Declaration in order to obtain the benefit the Act of Congress of the 7th of June 1832 On this twenty first day of Spetember in the year 1832 personally appeared in open court before the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas of the said County of Montgomery & state aforesaid & now sitting being a Court of Record & having a Clerk & a seal John McMartin of the town of Johnstown in the County aforesaid aged Seventy six years & upwards. who being duly Sworn, according to Law, doth on his oath make the following declaration in order obtain the benefit of the provision made by the act of Congress passed June 7th 1832 That he Enlisted in the service of the United States in the Batteaux service on the Mohawk River from the City of Schenectady in said State to Fort Stanwix in said State between which two places the boat upon which he was Engaged plied that Samuel Gray was the Captain who commanded the Batteaux men amongst whom this deponant Enlisted. That he Enlisted in the summer of the year 1777 or 1778 according to his present recollection & served between six & nine months under said Gray which was from the commencement of the boating season until the river closed. That they were Engaged during said time in conveying provisions & other necessaires to the Army at Fort Stanwix. That Colonel Gansevoort commanded at said Fort during the time this deponant was Engaged in the said boat Service. That said Captain Gray is dead. That this deponant does not know of any person now living within the United States who was Engaged in said Service with him that one Peter McArthur was with him that he lived in the province of Canada when deponant knew of him last, that one George House was also Engaged with deponant, that deponant saw said House about two years ago since which he has not heard of him that he does not know whether said House is now living or not. that he did not receive any written discharge. And the said John McMartin on his oath aforesaid doth further State that in the summer preceding or following the summer in which he was Engaged in the boat service as aforesaid and which he is at present unable to state with certainty he again Enlisted in the militia of said state under Captain Samuel Gray & served under him for Either six or nine months that General Schuyler was the Commanding officer the Colonels name he does not now recollect, that during said term he was Engaged in getting out timber at Lake George for the rebuilding of Fort George which had been burned into ruins by the army of General Burgoyne. That he was dismissed at the End of the term without any written discharge he knows of no person living who was Engaged with him in said service. He further states that Except the terms above mentioned he was Engaged during the whole term of the Revolutionary war at intervals in the militia of the State of New York sometimes he would be called out two or three days at a time & then dismissed & remain home perhaps a week & some times three or four months & then be called out again that during said time a report came that the Indians were about making an attack upon Cherry Valley now in the county of Otsego in said State then Tryon County that he was warned to appear armed & Equipped at Colonel Klock's that he did attend & marched from there to Cherry Valley under the command of Colonel Klock that the Village of Cherry Valley was burned & lay smoking in ruins when they arrived, that the inhabitants lay scattered around slaughtered & some roasted & others roasted that we were ordered to bury them & did so the Enemy had fled & were no where to be seen he then returned home. That during said times he was warned by Captain Little to appear at Johnstown that he turned out with his musket & found the utmost confusion & dismay prevailing Every where. The British & Indians had arrived in the middle of the town before they were discovered. That he & the others were immediately formed & placed in order of battle that the british & Indians marched into Sir William Johnsons Hall & commenced killing & roasting cattle & had commenced Eating their dinner but before they were Entirely done with their dinner we gave them a few doses of cold lead by way of desert that the battle lasted from about noon until dark during all which time this deponent was Engaged in the heat of the battle. That he was ordered to be ready at a moments warning & was so during the whole of the revolutionary war. That he can not fix any defenite period to the actual service in which he was Engaged - He further States that he was born in Perthsire in Scotland in the year 1756 & landed in America in the year 1775. He has no record of his age. He was living near the Indian Castle then in Tryon County now Danube Herkimer County in said State where he now resides. He was a volunteer in the service He never received a written discharge from the service - He is known to Simon Hoosack John Holland Daniel Cady Aaron Haring Mary McMartin & Isabella McBain & a great many others in the neighborhood where he now resides - He hereby relinquishes Every claim whatever to a pension or annuity Except the present & declares that his name is not on the pension roll of any state.
All spelling, punctuation and grammatical usage are as in the original application. Digitally prepared by Rita Gros Parish,
a descendant of Captain Lawrence and Maria Failing Gros. Her family tree is connected to the Moyer, Smith, Fort, Fox, Bronner, Fetterly,
Kinter, Snyder, Dingman, Countryman, Dockstader, Nellis, Backus, Reese, Warner, Harwick, Loucks, Abeel, Schuyler, Snell, Dygert, Knouts,
Gray, Bellinger, Hall, Walter and Kast families. John McMartin's pension application is a joint resource of Herkimer/Montgomery Counties NYGenWeb and Fulton County NYGenWeb, hosted by the Herkimer/Montgomery Counties NYGenWeb.
Last Updated: 1/14/01 Copyright © 1999, 2000 James Morrison Copyright © 2000 MS. Magill/ Rita Gros Parish All Rights Reserved. | ||||||||||||
