Selected documents from Roll 1306 of M804,
Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files,
National Archives
Transcribed by Marilyn Day, Dec. 2002
Additional transcription by D.P. Lacroix Jan. 2003
Note: Documents placed in chronological order, dates in brackets added after transcription
 

[6 April 1818]

 
    I Jonas Holden of Mount Holly in the County of Rutland & State of Vermont, of the age of sixty five years, being duly sworn, do declare depose & say that about the 21 of April 1775, a day or two after the battle at Concord, I enlisted into Capt. Oliver Bates company, Col Prescott's Regt. of Massachusetts line to serve until 1 Jan. following – That I immediately joined my company at Cambridge & remained there most of the time until the 1 Jan. 1776 when I was discharged.  That in April 1776 I enlisted to serve in Capt. Parker’s company, Col. Reed Regiment of Massachusetts line and joined my regiment at Charleston No. 4 in the State of Newhampshire; from thence we marched to Ticonderoga, where I remained until the summer of that year when I went on board Capt. Reed’s gundalo in the squadron under the command of Genl Arnold, & after his defeat on the lake I again joined my company at said Ticonderoga  - We remained at Ticonderoga until December when I was discharged.  In April 1777 I again enlisted into Capt. Joshua Parker’s company, Col. Robinson’s Regiment to serve for nine months in the Massachusetts line & joined my company at Providence – that soon after I was appointed Sargeant & served as sergeant until August 1777 when I was appointed Ensign & was transferred to Capt. Joseph Cole’s company of the same Regt & served as Ensign until the expiration of the time for which I enlisted being 1 Jan 1778, when I was appointed Lieutenant under Col. Wade of the Massachusetts line, and went on the recruiting service until the spring of that year when I joined Capt. Boynton’s company in said Regt at Providence and was attached to said company as Lieut. until the 1 Jan. 1779 when time for which I was appointed having expired I left the service.  I further say that I was in the battle of Bunker hill, & was wounded there.  I was also in the battle of lake Champlain under Genl. Arnold.  I never received any written discharge.  My commissions I sent by the Hon. Samuel Shaw (in 1811 I think) he being near a member of congress, to Washington to obtain a pension, but I did not succeed in obtaining a pension, and my commissions were never returned to me.  I further say that I am a resident citizen of the U. States – that I have resided at Mt. Holly aforesaid about thirty years – that I am poor and that from my reduced circumstances in life I am in need of assistance from my family for  support and further say not.
                                                             [signed]     Jonas Holden
   [? ? ?]  this 6th April 1818, before me
                                                               Thos Hammond  Asst Judge
                        of Rutland County

[The following is a completed form.  Italics represent written portions]

[30 December 1820]
 

STATE OF VERMONT,
Rutland        County,ss.

    On this          30            day of       December                   1820
Personally appeared before the      Supreme        court for said county of  Rutland  in open court, (said court being a court of record, agreeably to the laws of this state, having the power of fine and imprisonment, &c.)     Jonas Holden          aged       68      years, resident in   Rutland    in said county of    Rutland   who being first duly sworn, according to law, doth, on his oath declare, that he served in the revolutionary war, as follows:   as Lieutenant in Col. Wade’s Regt of Massachusetts   that he made his original declaration on the      6th     day of     April       1818   has received a Pension Certificate, No.  5079  And I do solemnly swear, that I was a resident citizen of the United States on the 18th day of March, 1818; and that I have not, since that time, by gift, sale, or in any manner, disposed of my property, or any part thereof, with intent thereby so to diminish it, as to bring myself within the provisions of an act of Congress, entitled “An act to provide for certain persons engaged in the land and naval service of the United States, in the Revolutionary War,” passed on the 18th day of March, 1818; -- and that I have not, nor has any person in trust for me, any property or securities, contracts or debts, due to me; nor have I any income other than what is contained in the schedule hereto annexed, and by me subscribed.

1 old mare 13 or 14 years old, 1 cow, 6 sheep, 3 lambs, 3 shoats, 6 old chairs, 1 pot, 2 iron kettles, 1 tea kettle, 1 eider, 2 flat irons, 1 table, 1 stand, 1 old pine chest, about 1 dos. plates, 1 platter, 6 or 7 knives & forks, 5 or 6 iron spoons, 1 dos. cups & saucers, 1 tea pot, 6 tea spoons, 6 towels, 6 table cloths, 1 old loom apparatus, 1 axe, 1 hoe, 1 chain.  My occupation has been that of husbandman, but from age & infirmities, being afflicted with [? ?] I can labor but little.  I have a wife named Sarah aged 62 years in very poor health unable to labor.  I and my wife live with my son who principally supports us, except that I spend part of my time with my daughter.  I have nothing of consequence due us not to the  [?] of ten dollars but am considerably in debt.        [signed]   Jonas Holden.

Sworn to and declared on the       30th        day of      December         1820   before said court.
                [signed]    R. Pierpoint    Clerk.

[The following is a completed form.  Italics represent written portions]

[4 March 1829]

 
Revolutionary Claims
___________________________

[   A.   ]

Form of a Declaration to be made by the Officers.

    For the purpose of obtaining the benefits of an act, entitled “An act for the relief of certain surviving Officers and Soldiers of the Army of the Revolution,” approved on the 15th of May, 1828, I       Jonas Holden         of

Crown point                                             , in the county of           Essex
do hereby declare that I was an officer in the Continental Line of the Army of the Revolution, and served as such   until the year1781 and after the surrender of Cornwallis and to the time when the arrangement of the army according to the act of Congress of the 3[?] & 21 October 1780  was carried into effect and that I was ordered under that arrangement

at which point I was a      Lieutenant                    in the
Col Wade’s    regiment of the                                               line.

    And I also declare, that I elected to receive [inserted] afterwards received certificates (commonly called commutation certificates) for a sum equal to the amount of five years’ full pay; which sum was offered by the resolve of Congress, of the 22nd of March, 17[93?], instead of the half pay for life, to which I was entitled under the resolve of the 21st of October, 1780.
    And I do further declare, that I have received of the United States as a pensioner since the 3d day of March, 1826,     Seven hundred and twenty dollars paid to me by the agent for paying pensions in the states of Vermont & New York.

    Witness my hand, this    Fourth       day of     March      , in the year        1829.

                        [signed]   Jonas Holden

[The remainder is witness information]

[15 March 1833]
 

State of Vermont
Rutland

    On the 15th day of March 1833, personally came before the undersigned authority, Jonas Holden, a pensioner of the U. States & to me well known, who being  duly sworn does depose and say thus in 1775 soon after the battle of Concord, he enlisted for 8 months & served as corporal in Capt. Parker’s company, Col. Prescott, & served out his time at Cambridge, & was in the battle of Bunker Hill -  he lived in Westford when he entered the service. In March 1776.  he enlisted for 9 months & was appointed a sargeant in Col. Reed’s Regt. Capt. Josh. Parker, marched to Ticonderoga, & was in the battle in the Flotilla on Lake Champlain, & was wounded in both the above mentioned battle and was discharged at Albany in December or January following.  In the spring of 1777 he was appointed an ensign in Capt. Cole’s company, Col Robinson’s Regt & served as such until January 1778, he thinks[?] , when he was appointed a Lieutenant, & continued as Lieutenant until the winter after the capture of Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781 – when the  supernumerary officers left the service, he being one & he claimed a certificate from Genl Lee that he was entitled to five years half pay.  He was at the capture of Cornwallis & was at that time doing duty in a southern regt. – the colonel’s name he thinks was St. Clair or some such name, but he is not certain he having served in that regt. only during the siege of York town – he served on the right wing, in flank guard. Previous to this he served part of the time in Col. Wade’s Regt. & part of the time on the recruiting service.  On his march to Virginia he had the command of 37 new recruits whom he had enlisted at Rhode Island in that time before & was not attached to any Regt. until he arrived at Yorktown.
                        [signed]  Jonas Holden
Subscribed & sworn this
15 March 1833, before me.            R Temple, Jus. Peace.

[29 June 1833]
 

State of Vermont
Rutland County

On the 29th day of June 1833, personally came before the undersigned authority, Jonas Holden, to me well known, who being duly known doth depose & say, in addition to & explanation of his declaration under the Act of congress of 7 June 1832 made in March last, as connected(?) with his declaration under the Act of 1818 – That as regards the discrepancy in his statement of services performed in 1775, he says he was first in Capt. Bates company, & that Capt. Bates was wounded at the battle of Concord, & being confined with his wound, Capt. Parker took the command of his company, & commanded it at the battle of Bunker Hill, where the deponent was wounded by a musket shot through the thigh & was carried off the ground, & did not recover of his wound so as to do duty again until August, and in the mean time Capt Bates died of his wound – the deponent believes he either died or was buried the 4 July 1775 and when the deponent recovered of his wound, and again joined his company in August he was informed by Capt Parker that he had been appointed corporal, & the deponent served as corporal until his time was out in Jany, 1776.  In March 1776 he enlisted for 9 months in Capt Parker’s company & was immediately appointed sergeant, & served out his time as such, as stated in both his declarations, the only variances being, as he is informed, that in his first declaration he states his enlistment in April, but according to his present recollection it was in March.  The deponent further says that his services in 1777 is correctly stated in his declaration under the act of 1818, as he under oath deposed he served as sergeant in Capt. Parker’s company in Col. Robinson’s Regt from April to some time in the summer, he thinks August, & was then appointed Ensign, and it was a mistake in drawing giving(?) his last declaration in stating(?) that he was an Ensign the whole time, as he believes, he related his services in both(?) grades.  When appointed Ensign he was transferred to Capt Cole’s company, until January 1778 when he was appointed Lieutenant, and was again transferred to Capt Parkers company in Col. Wade’s Regt.  He was then with his Regt at Greenwich, R. Island, and in the summer following he was transferred to Capt Boynton’s company & served in his company until Jany 1779 when he left & went on the recruiting service.  And in stating in his first declaration that he “left the service” he meant to be understood that he left field service in Col Wade’s Regt. And went on the recruiting service – And he deposes and is so informed by W. Temple, that his subsequent services were not stated in that declaration, because it was not necessary in order to establish his claim under the Act of 1818 – but he now declares and testifies that he did continue in the recruiting service as Lieutenant until Genl Washington collected his forces to go against the British Army under Cornwallis when he joined with his recruits and proceeded in the main army toYork town and continued to serve as stated in his declaration of March past know the day and year the April before.
                        [signed] R. Temple, Justice Peace

 
    Statement of Jonas Holden, at present residing in Wallingford in the County of Rutland and State of Vermont, previous to which he resided in Crown Point in the County of Essex in the State of New York; made (conformably?) the letter of the Commissioner of Pensions, dated the 17th day of January 1835, and addressed to the Hon. W. Slade of the House of Representatives.
    I entered the service of my Country as a private soldier on the 19th of April 1775, under Capt. Oliver Bates of the Massachusetts Militia, and was in the engagement against the enemy that day, at Concord; when Capt. Bates was wounded and died in consequence of his wound, the summer following. I enlisted at that time until the 1st of Jany. 1776.  In March or April next, - I think it was in March – I enlisted again under Capt. Joshua Parker in Col. Reed’s Regiment, to go to Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain, and staid in the service until the January after, when my time was out, and I came home.  In the winter of 1777, I took listing orders as a sergeant in Capt. Parker’s Company, and entered upon the recruiting service, & that winter & spring enlisted 15 recruits, and in the summer following was promoted to the office of an Ensign under Capt. Joseph Cole, in Col John Robinson’s Regiment, and continued till January 1778.  For this term I drew Ensign’s pay, from the time I commenced recruiting as a Sergeant, until my time was out in Jany 1778.  About that time, I took listing orders again under Capt. Parker, recruited that winter, and joined the Regiment, Col. Wade’s in the Spring, and marched to Rhode Island, and remained there till Jany 1779.  In December previous, I received recruiting orders, and after Jany ’79, recruited until Spring, having been promoted to a Lieutenant, and with my recruits, 37 in number, I was ordered by Gen’l Washington to a place called Crum Pond on the Jersey shore near Governor’s Island where I remained until Genl. Washington called his forces together to march against Cornwallis.  I then joined the main Army and proceeded to Yorktown, and continued there, till after Cornwallis’ surrender.  Being a supernumerary officer, I retired at that time, under the expectation of receiving half pay, but never received any.
    The names and rank of the officers under whom I served, are stated above.
    I belonged to the State of Massachusetts, all the time I was in the service.
    The section of Country in which I served is stated above; excepting the recruiting service, which was all done in Massachusetts.  The first battle I was in was at Concord, 19 April 1775.  The next, was at Bunker Hill, where I was wounded by a musket shot thru the thigh.  The next was on Lake Champlain under Arnold, on board a gundola, where I was again wounded on the right arm and side, by the bursting of a cannon.  The next was on Rhode Island under Genl. Sullivan, in his retreat.  The next was at Yorktown in Virginia, at the taking of Cornwallis.
    The description of force with which I was employed was Massachusetts Militia, until 1779 and after that, Continental.
    I served from the 19 April 1775, until October 1781, when Cornwallis surrendered.
    When I first applied for a pension, I resided in the town of Mount holly, Rutland County, Vermont.  When I applied under the act of Jan 7, 1832, I resided in the town of Crown Point, Essex County, New York.  My first application for a pension in 1813 or 1814 when I sent on my commissions was sworn to before the Honble Uriel C. Hatch, Judge of the Court of Probate in the District of Windsor in the County of Windsor, Vermont.  My next application, under the act of 18 March 1818, was sworn to before the Hon Joel Doolittle, one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the State of Vermont.  My next application was made in the County of Essex in the State of New York; but I am unable to remember now the magistrate’s name before whom I made my declaration.  The testimony was attested by _____ Stow, Clerk of the County.  It was, as I suppose under the act of June 7, 1832.
    The amount of pension I now draw is 96 dollars per annum, and I was last paid on the 4th of Sept 1834.
    Robert Temple, esq. of Rutland, Vt had my pension certificate when I drew my last pay; and upon inquiring at his late residence, of his administrator once last fall, and again to day, she informs me no such paper is to be found.  Under these circumstances, I must ask the favor of a new certificate.  I wish, moreover, to be transferred from the New York agency, to that of Vermont where I now reside.  Please communicate to Jesse Goss esq. at Rutland.  February 21 183[?]        [signed] Jonas Holden

Witness personally
       Jesse Gove?

Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
---------------------------------------

Secretary’s Office, April 11th 1835

    I hereby Certify, That from an examination of the Books and Documents, relating to Military Services in the War of the Revolution, which remain in this Department, it appears that the name of Jonas “Holding” as a private, is borne on a roll of Capt. Oliver Bates’ Company in Col. Prescott’s Regt. where he is allowed from April 19th 1775 seven days

m.    d.
0   = 7

    See at the end of his certificate evidence of service omitted here.
    Jonas Holden’s name, as a Corporal, is borne on a Muster-roll of Capt. Oliver Bates’ Company, in Col. Wm. Prescott’s Regt. where he is allowed from June 18th to August 1st 1775, for service and travel one month and fourteen days.

1 = 14

    Jonas Holden’s name, as a 2nd Lieut, is borne on “a pay roll of the States pay due to Capt. Joseph Boynton and his Officers, in the service of this State in Col. Wades’ Regt. at Rhode Island,” where he is allowed from April 1st 1778, to Jany 4th 1779, nine months & four days.

                                            9 = 4

    Jonas Holden claims for further services under Capt. Oliver Bates in Col. Presoctt’s Regt is 1775 but the roll is not found in this Office, after August  ?  1775.
    Jonas Holden claims for services as a Sergeant under Capt. Joshua Parker, in Col. Reed’s Regt. in 1776.  The following abstract is found in this office, viz. “An Abstract of Capt. Joshua Parker’s Company, in Col. Jonathan Reed’s Regt. for milage, and a day pay for every 20 miles, from Saratoga, on their return from the Northern Army to their several places of abode.” were one Sergeant from Westford is allowed 212 miles travel.  The names of the non-commissioned officers & soldiers are not mentioned.  It appears on the back of said Abstract, that it was reade and allowed in Council Feby 20th 1777.
    Jonas Holden also claims for services as an Ensign under Capt. Joseph Cole or Capt. Joshua Parker in Col. John Robinson regiment in 1777.  The roll of Capt. Joshua Parker’s Company in Col. Robinson’s Regt. for bounty due, for services to the 1st of Jany 1778, is found in the Office, and the name of Timothy Adams, as a private, is borne thereon.  The names of the commissioned Officers are not mentioned except the Captain and Colonel, which are on the head of the roll.
    Jonas Holden also claims for services as a Lieut. at Crum Pond & White Plains in 1779, under Col. St. Clair, but the roll is not found in this Office.  The rolls for services under Militia Officers are very incomplete.
    Jonas Holden’s name as a private is borne on a Muster-roll of Capt. Oliver Bate’s Company, in Col. Wm. Prescottt’s Regt. where he is allowed from April 26th 1775 one month & twenty three days.
                        [Signed]  Edward Bangs,   ?

 
State of Vermont
Rutland County
    On this twenty second day of September in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and thirty seven, personally appeared, before the Honble William Hale, Judge of the Probate Court in and for the District of Rutland in said County, Sarah Holden, a resident of Wallingford, in said District of Rutland, aged 80 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.
    That she is the widow of Jonas Holden, late of Wallingford aforesaid, deceased, who was a Private, Corporal, Sergeant, Ensign, and 2d Lieutenant in the Army of the revolutionary war, and performed the services herein set forth and referred to, that is to say:  That he was at the battle of Concord, on the 19th of April 1775, as a private in Capt. Oliver Bates’ Company in Col. Prescott’s Regiment, and served in that capacity, seven days; and he continued to serve in the same capacity & in the same Company and Regiment, from and after the 26th day of April, 1775, for the further term of one month and twenty three days.
    That afterwards, while belonging to the same Capt. Oliver Bates’ Company, and in the said Col. William Prescott’s Regiment, the said Jonas Holden was promoted to the post of Corporal in said Company, and in that capacity served six months, in the year, 1775.
    That in the year, 1776, the said Jonas Holden served as a Sergent, for the term of five months, in Capt. Joshua Parker’s Company in Col. Jonathan Reed’s Regiment.
    That the said Jonas Holden, in the summer of 1777, served five months and twenty five days, as an Ensign in Capt. Joseph Cole’s Company, in Col. John Robinson’s Regiment.  And,
    That, from the 1st day of April, 1778 to the 4th day of January, 1779, he served another term of nine months and four days, as 2nd Lieutenant in Capt. Joseph Boynton’s Company in Col. Wade’s Regiment.  For a more specific description of all which services, the said applicant refers to the several Muster Rolls, and other documents, from the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, now remaining in the War office of the Unites States.
    She further declares that she was married to the said Jonas Holden in the fore part of December  ________ _________ in the year, seventeen hundred and seventy five; that her husband, the aforesaid Jonas Holden died on the nineteenth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and thirty five and that she has remained a widow ever since that period as will more fully appear by reference to the proof hereto annexed. [Signed] Sarah Holden

 
    I Abijah Reed of Westford, in the County of Middlesex, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, yeoman, aged eighty three years, do depose and say, that Sarah Holden is my sister and that we always lived together until the summer of the year 1775, when I went into the Revolutionary Service at Cambridge.  Jonas Holden the husband of the said Sarah had enlisted as a private for the term of eight months.  He was wounded at the battle of Bunker Hill in the thigh, was carried to Concord, Mass. and after he was well enough, went to Westford, where he was married.  I was in the service at the time and had leave of absence, and went home and was present at the marriage of the said Jonas and Sarah.  They were married by Jonas Prescott, Esquire, and I recollect it very well as I think it was the first marriage that I was ever present at.  They were married the last of November or the forepart of December 1775.  I cannot tell the very day.  After the marriage I went back into the service, and after Jonas Holden recovered from his wounds, he returned to the service to again, and was with me in the company commanded by Capt. Joshua Parker and Col. William Prescott’s regiment.
                        [Signed]        Abijah Read

[The following is a completed form.  Italics represent written portions]
[Undated – After1837]
 

In reply to your request of                    received                    for a statement of the military history of   Jonas Holden  , a soldier of the REVOLUTIONARY WAR, you will find below the desired information as contained in his (and his widow’s) application for pension file in this Bureau.  W. F. 18.039
_______________________________________________________________________
   Dates of                                                                             Officers Under Whom Service Was Rendered
Enlistment or                  Length of               Rank                                                                               State
Appointment                    Service
                                                                                                 Captain                  Colonel

                                                                    {Pri                      Oliver Bates          Wm. Prescott
Apr. 19, 1775   to Jan 1, 1776                    {Corpl                  Joshua Parker      Wm. Prescott:      Mass

Mch. 1776 – 9 mos.                                     Sergt                    Joshua Parker       Jonathan Reed
Mch. 1777 – Aug                                        Sergt                     Joshua Parker         Robinson
Aug 1777 – Jan 1778                                 Ensign                   Joseph Cole            John Robinson

Jan. 1, 1778 – Until after surrender of    Lieut.                      {Joshua Parker       William Wade
                         Lord Cornwallis                                              {Joseph Boynton             “    Wade

Battles engaged in, Concord, wounded in thigh at Battle of Bunker Hill, wounded in right arm
           and side at battle on Lake Champlain, Rhode Island, Yorktown.
Residence of soldier at enlistment, Westford Mass.
Date of Application for pension, Apr. 6, 1818 His cl. was al.
Residence at date of application, Mount Holly, Rutland Co., Vt.
Age at date of application, 65 yrs.
    Remarks:  He mar. early in Dec. 1775 at Westford, Mass., Sarah Reed; he died Apr  19, 1835 at Wallingford, Rutland Co., Vt., where she resided when allowed pension on an application executed Sept. 27 22; 1837, at the age of 80 yrs.  Children:  Luther; a daughter (name not stated.)

        Very respectfully,

                                                                                Commissioner

[Further comments very lightly]    Wife Sarah aged 62 in 1820.  Son & h