Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File R. 4,148, William Goss, Navy (Mass) Privateer

SERVICE
NUMBER
Navy (Mass) Privateer
Goss, William Susan
R 4148
CONTENTS

State of Illinois, } ss. County of Lake, }
On this Twenty sixth day of October A.D. 1854, personally appeared before me John L. Turner Esquire Judge of the Court of Probate in and for the County of Lake and State of Illinois aforesaid Susan Goss, at present a resident of Waukegan in the said County of Lake, but a native, and, formerly, for the first sixty years of her life a resident of Marblehead in the County of Essex and State of Massachusetts, aged nearly ninety-one years, who, being first duly sworn according to law, doth on her oath and from the best of her knowledge and belief, make the following Declaration, in order to obtain the benefit of the provision made by the Act of Congress passed July 7th, 1838, entitled "an act granting half-pay and pension to certain widows", and the acts supplemental thereto, - that she is the widow of William Goss, who was a Boy or Seaman of the Continental Frigate Boston, Samuel Tucker, Esq. commander, in the War of the Revolution.
That her said husband entered the Naval Service at said Marblehead and was attached to said Frigate at the same time with his Grandfather of the same name, who brought him up (his own father having been lost at sea before he was born) and who was Pilot of the Frigate, about the middle of the month of January, 1778: that he sailed from Boston in said Frigate in the month of February next following for a port in France, to which they carried Hon. John Adams as Minister of the United States to that Country: that the Frigate arrived in safety at L'Orient, and, after a detention of several months, she departed on a cruise and finally arrived home to the United States sometime in October of the same year, when her said husband was honorably discharged, after having continued in the service about nine months.
She further declares that there are no rolls of the Company of

- the Frigate for said cruise in the Office of the Hon. Secretary of Massachusetts - as will appear by his Certificate hereto annexed, and she does not know of a single person living who served in the Ship at the same time with her said husband whose testimony she can procure in proof of said service; and she begs to refer to the records of the War Department, and especially to an original Power of Attorney, signed by her said husband and others of the Marblehead portion of the Officers and crew, in January, 1778, which she understands was forwarded to Washington on the 13th of August, 1839, in support of the claim of Sarah Reynolds, as formerly the widow of Philip Follett - law of 1836 - in proof of the same, - said Follett having with her said husband and others signed the same.
She further declares that her said husband was in much privateering service in said War after his discharge from said Frigate Boston, but she has no present knowledge of any other public service performed by him than that which she has herein set forth and declared; and she also declares that the fact of her residing away from her native town of Marblehead for many years past, and the fact that she knew of no way by which she could favorably assert and prove her title to the Department has hitherto delayed the presentation of her claim.
She further declares that she was married to the said William Goss on the twenty-fourth day of November in the year seventeen hundred and eighty-two: that her husband the aforesaid William Goss died of Consumption at Marblehead about the year 1804: - that she was not married to him prior to his leaving the service, but the marriage took place previous to the first of January seventeen hundred and ninety-four, viz: at the time above stated.
Witnessed by
Sarah M. Dows
Nath & S Dows
Susan her X Goss mark
Sworn to and subscribed the day and year above written before me, - the said applicant being unable by reason of infirmity to appear in Court -
John L. Turner, Judge of said Court.

Extract from the record of marriages in the Parish of the Second Congregational Church of the town of Marblehead in the County of Essex and State of Massachusetts.
Seventeen hundred eighty two, November twenty fourth William Goss and Susanna Grandy
I certify that the above is a true extract from the record with the exception of the date, which is expressed on the record in fair legible letters and figures as follows, viz: 1782 Nov. 24
Benjamin Huntsoo. - Pastor. I, Benjamin Huntsoo, above named, do here and say, that I hold the Office of Pastor of the above named Congregational Church and Parish and have the custody of the Marriage Records thereof, and that the above is a true extract from the record, with the exception above named, as certified by me. Benjamin Huntsoo, Pastor
Essex ss. Marblehead, October 16th, 1854.
Then personally appeared the Reverend Benjamin Huntsoo, who is well known to me personally as the Regular Pastor of the above named Church and Parish, and made oath in due form of law to the truth of the above affidavit by him subscribed.
Before me, James Gregory , Justice of the Peace.
State of Illinois } ss. James C Biddlecome Clerk of the County Court in and for said County, in Lake County the State aforesaid, which also is a Court of Records, and the Probate Court thereof. Do hereby certify, that John S Turner Esquire, before whom the foregoing Declaration of Susan Goss was subscribed and sworn, was at the time of subscribing the same the acting Judge of the County Court of Lake County aforesaid duly commissioned and qualified. That I am well acquainted with his handwriting and signature and believe the signature attached to the foregoing Certificate purporting to be signed by the said John S Turner to be true & genuine. Given under my hand and the seal of said Court at Waukegan in said County, this Twenty eighth day of October A D 1854. James C Biddlecome Clerk

Susannah Goss Widow of William Jeb
July 7 1838

I, Mary Green, of Marblehead in the County of Essex, widow , do on my oath testify and declare that I am in the eighty-fifth year of my age; that I was well acquainted with Susan Goss, who is understood to have signed the Declaration herein and well know that her late husband, William Goss, alias William Goss jr , died in this town more than forty years ago, and that said Susan is now a widow and has not since married since the decease of her said husband.
Said William Goss was my own brother, and I well recollect that both him and my brother, John Goss, now deceased, were at sea and went one or more cruises with Commodore Samuel Tucker, in the year of the Revolution, and although I cannot swear positively that they were in the Frigate Boston when commanded by said Commodore, yet I do not doubt that they were, as I well know that my and their grandfather was Pilot of the Frigate; and as my said grandfather brought my brother William up from infancy and used to carry him to sea with him, and therefore I presume my said Grandfather, also named William Goss , carried my said brother, William, with him in said Frigate, he being a minor at the time.
Witness my hand
Mary her X Green mark
Irwin Brown
State of Massachusetts } ss. December 6th, 1854. County of Essex . . . . .
Then personally appeared the above named Mary Green - well known to me personally for more than fifty years past as a lady of good character fit to be believed on her oath to the truth of the above affidavit by her said husband.
Before me, James Gregory, Justice of the Peace.

of Marblehead I, Robert Harris, in the County of Essex. Do on my oath testify and declare, that I am in the eighty-eighth year of my age: that I was born in said Marblehead and have always resided there, excepting in occasional short absences: that I was familiar with the names of many of my fellow-townsmen who were in the War of the Revolution, and assisted my father in the performance of his duties in the Marblehead Fort in said War. And I also testify and declare - that I never knew any other persons of the name of William Goss who resided in Marblehead in the time of the War of the Revolution, other than the two of that name described in the within affidavit of Mary Green.
Robert Harris
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, } ss. February 1 st 1855. County of Essex - - - - -
Then personally appears the above named Robert Harris, well known to me personally for more than half a century last past as a gentleman of good character for truth and veracity - and made oath in due form of law to the truth of the above affidavit by him subscribed.
Before me, James Gregory, Justice of the Peace.
(Copy.)
"We the subscribers, officers as well as Seaman "belonging to the Ship Boston, Commanded by Samuel "Tucker Esq have appointed Major Richard Reed, to be our "agent For us , for the intended Voyage , to receive for us "severally all, prizes, Vessels, Goods, Merchandise of "any kind Whatsoever that shall be taken by said Ship, during "her voyage and vent into any port or ports , in North "America, to Receive the Shares . Severally Belonging to us "into your hands , for our accounts and to Recard of any agent.

"or agents appointed by, the United or Continental States (the words "or Continental" interlined in the original) of America, all sums of "money, Goods, &c that he or they shall have in their hands is "you are ordered to give Receipts in our names, and for our "accounts, and Receive the same."
"Dated Marblehead Jan y — 1778"
Signed as follows:
  ✓ Benjamin Reed  " Benjamin Tucker first mate    ✓ Philip Molyes  ✓ John Vickery mate    ✓ Joseph Proctor for son  " Philip Pollitt midshipman    Richard Horton mid u  ✓ James Quitty Ships Cook    Joshua Goss mid u  ✓ John Goss Boy    Thomas Mumbleton jun u boy  ✓ William Goss Ships Pilot    Andrew Richardson  ✓ William Goss jr Boy    " Joseph Herbert mate "  ✓ Jacob Tucker jun u Boy    ✓ John Towler  ✓ George Snowden Mate    ✓ Thomas Colley his mark  ✓ Elias Bonden Quarter Master    John Main  ✓ Jacob Tucker ditto     ✓ Philip Molyes ditto     ✓ Richard Wobey Boy     ✓ Samuel Gatchell Boy (believed)     ✓ John "Dais" Boatswain's mate     ✓ John "Fox" Bosens mate     ✓ Hann "Pfuille" Capt Talon     ✓ Jeremiah Mahoney "Chief Bos" mate     ✓ William Roberts     ✓ Henry Peyton mate     ✓ Nath s Pearce Purser     ✓ Nath s Pearce jun u "My Land s "     ✓ John Pearce jr 5 th Boy     ✓ Thomas Mumbleton     — James Harris, boy of Goss "  
I, James Gregory, of Marblehead in the County of Essex — do on my oath testify and declare that the above is a true copy of an original Rowen of Attorneys, which original was forwarded to the Hon. Commissioners of Pensions (Hon. G. L. Edwards) on the 13 th day of August, A.D. 1839, in support of the claim of Sarah Reynolds, as formerly the widow of Philip Pelletier under the third section of the Act of July 15 th , 1836 & which was also accompanied by sundry affidavits and proof of the originality and identity of the document, and a letter from me the said Gregory.
James Gregory.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts } ss. February 1 st 1855. County of Essex . . . . .
Then personally appeared the above named James Gregory and made oath in due form of law to the truth of the above affidavit by him subscribed, before me the subscriber. And I certify that said Gregory is personally well known to me as a respectable magistrate of this county and a credible witness.
Attest, John Spearhawk Jr, Justice of the Peace

APPLICATION FOR CERTIFICATE OF REVOLUTIONARY SERVICES, made by the widow of the party who rendered the service.
State of Illinois , county of Lake and town of Waukegan
The Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is hereby requested to furnish evidence from the Rolls in his office, of the service of my late husband , William Goss in the war of the Revolution.
He was a native of the town of Marblehead in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts .
He enlisted from the town of _____ in the county of _____ and State of _____ in the year 17_____ as a _____ in the Company commanded by Captain _____ in _____ Regiment and he served as follows, * viz: —
one cruise in the Continental Frigate Boston, Samuel Tucker Esq. Commander, during which cruise they carried the Hon. John Adams to France as Minister of the United Colonies.
My said late husband, William Goss, entered the said Naval Service as a boy in company with his Grandfather, who was of the —
* Here describe, as fully as may be, the length of service, the rank, &c. of the claimant, or the capacity in which he served, and all other particulars known.

same name, and who was Pilot of the Frigate, and with whom my said husband then lived - his father, who was also named William Goss, having been lost at sea before the Revolutionary War.
My said husband entered the service as aforesaid, sometime in the month of January, 1778, at said Marblehead, immediately proceeded to Boston and there joined the Ship, and sailed in the month of February following and arrived back to the United States in the then next month of October, after an absence of nine months , when he was honorably discharged.
After my said husband's discharge he was in much other Naval service in said War , but I am unable, at present, to describe the particulars of it.
I am now Ninety years old, and my memory does not enable me to state the services of my said husband more fully than above stated.
WITNESS my hand, this Twenty-eighth day of January A. D. 1864
Signed by said Susan Goss in my presence,
Susan her X mark Goss
Nath l P. Dout JUSTICE OF THE PEACE.
Please fill in the date of signing Mrs. Goss will please sign on the right & make her mark if unable to write her name. The magistrate will of course sign on the left.

No 15273
Susannah Gop
Widow of William Gop Jr
ILL
Hm EB Westbam Mch 17 1855
Jas Gregory Mch 4 1856-
4148
July 7 1888

Marblehead, Massachusetts,
February 20th. 1856.
Honored Sir:
I beg leave very respectfully to observe that Hon. E. B. Washburne, Representative in Congress from the State of Illinois, forwarded to the undersigned the letter which your Honor communicated to him of the date of the 17th. of March last, relative to the claim of Susan Goss, of Waukegan, Illinois, and formerly of this town, her native place - for the benefit of the law of July 7th, 1838, and the acts additional thereto, as the widow of William Goss, late of this town, deceased; and in relation to the view which your Honor takes of the claim of the aged widow in your said form, I beg leave very respectfully to observe -
That in your Honor's said response to Mr. Washburne, relative to the reference made therein to the remark of my own letter, which accompanied Mr. Washburne's call on the Department - that " Sarah Graves was not pensioned for Philip Follett's services on board the Frigate Boston" - you have mistaken the name of the widow who was thus pensioned.
The name of the widow, as given plainly in my said letter, was " Sarah Reynolds ", formerly the widow of Philip Follett, and it will not be denied that her claim was allowed allowed chiefly on the evidence afforded by the original Power of Attorney , signed by Follett as a Midshipman of the

Frigate, which original Power of Attorney was forwarded in support of Mrs. Reynolds' claim on the 13 th day of August, 1839, and a sworn copy of it accompanied the Declaration of Mrs. Goss, through fear that the Department may have misplaced the original.
Mrs. Reynolds' claim had been before the Department nearly a year when this original Power of Attorney was forwarded to it in support of that portion of the service which was performed by Follett after his marriage to the widow; because the widow claimed the benefit of the 3 d section of the Act of July 4 th , 1836 - and this was the only service performed by Follett after his said marriage.
The Department had previously allowed for all the service performed before the marriage - that is, expressed itself satisfied with the proof forwarded in support of it, and it was under these circumstances that the Power of Attorney was forwarded to show and affirm reasonable proof of the service after marriage, in order that she, Mrs. Reynolds, might be enabled to claim the benefit of said law of 1836.
It is true that the Department hesitated to allow the claim on this proof of the service performed after the marriage, and for a long time insisted on an utter impossibility, at this late day, to wit; that the widow should produce a witness who served with the applicant's husband on board the Frigate; but it at length relented from this unreasonable position and the claim of Mrs. Reynolds was finally allowed by the admission of the reasonable proof offered in this Power of Attorney, as being sufficient to establish some service after her

marriage, and the Certificate of the arrears of pension due in her right to her heirs was issued on the 31 st of January, 1853 - upon the same proof , and no more, that had been pending in the Pension Office for the long period of more than thirteen years!
Now, as the undersigned has nothing more than a mere nominal interest in the allowance of the claim of this aged lady, Mrs. Goss, permit me very respectfully to solicit a review of the points of evidence she exhibits, and to say that it is as strong as can be looked for in the great majority of such cases at this late day, and -
First. Mrs. Goss explains the circumstances which prevented her making application before.
Second. She produces a sworn copy of a Power of Attorney, the original of which is now filed with the papers of said Sarah Reynolds, and can thus be referred to for verification, showing, as the identity of the parties are indicated in the affidavit of Mary Green, accompanying her declaration, that William Goss the grandfather of her husband, and also William Goss, her identical husband, & his brother, John Goss, both Nys., are borne on the said Power of Attorney, as belonging to the Fraziers for that identical cruise of 1778, when she the Fraziers went to France with the Hon. John Adams as Minister on board.
Third. The affidavit of Mary Green, a worthy & conscientious

consecrated old lady - own sister of applicant's husband - swears positively that her Grandfather, William Goss, was Pilot of the Frigate under Commodore Tucker, and that he "brought up" her brothers, William and John, and used to take them to sea with him : that she knows that they, her said brothers went one or more cruises with Commodore Tucker, - and she believes they were with him, and does not doubt the fact, in said Frigate Boston at the time her said Grandfather was Pilot of the ship, on said cruise.
Fourth. The affidavit of Robert Harris, the oldest man in Marblehead, who was familiar with the names of those of his native townsmen who took part in the Revolutionary contest, and assisted in it himself - showing that there were no persons in Marblehead at that time of the name of William Goss, other than the two named on the affidavit of said Mary Green.
To all which might be added abundant proof - if required - that the parties who signed said Power of Attorney as well as Richard Reed, the Attorney himself, were residents of this town. The amount of the claim is small, Mrs. G's husband being only a Boy on board, and the length of the service but nine months - as it is understood may be seen by the Declaration of William Garrison, of Boston, who was Lieut. of Marines on board the Frigate and was pensioned on the 10th of July, 1819, - he having kept a Journal of the voyage. And it is -

very respectfully submitted that the chain of testimony in form of the widow's claim, when blended together, in one harmonious whole, constitute as strong evidence as can reasonably be expected at this late day and should therefore be allowed.
I am, with great respect, Your Honors humble servt., James Gregory.

H/H 8 P. O. _____
Disannah Goss
Service: _____
REJECTED
Enlisted: _____, 18 .
Discharged: _____, 18 .
Application filed: _____, 18 .
Alleges: _____
Re-enlisted: _____
Attorney: _____
P. O. _____
_____ Recognized. _____ Contract.
_____ Cert. of Dis. Searched for _____, 18 .

Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Secretary's Office, Boston, February 21. 1851.
I Hereby Certify. That from an examination of the Books and Documents relating to Military Services in the War of the Revolution, which remain in this Department, it appears that The name of William Goss does not appear upon the rolls in this office. There being only one roll (on the records of only one cruise) of the Frigate Boston in this office which appears to have commenced in October 1778 instead of January of that year and therefore after the termination of the cruise described in the application.
In Testimony whereof, I have hereunto affixed the Seal of the Commonwealth, the date above written.
Will D. Wright Secretary of the Commonwealth.

REGULATIONS, to be observed in the examination of the Revolutionary have been rendered necessary under the rules which are established artment at Washington, viz :
lication requiring search, or certificate, must be made to the Secretary, claimant, or by some person duly authorized by the claimant ; and the pplication must be attested by some magistrate.
ecation must set forth, as fully as the circumstances of the case will ce and service of the soldier, and the names of the officers under whom o search will be made until after the filing of such written application.
~~~~~ be observed in the examination of the Massachusetts Revolutionary Papers in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth.
ation must be made to the Secretary in writing, by the claimant, or by authorized by the claimant, by a written power of attorney, attested by ne signature of the claimant must in all cases be attested in like manner.
ation must set forth, as fully as the circumstances of the case will allow, the soldier, &c., at the time of the service, and the names of the various om he served, as well as the nature of such service.
cate of the Secretary must show that the search was made, after the filing on, by himself, or by one of his Clerks alone, and must be accompanied pplication of the claimant, or of his attorney, and by a detailed state- signature of the Secretary, and the seal of the State, of the circumstances at officer of the identity of the party described in the application, with o rendered the service.
J. L. EDWARDS, COMMISSIONER OF PENSIONS."
1861

Grandmother Goff says about Dolores (Nelly) I think they call her can give you more information about her husband than any one else if she is alive. She also says her husband's grandfather William brought him up from the time he was a boy and that he went to see with him.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Secretary's Office, Boston, February 2 d 1855,
I hereby Certify, That at the date of the annexed attestation James Gregory and John Sparhawk, Esq. were Justices of the Peace for the County of Essex
in the said Commonwealth, duly commissioned and constituted; and that to their acts and attestations, as such, full faith and credit are and ought to be given, in and out of Court.
In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto affixed the Seal of the Commonwealth, the date above written.
W. M. Wright Secretary of the Commonwealth.