52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2018 WEEK 8:ASA BARROWS OF PARIS, ME. PT3

In my last post, Asa Barrows said in his statement he knew of no living witness that might
verify his service record.

On August 21, one stepped forward:

“I, Francis Sturtevant, of Paris in the county of Oxford in the
State of Maine, a pensioner of the United States, on oath declare,
that to my certain knowledge, Asa Barrows, of Hamlin’s Gore in
said county, inlisted into the army of the United States, in the
revolutionary war, on the continental establishment at Plymton,
in the county of Plymouth, State of Massachusetts, for the term
of eight months, in April 1775. The company in which he served
was commanded by Capt. Joshua Benson and the regiment was
commanded by Col. Cotton in the Massachusetts line-and was
stationed at Roxbury near Boston under the command of Gen.
Thomas-and I am satisfied that he faithfully served the term of
eight months.
Francis Sturtevant”


The signature, like Asa Barrows’, is larger, and a bit shaky looking in contrast to the
excellent penmanship of the statement. Below his signature is the following:

"State of Maine
County of Oxford s.s. August 21,1832. The above named
Francis Sturtevant, to me known as a man of truth, personally
appeared and made oath to the truth of the above affidavit by
him subscribed-Before me-
Thomas Clark, Justice of the Peace."

A seal is affixed to the bottom left hand corner of the image:
(Image 13)

The next image is of the same page, but a smaller scrap of paper lies across the blank area under Thomas Clark’s signature:
STATE OF MAINE
__________
Oxford County, ss.
I, Rufus King Goodenow, Clerk of the Judicial Courts
in and for said County of Oxford, here by certify, that
Thomas Clark Esq. whose genuine signature is annexed
to the foregoing Deposition of Francis Sturtevant
is a Justice of the Peace in and for said county of
Oxford.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and
affixed my seal of office, this 28th day of August in the
year A.D. 1832.

R.K. Goodenow Clerk of Oxford
County Courts.

(image 12)

There follows another document. Most of it is preprinted but there is part of one sentence
crossed over:

“And the said Court do hereby declare their opinion,
after the investigation of the matter, ((start of crossed out
portion))and after putting the interrogatories
prescribed by the War Department, ((end of crossed out
portion)), that the above applicant was a revolutionary
soldier, and served as he states. said applicant having
adduced the deposition of Francis Sturtevant, under oath,
duly administered, in corraboration of his own declaration.
Stephen Emery, Judge”

At the bottom of the page is another preprinted form.:

“I, Joseph G. Cole, Register(written over the crossed out word
“clerk”)of the Court of Probate do hereby certify that
the foregoing contains the original proceedings of
the said Court in the matter of the application of Asa
Barrows for a pension.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand
and seal of office this 28th day of August A.D. 1832.
Joseph G. Cole Register.”
(Image 7)

The following spring Asa made another appearance before Thomas Clark to claim his pension:

“Personally appeared before me, the undersigned, a Justice of the
Peace and Notary Public, in and for the county of Oxford, Asa
Barrows, who being first 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 period mentioned below and all as a private soldier: viz: For
ten months: and for such service I claim a pension.
Asa Barrows


State of Maine, Oxford, ss, April 27, 1833. Then the above
named Asa Barrows made oath to the truth of the above affidavit
and subscribed the same in my presence, and I hereby certify
that he is a man of truth and veracity. In testimony where of I
have here unto subscribed my name and affixed my notarial
seal the day and year afore said.

Thomas Clark, Justice of the Peace and Notary Public
in and for the County of Oxford in the State of Maine.”

Justice Clark’s seal is to the right hand bottom corner of the page.
(Image 8)

Asa died on 13 Sep 1850 at Woodstock, Maine. His last pension payment was made in the third quarter of that year:

Source Information

Title

Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900

Author

Ancestry.com

Publisher

Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.Original data - Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files (NARA microfilm publication M804, 2,670 rolls). Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Reco

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2018 WEEK 8:ASA BARROWS OF PARIS, ME. PT2

As I said in an earlier post, one of the first Revolutionary War pension files I found for an ancestor was that of my 4x great grandfather Asa Barrows.:


Image 1 is of the first page of the file, with the following written and evenly spaced across the page on one line:

Service Mass. Barrows, Asa Number S. 16038 

Image 2 is a preprinted form with handwritten information
added. I’ve bold faced the preprinted words:
Maine 18077
____________________________________
____________________________________
Asa Barrows
of Oxford Co. in the State of Maine
who was a Private in the company commanded
by Captain Benson of the regiment commanded
by Col. Cotton in the Massachusetts
line for 10 months.
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
Inscribed on the Roll of Maine
at the rate of 33 dollars 33 cents per annum
to commence on the 4th day of March, 1834.____________________________________
____________________________________
Certificate of Pension issued the 23 day of July
1833 and sent to T. Clark
Paris, Me.
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
Arrears to the 4th of March 1833 66.66
Semi-anl. allowance ending 4 Sept… 16.66
____
$83.32
_____
{Revolutionary Claim,
Act June 7,1832}
Recorded by Jm Cuffield Clerk
Book 6 Vol 1 Page 4

Image 3 is of perhaps the next page in the same notebook. The right hand page is blank. On the left hand side the following is written:

9669-
Asa Barrows
12th April 1833
Obj(?) 5-14.16.
P.332
10 mos.
$33.35
Thomas Clark, Esq.
Paris
Maine.

Image 4 is the preprinted Brief of Asa’s claim:

Brief in the case of Asa Barrows of Hamlins Gore in the State
of Maine
(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 the applicant is
disabled by bodily infirmity? (left blank)


3. How old is he? 81 years.

4. State his service as directed in the form annexed.
There are three entries:
April,1775- 8 months as a Private under Capt. Benson and Col
Cotton.
Dec. 1776 1 month and 12 days as a Private under Capt. Perkins.
July 1780 14 days as a Private under Col. Churchill.
5. In what battles was he engaged? None.

6. Where did he reside when he entered the service?
Plymton,Massachusetts.

7. Is his statement supported by living witnesses, by
documentary proof, by traditional evidence, by
incidental evidence, or by the rolls? By a living witness.

8. Are the papers defective as to form or
authentication? and if so,in what respect? Correct.

I certify that the foregoing statement and the answers
agree with the evidence in the case above mentioned.

Richard Cutts
Examining Clerk.

Image 5 is of a largely blank piece of paper, perhaps the outside of an envelope or folder. Handwritten at the top is “Asa Barrows” with the numbers “9669” written below it. At
the bottom of the page is the signature, “Thomas Clark, agent.”

Image 6 is the statement of Asa Barrows:

STATE OF MAINE.
______
County of Oxford, ss.
ON this 20th day of August, A.D. 1832,personally appeared
in open Court, before the Court of Probate now sitting,
Asa Barrows,a resident of Hamlin’s Gore in the County
of Oxford and State of Maine,aged 81 years,
who being first duly sworn according to the law, doth,
on his oath, make the following declaration , in order
to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress, passed June
7, 1832. That he enlisted in the service of the United
States as a private((this part crossed out))under the
following named officers and served as herein stated
((end crossed out portion)) in April, 1775 at Plymton in the
county of Plymouth in the State of Massachusetts, his then
residence, and served for the term of eight months, in the militia
company commanded by Capt Joshua Benson, in the regiment
commanded by Col. Cotton; and mustered in Middlebury,
the ajoining town, marched to Roxbury near Boston,where he
was stationed under Gen. William Heath; at the expiration of
said term was discharged by Gen. Thomas -which discharge he
lost a long time since. 

On an alarm in December 1776, he marched as a volunteer in the
militia company from Plymton, under the command of Lieut
Joshua Perkins to Barrington, in Rhode Island; was there
stationed & served about six weeks, at the expiration of which he
was verbally discharged. And on the last of July, 1780,he
marched (inserted later here: “as a volunteer” end insertion)in
the militia company from Plymton aforesaid to Tiverton (under
the command of Capt. Pereg Churchill) in Rhode Island where he
was stationed and served about two weeks,and was there
verbally discharged. He has no documentary evidence to prove
his service as a volunteer as aforesaid, and he knows of no
person whose testimony he can procure, who can testify to his
service as volunteer aforesaid.


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.”

Asa Barrow’s larger and less refined signature is written at the right hand corner of notation of “before Stephen Emery, Judge.” It might be the judge’s actual signature or perhaps his clerk
signed his name.




A few observations. I was curious how far Asa marched on these three occasions and went to the Rand McNally page which has a mileage calculator. Of course, the distances are driving distances and Asa and his fellow soldiers might have taken a more direct cross country route but it still gives
me a good idea on the marching involved.

Plympton to Boston is 48 miles.
Plympton to Barrington RI is 44 miles.
Plympton to Tiverton RI is 39 miles.
Interesting that Boston is the furthest away of the three.

The march to Barrington must have been in response to the British under Sir Henry Clinton landing
at and occupying Newport. I must confess that I wasn’t aware that the British remained in Rhode Island for most of the Revolution and when you consider that people in this area were still that
close to British forces,it must have been a tense period for them.

Pereg Churchill was, I believe, actually Peleg Churchill

Hamlin's Gore no longer exists. It was annexed in 1872 as I found out over at Chris Dunham's
Maine Genealogy Site.


And Asa Barrows was about to find that someone could swear to his service in the War after all.

Source Information

Title

Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900

Author

Ancestry.com

Publisher

Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.Original data - Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files (NARA microfilm publication M804, 2,670 rolls). Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Reco

52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS 2018 WEEK 8:ASA BARROWS OF PARIS, ME.

My 4x great grandfather Asa Barrows was one of the first of my ancestors for whom  I found a Revolutionary War veteran pension file. He lived most of his life in what was then a remote region of New England, and as a result the entries for him in the town histories are probably based on family memories and hearsay. William  Berry Lapham and Silas P. Maxim have this for Asa in their History of Paris, Maine:

Three brothers by the name of Barrows, came from Middleborough, Mass. They were the sons of Moses and Deborah (Totman) Barrows of Plympton. Two of them, Asa and Malachi, settled in Paris, and Ansel in Sumner.

Asa Barrows was b. July 28, and m. Content Benson of Middleborough, Feb. 12, 1781. He settled on the lot, now the homestead of William A. King. He subscquenth' exchanged farms with Capt. Samuel King, and moved to High street, and afterward to "Hamlin's Grant." He was a prominent member of the Baptist church. Children:

Abijah, b. North Yarmouth, July 30, 1782. He was in the war of 1812,and died in the campaign in Northern New York.
Asa, b. in Paris, May 9, 1784, m. Anna Pike. He d. in Milan, N. H. *
Deborah, b. in Paris, May 21, 1786, d.---- . Hers was the first burial in the Bisco cemetery.
Polly, b. in Paris, Sept. '22, 1788, m. Morton Curtis, a 2d wife, and died 1879, at the age of 91 years.
Hannah, b. in Paris, Aug. 5, 1790, m. Moses Robbins, s. Milan, N. H.
Caleb Bensoni, b. in Paris, April 5, 1793, m. Abagail, dau. of Malachi Barrows, s. Hamlin's Grant; d. in Aroostook, aged about 90.
Rachael, b. in Paris, Aug. 3, 1795, m. John Ellingwood, s. Milan, N. H.
The mother died, 1735, the father died at Morton Curtis' 1850.-pp501-502

History of Paris, Maine: From Its Settlement to 1880, with a History of the Grants of 1736 & 1771, Together with Personal Sketches, a Copious Genealogical Register and an Appendix  Printed for the Authors, 1894.

I'll be reposting what I have transcribed  of Asa's pension file next.

AN HOUR ON FOOTNOTE.COM

It's Thursday and after a short visit to the doctor for some tests the rest of
my day is free.I prefer to schedule the appointments as early as possible
in the day for just that reason.

I thought I'd revisit Footnote.com to see what databases were new or
updated and found one that was unfamiliar to me, the Final Payment
Vouchers Index for Military Pensions, 1818-1864. These records show
the date of the final payment to a Revolutionary War veteran or his
widow and many have the dates they died.

I found cards for the following ancestors:

John Ames
Asa Barrows
Jonathan Barker
Amos Upton

I also found the records for Jonathan Barker's brothers Benjamin and
Jesse. I didn't learn anything I didn't already know but I downloaded
the images to each of the files I have for them.

I also checked again for pension files for a few of the ancestors I hadn't
found one for as yet. One of these is John Griffith (4Jun 1763 Rochester,
Plymouth, Ma.-8Feb 1840, Livermore, Androscoggin, Me.). I knew that
he'd served as a matross in an artillery company under Captain William
Treadwell in the 3rd Artillery Regiment commanded by Col. John Crane.
And of course not all veterans applied for pensions. But this time around I
checked under the names of the widows and got a hit. On an image from
the pension file of James Rankin I found a letter concerning the cases of
several widows and on it was the following:

"In the case of Mary Griffith widow of John Griffith you inform me
that no papers can be found-it is stated in her application that her
late husband enlisted in Col Crane's Regiment of Artillery and served 
til the end of the war, the foregoing are all the particulars we can
furnish you."

The letter's signature is faded but looks like it could be a Levi Bailey. It's
addressed to "J.S. Edwards Commissioner of Pensions, Washington DC"
and was written on 16 Apr 1845 from the Bangor Land Office so Mary
Boyden Griffith might have been applying for a land grant. I've found no
record online that she succeeded so she may have failed. She died in
Livermore, Oxford, Me in 1846. Her granddaughter Arvilla Ames is my
3x great-grandmother Arvilla Ames West.

But not bad for an hour's search on Footnote.com, I think!

BLOGGING BRUNCH11

A dark and stormy Saturday afternoon as the remnants of
Hurricane Noel, now only a tropical storm, alas, roar outside.
At the moment the wind seems to be from the south which
means the apartments on my side of the building are sheltered
from the worst since we face north. We’ll feel it more when the
storm moves past and the wind shifts later this afternoon and
tonight.


Meanwhile, I made myself a cup of that cocoa mix and watched
the storm for a few minutes through my screen door. A lot of
leaves on the ground now out there! A minute or two of that was
enough since as my Dad used to say I’m not heating the outside.
So I came in to finish my cocoa while fiddling at my keyboard
until the power goes.


But I already charged up my mp3 player so I’ll have some Celtic
music to listen to, and my cell phone is on the charger already so
my sister will be able to call me later (or vice versa) to see how
we have weathered the storm. Knowing my sister, she’s probably
sitting in her car in the parking lot at a beach at Plymouth or
Marshfield watching the waves. I have a flashlight to read a book
by and a can of tunafish to make dinner with, so if I do lose power
here, I’m all set until it comes back, provided it’s within a few
hours.


After that, I go into computer withdrawal. Gulp.


I was looking over the other Revolutionary War Pension Files I
have to decide which one to transcribe and post here next. I’ve
decided to go with the smaller ones first, so the humongous
Benjamin Barker file will be last, and might not even be posted
until after the first of the year.


Going through the images I noticed a few things. Benjamin Barker
shows up in other ancestor’s files to testify as to their service
records. Of course two of them are his brothers: Jonathan(my
direct ancestor) in 1818 and Jesse in 1832. He’s also in the file for
Amos Hastings in 1839, but there is a personal connection there as
well since Benjamin’s nephew Nathaniel was married to Huldah
Hastings, Amos’ daughter.


I also noticed that some ancestors gave their “declarations” on
the same day: Asa Barrows and Amos Upton on August 20th,
1832, and John Ames and Jesse Barker a later on September
27th. Perhaps the Judge rode a circuit and was only in the area
for a short time each month? I wonder what stories they and the
other old veterans swapped about their war years as they sat and
waited their turn to file their claim? Would they be delighted or
dismayed to learn that their grandchildren and great grandchildren
would someday wed?


Think I’ll go do some quick housecleaning and then come back to
scan some old photos.

ASA BARROWS' PENSION FILE 2

One of the few complaints I have about the Revolutionary War
Pension Files that I’ve downloaded from Footnotes.com is that
while each image is numbered, they aren’t sorted in chronological
order. Such is the case with Asa Barrow’s file. Rather than to
continue to post them numerically, I'll post them chronologically
and give the image number in parentheses at the end of each
image description.


In my last post, Asa Barrows said in his statement he knew of
no living witness that might verify his service record.

On August 21, one stepped forward:

“I, Francis Sturtevant, of Paris in the county of Oxford in the
State of Maine, a pensioner of the United States, on oath declare,
that to my certain knowledge, Asa Barrows, of Hamlin’s Gore in
said county, inlisted into the army of the United States, in the
revolutionary war, on the continental establishment at Plymton,
in the county of Plymouth, State of Massachusetts, for the term
of eight months, in April 1775. The company in which he served
was commanded by Capt. Joshua Benson and the regiment was
commanded by Col. Cotton in the Massachusetts line-and was
stationed at Roxbury near Boston under the command of Gen.
Thomas-and I am satisfied that he faithfully served the term of
eight months.
Francis Sturtevant”


The signature, like Asa Barrows’, is larger, and a bit shaky
looking in contrast to the excellent penmanship of the statement.
Below his signature is the following:

"State of Maine
County of Oxford s.s. August 21,1832. The above named
Francis Sturtevant, to me known as a man of truth, personally
appeared and made oath to the truth of the above affidavit by
him subscribed-Before me-
Thomas Clark, Justice of the Peace."

A seal is affixed to the bottom left hand corner of the image
(Image 13)

The next image is of the same page, but a smaller scrap of paper
lies across the blank area under Thomas Clark’s signature:
STATE OF MAINE
__________
Oxford County, ss.
I, Rufus King Goodenow, Clerk of the Judicial Courts
in and for said County of Oxford, here by certify, that
Thomas Clark Esq. whose genuine signature is annexed
to the foregoing Deposition of Francis Sturtevant
is a Justice of the Peace in and for said county of
Oxford.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and
affixed my seal of office, this 28th day of August in the
year A.D. 1832.

R.K. Goodenow Clerk of Oxford
County Courts.

(image 12)
There follows another document. Most of it is preprinted but there
is part of one sentenced crossed over:

“And the said Court do hereby declare their opinion,
after the investigation of the matter, ((start of crossed out
portion))and after putting the interrogatories
prescribed by the War Department, ((end of crossed out
portion)), that the above applicant was a revolutionary
soldier, and served as he states. said applicant having
adduced the deposition of Francis Sturtevant, under oath,
duly administered, in corraboration of his own declaration.
Stephen Emery, Judge”

At the bottom of the page is another preprinted form.:
“I, Joseph G. Cole, Register(written over the crossed out word
“clerk”)of the Court of Probate do hereby certify that
the foregoing contains the original proceedings of
the said Court in the matter of the application of Asa
Barrows for a pension.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand
and seal of office this 28th day of August A.D. 1832.
Joseph G. Cole Register.” (Image 7)

The following spring Asa made another appearance before
Thomas Clark to claim his pension:

“Personally appeared before me, the undersigned, a Justice of the
Peace and Notary Public, in and for the county of Oxford, Asa
Barrows, who being first 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 period mentioned below and all as a private soldier: viz: For
ten months: and for such service I claim a pension.
Asa Barrows

(Under Asa’s still shaky signature the document continues):

State of Maine, Oxford, ss, April 27, 1833. Then the above
named Asa Barrows made oath to the truth of the above affidavit
and subscribed the same in my presence, and I hereby certify
that he is a man of truth and veracity. In testimony where of I
have here unto subscribed my name and affixed my notarial
seal the day and year afore said.

Thomas Clark, Justice of the Peace and Notary Public
in and for the County of Oxford in the State of Maine.”

Justice Clark’s seal is to the right hand bottom corner of the
page.
(Image 8)

Next is a view of two pages. The left hand side is mostly blank
except for the small handwritten notation running along the
right hand edge next to the spine:

“Sept-18-1923- Hist to Jessie H. Tuttle awf."

The right hand side is a preprinted page with blank areas
filled in hand.
“P 16038
INVALID.
_______
File No. 16.0.38
Asa Barrows
Pri. Rev. War
___-
Act: June 7’’ 32
Index:- Vol. 1, Page 432
[Arrangement of 1870]
(Image 10)


The next two images are ones I’ve printed here before,
correspondence between Jessie H. Tuttle and the Commissioner
of Pensions. First her inquiry:

"3730 Grand Ave, Minneapolis, Minn. Aug.1,1923
Commissioner of Pensions,
Dear Sir: -

Will you please send me record
of pension claim of Asa Barrows.
born July 28 (1750?) in Plymouth Co, Mass.
married Feb 12, 1781 Content Benson,
died Oxford Co. Maine about May 1834
placed on pension roll (Maine) July 23
1833 aged 83. Pension began May 4, 1831.
Served in Massachusetts.
Thanking you in advance
I am yours very truly
Mrs Jessie H. Tuttle”
(Image 11)

A round stamp to the bottom left of Jessie’s signature
shows that her request was received at the Pension
Office on Aug 3 1923.

The reply is the next and final image:
“Rev. War Section
September 18, 1923.
Jessie H. Tuttle,
3730 Grand Ave.
Minneapolis, Minn.
Madam;
I have to advise you that from the papers in
the Revolutionary War pension claim, S. 16038,it
appears that Asa Barrows, while living in Plymton,
Plymouth County, Massachusetts, enlisted April 1775,
and served as a private eight months in Captain
Joshua Benson’s company, Colonel Cotton’s regiment,
Massachusetts troops.
He enlisted December 1776 and served six weeks
under Lieutenant Joshua Perkins. The last of July
1780, he enlisted and serve two weeks under Captain
Perez Churchill He was allowed pension on his application exe-
cuted August 28, 1832, while a resident of Hamlin’s
Grove, Oxford County, Maine, aged eighty one years.
There is no data on file as to his family.
Respectfully,

Commissioner.”

There is a space above the word Commissioner for a signature
but there is none.

Some notes on inconsistencies:
There seems to be a few variances in the reply. “Peleg Churchill”
becomes “Perez Churchill” although having seen the original
statement I can see how that might occur given the writing.
“Hamlin’s Grove” might have been a result of the handwriting
plus perhaps some editing by a War Dept. clerk seeing “Gorge”
and feeling it was a mistake and correcting it to "Grove".

It’s possible Asa ’s memory had it wrong as well. I found a
Captain Stephen Churchill in Col. Cotton’s regiment. There was
a Peleg Churchill residing in Plympton at the time and Asa may
have confused them.

Plymton has become Plympton. The “ajoining town” of
“Middlebury” is Middleborough.

Asa Barrows was my 4x great grandfather.

ASA BARROWS' PENSION FILE

Image 1 is of the first page of the file, with the following
written and evenly spaced across the page on one line:

Service Mass. Barrows, Asa Number S. 16038

Image 2 is a preprinted form with handwritten information
added. I’ve bold faced the preprinted words:
Maine 18077
____________________________________
____________________________________
Asa Barrows
of Oxford Co. in the State of Maine
who was a Private in the company commanded
by Captain Benson of the regiment commanded
by Col. Cotton in the Massachusetts
line for 10 months.
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
Inscribed on the Roll of Maine
at the rate of 33 dollars 33 cents per annum
to commence on the 4th day of March, 1834.
____________________________________
____________________________________
Certificate of Pension issued the 23 day of July
1833 and sent to T. Clark
Paris, Me.
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
Arrears to the 4th of March 1833 66.66
Semi-anl. allowance ending 4 Sept… 16.66
____
$83.32
_____
{Revolutionary Claim,
Act June 7,1832}
Recorded by Jm Cuffield Clerk
Book 6 Vol 1 Page 4


Image 3 is of perhaps the next page in the same notebook. The
right hand page is blank. On the left hand side the following
is written:

9669-
Asa Barrows
12th April 1833
Obj(?) 5-14.16.
P.332
10 mos.
$33.35
Thomas Clark, Esq.
Paris
Maine.




Image 4 is the preprinted Brief of Asa’s claim:

Brief in the case of Asa Barrows of Hamlins Gore in the State
of Maine
(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 the applicant is
disabled by bodily infirmity? (left blank)

3. How old is he? 81 years.

4. State his service as directed in the form annexed.

There are three entries:

April,1775- 8 months as a Private under Capt. Benson and Col
Cotton.

Dec. 1776 1 month and 12 days as a Private under Capt. Perkins.

July 1780 14 days as a Private under Col. Churchill.

5. In what battles was he engaged? None.

6. Where did he reside when he entered the service?
Plymton,Massachusetts.

7. Is his statement supported by living witnesses, by
documentary proof, by traditional evidence, by
incidental evidence, or by the rolls? By a living witness.

8. Are the papers defective as to form or
authentication? and if so,in what respect? Correct.

I certify that the foregoing statement and the answers
agree with the evidence in the case above mentioned.

Richard Cutts
Examining Clerk.

Image 5 is of a largely blank piece of paper, perhaps the outside
of an envelope or folder. Handwritten at the top is “Asa Barrows”
with the numbers “9669” written below it. At the bottom of
the page is the signature, “Thomas Clark, agent.”




Image 6 is the statement of Asa Barrows:

STATE OF MAINE.
______
County of Oxford, ss.
ON this 20th day of August, A.D. 1832,personally appeared
in open Court, before the Court of Probate now sitting,
Asa Barrows,a resident of Hamlin’s Gore in the County
of Oxford and State of Maine,aged 81 years,
who being first duly sworn according to the law, doth,
on his oath, make the following declaration , in order
to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress, passed June
7, 1832. That he enlisted in the service of the United
States as a private((this part crossed out))under the
following named officers and served as herein stated
((end crossed out portion)) in April, 1775 at Plymton in the
county of Plymouth in the State of Massachusetts, his then
residence, and served for the term of eight months, in the militia
company commanded by Capt Joshua Benson, in the regiment
commanded by Col. Cotton; and mustered in Middlebury,
the ajoining town, marched to Roxbury near Boston,where he
was stationed under Gen. William Heath; at the expiration of
said term was discharged by Gen. Thomas -which discharge he
lost a long time since.

On an alarm in December 1776, he marched as a volunteer in the
militia company from Plymton, under the command of Lieut
Joshua Perkins to Barrington, in Rhode Island; was there
stationed & served about six weeks, at the expiration of which he
was verbally discharged. And on the last of July, 1780,he
marched (inserted later here: “as a volunteer” end insertion)in
the militia company from Plymton aforesaid to Tiverton (under
the command of Capt. Pereg Churchill) in Rhode Island where he
was stationed and served about two weeks,and was there
verbally discharged. He has no documentary evidence to prove
his service as a volunteer as aforesaid, and he knows of no
person whose testimony he can procure, who can testify to his
service as volunteer aforesaid.

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.”

Asa Barrow’s larger and less refined signature is written at the
right hand corner of notation of “before Stephen Emery, Judge.”
It might be the judge’s actual signature or perhaps his clerk
signed his name.

A few observations. I was curious how far Asa marched on
these three occasions and went to the Rand McNally page which
has a mileage calculator. Of course, the distances are driving
distances and Asa and his fellow soldiers might have taken a
more direct cross country route but it still gives a me a good idea
on the marching involved.

Plympton to Boston is 48 miles.
Plympton to Barrington RI is 44 miles.
Plympton to Tiverton RI is 39 miles.
Interesting that Boston is the furthest away of the three.

The march to Barrington must have been in response to the
British under Sir Henry Clinton landing at and occupying
Newport. I must confess that I wasn’t aware that the British
remained in Rhode Island for most of the Revolution and when
you consider that people in this area were still that close to
British forces,it must have been a tense period for them.

Pereg Churchill was, I believe, actually Peleg Churchill

Hamlin's Gore no longer exists. It was annexed in 1872 as I
found out over at Chris Dunham's Maine Genealogy Site.


And Asa Barrows was about to find that someone could swear
to his service in the War after all.

MRS. JESSIE H. TUTTLE PT 2

A few months after obtaining the Revolutionary Pension Files of
my ancestors Asa Barrows and John Ames from Footnote.com
during a free trial membership, I took out a monthly subscription
and started searching for files of other ancestors and their
siblings.


One of the first I found was the file of Asa’s brother, Moses. And
there again I encountered Mrs. Jessie H. Tuttle. Notice that the
correspondence took place some years before her inquiry on
Asa.


“4650 Fremont Ave So.
Minneapolis, Minn.
Sept.4th 1915

Commissioner of Pensions
Dear Sir:-
Will you kindly give me the date of the death of Elizabeth Colby
Barrows who was pensioned as the widow of Moses Barrows
who enlisted in the Rev. from Plympton, Mass. She probably
died in Irasburg, Vt.

Will you also please tell if it plainly states in Moses Barrows
pension record that he died Jan 10, 1823.? If we prove this date
to be wrong, can it be changed in the records?”

I noticed that Jessie didn’t sign her note.


So did the official who sent her a reply:


“Name Unknown,
4650 Fremont Ave, So.
Minneapolis, Minn.

Madam:
In response to your unsigned letter dated the 4th instant, you
are advised that in her declaration for pension, signed and
sworn before the Judge of the Court of Orleans County,
Vermont, October 20th, 1838, Elizabeth Barrows testified that
her husband died ‘on the tenth day of January A.D. 1823' and
that this Bureau has no authority to change it.


For the date and place of the widow’s death and the name of
the person to whom the arrears of her pension were paid,
application should be made to the Auditor for the Interior
Department, U.S. Treasury Department, giving him all of the
following data:

“Elizabeth Barrows widow of Moses Barrows, Certificate No.
1513, issued August 26, 1848, for $80. per annum from March
4, 1848 under the Act of February 2, 1848, at the Poultney,
Vermont Agency”.


Very Respectfully,
G.M. Saltzgaber
Commissioner.”

If this was not the first encounter between Mr. Saltzgaber and
Mrs, Tuttle, then it was certainly one among many.
And she wasn’t done with Moses Barrows yet.

MRS. JESSIE H. TUTTLE PT 1

I’m going to post the transcriptions of the Barrows
brothers soon as well as eventually those of Amos
Hastings and the Barker brothers, although I may
hold off on my direct ancestor Jonathan Barker’s
brother Benjamin, whose Revolutionary War Pension
File has 85 images!



But before that, let me introduce you to Mrs.
Jessie H. Tuttle.


On image 2 of Asa Barrow’s file is the notation,
written vertically along the inner edge of a notebook
page “Hist. to Jessie H. Tuttle.


I wondered who that might be, and discovered more
on images 9 and 11. For some reason the order of
the correspondence is reversed, so I’ve put them
back in the right order for clarification here.

Image 11:

“3730 Grand Ave, Minneapolis, Minn. Aug.1,1923
Commissioner of Pensions,
Dear Sir: -

Will you please send me record
of pension claim of
Asa Barrows.
born July 28 (1750?) in Plymouth Co, Mass.
married Feb 12, 1781 Content Benson,
died Oxford Co. Maine about May 1834
placed on pension roll (Maine) July 23
1833 aged 83. Pension began May 4, 1831.
Served in Massachusetts.
Thanking you in advance
I am yours very truly
Mrs Jessie H. Tuttle”


A round stamp to the bottom left of Jessie’s signature
shows that her request was received at the Pension
Office on Aug 3 1923

Image 9 is the typewritten reply to Jessie Tuttle’s request:



Image 9 is the typewritten reply to Jessie Tuttle’s request:
“Rev. War Section”
September 18, 1923.
Jessie H. Tuttle,
3730 Grand Ave.
Minneapolis, Minn.
“Madam;
I have to advise you that from the papers in
the Revolutionary War pension claim, S. 16038,it
appears that Asa Barrows, while living in Plymton,
Plymouth County, Massachusetts, enlisted April 1775,
and served as a private eight months in Captain
Joshua Benson’s company, Colonel Cotton’s regiment,
Massachusetts troops.
He enlisted December 1776 and served six weeks
under Lieutenant Joshua Perkins. The last of July
1780, he enlisted and serve two weeks under Captain
Perez Churchill
He was allowed pension on his application exe-
cuted August 28, 1832, while a resident of Hamlin’s
Grove, Oxford County, Maine, aged eighty one years.
There is no data on file as to his family.
Respectfully,

Commissioner.”

The letter is unsigned. A carbon copy, perhaps?

I wondered what relationship Mrs. Tuttle might have to
Asa Barrows. Was she a relative, or researching the Barrows
family for some other purpose?

I wondered briefly and then set the matter aside for now.
Then I downloaded the records of Moses Barrows, Asa’s
brother, and once more encountered the redoubtable
Jessie Tuttle.

RECORDS AND FILES AND DATES, OH MY!

Having exhausted my known Revolutionary War kin searching on
Footnote I find myself wishing I’d had already filled in some of the
information on my ancestor’s siblings on the family tree. I’m sure
there must have been some who put in for pensions or land grants
but in many cases trying to search by surname alone yielded too
many hits to handle. And despite the James Dunham error I did
find the records for Asa Barrows and John Ames and that was
exciting.



I also understand that not all the Records are up as yet so at some
point in the future I will return for another look.



I’ve scanned some photos of a family picnic at Plymouth from a
very long time ago which include shots of Uncle Tommy and Aunt
Frances. There should be a post here in the next few days about
them and Aunt Katie.



I’m on vacation this next week. Since finances are low I'll be
spending it mostly at home either reading, writing, or doing
genealogy work. I might make it in to the Mass State Archives or
Boston to look up some records. This will require that I make a
plan first and organize my files a bit more.



Speaking of which, I’ve taken the “tidy up’ pledge and downloaded
the forms made available by Miriam and T.K. I don’t know how
much progress I’ll make or how quickly but it can’t hurt to get
started, can it?



Finally, as to the 07/07/07 hype: I had a different set of numbers
in my head on Saturday:07/07/27. That is my mothers’ birthday.



She would have been 80 years old yesterday. Hard to believe.


Harder still to know she is gone.

THOUGHTS BEFORE BED 3

Hmm. Genealogy is a funny thing. You can go days without much
and then… BANG.. a bunch of stuff turns up! Such as:

- I read on Randy’s Genea-Musings about the Footnote.com
free 7-day trial membership. I went over, signed up, and found
Revolutionary War Pension & Land Grant Files on Asa Barrows,
James Dunham, and John Ames. More on these in future posts.


- I found information about another Ames relative that was...er..
VERY interesting and that too shall be the subject of future posts.


-I was contacted through Ancestry.com about my ancestor John
Ellingwood Jr. An exchange of email determined the person who
asked is descended from his son Oscar P, Ellingwood, younger
brother of my great great grandfather Asa F. Ellingwood. So I’ve
found another cousin(although I haven’t heard anymore since).


-And I’m looking into another matter which if it pans out might
mean I’ve another distant cousin.

Is there the genealogy equivalent of the Snoopy Dance of Joy?