Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S. 30330, Salvanus Clark, Mass

SERVICE
NUMBER
Mass
Clark, Salvanus. or Sylvanus
S. 30330
CONTENTS

Massachusetts
Sylvanus Clark
of Sunderland in the State of Mass who was a Private in the Company commanded by Captain Smith of the Age commanded by Col Smith in the Mass line for 14 months
Civil War
Inscribed on the Roll of Massachusetts at the rate of 41 Dollars 67 Cents per annum, to commence on the 4th day of March, 1831.
74. Franklin
Certificate of Pension issued the 22 d day of June 1833 and Rev. Elijah Stearns  Dwight May
Arrears to the 4th of March 1833 $93.34 Semi-ant. allowance ending 1/11/33, 23.33 $116.67
{ Revolutionary Claim, } Act June 7, 1832. }
Recorded by L.K. Adonson Clerk, Book E Vol. 24 Page 12

Sylvanus Clark Sunduland D 22321
Sylvanus Clark
H. M. Tapp
- enures a wage receiver in every sense of the above term of Service - Sylvanus Clark

Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
FRANKLIN COUNTY SS.
ON THIS sixteenth day of August A. D. 1832, personally appeared in open Court, before the said Commonwealth, now sitting at Greenfield within and for the said County of Franklin, Salvamus Clark a resident of Sunderland in the County and Commonwealth aforesaid, aged Seventy two years, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth, on his oath, make the following declaration, in order to obtain the benefit of an act of Congress passed June 7, 1832.
That he entered the service of the United States under the following named officers, and served as herein stated. I the above named Salvamus Clark do declare and say that according to the Book of Records of Births of said town of Sunderland I was born at that place on the nineteenth day of May A. D. 1760 - that in the month of August 1777. I was called to said Sunderland where I then resided that the Northern Army was on the retreat before Gen. Burgoyne's Army, and assistance was called for, and I volunteered as a Private in Capt. Starre's Company and went to Bennington where I arrived about three or four days after the Battle at Bennington and was annexed to Col. Wells Regiment, and was stationed at Fort Edward in Gen. Stark's Division and performed regular duty in said Company until after the Surrender of Gen. Burgoyne in October following, when I was dismissed having performed a service of a little more than two months - I received no written discharge. Also about the first of July 1778 I enlisted under Lieut. Joseph Clark in the Company of Capt. Hemen to go to Rutland and Brookfield, Massachusetts to guard the prisoners of Burgoyne's Army and the public stores at those places and I went and was stationed at Brookfield to guard the stores at that place for the term of six months, the time for which I engaged and was then dismissed - Also in the month of May or June 1780 I enlisted for six months into the Continental Army of the Revolution and went to West Point in the State of New York and joined a Company commanded by a Capt. Smith, in Col. Calvin Smith's Regiment and Gen. Hovey's
Brigade, and we moved over to Robinson's Farm so called on the East side of Hudson River, and marched thence to Poughkeepsie, Stony Point and to Sappac in the State of New Jersey, and thence returned to West Point, and at the end of my term of six months I was regularly discharged, but cannot now recollect by whom said discharge was given - after my return home some person called upon me for my discharge for the purpose of drawing my pay at Boston, to whom I delivered it, and have known nothing of it since; the name of the person who so called I do not remember - I have no documentary evidence of my said service.
I was born in the town of Sunderland, then County of Hampshire, now Franklin in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in the year 1760. My Birth is recorded upon the Record of Births in said town of Sunderland and I have ever resided in said town from my birth to the present time, excepting short occasional absences of which my services in the Army have been the principal. I always voluntarily enlisted when I entered the service, and I never received any regular or written discharge when I left the service, except at the time above mentioned when I left the service at West Point, of the disposition of which I have therefore herein spoken - The distance I had to travel to reach my home, after being dismissed at the end of the three several terms of service above specified, amounted to about three hundred miles, as then travelled, and fifteen miles was reckoned as a days travel, making twenty days to be added to the above terms of service -
Salvamus Clark

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 the agency of any State.
Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid.
Attest E. Alvord Clerk
Sylvanus Clark
WE,
residing in
believe him to be
where he resides, to have been a soldier of the Revolution, and that we concur in that opinion.
Sworn and subscribed the day and year aforesaid.
hereby certify that we are well acquainted with who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration; that we years of age; that he is reputed and believed, in the neighborhood
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 certifies, that it appears to them that
Attest E. Alvord Clerk
I, ELIJAH ALVORD, 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 Sylvanus Clark for a pension.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my Hand and affixed the Seal of the said Court, this fourteenth day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty two
E. Alvord Clerk.

Sylvanus Clark
22,321
Plan at 1/4 Mile
E. Alvord Esq Gunsfield Mass

BRIEF in the case of Sylvanus Clark of Sunderland / in the State of Massachusetts (Act 7th June, 1832.)
 1. Was the declaration made before a Court or a Judge? In open court  2. If before a Judge, does it appear that the applicant is disabled by bodily infirmity?  3. How old is he? 72 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 Augt In 1777 A little more than 2 private Gen. Wells Hap. Harrow   " July 1778 6 " Capt. Kemp   " Major June 1780 6 " Col. Smith Hap. Smith  
 5. In what battles was he engaged? None named  6. Where did he reside when he entered the service? In Sunderland  7. Is his statement supported by living witnesses, by documentary proof, by traditional evidence, by incidental evidence, or by the rolls? Three living witnesses  8. Are the papers defective as to form or authentication? and if so, in what respect? correctly authenticated 
I Certify that the foregoing statement and the answers agree with the evidence in the case above mentioned.
Examining Clerk.

30 330 Rev INVALID.
File No. 30,330
Sylvanus Clark Rev Rev
Act: June 7 th 82 nd
Index:—Vol. 2 , Page 74
[Arrangement of 1870.]

BRIEF objections to the admission of Pension Claims, of which those answered in the negative, in red ink, will apply to the claim of Sylvanus Clark 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? No - see short brief 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?
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? yes
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, 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 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.

Sylvanus Josiah
Sylvanus Clark Sylvanus Clark's case Affidavits Don. Tied - aff
Sylvanus Clark

I Ebenezer Whitney of Montague in the County of Franklin Commonwealth of Massachusetts Depose and say that I enlisted in June 1780 for six Months in the Army of the Revolution went first to Westpoint from thence to Robenson Farm so call d from thence to Peekskill from thence to Stonepoint from thence to Dobson in New Jersey and then near Completed the term of my enlistment and was acquainted with Salomon Clark of Sunderland County and Commonwealth Aforesaid and do know that said Salomon Clark Did serve as a private soldier in Col o Calvin Smiths Reg t and General Grovers Brigade the term of six Months at the above Mention Stations
Ebenezer Whitney
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Franklin ss June 25 1792 Personally Appeared Ebenezer Whitney the Subscriber to the Above Deposition and Made solemn oath that the facts Above stated are true
Before me Caleb Hubbard justice of the Peace and I the said justice do further Certify that I have long been acquainted with the Above Dependant and his Character for truth is good Caleb Hubbard
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Franklin ss. I Elijah Alvord, Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas of said Commonwealth, for the county of Franklin do certify that Caleb Hubbard Esq. before whom the proceeding and the two annexed affidavits purport to have been verified is a Justice of the Peace for the said county. And I believe his name subscribed to the several certificates subjoined to said affidavits to be his genuine signature.
In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand and affix the seal of said court at Greenfield on the fourteenth day of August A. D. 1832.
E. Alvord Clerk

I Josiah Rice of Leventell County of Franklin Commonwealth of Massachusetts Depose and say that in the month of July 1878 I Enlisted under Lieut. Joseph Clary to Guard the Prisoners of General Burgoyne Army Stationed at Rutland Massachusetts and Public Stores at Brookfield and Rutland that I Did Serve all said terms was Discharged the first of January following; I am well Acquainted with Salvenas Clark of Sunderland and So knows that Said Salvenas Clark Did Enlist in D o Company and Did Serve all said term as a privet Soldier; Being a Service of six months and ten or twelve Day. Josiah Rice
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Franklin ss June 25 th 1832 Josiah Rice Personally Appeared, and made Solemn Oath that the facts by him subscribed in the above Deposition are true: Before me Caleb Hubbard Justice of the Peace I the said justice do certify that I am well acquainted with the above Deponent and do know that his character for truth and veracity is Good Caleb Hubbard

I Jonathan Field of Leeverett County of Franklin Commonwealth of Massachusetts Depose and say that in the year 1777 in the alarm at the Battle of Bennington on the 16 th of August of that year I volunteered in Capt. Joseph Harrows Company and were annexed to Col o Wells Regt. and stationed at Fort Edward in General Stark Division and continued in said Company and Regt. until General Burgoyne surrendered on the 17 th of October of the same year - that I was well acquainted with Saluenas Clerk of Sunderland County and Commonwealth aforesaid a privet in said Company and Regt. all s d term and to know that said Saluenas Clerk did serve all s d term which was a few days over two months - Jonathan Field
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Franklin ss June the 25 th 1832 Personally appeared Jonathan Field subscriber to the above Deposition and made solemn oath that the facts therein contained are true
Before me Caleb Hubbard justice of the peace I the said justice do further certify that I am well acquainted with the above deponent and his character for truth and veracity is good Caleb Hubbard