Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File R. 1306, James C Brown, New York

SERVICE
NUMBER
New York
Brown, James C.
R. 1306
CONTENTS
b. Mar. 5, 1750, at Northcote, Westchester Co. N.Y.
res at end. Fishkill, Dutchess Co. N.Y.
res in 1832. Tioga Co. N.Y.

James C. Brown New York Revo. Act 7 th June 1832
Rejected see Letter to Wm. Maxwell Dec. 14 th 1832.
1306

1306
REJECTED
P. O.
James B Brown
Service: _____
Enlisted: _____, 18
Discharged: _____, 18
Application filed: _____, 18
Alleges: List of rejected claims printed in 1852, shows cause of
Re-enlisted: rejection as follows:
"He did not serve in any regularly organized corps."
Attorney: _____
P. O. _____
_____ Recognized. _____ Contract
_____ Cert. of Dis. Searched for _____, 18

14 Dec 1832
Recorded Vol. 8. Page 145.
157.

War Department
Pension Office
Nov. 14 th 1832
Sir
The claim of James C. Brown has been examined - The act of 7 June 1832 is construed to provide only for an actual service in some branch of a military corps, constituted - embodied & commanded by competent authority agreeably to the rules & articles of war. This interpretation excludes the service which during the Revolutionary war was patriotically rendered by set forth associations of military bodies subject to their own laws & performing intended as a guard & patrol to suppress disaffection & to detect & punish treason - As the declaration of Mr. Brown shows that his service is of the latter class, his claim is rejected & his papers retained on file
Sept 8. 1832 20 Recd. Sec'y. June
Th. Maxwell Esq
Elmira

11449 James C. Brown
Milica
Postoffice Elmina N.Y. care Th. Maxwell agent

It a court of common pleas held at the Court House in the Village of Elmira in & for the County of Tioga in the State of New York, Commencing on the First Tuesday in September 1832, the same being a Court of Record so declared by the Constitution and laws of the said State by which it is constituted, and having a Seal & Clerk.
Present Hon G B Baldwin First Judge John R. Druke Elijah Shoemaker } Esquires Darius Pently } Judges Forest L. Darling }
State of New York,
-Tioga County ss. On the 5 th day of September 1832 personally appeared in open court, before the above named Judges now sitting James C. Brown a resident of the Town of Elmira in the said County of Tioga, aged eighty two years and upwards, who being first duly sworn according to law, did on his oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress passed June 7. 1832.
That during the Revolutionary war he resided at Fishkill in the County of Dutchess in the State of New York: That the inhabitants of that County and most of the Counties bordering on the North River were greatly harassed in consequence of the great number of Loyalists who resided in that part of the Country and kept themselves in situations from which they could annoy the surrounding inhabitants whenever circumstances favoured their descent upon them. They were also much infested with gangs of marauders whose sole aim seemed the acquisition of plunder without much regard to the party from which it could be obtained.
The Tories & Refugees were countenanced & sustained till the close of the war by the British troops, which

Continued to hold possession of the City of New York & Consequently by their shipping had the command of a considerable part of the North River - These circumstan- ces induced the Inhabitants of Dutchess County at a very early period of the Revolutionary to form voluntary associations for mutual aid & protection to establish a Corps of Patroles to guard the Towns during the night when they were the more liable to the attack of their troublesome foes above alluded to - A company was formed in the Town of Fish Kill originally under command of Capt n Andrew Hill & afterwards on his appointment as a Major, commanded by Capt t William Smartwood whose Special duty it was to guard the Inhabitants by day & were distributed in squads, to act as Patroles during the night alternating through the week. In this Company the deponent entered early in the year 1776 & continued in the performance of that kind of duty until its close in the fall of 1783. Altho' during a part of the time & particularly in the year 1781 of military operat- ions were not carried on to much extent, yet in the neighborhoods about the North River, the attacks of the British Troops, Refugees, Skinners & Horse thieves required a constant guard and patrole, until the evacuation of New York by the British Troops. Except about three months, the said deponent was engaged in that service til the close of the war - The three months alluded to was while he was pressed with his Team to haul flour, fuel & various articles of food &c for the Troops which during the winter seasons were quartered in

the neighborhood of Fish Kill & that was called the Connecticut State where troops were encamped - The deponent believes that these services all together would fairly amount to the two years full service required by the act of June 7 1832 to entitle him to a full pension & therefore presents his claim believing his services entitle him to it -
In answer to the Interrogatories propounded by the War Department he states that he was born at Northcastle in the County of Westchester N.Y. 5 March 1750. That the record of his birth is in his family bible now in possession of John Moore at Middleburn in Virginia. That his father removed to Fish Kill shortly after his birth & that he continued to reside in Dutchess Co until about 1805 when he removed to Tioga County N.Y. in the neighborhood of the said Town of Elmira from whence in 1817 or 18 he removed to near Marietta Ohio in which State he continued until about three years since when he returned to Elmira aforesaid. That he has no documentary evidence of his services & knows no person living by whom he can prove them. He knew Gov. Clinton, Col. Dubois & Col. Smith of the New York line in the Revolutionary war, and no doubt many others, but in consequence of his advanced age & loss of memory he can enumerate but few of them.
He would refer to Samuel Tuttle Esq of Southport & Rev. Simeon R Jones of the same town in the said County who knew him during his first residence in the said County for the belief in regard to his Revolutionary services. He hereby relinquishes every claim what- ever to any pension or annuity except the present

and declares that his name is not on the Pension roll of the agency of any State
James C Brown
Sworn & subscribed } the day & year aforesaid } Green M Tuttle Clk
We Simeon R. Jones — a clergyman residing in the Town of Southport — in the said County of Troy & resident in Thomas Maxwell's house in Elmira do hereby certify that we are well acquainted with James C Brown who has made & subscribed the foregoing declaration: that we believe him to be of the age he represents: that he is reputed & believed in the neighborhood where he resides to have been a soldier of the Revolution and that we concur in that opinion Sworn & Subscribed the } day & year aforesaid. } Green M Tuttle Clk < Simeon R. Jones — Th. Maxwell
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 & served as he states: and the Court further certify that it appears to them that Simeon R. Jones who has signed the preceding Certificate is a Clergyman resident in the Town of Southport in the said County and that Thomas Maxwell who has also signed the same

is a resident of the Town of Elmira in said County and is a credible person, and that their statement is entitled to credit.
J. B. Baldwin First Judge
J. Green M c Intosh Clerk of the said Court do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court in the matter of the application of James C. Brown for a Pension.
In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my Seal of Office the 5 th day of September 1832.
Green M c Intosh