Gibson County TN Archives Military Records.....Fox, Gatus 1843 Revwar - Pension ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/tn/tnfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Judy Brickhouse sesdvs@hotmail.com August 13, 2013, 8:09 pm Pension GATUS or GAITER FOX Revolutionary War 1843 State of Tennessee Gibson County Be it remembered that on this 7th day of July 1843 personally appeared in open Court before the Circuit Court of said County of Gibson and State of Tennessee the Honorable Benjamin C. Totter one of the Circuit Judges in and for said State presiding—GAITUS FOX a resident of said County of Gibson and State of Tennessee aged Eighty Six years 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 of the 7th od June 1832. He states that according to his best recollection and belief he entered the service as a volunteer substitute in the militia for one James Utley in the fall of the year preceding the Battle of Guilford. He thinks it was in the year 1771, but being “no scholar” his recollection of dates is very indistinct and he cannot state the day of the month or even the month, his has no means of referring to dates but by comparing his present age and his age at the time he entered the service. He remembers distinctly that he entered the service some time in the fall before the Battle of Guilford and left it about Two weeks after that battle took place. The company to which he belonged was commanded by Capt. Ethelind Jones and a Mr. Knight was Lieutenant of the company. He states that during this tour of service he was commanded by one Palmer either as Major or Colonel, but which he is unable to state positively. His impression is that he was Colonel. He remembers distinctly that he was under command of General George Davidson who was killed in an engagement with the British at the Island Ford on the Catawba River. He further states that he was born in the County of Brunswick in the State of Virginia in the month of March 1757 according to the best information he has on the subject never having had any record of his age and having kept it from information and memory. At the time he entered the service he was residing in the County of Wake in the State of North Carolina. From thence he was marched with the Brigade or Division under General George Davidson to which he was attached up the Country to the Island Ford or the Catawba River and was stationed there for the purpose of guarding that pass and preventing the British from crossing. But on the night after their arrival at that station they were attacked by the British and being greatly outnumbered were driven from their protection with the loss of their General as above stated. They were pursued about Four miles to the widow Torreus? Plantation at which place they were overtaken by the Cavalry of the enemy and obliged to disperse and to take themselves to the woods for safety. They went through the woods until they reached the town of Salisbury where they reassembled and from thence marched with all possible rapidity to join General Greene which they did in the County of Hallifax. They continued with General Greene and under his command until the Battle of Guilford in which they participated. After this battle they marched to Salisberry and from thence to Hillsboro where they were discharged. He further states that in the ensueing summer he again entered the service as a volunteer substitute in the militia of one Thomas Binney for eighteen months but only served a small portion of the time. He served under Col. George Litle but he cannot now recollect the names of any of the other officers. In fact he cannot state whether there was any other officers in command during the period of his service. They were marched to Hillsboro and stationed there to guard that place it being at that time the residence of the Governor. After having remained at that station for a short time perhaps a month but as to the length of time his recollection is very indistinct they were attacked by the Tories in large force under command of Col. Fanning by whom they were defeated and all made prisoner including the Governor. They were carried to Willmington where they were kept in prison in a placed called then “Provs”? while here the small pox broke out among them and many of them died of that disease. After having remained in this place for about Three months as well as he can remember some of them were exchanged and the others released. He states that after he was released as above stated having served only about Four months including his imprisonment he was not required to serve out the balance of his time and was discharged and returned home. He further states that after his return home a short time he again entered the service as a ranger in a company of volunteers mounted men commanded by Capt. Tignel Jones and served one year by term with other troops of the same description. During this service he was wounded by a Tory out post with two bullets in the thigh but it was only a flesh wound and has never disabled him much. He states that he has long since worn out and lost his discharges and has no documentary evidence of his services and that he knows of no on whose evidence he could procure, who can testify to his services. He hereby relinquishes 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 Territory or District in the Union. GATUS FOX His x mark Sworn to & subscribed in open court this 7th July 1843. J.B. Blakemon Clerk We Joseph Riddle a clergyman residing in Gibson County and Moses Woodsen and John W. Crockett residing in the same County do certify that we are well acquainted with GATUS FOX who has subscribed and sworn to the foregoing Declaration. That we believe him to be Eighty Six years of age that he is respected and believed in the neighborhood where he resides to have been a soldier of the Revolution and we concur in that opinion. Joseph Riddle John W. Crockett M. Woodfin Sworn to & subscsribed in open Court 7th July 1843 J.B. Blakemon Clerk And the said Court do hereby declare their opinion to be after the investigation of the matter and after putting the interrogatories prescribed by the War Department that the above named applicant was a Revolutionary soldier and served as he states and the Court further certifys that it appears to them that Joseph Riddle who has signed the preceeding certificate as a Clergyman is a ?????? resident in said County of Gibson as therein stated and that Moses Woodfin and John W. Crockett who have also signed the same are residents of said County of Gibson and State of Tennessee and are credible persons and their statement is entitled to full evidence. Benjamin C. Totter And the said Court do further certify that the following are substantially the answers of the applicant to the several interrogatories proposed to him by the Court in ???????? of the regulations of the War Department to wit: Question 1st: When and in what year were you born? Answer: I was born in the County of Brunswick in the State of Virginia. The only means by which I can state the year of my birth is by reckoning back from my present age and by this made of calculating I must have been born in the year 1757. Question 2nd: Have you any record of your age, and if so where is it? Answer: I have none nor did I ever have. Question 3rd: Where were you living when you were called into service, Where have you lived since the Revolutionary War, and where do you now live? Answer: I lived in the County of Wake in the State of North Carolina when called into the service since the Revolution I have resided in the States of North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee and now reside in Gibson County Tennessee. Question 4th How were you called into service, were you draughted, did you volunteer or were you a substitute and if a substitute for whom? Answer: I entered the service first as the substitute of one James Utley Secondly as the substitute of One Thomas Binney Thirdly as a volunteer in the ranging? Service. Question 5th: state the names of some of the Regular Officers who were with the troops when you served such continental militia as you can recollect and the general circumstances of your service? Answer: I remember Col. Litle, Capt. Dred Jones, Lieut. Knight, Col. Palmer & Maj. Palmer. I cannot state whether the last named was Col. Or Major but I think he was Colonel also General Davidison and General Greene (here the applicant detailed the ???? tours of his services substantially as they are set forth in his Declaration) Question 6th: Did you ever receive a discharge and if so where is it and by whom was it given? Answer: I received discharges from the Captains I served under Capt. Dred Jones & Capt. Tignel Jones but they are long ago worn out and lost from getting wet as I removed from Carolina to Kentucky. I also received a discharge from Col. Lane at Wake Court House after I was released from imprisonment in the Provo? Which was wet and worn out at the same time. Question 7: State the names of the persons to whom you are known in your neighborhood and who can testify as to your character for ????? and their belief in your services as a soldier of the Revolution? Answer: Any one in the neighborhood I believe would certify to my good character for ??????? and to their belief in my services I know Absolom Smith, Fielding G. Goodman, Parron Riddle, Mr. Crockett, Mr. Woodfin and many others almost every man in the neighborhood where I live. The above interlineation in the answer of the applicant to the 6th interrogatory relative to his discharges was made before the signature of the Court was hereto affixed. Benjamin C. Totter Judge SC presiding State of Tennessee Gibson County I James B. Blakemon Clerk of the Circuit Court of said County do certify that the foregoing contains the original procedings of the said Court in the matter of the application of GAITUS FOX for a Pension. In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand and affix my private seal there being no seal of said Court. This 10th July A.D. 1843. J.B. Blakemon clerk State of Tennessee We Adam Huntsman and John W. Crockett family members of Congress from said State do hereby certify that the Circuit Court of Gibson County is a Court of Record: that the Honorable Benjamin C. Totter one of the Circuit Judges for said State is the presiding Judge of said Court for the present term: that James B. Blakemon is the Clerk thereof and that the signature to the foregoing certificate purporting to be the signatures of said Judge and Clerk are genuine. Given under our hands at ?????? this 10th July A.D. 1843. Adam Huntsman, John W. Crockett 3725 Claim Rejected 3726 GATUS FOX Service: consolidated June 17, 1882 With same soldier rejd. Files 3725 Trenton Tennessee July 11, 1843 Sir: I send you herewith enclosed the Declaration of GAITUS FOX for the purpose of obtaining the benefit of the Act of Congress of the 7th June ’32 to which I would respectfully ask you early attention and favorable consideration. When you shall have decided upon his application please communicate the result through me. I have the honor to be very respectfully your obt. Servt. John W. Crockett James L. Edwards Esq. Comm. Of Pensions War Dept. Washington Supplemental Declaration State of Tennessee Gibson County SS On this 19 day of May A.D. 1851 Personally appeared before me Richardson P. White a Justice of the Peace within and for the County of Gibson in the State of Tennessee GATTUS FOX aged Ninety Four years who first being duly sworn on the Holly Evangelists of Almighty God makes this declaration for the purpose of obtaining the benefit of an Act of Congress entitled an act supplementary to the Act for the relief of certain officers and soldiers of the Revolution passed June the 7th 1832 says On his oath that he resided in Wake County in the State of North Carolina in the time of the Revolutionary War in which he served in the army of the United States as follows viz: his first term was a three month tour for which tour he volunteered and served out his full time and was discharged honorably after having fulfilled his three months term of service in the company commanded by Captain Dred Jones supposed his real name to be Ethetolred? But was called Capt. Dred Jones that he marched from Wake County N.C. to Hillsborough in this tour he was taken prisoner at Hillsborough by Col. Fannon a Tory Col. The length of captivity he cannot remember. His next tour was in the Cavelry Company commanded by Captain Tignal Jones commonly called Col. Jones in which service he was in near twelve months but returned home and in every three months and stayed about one week at home with an engagement to return and continue in the service three months longer. Which engagement he fulfilled punctually and in the above tour or tours he was a great portion of his time scouting about in Montgomery County in N.C. his business was to act in suppressing the Tories and ?????? and when they took any prisoners to carry them to Head Quarters at Hillsborough. The next tour was a three months tour his Captain name he has forgotten but he knows that he went under Col. Davidson and was in the Battle at Catawba River and saw him killed and the militia dispersed and the army scattered that he thento did not serve the whole three months quite out and received no discharge in the army but a discharge was sent to him for a three months service that knows and well remembers his last tour but he does not believe that he can specify all his service but the last tour he substituted in the place of Thomas Beany for which Thomas Beany was to pay him One Hundred dollars that said Thomas beany had laid out after he was drafted and that he was caught and compelled to serve to the end of the War. That he well remembers that he served Six months in (his) Thomas Beanys place and was in the army on St. Johns River when peace was made which date of service was in 1782 & 3 or the preceeding tours he cannot state the dates at this time for by reason of a spell of sickness and old age his memory has much failed him that he is unlearned entirely. That he now remembers the facts set forth by him and the time is such as related above. That he has once before in the County of Gibson in the State of Tennessee applied by the agency of the Hon. John Crockett for a pension. When and where he had a better opportunity of proving the facts that he now states the reason why he has so long delayed renewing his application is because he had no agent qualified to do his business and did never receive any information from the Hon. J. Crockett what disposition was made of his claim. That his service was to the best of his recollection near Four years but is for the want of a better memory at this time unable to give any better explanations on the time by dividing it in separate tours. That he had several discharges and that they are lost first got wet and nearly faded away and finally lost that he now resides in Gibson County in the State of Tennessee and depends on his own character for proof of service being unable from the great society of surviving soldiers to prove positive and that he never had any record proof of service since the loss of said discharges and that he had no knowledge of a pension for years after its passage except the pension law where a man had to give in a list of his property.Sworn to and subscribed to this 19th day of May A.D. 1851. GATUS FOX His x mark Richardson P. White J.P. For Gibson County State of Tennessee Gibson County On this 19 day of May AD 1851 before me Richardson P. White a Justice of the Peace within and for the County of Gibson in the State of Tennessee personally appeared Joseph White aged Eighty Four years who first being duly sworn according to law says on his oath that he is personally acquainted with GATTUS FOX the subscriber to the foregoing declaration and has been so for the term of Twenty Three years passed that he believes that the said GATTUS FOX is of the age above specified that he is a man of undoubted veracity for he could believe his word or oath in any thing he would say or sworn though he believes his memory has much failed him for the last Five or Six years but his knowledge of truth and veracity has not failed him that considering his advanced age his mind is yet good but as to the particular time or date his memory has failed him that he is respected as having served his Country a long time in the Revolutionary War nor is the same to his knowledge disputed, he further says that he has formed the above opinion from his general character and his own observation that he is fully satisfied that the said GATTUS FOX is not able from old age to attend Court. Sworn to and subscribed to the day and date above written. Joseph White Richardson P. White JP For Gibson County State of Tennessee Gibson County On this 19 day of May A.D. 1851 before me Richardson P. White a Justice of the Peace within and for the County and State aforesaid personally appeared James Ousley aged Fifty Five years October last passed who first being duly sworn according to law says on his oath that he has been and is now personally acquainted with GATTUS FOX the subscriber to the aforegoing declaration for the term of Thirty Seven years that the said GATTUS FOX is a man of truth and undoubted veracity that he believes that he is the age stated by him that he has heard often tell of his service and tours in the Revolutionary War that he has heard a Brother in Law who he believes had a right to know that he GATTUS FOX had served in the Revolutionary War. That he has been ever since respected as a Revolutionary soldier that his memory used to be good but that it now has failed but not so much as not to know facts and speak truth but cannot say when the circumstances took place but it has forgotten the time he is capable to know it. That considering his advanced age his mind is clear on important things that he has formed this opinion from his GATTUS FOX’s general character and from his personal knowledge of his conduct and course of living. That he is fully satisfied that said GATTUS FOX is not able to attend Court. Sworn to and subscribed the day & date above written. James Ousley His x mark Richardson P. White J.P. State of Tennessee Gibson County On this day of ____ AD. 1851 personally appeared William T. Connel, Allen Fox aged Fifty years & Harrison Fox and Jackson Fox before me Richardson P. White a Justice of the Peace in and for said County who first being duly sworn according to law say on their oaths the GATTUS FOX the subscriber to the foregoing declaration is the identical GATTUS FOX who and before applied for a pension through the agency of the Hon. John Crockett that to the best of their knowledge he GATTICE FOX has not had any information from Mr. Crockett or any body else what became of the said papers & that prior to a spell of sickness about Six years ago his memory was very good. Since that time his memory is not as good as before that, they have often heard him speak of his service in the Revolutionary War, his officers names and travels but they now cannot repeat them that they are fully satisfied he is not able to attend Court. Sworn to and subscribed to the day & year above written. Allen Fox His x mark Harrison Fox His x mark Jackson Fox His x mark William T. Connell His x mark Richardson P. White For Gibson Cty. State of Tennessee Gibson County I Richardson P. White a Justice of the Peace do certify that I am personally acquainted with Joseph White James Ousley, Allen Fox, Harrison Fox, Jackson Fox, William T. Connel who are credible witness and of good character and duly sworn and did subscribe their names as above represented that I am personally acquainted with GATTUS FOX the subscriber to the above declaration that I believe all the facts set forth by him to be true that from his appearance I believe he is of the age set forth by him and that I am sully satisfied he is not able to attend Court from my own knowledge of him given under my hand and seal this 19th day of May A.D. 1851. Richardson P. White J.P. Justice of the Peace for Gibson County Revolutionary Act 7 June 1832 GAITER FOX Tennessee Suspended Power of Attorney to examine papers C.C. Tucker Attorney Present Camden Tennessee June 16th 1851 Sir: Enclosed I send you the Supplemental Declaration of GATTUS FOX who has once before filed a declaration before the County Court of Gibson County through the agency of the Hon. John Crockett that I verily believe that Mr. Fox never received any answer from Mr. Crockett but I suppose that Mr. Crockett forwarded the papers to the Pension Department. It now becomes impossible for Mr. Fox to prove any positive service by a living witness except by his own oath. I am full satisfied that Mr. Fox served as set forth by him for I make a point to set facts in the case as clear as possible. And if I have a doubt of the justness of a claim I will not advocate it. Mr. Fox’s delay would lead to suspicion on his part but I assure you that his delay is not to be suspected on that account for he thought that he had delegated all that power to Mr. Crockett and he says which I believe that he has tried to get the authority back from Mr. Crockett. I presume that Mr. Fox’s application for a pension was placed on the suspended claims. This supplemental I hope will be satisfactory proof to the department it was made out by Mr. Fox’s recollection, which is failing on some things but if there is no discrepancy in the two statements I hope his claim will be admitted as it has been a practice by the department when it is well sustained. And I assure you that Mr. Fox stand ????? as a man of undoubted veracity. Your obit. Servt. Robert H. Hawthorn J.E. Heath Esqr. Commissioner of Pension Washington City D.C. Additional Comments: Source: http://www.fold3.com/ File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/tn/gibson/military/revwar/pensions/fox39mt.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/tnfiles/ File size: 22.6 Kb