Morrison's Pensions

Pension Application for Catharine Bellinger (Petrie, Richard Marcus or Hondedrick M. former widow)

R729
State of New York
County of Onondaga SS.    
            Be it know that before me a Justice of the Peace in and for the county aforesaid, duly authorized by law to administer oaths personally appeared Catharine Bellinger a resident of the Town of Lysander in the County of Ondaga in the State aforesaid, who being first duly sworn according to law States that she is the Daughter of Marks Dedrick Petrie—the name Decrick sometimes called Richard who was killed in the Oriskany Battle during the Revolutionary War and also the Daughter of the late Catharine Bellinger who was the widow of said Marks Dedrick Petrie and an applicant for a Pension previous to her death for Services rendered the United States by her first husband said Marks Dedrick Petrie in the Revolutionary War and that she believes the United States are still indebted under existing laws for the Pension that was due under the application heretofore made and that she is directly interested as a claimant in the pension for which application was heretofore made as aforesaid.  And constitutes appoints George C. Ames of Washington DC her true and lawful attorney with power to examine into investigate and establish the claim for said pension and do all acts necessary thereto.
            In witness whereof Catharine Bellinger has on this twenty fourth day of February 1853 hereunto signed her name and affixed her seal.  (Signed with her mark)  Catharine Bellinger

State of New York
County of Herkimer SS.
            On this sixth day of June 1838 personally appeared before the Court of Common Pleas of said county in open court Catharine Bellinger a resident of Danube in the County of Herkimer and State of New York aged Eighty six years, who being first duly sworn according to law doth on her oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the provision made by the act of Congress passed July 4, 1836 and the act explanatory of said act passed March 3, 1837. 
            That she was married to Richard M. Petrie, called in the German Hondedrick M. Petrie, who was an Ensign in the company commanded by Captain Small in the Regiment Commanded by Col. Peter Bellinger, who was the father of the deponent that as such ensign her said husband was in the Service of the United States that he left home at different times and went in the service, that he was in service much of the time but that she cannot recollect the particular service.  That he went to Oriskany and was in the Oriskany battle and was killed in the battle as she was told immediately after his brother and other friends afterwards went to the battle ground to inter him and informed him that they did inter his body.  That she recollects that her said husband Richard M. Petrie was stationed at Fort Dayton some time but cannot state the time as she was not there.  She further declares that she was married to the said Richard M. Petrie called in German Hondedrick Petrie, in the month of June in the year seventeen hundred and seventy one the day and month she cannot recollect but recollects the month & year and that the nuptials were celebrated by the Reverent Abraham Rosecrants at the house of her father.  That Peter P. Bellinger was present.  That her said husband died as before stated in the month of August in the year 1777 being killed at Oriskany before mentioned.  That she was afterwards married to John Bellinger who died in the month of February in the year 1820—and that she was a widow, as will more fully appear by reference to the proof hereto annexed on the 4th of July 1836 and still remains a widow.
(Signed with her mark)  Catharine Bellinger
            Sworn to and subscribed in open court the day and year above written.  In witness thereof I as the Clerk of this Court have hereunto subscribed my name & affixed the seal of said Court which is a court of record.  J. Dygert Clerk.

State of New York
Herkimer County SS.
            Marks Crats of the Town of Columbia in the said County of Herkimer and State of New York being duly sworn deposeth and saith that he was seventy seven years of age on the 12th day of February last past and that he is now on the Pension Roll under the act of 1828, as he thinks, for under for Eighty dollars a year that the deponent was born on the Mohawk River about four and a half miles below the village of Herkimer on the north side of the River, that the place of his birth at the time of his birth was called Germanflatts but was afterwards called Herkimer and is not included in the Town of Little Falls in said County—that this deponent continued to live at the said place where he was born from the time of his birth until the year 1779 when he enlisted into the service and left home—that Richard M. Petrie, who was the husband of Catharine Bellinger who as this deponent is informed is an applicant for a Pension under the act of Congress July 4th 1836 was at the time of the birth of this deponent and from that time forward until the year 1779 when this deponent enlisted and left the place as here before stated a resident also of the same place where this deponent there resided, and lived within one half a mile of the residence of this deponent, that this deponent from; his earliest recollection was well acquainted with the said Richard M. Petrie and also with the said Richard M. Petrie and also with the said Catharine Bellinger who at the time of the war and until the death of the said Richard M. Petrie in the year 1777 and intermarried with the said Richard—that according to that Deponents present recollection and which this deponent believes true the said Richard M. Petrie and the said Catharine Bellinger were married together before the commencement of the Revolutionary War—That the said Richard M. Petrie at the commencement of the war was an Ensign in the Militia in the district in which he and this deponent then resided—That the said Richard M. Petrie was an Ensign in a company of Militia commanded by Jacob Small as Captain, George Helmer 1st Lieutenant and John Davy 2d Lieutenant—That the said Richard M. Petrie continued to act in the said company in the capacity of Ensign from the commencement of the said war until the 7th day of August 1777 when he was killed in the Oriskany Battle new Fort Stanwix that in the year 1775 commencing early in the summer or spring the said company on occasions of alarms and inroads repeatedly made by the enemy into the district and neighborhood in which the members of the said company resided, the said company was repeatedly called together at the house of the said Jacob Small in the commandant of the said company who also resided until he was afterwards killed by the enemy in the immediate neighborhood and within one half a mile of the residence of this deponent—that although this deponent was not at the time of sufficient age & subject him to military duty—yet he repeatedly saw the time and under arms in different terms in periods varying from three to eight days, that this deponent during said season repeatedly saw portions of said company on duty at the house of said Capt. Small where they were stationed and on duty and that the occasions of these assemblies were the [?] of the enemy and that the duties performed by the said company on those occasions were the usual garrison duties and scouts and at times pursuing the enemy—that the said Richard M. Petrie attended the said company on those occasions as the Ensign of the said company and at times had the command of the said company and at times the command of portions of the said company—that although this deponent cannot state precisely how long the said Richard M. Petrie as such Ensign as aforesaid in the summer of 1775 – That this deponent believes and has no doubt that he served at least for the period of two months.
            That late in the fall in December in the year 1775, the said Richard M. Petrie went to Johnstown now in the County of Montgomery on a military expedition that the occasion of this expedition was to take Sir John Johnson who with a party of Indians and Tories were about to attack as it was represented the inhabitants on the Mohawk—That the company to which the said Richard M. belonged was attached to a Regiment of Militia commanded by Col. Peter Bellinger and that the whole regiment was called out on this occasion and proceeded to Johnstown—that the said Richard M. Petrie was out on this service for the period of one month as this deponent believes—that this service was performed when there was snow on the ground and sleighing and this deponent does not know but this service may have been performed in January or the winter of 1776.—
            That in the summer of the year 1776 the month this deponent cannot now state the said Richard Petrie [in the line above it says something but all I can make out is July] went out also as such Ensign with a part only of his said company on an Excursion to Mount Edmunston, a place now in the Southern part of Otsego County in pursuit of Tories who it was reported were in the neighborhood of Edmunston where a Mr. Carr and Mr. Edmundston who were reported to be Tories also resided—That this deponent remembers the going away and return home of the said Richard M. on this occasion and believes and therefore states that he was absent on this excursion one month.—
            That the said Richard M. Petrie on other occasions during the said season of 1776 was absent occasionally with part of said company in pursuit of the enemy and at times stationed for short periods at the house of said Capt. Small and also at one time at the house of the said Richard M. Petrie that this additional service was rendered on occasions of alarms and approaches of the enemy and amounted to at least one half a month’s service in addition to the said one month rendered in the same year as aforesaid—
            That in the spring of the year 1777 the said Richard M. Petrie and the whole of his company went out on an expedition to the south to the Unadilla River in pursuit of Brant and the Indians & Tories and that on this occasion he was out for the period of at least one month—that shortly after his return home from the [cut off] the said Richard M. Petrie and the company [cut off] was ordered to Fort Stanwix and remained stationed there and on duty falling trees and blocking up wood creek and the road to prevent the approach of St. Leger and his army who was about to invest the Mohawk Country and who afterwards besieged Fort Stanwix.  That this service continued for at least three weeks.  That immediately after his return home from Fort Stanwix the whole militia of the district under the command of General Herkimer including the company of the said Richard M. Petrie together with the said Richard M. were again ordered out and after being on duty in the vicinity of Herkimer at Fort Dayton were marched towards Sort Stanwix for the relief of the garrison then in Fort Stanwix under the command of Col. Willett & Gansvoort and when the said Militia was attacked at Oriskany by the enemy and which brought on the Oriskany battle wherein the said Richard M. Petrie fell, that this deponent cannot state how long this last service continued but should say and is quite certain that it continued over five weeks and no doubt that the tow last services the chopping at Fort Stanwix and the service in which he afterwards fell while this deponent considers a continued service was together at least two months actual service. That this deponent was not in any service with the said Richard M. Petrie but having lived in the immediate neighborhood of the said Petrie this deponent generally knew of his going off and frequently saw him when he [?] –away on the occasions of his said service and would also generally know of his return home that the said Richard M. Petrie was a true Patriot and had the reputation of being among the foremost and most prompt in opposing the enemy and in promoting the American cause during his life—that the knowledge of this deponent that the said Richard M. Petrie was killed in said Oriskany battle is the positive knowledge of this deponent that the said Richard left his home to go with the militia to said Fort Stanwix that he never returned and that it was immediately after said battle and forever since that time reported and believe that the said Richard was killed in the Oriskany Battle.—That the said Richard M. Petrie was the son of Marks Petrie and had an uncle by the name of Richard and that the said Richard M. Petrie was called by the German while in his neighbourhood and by the family Hondedrick Petrie.  That the maiden name of the said Catharine the wife of the said Richard M. Petrie was Bellinger she being a daughter of Col. Peter Bellinger the commandant of the said Militia Regiment aforesaid that after the death of the said Richard M. Petrie the said Catharine intermarried with John Bellinger and the said John Bellinger the second husband of the said Catharine has been dead for more than ten years last that the said Catharine is yet living and is yet remaining a widow and unmarried.  That the said Richard M. [cut off] said Catharine at the time of the death of the said Richard Petrie had two children which survived the said Richard M. Petrie—and further saith now—(Signed with his mark)  Marks Crants
            Subscribed and sworn this 1st day of June 1858 before me.  Chas Gray Judge of Herk. Co. Courts.

State of New York
Herkimer County SS.
            Peter P. Bellinger of Danube in the said county & State aforesaid being duly sworn saith that he was seventy eight years of age on the 24th day of April last past—that Catharine Bellinger how is an applicant for a pension under the act of Congress of July 4, 1836 is a sister of this Deponent—that the said Catharine was married to Richard Marcus Petrie sometime about the year 1770 this deponent cannot state the precise time of their marriage but having been present and having witnessed the ceremony of the marriage he can state positively the fact of the marriage that the nuptials were celebrated by the Revd Abraham Rosecrants as this deponent believes in the house of Peter Bellinger the father of this deponent and the said Catharine who at the time of the said marriage lived on the Mohawk River at a place now called Little Falls in the said County of Herkimer—that the said Richard M. Petrie the husband of the said Catharine was killed in the Oriskany Battle under General Nicholas Herkimer on the 7th day of August 1777—That this deponent was not present in said Battle, but knows that the said Richard left home to go to Fort Stanwix that this deponent accompanied said Richard up the River as far as Fort Dayton where Herkimer Village is now built.  That he there parted with him that immediately after the said battle news was brought to this deponent and the family by those persons who were in said battle with said Richard.  That he the said Richard was killed in the said battle—that this deponent had never since seen the said Richard or heard in contradicted in any way that he was so killed in the said Battle and this deponent believes & has no doubt that he was killed in said Oriskany Battle, that at the time of his death he and the said Catharine had two children—that after the death of the said Petrie and sometime after the close of the war she intermarried with John Bellinger—That she continued to be the wife of the said John Bellinger until about sixteen years ago when the said John Bellinger also died—that the said Catharine has not since the death of the said John Bellinger been married and that she is now living and still is a widow that this deponent was acquainted with the said Richard M. Petrie ever since this deponent had any recollection of events and up to the time of the death of the said Richard—that the said Richard at the commencement of the Revolutionary War was an Ensign in the Militia and that this deponent is informed and believes that he held the commission of Ensign under the provincial government—that he at the commencement of the was espoused the cause of liberty and the Americans and received the appointment of the Ensign in a Company of Militia commanded by Capt. Jacob Small who was also killed by the enemy in the Revolutionary War—that  the said was attached to a Regiment commanded by Col. Peter Bellinger who was the father of this deponent in the Brigade of General Nicholas Herkimer—that the said Richard Petrie with the Regiment of Militia of the said Col. Peter Bellinger in the winter of 1775 in the month of January as this deponent believes were ordered and went on an expedition to Johnstown now in the County of Montgomery in the State of New York—That Col. .Peter Bellinger who was the father of this deponent & who commanded the said regiment with the said Regiment went on the said Expedition—but how long the said expedition continued from the time the same left home until they again returned this deponent cannot now recollect nor can he state—that this deponent has no personal knowledge that the said Richard performed any military service except the time when this deponent accompanied him to Herkimer on his way to the Oriskany battle here before mentioned—that this deponent in the [?] lived on the South side of the Mohawk and belonged to a company of Militia on the south side of the Mohawk River commanded by Capt. Michael Ittig and that the said Richard M. Petrie belonged to a company on the north side of the Mohawk River commanded by Capt. Jacob Small which is the reason that this deponent did not accompany the said Richard M. Petrie in any Military service—That the said Richard from command report did service in the Militia as such Ensign from the commencement of the War until his death—that before the Oriskany Battle whether said Richard was killed, the said Richard as was reputed at the time and which this deponent believes true performed service also in the neighbourhood of Fort Stanwix falling trees & into Wood Creek to impede the approach of St. Leger & his Army but how long he was engaged in said service this deponent does not now remember that he ever understood.

Letter in the Pension folder
October 3, 1939
Mrs. Charlotte T. Luckhurst
156 Western Avenue
Albany, New York
Dear Madam:
            The data which follow were obtained from papers on file in pension claim R.729, based upon the military service of Richard (in German Hondedrick) Marcus Petrie, in the War of the Revolution.
            The date and place of birth of Richard Marcus Petrie are not given.  He was the son of Marck Petrie, and the nephew of Richard Petrie, name of his mother not shown.
            Richard Marcus Petrie married in 1770 or in June, 1771, Catharine, the daughter of colonel Peter Bellinger.  They were married at her father’s home in Little Falls on the Mohawk River, Herkimer County, New York, by the Reverend Abraham Rosencrantz.  The date and place of birth of Catharine, and the name of her mother were not stated.  Richard Marcus Petrie was killed in the battle of Oriskany.  His widow, Catharine Petrie, married, date not given, John Bellinger, who died in the month of February, 1820.  No relationship between said John Bellinger and Catharine was given.
            Catharine Bellinger, June 6, 1838, then aged eighty-six years, and a resident of Danube, Herkimer County, New York, applied for the pension that might have been due on account of the services of her former husband, Richard Marcus Petrie, and stated that before the commencement of the Revolution, and while residing in German Flats, which was later called Little Falls, New York, Richard Marcus Petrie was an ensign in Captain Bells company, engaged in protecting the frontier along the Mohawk River from the depredations of the Indians and Tories; that from the beginning of the Revolution, he served at various times on tours as ensign in Captain Jacob Small’s company, Colonel Peter Bellinger’s (Catharine’s father) New York regiment, under General Nicholas Herkimer; that he assisted in the construction of Forts Stanwix and Dayton, went on expeditions to Johnstown, to Unadilla and to Ticonderoga, was out on scouting parties against the Indians, which scouting parties were generally under his command; he was promoted lieutenant, and was in the battle of Oriskany, where he was killed.  It was stated that after the battle his body was found by a party of friends and neighbors and interred.  No dates of service were given.
            The claim for pension of Catharine Bellinger was not allowed as she failed to furnish proof of service, as required by the pension laws.
            Richard Marcus Petrie and his wife, Catharine, had two children when Richard died.  The only name of a child of this marriage that is shown is a daughter, Catharine Bellinger, who was living in Lysander, Onondaga County, New York, in 1853.  One James Bellinger made affidavit in Lysander, New York, in 1853, but it is not show that said James was the husband of Catharine.
            David Bellinger, a son of Catharine by her second husband, John Bellinger, was living in Danube, New York in 1854.  His age was not given, and no names of any other children of John and Catharine Bellinger are designated.  In 1840, one George Bellinger lived in Little Falls, New York; his relationship to the family was not stated.  Peter P. Bellinger, son of Colonel Peter Bellinger and brother of the widow, Catharine Bellinger, born April 24, 1780, and was living in 1838, in Danube, New York; he served in the War of the Revolution.  The widow, Catharine Bellinger, was deceased in 1853, exact date not given.
Very truly yours, A.D. Hiller, Executive Assistant to the Administrator.