Pension Application

R.9344
State of New York
Greene County SS.
            On this twenty fifth day of May 1840 personally appeared in the Court of Common Pleas of the said County of Greene, the same being a Court of record, Jeremiah Searle a resident of the town of New Baltimore in said County and State aged seventy four years in September last, who being duly sworn in open Court according to law, doth on his oath, make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the provision made by the Act of Congress passed June 7, 1832, that he entered the service in the year 1780 (Seventeen hundred and eighty—that he enlisted in the army of the United States at that time under Captain Sheldon, at the town of North Castle in the County of WestChester & State of New York in a Company of Dragoons commanded by said Captain Sheldon & in Colonel Milden’s Regiment in the New York line for the term of nine months and served in said company and regiment as an Orderly Sergeant, and twice was selected to carry the flag to the enemy for exchange of prisoners—That the said regiment was stationed at a place called “Crum Pond” near Croton river in said Westchester County—The Regular army was stationed near their station and between them and West Point. That he was not in any regular battle, but was in one skirmish with the enemy near Tarrytown in said County of Westchester in which four of the said company were killed & several wounded. And also several of the enemy were killed & taken prisoners—
            That he served out his said term of nine months as an Orderly Sergeant—in said Company and was regularly discharged, which said discharge was burnt in a dwelling house, in which he resided in the County of Dutchess in said State, soon after the war, & which house was accidently consumed.
            That he knows of no person living who served in the said company & regiment and that he is in indigent circumstances that he was born and brought up in the town of North Castle and County of Westchester aforesaid, when he enlisted—from thence after the war he removed to the town of Coeymans, in the County of Albany & State of New York—that he has resided at several different places in the State of New York, until for about the last eight years during which time he has resided in the said Town of New Baltimore, in the County of Greene aforesaid where he now resides.
            The applicant further declares that before he enlisted, as aforesaid (the year not precisely recollected) he was drafted in the County of Albany & State of New York—that he has resided at several different places in the State of New York, until from about the last eight years during which time he has resided in the said Town of New Baltimore, in the County of Greene aforesaid where he now resides.
            The applicant further declares that before he enlisted, as aforesaid (the year not precisely recollected) he was drafted in the said town of North Castle in the Militia in Captain Boardman’s Company for six months as a private and served in Colonel Griffin’s regiment, and joined the army at said North Castle.
            That after serving in said Company as a private for three weeks, he was taken sick of the Dysentery—that his father came to the camp and hired a substitute in the place of this applicant, to whom he paid fifty dollars. That said Substitute served out the regular time for which this applicant was drafted—that the said substitute lived in the State of Connecticut but whether he is now dead or alive, if alive, the place of his residence are all unknown to this deponent.—
            This deponent hereby relinquishes all and 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 and that the reason of his not having before applied for a pension is that he was always informed that he had not served long enough in the army—that he was ignorant of the passage of the act of June 7th 1832, until the fall of 1839, when he was first informed that he was entitled to a pension. (Signed with his mark) Jeremiah Searls
            Sworn to and subscribed in open court the day and year aforesaid to wit May 25, 1840. The applicant for a pension made his mark because he could not see to write. William V.B. Hermance, Clerk of the Court Aforesaid.
            The following interrogatories were proposed by said Court of the said Applicant in Open Court at the time & place aforesaid on account of his services as stated in his declaration on oath as aforesaid.
            Question 1. Where & in what year was you born? Answer. In the town of North Castle, Westchester County and State of New York in the months of September 1765.
            Question 2. Have you any record of your age, & if so where is it? Answer. My birth was entered by my father in the family bible but where the said Bible now is is to this deponent unknown.
            Question 3. Where were you living when called into service, and where have you lived since the Revolutionary War, & where do you now live? Answer. That when called into service he lived in the town of North Castle in the County of Westchester & State of New Your. That after the war he removed to the town of Coeymans, Albany County & State of New York, and from thence he removed to the County of Greene, in which county he has lived for the last thirty years in the several town of Cairo, Catskill, Coxsackie, & New Baltimore where he now resides.
            Question 4. How were you called into service? Answer. By Enlistment in a Company of Dragoons, and by draft as stated in my declaration before sworn to.
            Question 5. State the names of some of the regular officers who were with the troops where you served. Some of such Continental & Militia regiments as you can recollect, and the general Circumstances of your service. Answer. That owing to the length of time, his age, and impaired memory he is unable to answer as to the names of the officers or other regiments and field officers, but he thinks one Colonel Griffin commanded a regiment in the line of the army—He recollects that General Washington was occasionally with the army when stationed as before stated in his declaration.
            Question 6. Did you receive a discharge from the service and if so, by whom was it given, and what has become of it? Answer. That he received a regular discharge signed by said Colonel Milden or Captain Sheldon or both, and that the same was destroyed by fire as stated in his declaration.
            Question 7. State the names of some persons to whom you are known in your present neighborhood & who can certify as to your character for veracity and their belief of your services as a soldier of the Revolution. Answer. Charles Titus, Thomas Hallock, Zebulon Hallock, Joseph Newberry, John Bedell, David Williams & others.
            This deponent further saith that here is no clergyman living in his immediate vicinity who can testify as to his age or services as a Revolutionary Soldier. (Signed with his mark) Jeremiah Searls
            The applicant for a pension made his mark because he could not see to write.
            Subscribed in open Court May 25, 1840. William V.B. Hermance, Clerk of the Court Aforesaid.

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