William Ware, Jr, Revolutionary War Pension Application

Pension Application of William Ware

State of North Carolina County of Caswell

On the 5th day of November A.D. 1833 personally appeared in open Court, before the Judge of Caswell Superior Court of Law now sitting, William Ware a resident of the said County of Caswell and State aforesaid aged seventy-three years, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth on his oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of an act of Congress passed June 7th 1832.

That he entered the service of the United States under the following named officers, and served as herein stated. That he was enlisted in the spring of 1776, by one John Estes and served under Captain Roger Moore a period of thirteen months it being one month longer than the time for which he enlisted, that he remained most of the time at Wilmington North Carolina, that the Regiment to which he belonged was commanded by Colonel Pope [probably Thomas Polk] and Lieutenant Colonel James Thaxton [sic, James Thackston], that a Major Davidson commanded for a while and was succeeded by Major Pope a son of Colonel Pope. That he obtained a regular discharge from the service which he has lost or mislaid, that much sickness prevailed in the camp at Wilmington in consequence of which they removed from that place born toward the North, that he went as far as Halifax in North Carolina and then returned to Wilmington and went from thence to Charleston and after remaining a while at Charleston he marched with his company in the direction of the northern States and was discharged in the County of Caswell while the company to which he belonged were on their way to Richmond in Virginia.

That on his return from the town of New Bern in the fall of the year 1779, he was informed that he had been drafted to go to Charleston & he accordingly again entered the service in the month of October 1779 under Captain Sheppard in the Regiment commanded by Colonel Lytle and Lieutenant Colonel Dixon, that he continued to serve under the said officers until he was regularly discharged by Brigadier General Lillington from under his own hand on the 24th of March 1780 which discharge he has preserved and it accompanies this declaration.

He further served for a period of about 3 months as a volunteer to aid in subduing those who were then demonstrated Tories under Captain Hubbird [sic, Hubbard?] and Nathaniel Dickerson a Lieutenant.

He does hereby relinquish 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.

Sworn and subscribed to in open Court on this day of November A.D. 1832

S/ William Ware, X his mark

S/ Jeremiah Graves, CSC

Questions by the Court

1st Where and in what year were you born?
Answer. I was born in the County of Orange (now Caswell) of North Carolina on the waters of Hogan's Creek, on the 11th of February 1759.

2nd Have you any record of your age and if so where is it?

Answer. I have no record of my age and can only remember it from what my father has told me.

3rd Where were you living when called into service: where have you lived since the Revolutionary War and where do you now live?
Answer -- I was living near the place where I was born when called into service, I have lived there ever since the Revolutionary war, and continued to do so at this time.

4th How were you called into service; were you drafted; did you volunteer or were you a substitute, and if in substitute, for whom?
Answer. I went first as a volunteer, then I enlisted and after serving out the time of my enlistment, I was afterwards drafted

5th State the names of some of the regular officers who were with the troops when you served, such Continental and militia regiments as you can recollect and the general circumstances of your service.
Answer. I have already stated the facts as fully as I can recollect in the preceding declaration:

6th State the names of persons to whom you are known in your present neighborhood and who can testify as to your character for veracity and their belief in your services as a soldier in the revolution.
Answer. I am known to Captain Benjamin C. West a Justice of the peace of my County, and also to the Reverend Richard Martin -- & others and I can prove my service as a soldier by the Reverend Richard Martin of the Baptist Church.

Sworn and subscribed to before [me] the 5th of November A.D. 1832

S/ William Ware, X his Mark

S/ Jeremiah Graves, CSC

[Richard Martin, a clergyman, and Benjamin C. West gave the standard supporting affidavit.]

I Richard Martin, a clergyman residing in the County of Caswell and a soldier of the Revolution, being called upon by William Ware this state what knowledge I have of his service as a soldier in the Revolutionary War, do hereby state that I knew him as a soldier in the same company with myself at Wilmington, North Carolina that we marched in the same company together in the month of May 1776, that he left the company some time in the Month of May 1777. Sworn and subscribed to the day and year aforesaid.

S/ Richard Martin

S/ Jeremiah Graves, CSC
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1780 Discharge

This is to Certify, That William Ware has faithfully served out his Tour of Duty of 3 Months, in General Lillington's Brigade, to the southward.
Charleston
S/ Alexdr Lillington, B. G.
March 24, 1780
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[fn p. 9: on June 1, 1841, in Caswell County North Carolina, Frances Ware, 78, filed for a widow's pension under the 1836 I stating that she is the widow of William Ware; that she married him October 4, 1781; that her husband died February 15, 1836; that she remains his widow.]

[fn p. 4] State of North Carolina Caswell County: SS: Be it remembered that on this first day of May 1841, personally appeared before me Philip Hodnett one of the Justices of the peace in and for said County of Caswell & State aforesaid ThomasWare Senior of lawful age and being first duly sworn upon the Holy Evangelist of Almighty God, deposeth and saith as follows to wit: that Frances where who is about to apply at the War office on the Pension office of the United States for a pension, is the widow of William Ware deceased, That she was married to the said William Ware in the said County of Caswell by one Charles Burton who is now dead.

That this affiant was present at the marriage and witnessed the ceremony. That the maiden name of the said Frances where was Frances Perkins. That the said William Ware and Frances his wife have lived together as man and wife since the day of their marriage for upwards of 50 years & until the death of the said William Ware which took place sometime in the year 1836.
Sworn to & subscribed before me this first day of June 1841

S/ Thomas Ware, X his Mark

S/ Philip Hodnett, JP
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[fn p. 6: copy of a marriage bond issued to William Waire [sic] & Isaac Midlebrooks on October 2, 1781 to secure the marriage of William Ware to Frances Perkins -- issued in the County of Caswell North Carolina.]
[Veteran was pensioned at the rate of $53.33 per annum commencing March 4th, 1831 for 16 months service as a private in the revolution.]
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Transcribed by Will Graves 6/15/10 (W6386 Frances fn32NC)

[Methodology: Spelling, punctuation and/or grammar have been corrected in some instances for ease of reading and to facilitate searches of the database. Also, the handwriting of the original scribes often lends itself to varying interpretations. Users of this database are urged to view the original and to make their own decision as to how to decipher what the original scribe actually wrote. Blanks appearing in the transcripts reflect blanks in the original. Folks are free to make non-commercial use this transcript in any manner they may see fit, but please extend the courtesy of acknowledging the transcriber—besides, if it turns out the transcript contains mistakes, the resulting embarrassment will fall on the transcriber. I use speech recognition software to make all my transcriptions. Such software misinterprets my southern accent with unfortunate regularity and my poor proofreading fails to catch all misinterpretations. I welcome and encourage folks to call those errors to my attention.]
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