Morrison's Pensions
Pension
Application for Isaac Groot
S.8604
On the Matter of Isaac Groot of the Town of Watervliet
County of Albany
Brief Application for Pension under Act of 7th June 1832.
Declaration Shews
That then is no record of his age but was christened 13th
Nov 1757. Born in Niskayuna in
infancy removed to Watervliet Albany County resides there now and he has
always resided there. That in the
spring of 1775 while he resided in Watervliet he was called into service as a
private soldier and volunteer. Militia
man in the New York State Militia.
His officers were Ostrom, Weaver, Heemstreet and Schuyler.
Company officers, Colonel Nichols, Lieut. Col. Schuyler, Major Fonda,
General Ten Broeck.
Was out in actual
service as follows:
1775 23 days
1776 1st time
23=2’d 21 time of 3 time’d
21=88 days
1777
1st trip 29 days 2d 28 days 3d 32
1778
out three times this year
1779
out this year 1781
1780
out 105 days, 39 days 1782 66 days
89
_____
77
Days
______
99
____
270
(386)
_____563 days
That 1777 he was appointed sergeant and continued in that capacity
during the remainder of his service as above stated.
That above is all the days he remembers serving has no doubt there were
others. Out frequently on scouting
parties.
Never in a battle but a skirmish.
Never discharged or had any warrant or Commission.
No documentary evidence of his services. That he knows during service
in no civil pursuit.
State of New York
City and County of
Albany
On this twenty eighth day of March in the year one thousand eight
hundred and thirty three personally appeared before me Gerrit L. Dox, one of
the Justices of the Justice Court in the City of Albany, Isaac Groot of the
Town of Watervliet in the County of Albany who in order to obtain the benefit
of the Act of Congress passed June 7, 1832, make the following declaration to
wit:
That he was born in the Town of Niskayuna in the County of Schenectady
and was Christened on the thirteenth day of November 1757 as appears from a
copy or extract from the record of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in the
said Town of Niskayuna which copy or extract he now has in his possession.
That he knows of no record of his age, and at an early day removed to
the Town of Watervliet in the County of Albany where he has since resided and
still resides.
That in the spring of the year 1775 and while he resided in the said
Town of Watervliet he was called into the service of the United States in the
War of the Revolution and entered the said service as a private soldier and a
volunteer militia man in the Militia of the State of New York.
That
his officers as far as he now recollects the same were as follows.
Henry
Ostrom (1) of the Town of Watervliet aforesaid Captain, Jacob Weaver of the
same town First Lieutenant, Philip Heemstreet Second Lieutenant, Peter
Schuyler Ensign. That the Colonel
of his regiment was Francis Nichol (2) as he believes of the County of Albany
but of what town he does not recollect. Philip
Schuyler was Lieutenant Colonel and Abraham Fonda Major, both of the Town of
Watervliet and General Abraham Ten Broeck of the City of Albany was general
but whether a Brigadier or Major General he does not now recollect.
That
in the year 1775 aforesaid he marched from Albany to Fort George in the State
of New York to guard that fort and was there on actual duty twenty three days
and returned home and in the spring of 1776 he was again ordered out and went
to Saratoga and Fort Edward and remained there twenty three days then returned
home and in July of the same year was again ordered out and went to Fort
Edward and remained twenty one days and in the fall of same year was again
called out and went to Fort Edward and remained there twenty one days.
That his officers were the same as he believes during this year.
That
in the year 1777 was again ordered out together with half his company as he
believes and was attached to a regiment under the command of Major Jacob
Schermerhorn (3) of Schodac. Went
up to Fort Edward and on his way from Fort Edward to Fort Ann met the army
after the battle at Fort Ann (4) and returned with them to Fort Edward where
he remained on duty for Twenty-nine days.
Was ordered out in July of same year, went to Fort Edward and remained
there and about there on duty twenty eight days, returned home and in the
month of September as he believes was again ordered out and joined the
Northern Army under command of Major General Gates where he remained thirty
two days and was there at the surrender of General Burgoyne. (5)
In
the year 1778 was ordered out and went to Schoharie to guard the country
against the disaffected or Tories and the Indians.
That he was called out three different times during this year on the
same service and was out on actual duty seventy-seven days in all.
That
during the year 1777 but the particular time he does not recollect he was
appointed a sergeant and acted in that capacity during his services in the
succeeding years, 1778, 1779, 1780, 1781 and 1782.
That
in 1779 he was again ordered out and went to Schoharie and remained out on
actual duty during that year ninety-nine days.
That in 1780 he was again ordered out to Fort Hunter above Schenectady
and to Schoharie four different times and was out all during this year one
hundred and five days. That in
1781 he was out to the same places all during this year thirty nine days and
1782 he was ordered out to Schoharie and Fort Herkimer in all sixty six days.
That
the above number of days service are those in which he now recollects he was
actually engaged in the service and he does verily believe that the same are
put down within bounds. That he
was frequently ordered out on scouting parties and was out for short periods
at different times which are not included in the number of days above stated.
That
in the above attachment he has been careful to put down only such days and
times as he can now recollect with certainty.
That
he cannot state at this late day who were all his officers but believes that
Caption Ostrom continued as his Captain till the end of his term of service.
That he never was in any battle was has been in skirmishes one between
men under the command of Sir John Johnson and Americans under command of
General Van Rensselaer (6) in the year 1782. [1780]
That
he never was discharged and never held any warrant commission as sergeant that
he now recollects and if he ever had any it has been lost or destroyed.
That there is not to his knowledge any documentary evidence of his
services. That during the time he
was in the service of the United States as before stated herein he was not
employed in any civil pursuit.
That
his declarant is well acquainted with Peter Shafer, Henry Runkle, William
Orlop, Mynart E. Vandenbergh, all now living and residing in the Town of
Watervliet in the County of Albany and that they all or some of them were in
the service of the United States with him in the War of the Revolution and are
personally knowing to his services as herein detailed or a part thereof.
That
he hereby relinquishes every claim whatsoever 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 and I the said Justice do hereby declare that from my
knowledge of this man and the history he gives of his services that the above
named was a Revolutionary Soldier and served as he states.
(Signed)
Isaac Groot
Subscribed
and sworn this 28th day of March 1833 before me, Gerrit L. Dox one
of the Justices of the Justice Court of the City of Albany.
State of New York
City and County of
Albany SS
Be it know that on this eighth day of May in the year one thousand
eight hundred and thirty three before me the subscriber came, Isaac Groat to
me known who being sworn make the following declaration in addition to his
former declaration hereto annexed.
That from his earliest recollection he has resided near to and been
intimately acquainted with Wynant E. Van Den Bergh and Peter Shafer.
That his services as private and Sergeant in the Revolutionary War
where rendered as stated in his said Declaration hereto annexed at the same
time and for the most part in company with them.
That this deponent was as he has stated in his said former declaration
appointed a sergeant in the year 1777 the day or month he does not recollect.
That his said declaration and the declaration of said Wyant (7) and
Peter have been again read to him and he understand them and believes them in
all respects true. That when his
said last declaration was drawn it was suggested to this deponent that he
should together with said Van Den Bergh and Shafer and others set down and
make out a particular memoranda of the days and times they were actually out
on duty.
That in accordance with the said suggestion they did together make out
a bit of such times and days as they were actually out and were together in
the service. That he has no
hesitation in stating there were other times when he was out and which he
could not particularly detail and which he then had omitted.
That the services mentioned as his declarations were as he does verily
believe truly stated and the times and characterization of his different tours
of duty were taken by the drafts about what has been his declaration for the
memorandum carefully made by him as aforesaid.
That all his services detailed in his said declaration mentioned were
performed in company with the said Peter and Wyant. That this deponent entered
into the service with the said Wynant and Peter and continued during the same
times they respectively did except eight days since at fort Ann which they
were not accompanied by said Peter Shafer and which is not computed in said
declaration.
(Signed) Isaac Groot
Sworn this eighth day of May 1833 before me. Gerrit L. Dox, Justice.
End
Notes for Isaac Groot S.8604
By
James F. Morrison
1.
Capt.
Henry Ostrom and his company were part of the Third regiment of Albany County
Militia.
2.
Francis
Nicholl was Colonel of this regiment until he resigned; Lieutenant-Colonel
Philip P. Schuyler was promoted to Colonel and received his commission on the
22 of June 1778.
3.
Major
Jacob C. Schermerhorn of the Fourth Regiment of Albany County Militia.
4.
This
took place on the 8th of July 1777.
5.
General
John Burgoyne surrendered his army on the 17th of October 1777.
6.
This
is the first time I have seen the Battle of Klock’s Field which was fought
on the 19th of October in the afternoon being referred to as a
skirmish. Lt-Col. Sir John Johnson
may have had close to 700 men engaged and General Robert Van Rensselaer may
have had 800 men plus at his disposal. The
battle lasted almost an hour or more.
7.
Wyant
VanDenburgh and Peter Shafer [Shaver] both served as Sergeants in Captain
Lansing’s Company in the same regiment.
There were two Captain Lansings in this regiment Jacob and Levinus.