REV. WAR PENSION APPLICATION - PETER TROUTMAN (1832), SOMERSET CO., PA Contributed by: Diana Begeman (begeman@halcyon.com) ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net *********************************************************************** Copied from the National Archives in Seattle, WA. by Diana Begeman The following is the text of the actual pension application signed by Peter Troutman in 1832 (as best I can read it): ------------------- Declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress passed June 7th 1832 - State of Pennsylvania Somerset County On the sixteenth day of October, in the year of eighteen hundred & thirty two, personally appeared in open court, before the Judges of the court of common pleas now sitting at Somerset in & for the said sounty of Somerset, Peter Troutman a resident of Southampton Twp. in said county aged seventy five years, nine months & twenty five days, who being first 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 7th 1832 - That he entered the service of the United States in the summer of 1776, having been drafted in Maxatawny township, Berks County, State of Pennsylvania & was commanded by the following officers, Captain Paul Grosscup, Lieutenant Jacob Levan, Ensign Philip Gehr, Major Martin Carigher, & Colonel Baltzer Gehr, that he marched through Eastern Pennsylvania, crossed the Delaware & through New Jersey to Ambay. That he remained in Ambay two months & received his discharge & returned home to Berks Co., Pennsylvania - that during the fall of the same year he again entered the service as a substitute for Henry Grim under the following officers for two months, viz Captain Philip Martz, Lieutenant Jacob Zimmerman, Major Carigher, & Colonel Gehr - that he marched to Philadelphia from there to Newtown & was there at the battle in which General Mercer was killed and saw him buried at Philadelphia. That he was orderly sergeant of the company - and that after he served a campaign of two months he again received a discharge & returned home- That in the fall of the year 1777 he was again drafted for the term of two months in a company commanded by Captain Peter Spangler that he marched through Easton to Brunswich in New Jersey where served out his time & having obtained his discharge he again returned home - That he served a fourth compaign of two months in the fall of 1778 having been drafted in Captain Jacob Leidich's company in the regiment commanded by Colonel Samuel Elly - that he marched to Newtown where he served out his two months & got a discharge, when he again returned home to Berks county Pennsylvania That he had four certificates of discharge signed by the respective captains of the several campaigns to which he had been attached, one for each term of service, but that they have all been destroyed or lost by time or accident. He hereby relinquishes every claim whatsoever to a pension or annuity except the present & declares that his name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any state - Sworn to & subs in open court the day & year aforesaid. Signed by Peter Troutman himself -------------------------------------------------------------------- There are many many pages in this file. Here are some of the highlights: "Colonel Baltzer Gheer" "He died March 6, 1846 in Southampton Township." "Soldier married January 11, 1838 in Southampton, Township, Pennsylvania, Catharine Costell or Cossell or Cossal. She was allowed pension on her application executed May 15, 1855, while a resident of Brothersvalley Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, aged 59 years." "It is not stated that he had any children" "In the fall of 1776, two months as Orderly Sergeant in Captain Philip Martz's company under Colonel Gehr, and was in the battle of Princeton." "A search of the records fails to show such claims on file on account of the Revolutionary War service of William Troutman." ---------------- >From a letter written in 1938: About Catherine: "She was allowed, also, one hundred sixty acres of county land on her application executed December 25, 1855." "William Troutman, brother of the soldier, Peter Troutman, was a resident of Southampton Township, Pennsylvania, in 1832." "George "Kossal" (as he signed) in 1855 stated that he was well acquainted with the soldier, and was with him at the time of his death; it was not shown that he was related to the family." "In order to obtain the date of the last payment of pension, name and address of the person paid, and possibly the date of death of this widow, you should apply to the Comptroller General, General Accounting Office, Records Division, Washington, D.C., and furnish the following data- Catharine Troutman, widow of Peter Troutman Certificate #5753 Issued April 29, 1856 Rate $30.00 per annum Commenced February 3, 1853 Act. Of February 3, 1853 Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Agency If you desire information relative to the location of the land referred to, you should apply to the commissioner of the General Land Office, Washington, D.C. and furnish the following data - Warrant #40921 - 160 acres - Act of 1855." --------------------- The following is not part of the Government's record: Sometime after the war Peter Troutman moved to Greenwich Twp., Berks County. There are church records showing the birth of some of his children there and there is a Deed that connects the Peter Troutman living in Southampton Twp. Somerset County with his father Wilhelm Trautman who lived in Greenwich Twp., Berks Co. and who died in 1790.