it had stated it, could not have settled, as such statement could have been nothing more than his opinion; but the deposition states the material facts in the case, to wit, that Burns, the soldier died intestate, unmarried and without issue, and that James Burns was at the time of his death & still is, his eldest brother: Now the Secretary of War will find, on examination that, by the intestate Laws of Pennsylvania in 1783, the estate of an intestate without widow or children descended to his eldest brother, as heir at Law. I beg leave to refer the Secretary to a late case where warrants issued to me as assignee of Matthias Young, in right of his brother an officer in the revolutionary army, who also died in 1783 — The cases are alike in every particular ; in Youngs case, indeed, a certificate was forwarded from the Register of Lancaster county stating that Matthias was the eldest brother & heir at Law & that he had administered — James Burns (I understood from himself) also administered and a similar certificate might have been procured in his case, but as I had established (by Mr. Boudes depositions) the facts of the death of the soldier without issue & intestate & of James Burns being the eldest brother, I did not consider it material to obtain such certificate, which must pass for nothing unless supported by the laws — The Secretary will also observe that a certificate from the Surveyor Generals office has been furnished proving that a Patent for 200 acres of Penn. a donation land had been issued to James Burns, (in right of his brother) since the original application to the War office — I had always understood that such certificate was received at the War office as conclusive sufficient evidence of the title to United States bounty lands — On the whole, I flatter myself,

That General Hearbourne, on reconsidering Burns' case, will feel himself authorized to issue the land warrant — of however further documents are held to be necessary, I must endeavour to procure them, altho to do so, will occasion me much trouble, being now so far removed from Lancaster — I must beg you will call again on Genl Hearbourne, previously to the adjournment of Congress, and write me the result —
Accept my best thanks for your last fav s and the assurance of my respect & esteem —
Robert Jenkins Esquire 3
J. M. Thompson.