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from the official copies by Carlton Wolfe , 620 North College St., Auburn, AL 36830
At a Court of Common Pleas holden at the Court House in the Village of Elmira in and for the County of Tioga in the State of New York commencing on the third day of September 1833 - Present the
Honorable John R. Drake, Esquire First Judge
Joseph L. Darlin, Esquire Judge
Elijah Shoemaker, Esquire Judge
George Fisher, Esquire Judge
and
Derius Bently, Esquire Judge
Green M. Luthell Clerk
State of New York &
Tioga County: On this third day of September 1833 personally appeared in open court before the Judges aforesaid being a court of record having by Law a Clerk and Seal and now sitting Obediah Brown a Resident of the Town of Southport in the County and State aforesaid age Seventy-Seven years and upwards who being first and duly sworn according to Law doth on his oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress apr’d June 7th 1832; That he entered the service of the United States under the following named officers and served as herein stated.
On the first of April 1776 the Militia of the First Regiment in the County of Sussex in the State of New Jersey under Col. Mark Thompson & Lieut. Col. William Bond were mustered and called for inspection and to be in readiness. This declarant belonged to the Company of Capt. Abraham Besharrer in the Regiment aforesaid and by a vote of said company was chosen Second Sergeant and received a Sergeant’s warrant from Capt. Besharrer before named.
After this and as near as he can remember as to time on the first of May (1776) he volunteered for two months and pursuant to orders from Col. Thompson before named was marched to Elizabeth Town and stationed there till the expiration of the two months when they were relieved by other troops from the same Regiment and this deployment was dismissed and returned home on the first of July having served two months in the rank of Sergeant.
And he further declares that according to his best recollection as to time, on the 15th of August same year (1776) he volunteered and mustered out for another term of two months as Second Sergeant in this company at this time commanded by Capt. Benjamin McCullock and under the orders and command of Col. Seward and Gen. Hurd and was marched to Pompton Plains and were halted there for some days the object of which was to reconnoiter the Tories; we were then marched to Peramus on the Hudson River where we were stationed for the remainder of this tour – I was dismissed and reached home about the 20 th. of October having second two months in the rank of Sergeant. On coming home I was informed that I had been chosen an Ensign and my Brother Walter Lieutenant and that our commissions were ready for us at the Sussex County Court then in session to we both repaired and the Clerk of the Court gave me my commission. It was signed by his Excellency William Livingston Esquire then Governor of the State of New Jersey and at this period Capt. Abraham Swisher commanded the Company.
And he further declares that soon after he received his commission as aforesaid, in pursuance of order from Gen. Hurd to that effect our company was mustered and a call made for volunteers to intercept the Enemy provided he should attempt a tour through the State. I volunteered with the other troops under Col. West and Capt. McKee and was marched to Elizabeth Town and from there about two miles to Cranis Point where I was stationed for six weeks with the command of a Picket Guard. This tour as well as he can remember was from the 15Th. of November in the year last aforesaid to the first of January 1777, having served six weeks in the rank of Ensign.
And I further declare that as near as I can recollect as to time on the 15Th. of January 1777 in pursuance of orders from Col. William Bond I volunteered as an Ensign under Capt. McKee aforesaid on a scout against the Tories; we were marched to Sussex Court House where we remained a few days; we were then marched to Elizabeth Town where we had our headquarters and kept up a guard and scout took a hundred Tories; on the last of February or on the first of March was dismissed and returned home having served six weeks at least in this expedition in the rank of Ensign.
And I further declare that from the first of March to the first of July 1777, I served at least two months as an Ensign against the Tories in the interior of the State and against the Indians on the Delaware River under Capt. Swisher and Col. Jacob West. During the time aforesaid was one tour up the Minisink and one tour into the State but cannot give the precise length of each or which was first but am certain it could not have been less than two months as before stated from the first of March to the first of July.
And I further declare that about the time last aforesaid to wit July 1st 1777, I was elected a Lieutenant in Capt. Swisher’s Company aforesaid did immediately received his commission as such officer signed by Governor Livingston before named; Col. Jacob West at the time commanded the Regiment. In the month of July and I think the 10Th. a call was made upon the Regiment for volunteers to go up the River against the Indians. A detachment of volunteers and this declarant having received his commission as said volunteer as a Lieutenant under the command of Col. William Bond. We were marched to the River to Capt. Hoover’s where we crossed over to the Pennsylvania side in pursuit of the Indians who had taken the wife and infant child of Major Ueeber and murdered them. We were then stationed alternately at three different block houses situated near the residence of Capt. Hoover, Isaac Van Campen and the said Major Ueeker and were occasionally employed as scouts and reconnoitering parties. In this compaign of service I continued two months in the rank of Lieutenant, was dismissed and reached home about the middle of September.
And I further declare that in the spring of 1778, say the first of May as near as I can remember, I can again turned out as a volunteer on a tour for one month having a rank and command of a Lieutenant in the Company of Capt. Swisher and under the command of Col. Bond. We were marched up into Minisink Country scouring the country for Tories and Indians - we were marched home and dismissed having been out a few days over the month for which we turned out.
And I further declare that in the same summer of 1778 and it is my best impression it was the month of August our company was called out by Col. Bond and the greater part of them volunteers for one month on an expedition against the Tories. This declarant volunteer as a Lieutenant in the same Corps and were marched to the Court House in Sussex County where we had our headquarters and scoured the adjacent country and took some prisoners - we served out the month and were dismissed.
And I further declare that early in the Spring of 1779 as soon as the first of April, a call was made by Col. Bond for volunteers to join Gen. Sullivan in his expedition against the Northern Indians, commonly called the Six Nations. I volunteered as a Lieutenant in the said Expedition and we were ordered to assemble at Easton on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware where we were quartered for some weeks - We were then marched on to Wyoming where the final arrangement of the Corps were completed for the expedition and there appearing more than a proportion of officers some were required to abandon their rank or be dismissed; I chose the latter was dismissed and return home having been two months in this service as a Lieutenant and was promised pay for that time but never received any. This campaign pretty much closed the service of the declarant in the Revolutionary War making in the whole one year and three months service only which he can remember with sufficient certainty to describe what he was about though he feels confident that he served much more than that length of time -That he has no documentary evidence of his said service but believes he can prove them by the testimony of two or three witnesses whose testimony he thinks he will be able to procure.
And in answer to the several interrogatories put to him by the Court he says that he was born in the Town of Rocksbury in the County of Morris in the State of New Jersey on the second day of June 1756.
That he has a record of his age which was made by his father in his family Bible which was delivered tyo him by his father and now in his possession and which he delivered to the Court.
That when he first entered the service he lived in the Town of Knowlton in the County of Sussex and State of New Jersey. After the close of the Revolutionary War he continued to live at the same place 14 years; he then lived 14 years at New Sheshequin County of Bradford and State of Pennsylvania - then lived one year in the Town of Candor County of Tioga and State of New York - then lived 3 years in the Town of Lansing County of Tompkins and State last aforesaid - then lived 12 years in the Town of Hector County and State aforesaid - then lived six years at his present residence in Southport.
That in all his service he was a volunteer. That he was acquainted while in the service with Gen. Washington, Gen. Lee, Gen. Putnam, Gen. Sterling and Gen. Sullivan and some of the troops under their command.
That he received two commissions, one as an Ensign and one as a Lieutenant - they were both signed by his Excellency Governor Livingston of the State of New Jersey - Thinking those commissions of little or no use to him he was careless of them and they have long time been lost or destroyed - in fact he knows not what has become of them and he never received any discharge as a Sergeant.
That he would refer to William Wells, Solomon L. Smith and Celeb Baker, citizens of Southport well acquainted with his reputation for truth and veracity and who can testify to this belief in the truth of the foregoing declaration.
He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or any annuity except the present and declares that his name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any state.
Sworn to & subscribed
the day month year aforesaid
Obadiah Brown
Green M. Tuthill, Clerk
We Henry Wells and Abraham Miller, both residing in the Town of Southport, County of Tioga, and State of New York hereby certify that we are well acquainted with Obediah Brown who has subscribed and sworn to the above declarations that we believe him to be Seventy-Seven years of age and upwards; that he is respected and believed in the neighborhood where he resides to have been a Soldier of the Revolution and that we concur in that opinion -
Sworn & Subscribed this 4Th.
day of September 1833 before me.
Henry Wells
Abraham Miller
Green M. Tuthill, Clerk of Tioga County
