Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File S. 15088, Silas Dean, Mass.

SERVICE
NUMBER
Mass
Dean, Silas
S15088
banded
CONTENTS

9712
Connecticut
Silas Dean
Stafford in the State of Conn who was a Pri - in the Conn command Captain — of the Reg command Col Holman in the Conn Mass.
militia 6 mo 26 days
July 23. 88
Inscribed on the Roll of Conn the rate of 22 Dollars 88 Cents per annum commence on the 4th day of March, 1831.
Certificate of Pension issued the 11 - day of June 1838 and sent C. W. Crawford, New London Bears to the 4th of March 1838 $43, 75 Semi-ant. allowance ending Sept 30 11 44
$57.20
Revolutionary Claim, Act June 7, 1832.
Recorded by E. D. Dillouk Clerk Book E Vol. 3 Page 10

Nov. 26. 1833 dup o certif d to and sent to Rodol phus Wood re the Staf- ford Cont nt on 29th
Same month - See no 97/4 Mr Patton's pap er s for evidence that the origi- =nal certif d ha d not been rec d -

No. 8246.
State of Connecticut } Probate Court September 6 th A.D. 1832 Tolland County }
On this 6 th day of September 1832 personally appeared in open court before the Adolphus Woodworth Esq. Judge of Probate for the District of Stafford holding the court of Probate for said District now sitting the same being a court of Record Silas Dean of Stafford in the County of Tolland in the State of Connecticut aged seventy seven 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 th 1832. That he entered into the service of the United States under the following named Officers and served as herein stated That according to my recollection at the time, some time in the month of December 1775 at the Town of Ware in the County of Hampden in the State of Massachusetts (at that time I resided in the Town of Hardwicke in the County of Worcester in said State of Massachusetts) I enlisted as a private soldier for the term of six weeks under Capt. Dwight then of Bitchertown in said County of Hampden in said State of Massachusetts (who I suppose is now dead) and in to a company of militia men commanded by the said Capt. Dwight. The names as of the Lieut., and Ensign of said company I have forgotten, and immediate- ly after my said enlistment I joined the said company commanded by the said Capt. Dwight and was marched in said company and under the command of the said Capt. Dwight through Worcester and other towns in said State of Massachu- setts to the Town of Cambridge near Boston in said State of Massachusetts where I was quartered in said company near the College in said Cambridge until the expiration of said six weeks. While quartered at said Cambridge I was principally employed on duty as a guard, I was in no battle while stationed at said Cambridge as aforesaid. Said Capt. Dwight, Company and many other companies went to said Cambridge to guard the lines of the American army until an army could be enlisted for one year and after serving as a soldier at said Cambridge during said six weeks I was dismissed or discharged and returned to said Town of Hardwicke where I re- ided until some time in the month of June 1776 when I enlisted as said Hardwicke under Capt. Daniel Warner (then of said Hardwicke and who is now dead) for the term of five months, and I immediately joined the company un- der the command of the said Capt. Warner. The names of the Lieut., Ensign of said company I do not now remember, said Capt. Warner's said company my belonged to Col. Holmans Regt. of the State troops for new levies as they were then called, and Barney Slay was the Major of said Regt. and within about three weeks after I joined said Capt. Warner's said company at said Hardwicke I was marched in said company and under the command of the said Capt. Warner from said Hard-

wike to Hartford in the State of Connecticut and from sd Hartford to New Haven in sd State of Connecticut where I embarked on board a sloop with sd Capt. Warner and the rest of his sd company and sailed to the city of New York where we were landed from sd sloop and quartered in the South part of sd city of New York about two weeks when we were marched to a place then called Greenwich near the North River and then near to the sd city of New York where I was quartered with sd company in barracks about two months as I think and until the American army retreated from sd city of New York to Harlem heights which I think took place some time in the month of September 1776. Said Capt. Warner sd company was in sd retreat I was stationed with sd Capt. Warner sd company at sd Harlem heights in the American army about three weeks during which sd three weeks I was so unwell that I did not perform duty. And after having been quartered at sd Harlem heights as aforesaid I was marched in sd company in the sd Col. Holmans Reg with the American army over Kings Bridge in the State of New York and from thence to White Plains in sd State of New York. The British army pursued the American army to sd White Plains and a battle soon ensued between the two armies at sd White Plains. I was myself in sd battle and I thought it a pretty severe one. The American army was ordered to retreat which it did and the British army pursued no further at this time but marched back to sd city of New York. I was then marched in the American Army from sd White Plains to a place called Courtlands Manor in sd State of New York, where I was quartered with Capt. Warner sd company until the expiration of sd five months, the sd term for which I enlisted as aforesaid, when I together with the rest of sd company were discharged and returned again to sd Town of Hardwicke where I remained until some time in the month of August 1777 when at sd Hardwicke I turned out as a volunteer soldier under Capt. Page of sd Hardwicke, and the most of sd Capt. Pages company volunteered their services on the alarm that Burgoyne was marching through the country. We immediately mounted on horses with our arms and ammunition, with the sd Capt. Page as the head of our company and rode as fast as possible to meet Burgoyne and his army. When we arrived at Bennington in the State of New York Vermont the battle was over and the meeting house in sd Bennington was filled with the wounded Officers and Soldiers of the British army. We staid at sd Bennington about one week and were then dismissed. I was about two weeks in this tour of service. After being dismissed from service at sd Bennington I returned with the said Capt. Page and the rest of his sd company to sd Town of Hardwicke where I lived and resided until about the first of March 1798 when I removed to sd Town of Stafford

with my family where I have ever since lived and resided. I know of no evidence that I can now procure to testify to my st first and third terms of service as a soldier in the revolution and have not as yet been able to procure any evidence as yet to my st second term of service except the Deposition of Sylvanus Ramsdell which will be transmitted here with,
And in answer to the interrogatories put by the board as prescribed by the War Department I declare and say that I was born in the town of Hardwicke in the County of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, in which st Town of Hardwicke I lived and resided until about the first of March 1795 when I removed with my family to st Town of Stafford where I have ever since lived and resided. The time of my birth is recorded in a family Register now in my house from which it appears that I was born on the 17 th day of May 1755. I never had a written discharge while in the American army, that I served under enlistments and as a volunteer at all times when I was actually out in service as above stated, I do not now remember any more of the Officers, or Regt. or circumstances of my service than what I have before stated in this my declaration. I am known to Deacon Moses B. Church and Billings Grant of st Town of Stafford who can testify to my character for veracity and their belief of my services as a soldier in the revolution and that I now know of no evidence that I can procure other than what I have obtained or shall obtain and transmit herewith to the War Department, and I hereby relinquish every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present. I have no documentary evidence and that my name is not on the pension roll of the government of any State, Sworn and subscribed this 17 th day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty five and of the Independence of the United States the fiftieth.
We Moses B. Church a clergyman residing in the Town of Stafford in the County of Tolland in the State of Connecticut and Billings Grant residing in st Town of Stafford hereby certify that we are well acquainted with Deacon Silas Dean of st Town of Stafford who has subscribed to the above declaration, that we believe him to be seventy seven years of age that he is a man of veracity and that he is reputed and believed in the neighborhood where he resides to have been a soldier of the revolution and that we concur in that opinion, Sworn and subscribed this day and year aforesaid.
Moses B. Church Billings Grant

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 the Rev. Moses L. Church who has signed the preceding certificate is a clergyman resident in the Town of Stafford in the County of Tolland in the State of Connecticut, and that Mr. Billings Grant who has also signed the same is a resident in the Town of Stafford and is a credible person, and that their statements is entitled to credit, And the Court further certifies that it appears to them that Sylvanus Ramsdell who has subscribed and sworn to the deposition which will be transmitted herewith is a credible person and that his testimony is entitled to full credit, Passed by the Court, Calvin Fiske, Clerk
I Calvin Fiske, Clerk of the Court of Probate for the District of Stafford do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court in the matter of the application of Deacon Silas Dean of Stafford in the County of Tolland in the State of Connecticut for a pension - In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal of my office this 6 th day of September A D 1852 Calvin Fiske, Clerk
A true copy certified from record by Calvin Fiske Clerk of Probate for the District of Stafford
I hereby certify that I am personally acquainted with Calvin Fiske, & with his hand writing - that he is Clerk of the Court of Probate for the District of Stafford - and that his signature and the seal appended to the foregoing certificate are believed to be genuine.
J. N. Brownford, Collector of the Customs, New London, Ct.
June 4, 1833,

8246
Dear Dean
Oct. 10
Admitted
Painted Shop
Artiller 6 mo 26 days
Admitted
Painted Shop 26 days
W. Crawford Esq.
J.W. Crawford
Resuming New London Conn

BRIEF in the case of Silas Dean  of Stafford  in the State of Connecticut  (Act 7th June, 1832.)
 1. Was the declaration made before a Court or a Judge? open court  2. If before a Judge, does it appear that the applicant is disabled by bodily infirmity?  3. How old is he? 77 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.     Decem er In 1775 1 12 Private Gen. Capt Leavitt   Jan y 76 3 " Col Holman   August 77 14 Capt Paine   1 6 26  
 5. In what battles was he engaged? White Plains  6. Where did he reside when he entered the service? Hardwick Massachussetts  7. Is his statement supported by living witnesses, by documentary proof, by traditionary evidence, by incidental evidence, or by the rolls? By living witnesses  8. Are the papers defective as to form or authentication? and if so, in what respect? Returned 
X  Certify that the foregoing statement and the answers agree with the evidence in the case above mentioned.
Richard Catts  Examining Clerk.

In reply to your request of _____, received _____ for a statement of the military history of Silas Dean a soldier of the REVOLUTIONARY WAR, you will find below the desired information as contained in his ( enlistment ) application for pension on file in this Bureau. S. 15,088
   DATES OF ENLISTMENT OR APPOINTMENT. LENGTH OF SERVICE. RANK. OFFICERS UNDER WHOM SERVICE WAS RENDERED. STATE.   CAPTAIN. COLONEL.     Enlisted at Ware, Mass. Dec. 1775 6 weeks Private Dwight / Mass.   June 1776 5 mos. Daniel Warner Holman   Aug. 1777 2 weeks Page /        
Battles engaged in; White Plains
Residence of soldier at enlistment, Hardwick, Worcester Co., Mass.
Date of application for pension, Sept. 6, 1832. His claim was allowed.
Residence at date of application, Stafford, Tolland Co., Conn.
Age at date of application, born May 17, 1755 at Hardwick, Mass.
Remarks: he stated that about the first of March 1793 he moved from Hardwick Mass. to Stafford, Conn. with his family, but did not state their names.
Respectfully,
Commissioner.

Rev. S. New Paltz - N. Y. War Department at Washington
Could you send me any information regarding a party named Asil Klean where as I understand served in Revolutionary War having sent a letter to War Dept. I was advised to write to you - I am anxious to join the D. A. R. and having one head of relations serving in Revolutionary

2. Dear I am trying to fill out papers but having trouble to get correct records - My father Franklin Dean Pickles had a grandfather whom served in the War my father's parents died when he was a small child and he supposed his grandfather's name to be Silas Dean but I

lead you another relation it was Asil Dean so if your records show these names and you can give me any information it may be of great value to me - my father also is a relation of the late General Daniel E. Pickles, his father George G. Pickles was a brother to my great grandfather so possibly you may give me

information that will help to trace a line on the Dickles side to fill out my papers.
If you cannot do this and know what to do I shock with for information
I shall greatly appreciate a reply to my letter on any information Mrs. E. H. Eichert NEW PALTZ, N.Y. Box 763-New Paltz, N.Y.

Bureau of Pensions.
Silas Dean Applied for pen from the town of Stafford in the County of Tolland Conn. aged 77 years.
Enlisted in the month of Dec 1775 at the town of Ware Hamp- den Co Mass as a Pri in a company com- by Capt Dwight (Name of Col com- re. not shown)

for the period of 6 weeks and marched to the town of Cam- bridge. At the expiration of six weeks was dis- charged and returned home June 1776 enlisted in Capt Dennis Morris's Co Col Holman's Regt Mass Regt for 6 months During this enlistment was present with his company at the battle of White Plains
Aug 1777 enlisted and served 2 weeks in a company raised

Bureau of Pensions.
and commanded by a Capt Page. This was his last service.

Isaac Dean

Headquarters Marcus Keep Post No. 155.
DEPARTMENT OF MASSACHUSETTS.
GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC.
Monson, Mass., 29 Sept 1891
H S Corni of 
Dear Sir
Was
Silas Dean of Stafford Conn on the Pension Rolls, as a Rev- olutionary Soldier, in 1840, or from that, to 1850, would you please to inform me. and I will be greatly obliged.
Very Resp'y Yours.
Henry E Bugbee, Monson.
Mass.
60-25 / 4

I Sylvanus Randall of Hardwick in the County of Worcester and commonwealth of Massachusetts do hereby  respectfully testify and say, that Silas Dean of Stafford in the County of Tolland and State of Connecticut, enlisted in the army of the Revolution in the year 1776, then a resident of Hardwick aforesaid, and was out in the service about six months. That I lived with him at the time he left, and during the time he was gone, and at the time of his return was still living at his house. And further so Deposition saith not.
Sylvanus Randall
Hampshire ss. Given under my hand June 19. 1832. Then personally appeared the above named Sylvanus Randall and made oath to the truth of the foregoing affidavit.
Before me
Mason C. Darling { Justice of the Peace
And I hereby certify that I am well acquainted with Sylvanus Randall who has subscribed the above deposition and that he is a person of truth and veracity, and that his testimony is entitled to full credit.
M.C. Darling Justice of the Peace

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
New Hampshire ss
I Solomon Stoddard Clerk of the Judicial Courts of the Commonwealth for the County of Hampshire do certify that Mason C Darling Esquire whose signature is affixed to the within certificate was at the date thereof one of the Justices of the Peace within and for said County duly commissioned and acting under the authority of this Commonwealth and that full faith and credit is and ought to be given to his acts and attestation done in that capacity and that the signature to said certificate is known to me to be the hand writing of said Mason C Darling
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of the Court of Common Pleas for said Commonwealth this twenty fourth day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty two
S Stoddard Clerk
[Faint, mirrored text from the reverse side of the page, likely bleed-through from the original document.]

BRIEF objections to the admission of Pension Claims, of which those answered in the negative, in red ink, will apply to the claim of Silas Dean which require further proof or explanation.
 I. Does the declaration show where the applicant resides ?  II. Did the declarant make the declaration in the county where he resides ?  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 ?  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 ?  VI. Has he given the names of the officers under whom he served, in conformity with the regulations ?  VII. Has he made a relinquishment of every claim to any other pension than the one under the Act of June 7, 1832 ? 
EXPLANATORY NOTES.
 VIII. Has the Court given their opinion ?  IX. Has the Clerk given his certificate ?  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 ? no 

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?
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?
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?
XVI. ‡Are the papers authenticated as the regulations direct?
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 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 affidavits must be properly authenticated, as above directed.
†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.