Pension application of Richard Jenkins1 W7893 Jemima Jenkins f53VA
Transcribed by Will Graves 12/21/13
[p 12]
State of Virginia Page County to wit:
Be it remembered that on this 28th day of October 1833 personally appeared in open court
before Wharton Jones, James Botts, John J Thompson & David Bumgarner Gentlemen Justices
composing the said County Court of Page now sitting Richard Jenkins a resident of the said
County of Page and State of Virginia aged between eighty-two and eighty-three years of age,
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 and served as herein stated. He was born
in the County of Shenandoah in the State of Virginia, that when very young he moved to the
County of Culpeper. He was drafted for a tour of duty of 3 months, and marched in the company commanded by Captain James Browning from the County of Culpeper and joined the Regiment commanded by Colonel James Slaughter to Richmond, Malvern Hills and Petersburg where we had a slight skirmish with the enemy. That he was then discharged a short distance above Richmond after his tour of 3 months had expired and returned to the County of Culpeper. That he was again drafted into service from the County of Culpeper in a company commanded by Captain White (he thinks Captain Armistead White) and joined the Regiment commanded by Colonel Dark [William Darke] near Williamsburg Virginia, and marched in pursuit of Cornwallis to York Town; that he was at the siege of York and remained until after the surrender of Lord Cornwallis [October 19, 1781], that he composed one of the guard that guarded Cornwallis' prisoners to the Winchester barracks, that on his way to the Winchester Barracks being much pressed by hunger, as the company was passing along the road which bordered on a large turnip patch, he reached down and pulled of a turnip but did not break the ranks, for which offense Major Welsh of our Regiment gave him a blow which broke his jaw bone, that the blow was inflicted with a large seasoned grapevine, that the severity of the wound was so great as to prevent him from quite reaching the Winchester Barracks, but he recollects returning home in company with David Triplett and others, that his memory is somewhat defective and from the great lapse of time does not recollect whether after receiving the blow he went on to Winchester with the rest of the company, his first impression was that he did not quite reach that place, but those who belonged to the same company and whose memories may be better than his state that he did reach Winchester but of this he cannot state with certainty – he has lost a part of his jaw bone which proceeded from the before mentioned blow, and has suffered much from it, that his discharges are lost or destroyed.
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. Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid.
S/ Richard Jenkins, X his mark
[Ambrose C. Booton, a clergyman, and Abraham Kendrick gave the standard supporting
affidavit.]
[p 47]
I Timothy Sisk2 of the County of Rappahannock do hereby Certify that I have known
Richard Jenkins (commonly called Jaw Dick Jenkins) from his youth, that we were born and
raised together in the then County of Culpeper State of Virginia in the same neighborhood. And that we served together during the War of the Revolution two terms of duty in the same
Company, and in each tour we messed together. The first tour we were drafted into service in the company commanded by Captain James Browning from the County of Culpeper and joined the
Regiment Commanded by Colonel James Slaughter and was marched to Richmond, Malvern
Hills and Petersburg where we had a skirmish with the enemy, were discharged at the same time a small distance above Richmond after our tour of 3 months had expired, and returned home together. We were again drafted into service from the then County of Culpeper in a Company commanded by Captain Armistead White and joined the Regiment commanded by Colonel Dark near Williamsburg Virginia and marched in pursuit of Cornwallis to Yorktown, that we were together at the siege of York, and after the surrender of Cornwallis was marched as a guard to the prisoners to Winchester Virginia. That on our march Richard Jenkins received a blow from Major Welsh of our Regiment, which broke his jaw bone, and from that circumstance he received the name of Jaw Dick in contradistinction from others of the same name in the same neighborhood. That he did not see the blow inflicted, but saw Jenkins directly after it was given, and understood the cause to be that of Jenkins' breaking the ranks to pull up a turnip out of a patch immediately upon the road. The circumstance was one of great notoriety in the whole Regiment. That Jenkins continued on to Winchester at which place he was discharged after the time for which we were drafted it being a 3 months tour of duty had expired. And we returned home in Company together.
Given under my hand this 18th day of August 1833
S/ Timothy Sisk, X his mark
[p 49]
I David Triplett3 of the County of Rappahannock and State of Virginia do hereby certify
that I have known Richard Jenkins (commonly called Dick Jenkins) for upwards of fifty years,
that my first acquaintance with him commenced in the County of Culpeper, that we were drafted from the same neighborhood in the spring of 1781 in different companies, that Richard Jenkins was first drafted in the company of Captain James Browning, that I belonged to the Company of Captain Elijah Curtley [Elijah Kirtley] under the command of Colonel John Thornton, that the Regiment to which I belonged went on to relieve Colonel James Slaughter's Regiment, that we met the Regiment at Dandridge's Camp, near Richmond, and relieve them, that in the fall of 1781 I met Richard Jenkins again in Falmouth Camp near Fredericksburg, we then proceeded together as a guard in the company of Captain Armistead White in which I was an orderly Sergeant, to convey Cornwallis Prisoners to Winchester Barracks and after having delivered the prisoners, we were dismissed and returned home together, that we have lived near each other until within 2 years since and know him to be the same man that I knew in the Revolutionary War.
Given under my hand this 23rd day of October 1833
S/ David Triplett
[p 9: On April 27, 1840 in Page County Virginia, Jemima Jenkins, 70, a resident of page County filed for her pension as the widow of Richard Jenkins; she states that she married him to the best of her recollection and belief in the month of September 1790; that her maiden name was
Jemima Holwy [?]4
; that her husband died September 10, 1834. She signed her application with
her mark.]
[p 32: On February 10, 1849 in Page County Virginia Cornelius Jenkins gave testimony that
Jemima Jenkins is the widow of Richard Jenkins and that she was a pensioner of the United
States. The relationship, if any, of the affiant to the veteran and/or his widow is not stated.
[Signed] Cornelius Jenkins
[p 3: On November 10, 1858 in Page County Virginia, Jemima Jenkins, 94, filed for her bounty
land entitlement as the widow of Richard Jenkins a private soldier in the company commanded
by Major Wellsh [Welsh] in the Madison County Regiment. She signed her application with her
mark.]
[p 7: Record of the marriage of Richard Jenkins and Jemima Holdway September 2nd, 1793; they
were married by John Swindler, a clergyman in Culpeper County Virginia.]
[Veteran was pensioned at the rate of $20 per annum commencing March 4th, 1831, for service as a private for 6 months in the Virginia militia. His widow was pensioned in a like amount.]
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1 BLWt87087-160-55 A note on the cover sheet reads: "This man was sometime called Jaw Dick Jenkins."
2 Timothy Sisk W6058
3 Daniel Triplett W6308
4 Hoolway
