Pension Application

R.7623
State of New York
Montgomery County SS.
            On this nineteenth day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred & thirty two personally appeared in open court before the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas now sitting at Johnstown in & for Montgomery County William I. Newkirk a resident of the town of Florida the Court and state aforesaid aged sixty seven years of age who being duly sworn according to 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 entered the service of the United States under the following named officers & served as herein stated.
            That in the year seventeen hundred & Seventy Nine as near as he can recollect, this deponent volunteered to go to Sacondaga to take his tour of duty at this place in company with the rest of the Militia who were drafted to be stationed at that place & this deponent who being too young to be legally called upon to stand his draught—That he went from the town of Florida – crossed the Mohawk River near Tripes Hill & went on to Sacondaga and one Jacob Pettingall a drafted Militia man went with him. That he lay at Sacondaga Block House called Fort Fisher five or six weeks, and was then relieved by another draft of men. That this deponent recollects that Captain Jacob Gardinier had the command of the Fort at that time & Peter Youngs was Lieutenant. That the distance from Florida to Sacondaga is about twenty miles.
            This deponent also volunteered and actually went to take on Harry Hare a British Spy whose family resided at Florida, while he had been engaged in travelling back and forth to & from Canada as a spy. That Captain William Snook Commanded the Company in taking Hare. That they surrounded the house at the Night and made him a prisoner & he was hung as a spy at Canajoharie as he was informed and believes. That this deponent went from Florida to Canajoharie to assist in taking Hare to that place but not see him executed. And this deponent further says that he stood ready & willing to serve the County at any and at all times when and [?] required. But after rendering the above mentioned service he was actually taken a Prisoner of War by the British and Indians some time in the year 1780 as near as he can recollect in the town of Florida & was taken westward by the Indians to Niagara and to Buffalo a distance of between two and three hundred miles from his residence in Florida and was detained an actual Prisoner of War by the Indians upwards of ten months. Subjecting himself to all the practices of Indian discipline and after having been detained that length of time this deponent was liberated by one Col. Butler an American Tory who had been formerly acquainted with this deponents family; and this deponent resided with Col. Butler between one & two years taking care of his horses before he could get a chance to return home, and by the time this deponent returned home it was upwards of three years.
            And this deponent further says that he was born in the year 1765. That he has a record of his age transcribed into his family Bible from the original entry made in his Fathers family Bible which latter record this deponent believes is yet in existence in the town of Florida. That this deponent resided in the Town of Florida when he entered the service as has so resided ever since. That in all the services he rendered to the Country - he served as a volunteer. That he has stated the names of the officers & the circumstances attending the services as near as he can recollect. That he has no documentary evidence & expects to prove some of the circumstances by him related by witnesses. And 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 or of the United States and this deponent expects to prove by Nicholas Hill and Jacob Pettingell as to the veracity of this deponent and of their belief as to this deponents services as a soldier of the Revolution. (Signed) WilliamNewkirk
            Sworn to and Subscribed the day & year aforesaid. Geo. D. Ferguson, Clerk
State of New York
Montgomery County SS.
            I, Samuel Belding, Jr., County Judge of Montgomery County do hereby certify that at a Surrogates Court held before me at Amsterdam in the County of Montgomery satisfactory evidence was exhibited to me, on this 22nd day of April 1852, that William I. Newkirk late of Florida in said County died in said town on the 22nd day of February 1849, leaving his surviving children whose names & places of residence are as follows, to wit: Douw Newkirk residing at Ashford in the County of Cattaraugus, in the state of New York, Nicholas Newkirk, Margaret Newkirk wife of Garret G. Newkirk & Helen Newkirk all of Florida, Montgomery County Maria Anna Quackenbush wife of Nicholas S. Quackenbush of Glen in said County, Deborah Stack wife of Richard Stack of Hannibal in the County of Oswego & Rachel Johnson wife of Andrew Johnson of Rockton in the county of Herkimer, all of the State New York. That said named persons are all of full age and are the only surviving children of said William I. Newkirk deceased, that said William I. Newkirk did in his life time make application to the government of the United States for a pension for service in the Revolutionary War & particularly for having suffered imprisonment in said war, whereof I have hereunto set my and hand & affixed the seal of the surrogates court ZSof said county this 22nd day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred & fifty nine. S. Belding Jr. County Judge.

Copyright © 1998, -- 2007. James F. Morrison and Berry Enterprises. All rights reserved. All items on the site are copyrighted. While we welcome you to use the information provided on this web site by copying it, or downloading it; this information is copyrighted and not to be reproduced for distribution, sale, or profit.