Pension application of John Boon W10445 Anne fn46NC
Transcribed by Will Graves 9/21/10
North Carolina Guilford County: SS: On this 18th day of November 1833 personally appeared in open court before the Justices of the Court of Pleas & quarter Sessions now sitting, John Boon a resident of the United States in the County of Guilford, & State of North Carolina, aged seventy 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 passed 7th of June 1832.
Your applicant states that shortly after the commencement of the revolutionary war, the Cherokee nation of Indians & others were stirred up & excited to become hostile & take up arms against the people of the United States who resided near them, by the influence of British agency as was then believed, they were murdering & doing immense mischief in the frontiers of this our said State when a call was made, & your applicant entered the service under the command of Caleb Phifer Captain & John Phifer Major – as a volunteer, in the month [of] November 1774 – (the object of this expedition was to march immediately to a place called Ninety Six in South Carolina, there to intercept & overtake men that were then called Schofelites,1 but afterwards Tories, who were engaged in halling [hauling] & carrying great quantities of arms & ammunition to the Indians, after the Army was organized, you are applicant then living in Rowan County, North Carolina, we marched on to the place of destination, passing through Charlotte, & crossing the Catawba [River] at the old Nation Ford, & along through South Carolina crossing Broad River a little below the mouth of the Tiger River [sic, Tyger River], bearing somewhat South to meet with the southern force that was to cooperate with us & after we had crossed the Saluda River we learned that the wagons with supply of ammunition for Indians had passed on a little before us. We called a halt & a council held, in a company of the most active man were selected to pursue after them, who accordingly came up with them at Long Cane River, & took the wagons, loaded with ammunition two of lead & one with power – the men that were with the wagons, run & left their wagons upon our approach, & one of them got into the River, & would not come out until Colonel Polk went in after him & the fellow shot the Colonel in the shoulder.
We then returned home to Rowan & was verbally dismissed but had no written dismission after having served as well as I can now recollect 2 or 3 months – & suffered immensely from cold, a great many died, got frostbite in walking home through a deep snow –
The next Service your applicant rendered was a 3 months Tower [tour], in March 1775. I still was at this time a resident of County Rowan & State aforesaid, & was drafted & served under John Baringer [John Barringer?] Captain, John Phifer Major & James Martin Colonel – & after we were organized, we commenced our march to the place of destination. We went through Salisbury, crossed the Yadkin River, Abbotts Creek & stream called Little River leaving Deep River upon our left, we marched into Fayetteville for the purpose of dispersing & subduing the Scots who it was reported had declared in favor of Great Britain & were embodying for the purpose of giving them assistance, they were then considered Tories & unfriendly to the freedom of their country, but when we got to Camden, we understood & learned that they had dispersed & separated, & we then returned home & were dismissed, verbally –
The next Service your applicant rendered was in the Cherokee war in the year 1776, I
volunteered in this expedition & we commenced our march the last of July or 1st of August (not certain which) the care of the pack horses were committed to me our officers were Caleb Phifer Major John Phifer Colonel & Rutherford [Griffith Rutherford] our General your applicant then continued to live in Rowan & we commenced our march & went on to the Catawba crossed at Sherrill's Ford & then went up the Catawba to a Fort called the Mulberry Bottom & then crossed Blue Ridge, and then known to French Broad River, & after crossing said River we had a little skirmish with some Indians & white men who had intermarried with the Indians, but they fled quickly, & we marched to some of the Principal Indian towns, the Middle Town & over Hill Towns is all that I cannot at this time name – & we destroyed & burnt their grain & houses & towns – the Indian warriors had concentrated at a place in the mountains called the Half Moon & before our men could form a junction with the South Army these warriors attacked the South Army, & a severe Battle was fought & a great many lives were lost – & shortly after this engagement we joined the southern Army & having frustrated & destroyed everything we could we delivered up our prisoners to the southern Army & returned home having served as well as I recollect four months –
Your applicant having moved over into the Holston settlement in the year 1778, on the 5th of August I again volunteered under the command of David Ward & served one month, we had men called minute men that held themselves in readiness to March at a moments warning to serve & preserve the frontier families from being massacred by the Indians, & this was a call of the description the term of service of these minute men was one month which was rendered –
At the period your applicant rendered the within stated service, there were raised in this State no Continental Troops, or soldiers of the regular Army therefore your applicant cannot name any officer of the Continental line at that time – he further states he has no documentary evidence & that he knows of no person whose testimony he can procure, who can testify to his services – He hereby relinquishes every claim whether 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 & subscribed the day & year 1st written.
S/ John Boon, X his mark
[Joseph Gibson, Esquire & Captain Henry Clapp gave the standard supporting at it.]
Questions propounded by the Court
1st. Where and in what year were you born?
Ans – I was born in the State of Virginia on the 16th day of July A.D. 1755
2nd. Have you any record of your age and if so where is it?
Ans – I have a Record in my Family Bible
3rd. Where were you living when called into service: where have you lived since the Revolutionary War and where do you now live?
Ans – My parents moved to North Carolina Rowan County when I was young I lived in said County & state at the time I rendered the within services except the service of one month I then lived in the Holston settlement & after the war was ended I moved into Guilford County North Carolina & has remained there ever since –
4th. How were you called into service; were you drafted; did you volunteer or were you a substitute, and if in substitute, for whom?
Ans – In answer to this question I refer you to the body of my declaration –
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.
Ans – In answer to this question I likewise refer to my declaration –
6th. Did you ever receive a discharge from the service, and if so, by whom was it given and what has become of it?
Ans – I never received a written discharge, but in all my service was discharged verbally –
7th. 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.
Ans – Joseph Gibson Esquire & Captain Henry Clapp – & I could name a number more of worthy man in my neighborhood.
[fn p. 14: On July 5th, 1856 in Alamance County North Carolina, Anne Boon, 59, filed for her bounty land entitlement stating that she is the widow of John Boon, a revolutionary war pensioner; that she was married to him in Guilford County North Carolina on the 7th or 8th day of July 1822 by one Eli Smith, a justice of the peace; that her name before her marriage was Anne Montgomery; that her husband died in Guilford County on January 27, 1837 and that she remains his widow.]
[fn p. 23: copy of the marriage bond dated July 1, 1822, in Guilford County North Carolina for the marriage of John Boon to Ann Montgomery.]
[facts in file: Anne Montgomery was the veterans 3rd wife; the names, dates of marriage and dates of death of his former wives are not shown; the veteran and his widow had only one child which child died at the age of 2 and is not named in the file.]
[Veteran was pensioned at the rate of $26.66 per annum commencing March 4th, 1831 for 8 months service as a private in the North Carolina militia.]
_______________
1 Scofolite, Scoffelites, Scopholites, Scovelites or Coffelites (see Joseph Coffell): A name given to white Tories who dressed up like Indians when attacking patriot fortifications in the hope of deflecting their neighbors' animosity away from themselves and onto the Cherokees who constituted a constant threat to the frontier settlers prior to and throughout the period of the Revolutionary War. The name derived from Joseph Scoffel, a Tory, who was active in the loyalist cause from an early period of the war. For an excellent discussion of the "Scoffol Lights," see, Rachel N. Klein, "Frontier Planters and the American Revolution: The South Carolina Backcountry, 17751782,” in Ronald Hoffman, Thad W. Tate and Peter J. Albert, eds., An Uncivil War: The Southern Backcountry During the American Revolution, (Charlottesville: United States Capitol Historical Society by The University Press of Virginia, 1985), 37-69.
