SUMMARY REVOLUTIONARY WAR PENSION FILE, #4297 MORGAN, REECE AND MARY Page One VIRGINIA Mary Morgan, widow of Reece Morgan, who died September 1817 of in the state of Virginia who was a private in the commanded by Captain Buford of the commanded by in the Virginia line for 9 months. Inscribed in the Roll of C Richmond at the rate of 30 Dollars_______cents per annum to commence on the 14th day of March 1831. Certificate issued the 14th day of April 1841 and sent to Jno M. Holland ______ ______Franklin Co. VA _____ to the 4th of Sept. 1840 $285.00 Semiannual allowance ending 4 Mar ‘41 15.00 $300.00 Revolutionary Claim Act July 4, 1836 Page Two Declaration of Mary Morgan State of Virginia On this 3rd day of August 1839 personally appeared before me John M. Holland, one of the commonwealth justices of peace, Mary Morgan a resident of Franklin County and State of Virginia, aged 83 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 provision made by the act of Congress passed July 4th eighteen hundred and thirty. that she is the widow of Reece Morgan who was a private in the militia and the revolutionary war and part of his time served as a _______ so represented by him and his neighbors at that time, and it is further said that he was in the service of his country during the greater part of the war before and after the war they were married and it is said that he served seven towers (tours) which he believes to be true the particular dates of the different ______ and the names of the officers under whom he served she cannot recollect it is stated by him and his neighbors that he was in the Battle of gilford and it was stated and believed by his staying Page Three so long after the Battle that he was killed. She further declares that she was married to the said Reece Morgan on the __day of Febry 1817 in Bedford County Virginia and that she remained a widow ever since that period as will more fully appear by reference to the proof here to ______. Mary (her mark) Morgan Sworn to and subscribed on the day and year above written before me John M. Holland Jr.. This is to certify that Mary Morgan is very infirm and cannot be carried to court with safety this 3rd of August 1839. John M. Holland Jr. Page Four State of Virginia Franklin County ____________Clerk of the court of Franklin County in the State of Virginia do hereby that at a court held for the said county on the 5th day of August 1839 the foregoing declaration of Mary Morgan widow of Reece Morgan made for the purpose of claiming the benefits of acts of Congress granting half pay and pension to certain widows of the war of the revolution ____ _____ begin the said court and therefore it was ordered to be certified to the Secretary of Adm in the Commissioner of Pensions that the said Mary Morgan from age and infirmity is unable to attend court and that John M. Holland before whom the said declaration was made is a ______justice of peace in and for said county duly authorized to administer oathes and that the ______contained in the affidavit hereto attached in relation to the service of the said Reese Morgan as a soldier of the revolution is worthy of _______ and the _____ in regard to the marriage of the said Mary Morgan and said Reese Morgan is the best that can now be furnished the record thereof having been destroyed by fire. In testimony of all which I hereto affix my seal and subscribe my name this 13th day of August in the year 1839 M. G. Cooper (Casper) Clerk of the Court of Franklin County Page 7 Bedford County, State of Virginia: to wit On this day personally appeared before me Matthew Pate, a justice of the peace, of this county aforesaid. John Buford of Lan____ _____ and made oath in due form of law that he was well acquainted with said Morgan in 1776. That said Reece Morgan was in that year a corporal in Captain James Buford’s Company who marched to the Cherokee Towns on Tennessee River. That the said ______ was in the service of his country at the same time in the same town with the said Morgan. _____Early was the first lieutenant & William R_____second lieutenant, _____Fields ______, Thomas Trainor orderly ______ under the command of Col. Charles Lewis of Albemarle. That the applicant has .............(this sentence undecipherable)......that he came on to Bedford and joined said Buford’s company on the 12th of September and marched on with them to the Cherokee towns aforesaid. That said Morgan isa attached to the company aforesaid at the time it was ______by the deponent. But how long said Morgan had been in service before said deponent joined the company is not known. That said Buford marched the same company to Williamsburg but was ordered to march back .............General Christy commander in chief in expection against the Cherokees that this deponent thinks that Buford’s company was discharged probably at the Long Island of the Holston about the last of November or first of December. This deponent .........the army some time before they were discharged at Page 8 the Cherokee Towns on Tennessee River. This deponent thinks the company aforesaid was detailed for six months tour as they had marched to Williamsburg probably ______ then some time but how long this deponent is unable to say he being at the same in the service at portsmouth where he remained until the 10th of Aug 1776 when the swap of tours took place between himself and said _____ and further this deponent saith not. John (his mark) Buford The above was duly subscribed and sworn before me the 25th day of July 1859. Mathew Pate, Justice of the Peace. This is to certify that John Buford the subscriber to the above deposition is not only by me considered a man of but is so considered by all who know him. Goven under my hand this 25th day of July 1819. Mathew Pate, Justice of the Peace Page 9 State of Virginia, Franklin County: to wit This day Luke Bird of lawful age came before me, John M. Holland, one of the commonwealth justices aforesaid and made oath in due form of law that he was well acquainted with Reece Morgan since the year 17?? and have heard him speak often of his service and towers that he served. I remember well of seeing one of his discharges from under the hand of General Green. It read as well as he could recollect . It was for 6 months tower of the south and often have heard him Morgan say he was in the battle of Guilford and was retained in service after the battle for months. I have been well acquainted with Mary Morgan and in fact she now lives with me as one of my females. She has never been married since the death of Reece Morgan and further sayeth not. John M. Holland Jr. State of Virginia, Franklin County: to wit This day Luke Bird of lawful age came before me, John M. Holland, one of the commonwealth justices for the county aforesaid and made oath in due form of law and he was well acquainted with Mary Morgan for many years past . She has never married since the death of Page 10 Reece Morgan and further sayeth not. August 5, 1839. John M. Holland, Jr. State of Virginia, Franklin County: to wit This day came Samuel Gilbert of lawful age before me, John M. Holland, one of the commonwealth justices for the county aforesaid and he made oath in due form of law that he was well acquainted with Mary Morgan for many years past and she is a widow and has remained so since the death of Reece Morgan and further sayeth not. August the 5th day 1839. John M. Holland, Jr. Page 11 State of Virginia, Franklin County: to wit This affidavit of Martin Doody of lawful age personally appeared before me, John M. Holland, one of the commonwealth justices of the peace for the county aforesaid and made oath in due form of law. Deposeth and sayeth that he was well acquainted with Reece Morgan and Mary his wife and lived near neighbors to them for five years in the county of Bedford and the State of Virginia and that it was reported that they was married and they lived together as man and wife and was recognized as such and that before the year seventeen hundred and eighty three and further sayeth not. Martin (his mark) Doody The above affidavit subscribed and sworn before me this 31st day of July 1839. John M. Holland, Jr. This is to certify that Martin Doody is a man of truth and generally believed so by his neighbors. This 31 July 1839. John M. Holland, Jr. Page 12 (blank) Page 13 Franklin County, State of Virginia: to wit This day personally appeared before me, John M. Holland, a justice of the peace of the aforesaid county, Joseph Hendley of lawful age and made oath in due form of law that he is well acquainted with Reece Morgan of the county of Bedford, Va. In the revolutionary war and in the year of 1774 he the said deponent was on his march against the ShawneeIndians and passed by Fort Arbuccle on muddy creek in Greenbrier County, Va, and then he states he saw Reece Morgan with the command of Capt William Leftwich of Bedford county guarding the frontier and after that he has gone on and fought the Shawnee Indians, on his return back by the said forth he still found the said Reece Morgan there and believes he was there all the time he was gone. To wit about five and a half months and he the said Morgan then and there was discharged and came home to Bedford, Va together with said deponent. The said deponent further deposeth and saith that in 1780 the said Reece Morgan marched from Bedford County under the command of Capt Wm Leftwich to Hillsboro North Carolina at the place of the Rendevous and then they marched together to Camden and was in ____ ____ when General Gates was defeated under General Washington and then marched back to Hillsboro, and was discharged in the month of October. Having served a tower of three months to the best of my recollection and in 1781 he the deponent also saith that he was still in the service of his country and he saw the said Reece Morgan at Jules Ferry on the James River above the city of Richmond under the command of Capt Henry Blueford marching to Jamestown against the British and does not but believes he served a three month tour and further saith not. Joseph (his mark) Hendley The above subscribed and sworn to this 13th day of July 1839 before me. John M. Holland, Jr. This is to certify that Joseph Hendley is a man of truth this 19th day of July 1839. John M. Holland, Jr. Page 14 State of Virginia, Franklin County: to wit The affidavit of Patience Dooddy of lawful age personally appeared before me, John M. Holland, one of the commonwealth justices of the peace for the county aforesaid and made oath in due form of law.Deposeth and saith that when she was barely grown she lived in the neighborhoos of Reece Morgan and Mary Hood in the County of Bedford and state of Virginia, the date I cannot remember. While there it was reported that the said Reece Morgan and Mary Hood was married. That some time after that she, the said Patience Doody lived with the said Reece Morgan as a member of his family at which time he was living with the said Mary Hood as man and wife and known as such and further sayeth not. Patience (her mark) Doody The above affidavit subscribed and sworn to before me this 31st day of July 1839. John M. Holland, Jr. This is to certify that Patience Doody is a lady of truth, generally believed so by those acquainted with her this 31st July 1839. John M. Holland, Jr. Page 15 State of Virginia, Franklin County: to wit _____1840 this day Mary Morgan the wife and widow of Reece Morgan disposeth and made oath before me, John M. Holland, a justice of the peace for the said county that she was lawfully married by a Baptist Preacher by name of William Johnson of Bedford County, Va in the year of 1777 or 1778. She states under oath that the clerk’s office in said county was burnt and all the certificates of marriages was consumed and she _______. Mary (her mark)Morgan The above subscribed and sworn to before me. John M. Holland, Jr. Page 16 Reece Morgan, d. 1817 Mary, m. 1777 Remainder undecipherable. Page 17 The affidavit of Jemima Cundiff taken this 27th day of February 1841 at the dwelling home of Elijah C. Cundiff in the County of Bedford, state of Virginia. This affirms and saith she knows that Reece Morgan and Mary his wife formerly Mary Hood was married by William Johnson a Baptist preacher in the county of Bedford, state of Virginia in the year of our lord 1778. She knows of the above named marriage took place by the _____ she has kept of her first born son Sam ____ Cundiff which is the name she ....... in her former affidavit. She cut the record of her son ____Cundiff out of her Bible and sends it ___. Jemima (her mark) Cundiff The above affidavit taken subscribed and sworn before me at the time and place above stated and also the above named register or record was cut in my _____from amongst the record and ages of the family and afirm a long acquaintance ____ all confidence in the truth and honesty of the above _____. N. Robertson, JP Page 18 The under signed do truly believe from such information as they have gathered from Jesse Morgan himself, Benjamin Cundiff and wife that the said Reece Morgan was in the Battle of Gilford as they have often heard said Morgan & ______ Benjamin speak of said Morgan as having a neighbor by the name of Isaac Burdy from the battle field after he was wounded. Elijah (his mark) Cundiff Sr. Jemima (her mark) Cundiff February 27, 1841 Page 19 State of Va, County Bedford , Feb 5th 1841 This is to certify that I was at the marriage of Mory Morgan and Rees Morgan and some _____ on brides ______ for him and some notes which I have preserved from it __ have taken place in it in the year seventeen hundred and seventy eight and that they lived together as man and wife and to the best of my knowledge during his life, and they were married by W Johnson a Baptist preacher. They were married in the county of Bedford and state of Va. And the said Mary Morgan is now a widow and resides in the county of Franklin. Jemima (her mark) Cundiff Bedford County: to wit This is to certify that the above named Jemima Cundiff, the wife of Elijah Cundiff Sr and a respectable woman said _____ in sworn testimony the utmost confidence should _____ and ______by me came before me W W Reese a justice of the peace in and for said county and made solemn affirmation the above certificate given under my hand this 5th day of Feb 1841. W W Reece, JP Page 20 State of Va Bedford County Feb 5th 1841 This is to certify that I am acquainted with Mary Morgan the widow of Rees Morgan who formerly lived in this county but who now resides in the county of Franklin in this state and that my wife told me ____ ____ as bridesmaid at her wedding and I saw them this same day that it ____ ____. They have married and was __ ................ My wife Jemima was with them and that they lived together as man and wife to the best of my knowledge until his death and I ______ that they were married by W Johnson a Baptist preacher and that they were married on the above ______took place in seventeen hundred and seventy eight. Elijah (his mark) Cundiff Sr. Bedford County: to wit This is to certify that the above named Elijah Cundiff a ______neighbor and _____ ______ of this countypersonally came before me W W Reese a justice of the peace in and for said county and made solem affirmation to the above ................(remainder undecipherable) W W Reese Page 21 Oak Grove, Greenbrier County, Virginia, March 17 1841 To the commissioner of Pensions at Washington Citty. Dear Sir. _____appointed ________the pension office ______in the year 1839 in the latter part of that year ................(the remainder is nearly undecipherable, but Mary Morgan designates John M. Holland her representative in her pension application.) Page 22 A letter of support from John M. Holland. (undecipherable). I have tried to transcribe this photocopy of the pension record #4297 of Reece Morgan as accurately as possible, but the handwriting is difficult to read. I have left blanks in the text for words that I cannot decipher, and I have used ..... to indicate several words or a sentence I was unable to read. Prepared by: Doris J. Green 2547 Dora Ct., Pinole, CA 94564 E-mail: herm4@ix.netcom.com