Pension Application of William Crihfield S9242 VA
Transcribed and annotated by C. Leon Harris.
State of Pennsylvania }
Somerset County }
On this fourth day of December eighteen hundred and thirty seven personally appeared before the Judges of the Court of Common pleas of Somerset County aforesaid now holding a Court of Common pleas in and for said County William Crihfield a resident of Milford township in the County of Somerset and State of Pennsylvania aged seventy nine 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 June 7th 1832. That he was drafted into the service of the United States about the last of February seventeen hundred and seventy eight in the company of Captain Moses Hutton & Ensign Jonathan Heth, on the waters of Pattersons Creek [Patterson Creek] in Hampshire County Virginia where he then resided that not being ready to start with his company when it marched he left home about four days after on the fifth day of March seventeen hundred and seventy eight and went through Beesontown [VA] (now Uniontown [PA]) to Redstone [now Brownsville PA] thence to Catfish’s Camp now Washington Pennsylvania and thence to fort Henry now Wheeling Virginia where he joined his company and remained untill the last of August or first of September 1778 when he received a verbal discharge from Captain Hutton having been out six months. there was no general engagement in which Declarant participated while he was out but he recollects that two members of Captain Hutton’s company named Jacob Crow and Jacob Neff were killed by the Indians at fort Henry.
Declarant further states that in September 1778 he hired as a substitute for Cornelius Hogland [Cornelius Hoagland?] (who had been drafted) and that he marched from Hampshire County Virginia under the command of Major VanMeter and Captain Johnston (christian name not recollected) to Beesontown thence across the Monongahela River at Devours ferry [at the present City of Monongahela PA] to fort McIntosh now Beaver town Pennsylvania and continued there for some time from which place Major VanMeter and Captain Johnston were sent home on account of the small number of troops there – the company of Captain Johnston then became separated and the members thereof attached to different companies Declarant was attached to the company of Captain Archibald Wiggins from fort McIntosh they marched [departed 4 Nov 1778] through the wilderness to Tuscarawas where they built fort Lawrence [sic: Fort Laurens at present Bolivar OH] he continued there until about the twentieth day of December 1778 when he was verbally discharged by Captain Wiggins having been out three months and a half making the whole period of his service both terms included nine months & a half – from Hampshire County Virginia Declarant removed to Somerset County Pennsylvania in the month of
October 1781 where he has resided ever since. He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present and he declares that his name is not on the Pension Roll of any Agency in any State or if any only on that of the agency in the State of Virginia Declarant further states that the only reason why he did not sooner apply for a pension was his dislike to appear upon the pension Roll, but that he is now old and unable to work and stands in need of such sum as Government may see fit to allow him for his services
[Signed] William Crihfield
In answer to a question put by the Court Declarant further states that he was born in the State of New Jersey in the year 1758 That there were no Regular officers at fort Henry and that he does not recollect the names of the Regular officers at fort McIntosh. [signed as above]
NOTE: Joshua Critchfield (pension application S2476), aged 84, of Fairfield County OH, certified the service of his brother, William Crihfield. Nathaniel Critchfield (S2473) of Knox County OH stated that he served with and was a messmate of his cousin, William Crihfield. Both Joshua and Nathaniel Critchfield signed with their marks.
https://www.revwarapps.org/s9242.pdf
