JOHN AMES HEIRS

((Some of the following information was found on the IGI and at
the Rootsweb Peru, Oxford, Maine and Canton, Oxford, Maine
Genealogy Projects of Craig Bryant and as I say in my blog
header, is not entirely set in stone until its been verified.)



Between them John Ames and Lydia Phelps had ten children;
Lydia’s three children by her first husband, Sampson Read
(Sampson, Lydia and Amy) were not included on John Ames’
petition possibly because as stepchildren their claims were
superseded by his own children. Also, one, Sampson Read Jr.,
was already dead so his sisters might have also passed away
already.



Of the seven Ames children, one, Ezekiel (or Ezekial) is missing
from the list of John’s heirs. Ezekiel died in Hartford Maine on 12
November 1806 at age 23 and may have been the husband of
Lydia Chickering but I’ve not yet found convincing evidence of
that.


John and Lydia’s remaining six children were already middle
aged themselves at the time the petition was filed in 1832.

The eldest, John Ames(another one!), was 53 years old and
married to Grace(last name unknown). They had seven children,
four girls and three boys.


The next son, Jonathan Phelps Ames, married Polly Griffith and
had ten children. Polly died in 1834 and Jonathan married her
sister Sarah with whom he had three more children. (Jonathan
and Polly’s daughter Arvilla is my ancestor through her marriage
to John Cutter West.) He was 51 years old at the time of the
petition.



Sally Ames married Isaac Fuller with whom she had at least one
child that I’ve been able to find and was 48 years old when the
petition was filed.



Polly Ames was 47 at the filing and was married to Sylvanus
Poland.They had nine children. Two of her sons had “Ames” as
their middle name


Finally, Betsey (or Betsy) was married to James Putnam and had
two children. She was 42 years old in 1832. Like her sister Polly's,
several of her children and grandchildren had the middle name
“Ames”.


Some of the grandchildren married each other. John Phelps
Ames’ son Generous married his cousin Grace Ames, daughter
of his Uncle John Ames.(They had a son with the unique name of
Generous Fernando Ames!) Sally Ames’ son Ezekiel married his
cousin Asenath, daughter of his uncle Ralph Ames. And overall,
John Ames’ tribe increased, with nearly thirty grandchildren at
the time of his death.


I’m sure there are posts in the future about these cousins of
mine, but for now, this concludes my series on John Ames and
his Revolutionary War pension file.

JOHN AMES' PENSION PART6

Image 8 is a page handwritten in a firm bold hand. The
penmanship is excellent and a bit ornate. I have a suspicion
that this might have been actually an earlier page in the file
and that in my haste to mine all I could I may have dl it out
of order but then I realized this pertains to his heirs after
John's death:


" N 11.634
Application of heirs of
John Ames
for pension.

In: Ames served as a private
from Apl 1775 to Jan 10, 1776
at least 8 mps &10 days

in Parker and Lawrence’s
companies Prescotts Regt
Mass. Troops


Washington
O. Witherell his orderly Sgt.
and
Wm. Spaulding Esq. a pensioner
who served in same Regt.

Also Deps.(?)of
C. Holland Member of congress
&
Chs. Fuller Esq on file in
War Department No.11.634
Case prepared by Wm Allen Jr
Norridgewock
me”



Image 9 is the other side of the page and the
handwriting in image show through. The document
is entirely handwritten by a different clerk:


“State of Maine
Kennebec County, Js:
Supreme Judicial Court
October term A.D. 1833
Be it known that on this twelfth day of October
1833, it has been satisfactorily proved in open Court
before the Supreme Judicial Court of said State
holden(?) at Augusta, within & for said County,
that John Ames late of Canton in said State
was an applicant for a pension under the Act of
Congress of June 7th. 1832 and that he died at
Canton aforesaid on the Seventh day of April,
1833, that Lydia Ames, his widow, also died on the
fifteenth day of the same month of April and
that his only children & lawful heirs are
John Ames, Jonathan P. Ames, Ralph Ames his sons;
and Sally Fuller wife of Isaac Fuller; Betsey
Putnam wife of James Putnam & Polly Poland
wife of Sylvanus Poland, his daughters.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto
subscribed my name & affixed the
seal of said Court, this 12th day of
October, 1833
J.A. Chandler, Clerk of the Judicial
Courts, Kennebec
County “



Image 10 is the last image and shows two pages of a
notebook.

The left-hand page is another preprinted form with
handwritten entries. The preprinted parts are shown here
in boldface:
“31518
Revy INVALID
__________
File No. 31.518
John Ames
Pri Rev War
Act: June 7th 32
Index:-Vol. 2, Page 8
[Arrangement of 1870]

The next page is all handwritten.
“Mas 1796 sold pensioned
Azel Ames
161 Shawmut St
Chelsea Mass. “

I’m assuming that last translates out to “Massachusetts
1776 soldier pensioned”

But who was Azel Ames? A descendant who requested a
copy of the pension file?

JOHN AMES' PENSION PART5

A reminder that all spelling, abbreviations and punctuation is as
found on the document.

In that regard, it seems poor General Putnam 's name is written
as Putman for the second time in the file!


There are parts of the document that are preprinted forms. I've
put those parts in boldface.


Image 6 appears to be handwritten on the back of the next
page as the printing of a form is visible from the other side.

Center top is written: 11.634

The following is handwritten below:

“John Ames

April 20th 1833

Obj(?) 2(?). 3.5(?)

R(?)348
died 7 April 1833
Private 8 mos 10days

Letter 30 Sept 1833

John Ames, Jonathan P. Ames,
Ralph Ames, Sally
Fuller, Betsey Putnam &
Polly Poland, children of
the deceased.

William Allen Jr.
Norridgewock, Maine.”


Image 7 is the other side of the page from the one on
Image 6. It’s a preprinted form. At the top the figures
11.634 are once more handwritten in:

Brief in the case of John Ames
County of Oxford in the State of Maine
(Act 7th June, 1832)

1. Was the declaration made before a Court or Judge?
Court

2. If before a Judge, does it appear that the applicant
is disabled by bodily infirmity? (illegible two lines that might
be a y and s)

3. How old is he? 76.

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

At this point the form is divided into four columns
across the page. I can’t reproduce it in that form here
but here is the information under each heading as written in:

Period: In 1775

Years, Months, Days,: about 8 1/2 months
(having enlisted for 8 months.)

Rank As a: Private

Names of General and Field Officers under whom he
served.
Capt. Parker, Col. Prescott
Genls. Putman, Lee, and Washington.


5. In what battles was he engaged? Lexington

6. Where did he reside when he entered the service?
Groton, Massa.

7. Is his statement supported by living witnesses, by
documentary evidence, by incidental evidence, or by
the rolls? A Credible Witness who proves 8 months service.

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.

F. Waugh examining clerk
March 12.1833

JOHN AMES' PENSION PART1

I've written about finding the Revolutionary War Pension Files
for some of my colonial era ancestors and have been transcribing
them to my genealogy program

This first one is for John Ames who was born in Groton, Ma.
on 23 Aug 1756 and died in Canton Me. on 30
Sep 1833. His file consists of 10 images.


The first is of a lined page with several headings and entries
below them.
Below Service is "Mass." On the far right hand of the same
line is the heading Number and below that is "S.31,518."

John Ames' name appears on the line dead center between
"Mass" and "S.31,518"


The next image is of two pages from a book that appears to have
been ledger size.

The right hand page is mostly blank except for three notations:

At the top of the page is : B.L. 25.566-160.35

Further down are some figures which become important when
you look at the facing page. First comes this :
2666
110
____
2776

Six hash marks ( I I I I I I I ) separate this from a second set of
figures:

27.77
2
____
55 54
13.88
_____
69.42


The left hand page has the heading “Maine” handwritten in big
letters in very fine penmanship over a double line. Beneath it are
the words:

“John Ames late of the Oxford Co. in the state of Maine who
was a private in the Comp commanded by Captain Parker of
the Regt. commanded by Col. Prescott in the Massa---
time for 8 mos.& 10ds.”

The next paragraph is enclosed in large brackets:

“John, Jonathan P. & Ralph
Ames, Sally Fuller, Betsey Put
-nam & Polly Polland heirs-
died 30th Sep. 1833”

Another double line across the page and then this:

“Inscribed on the roll of Maine-------
at the rate of 27 dollars 77 cents per annum
to commence on the 4th day of March,1834”

Another double line, then:
“Certificate of Pension issued the 11th day of Dec
1833--------and sent to W. Allen, Jr. Norridgewock”


Under another set of double lines the math from the other page
comes into play:
“Arrears to the 4th of Sep.’33 $69.42
Allowance ending 30 Sep’33 3.12
_____
$72.54
_____
{Revolutionary Claim}
Act, June 7,1832

Recorded by Geo. C. Stiles Clerk,
Book 6 Vol 2 Page 1

This appears to have been some standardized form and those
words I've put in bold letters seem to have been preprinted
on the page.

Also,the word "Settlement" is the first word on the line with
Allowance but I don't know how to display a crossed over word
so I left it off.

The list of John's heirs confirms the information about his family
that I learned at Larry Overmire's site.

So, John Ames was granted a pension but died before he could
recieve it and it went to his heirs instead.


But what exactly did he do in the Revolution?