Wests
from Middlesex County, Connecticut:
Aaron
West (1763-1840)
Compiled by Joy Ikelman, November
2014. Disclaimers apply. Note: The use of double dating, such as 1630/1631,
reflects the difference between the Julian and Gregorian Calendars.
Background: Judah West
(1765-1825) was added to West DNA Family Group #5 in 2007. [1] David West, Jr.
(1761-ca 1855) and Aaron West (1763-1840) were his brothers. They were
descendants of Thomas West (1630/1631-1720) of Essex County, Massachusetts. This
is the fifth of six articles about the Connecticut line of this FG#5 family. Aaron
West migrated to the State of New York, and spent his last years in Orwell,
Oswego County, NY.
Thomas West (1630/1631-1720) m. Phebe Waters
- Benjamin West (1665-1733) m. Hannah Shadduck
- Benjamin West, Jr.
(1696-after 1739) m. Mehitable Bailey
- David West
(ca. 1736-1822) m. Judith Hills
- David
West, Jr. (1761-ca 1850) m. Unknown
- Aaron West (1763-1840) m. Susannah
Kellogg
- Judah
West (1765-1825) m. Mary Todd
Three
Revolutionary War Patriots
Aaron, David and Judah West were
brothers who served in the Revolutionary War. They were sons of David West
(Sr.) and Judith Hills West. Their
combined service spans from 1776 to 1783—nearly the entire war. Their
Revolutionary War pension applications are a rich source of information on
historical events and also their personal lives. Each of the three articles on
these brothers includes a brief biography, references, and a transcript of the
pension application.
Aaron West was born on 3 Jun 1763 [2] in
Middlesex County, Connecticut. Aaron probably grew up on his family’s land in
what is today called East Hampton, Middlesex County, CT (south of Lake
Pocotopaug). [3] At the age
of 16, Aaron West voluntarily enlisted in the service. He served through 1782.
[4]
Revolutionary
War Service
Mar
1779 – about Dec 1779 or Jan 1780.
Served under Captain Joseph Blake of Chatham. During this time General Tryon’s
2,000 troops made a series of raids on the Connecticut coast, and burned
Norwalk and Fairfield. [5] Aaron West witnessed the towns burning.
Mar
1780 – Dec 1780. Served under Colonel
Samuel Webb and Major Wyllys in the 9th Regiment of the Connecticut
Line. He was in Captain Walker’s Company. Aaron gave two separate depositions
on his pension application. The second described this time period. This service
is verified by a listing of men who served in Colonel Webb’s regiment. [6]
Mar
1781 – Dec 1781 or Jan 1782. Served
under Captain David Starr of Middletown, CT in Colonel Canfield’s Regiment. [7]
Aaron and his older brother David served together during this time. [8] In his
deposition, Aaron West “recollects well of holding a day of rejoicing at West
Point about the first of November of hearing of the capture of
Cornwallis.” General Cornwallis
surrendered at Yorktown, VA in Oct 1781. [9]
For this enlistment of nine months,
Aaron West received a “town bounty.” [10] Each town or district in the
Middletown region gave an incentive, usually monetary, for enlistment. The
soldier could do with this as they wished; many gave it to their families.
May
1782 – about July 1782. Served under
Colonel John Taylor; Captain Joseph Clark commander. That summer, Aaron became ill,
and was confined to the hospital at West Point. Aaron’s term of service expired
while he was there. He was officially discharged from service—he was not
allowed to stay at the West Point hospital.
Family tradition says that Aaron was ill
with a “quinsy throat.” [11] The original pension document of 1832 does not
mention this. Quinsy throat was a life-threatening illness during the
Revolutionary War. It is interesting that this detail came down through the
family.
Aaron stated “that his brother took him
from the hospital and carried him to Quaker Hill in the Nine Partners where he
lay some time before he was able to go home.” The brother was David West. In
late 1778, the Oblong (Quaker) Meeting House had been converted to a hospital.
However, it was only used for a few months, and then it became a meeting house
again. [12] The brothers went to Quaker Hill during the summer of 1782—three
years later.
At the same time they were in Quaker
Hill (Pawling Township), another West Family was living there. This family is also part of West DNA Family
Group #5. The ancestor was David West (b. 1758) who married Susannah Hoag. Did
the brothers know this other West family? Did Aaron stay with this family to
recuperate? So far, our West Family research has not been able to link these
two families to a common ancestor. [13]
The
West Family Moves to Litchfield County, Connecticut
In 1783, Aaron’s
father and mother—David West and Judith Hills West—moved the family to Winsted
(in the township of Winchester), Litchfield County, CT. Winchester was
considered a remote area at the time. David West “first lived in a log house at
the base of Cobble Hill on Spencer Street, a little south of the site of the
Joshua Hewitt dwelling.” [14]
Aaron and his younger
brother Judah also lived in Winsted after the Revolutionary War ended. Aaron West lived on Spencer Street, like his
father. He was “a grantee of the Lockwood Farm on Spencer Street on which he
lived until 1787, when he is named of New Hartford.” [15]
Marriage
to Susannah Kellogg
Aaron West married Susannah (or Susanna)
Kellogg in Winchester, CT on 4 November 1784. [16] In her deposition for a
widow’s pension, Susannah states:
. . . that she was
married to the said Aaron West on the fourth day of November in the year
seventeen hundred & eighty four in the town Winchester, in the County of
Litchfield and State of Connecticut by John Rockwell, Esquire, a Justice of the
Peace of the town of Cold Brook [Colebrook] in the County and State last
aforesaid. That this marriage ceremony was performed at the house and residence
of Isaac Kellogg the father of the deponent in the evening in the presence of
her father & mother, Daniel and Eleanor Kellogg the brother of the
deponent, & Rachel and Pamela Kellogg the sisters of this deponent . . .
Susannah’s father was Isaac Kellogg, Jr.
Susannah’s mother was Martha, probably last name Merrill. [17] Her grandparents
were Captain Isaac Kellogg and Mary Webster. [18] Susannah was baptized 29 Dec
1765. [19]
Children
of Aaron and Susannah West
In 1947, family historian Ray D. West
compiled a short history on this West Family, with the assistance of other
descendants. [20] He also organized a very detailed list of names and dates up
to the 1940s—almost 500 descendants. Most of the information below is taken
from his publication. The second line for each child is from Aaron’s
handwritten note included with the pension application.
1. Charlotte West
b. 19 Apr 1785, Litchfield County, CT; d. 1 Mar 1865.
“Charlotee
Born 1785 April 19” (Aaron West’s handwriting)
m.
8 Jan 1806, Eli Strong, Jr. Children: Alvin Strong, Alanson Strong, Fedelia
Strong, William M. Strong, Martha Strong, Cyrus Strong.
2. Caroline West
b. 1 May 1787, Winchester, Litchfield County, CT; d. 13 May 1852 in Oswego
County, NY. Buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Orwell, NY.
“Charlyne
Born 1787 May the 1”
m.
John Reynolds. Children: Pamelia Reynolds, Calista Reynolds, Lura Reynolds, Nelson
Reynolds, Philo Reynolds.
3. William West
b. 19 Jan 1790.
“Williaum
Born Jan the 19 1790”
m.
Mary Groat
War
of 1812, Claim #3762. [21]
4.
Harriet West b. 26 Jan 179(?)—probably 1792; d. 1841.
“Hariat
Born Jan 26 179(?)” (paper torn)
m.
Isaac Lane
5. David West
b. 3 Mar 1794; d. 19 Jun 1862. Buried at Pekin Hill Cemetery, Orwell, NY.
“David
Born March 3 1794”
m.
25 Feb 1814 Ruth Simmons. Children: Charles E. West, Anna West, Alva West,
Amanda West, Jennet (or Jeanette) West, Ansil West, Athilia West, Gaylord West,
Gilford West, Henry West.
War
of 1812, Claim # 3901. [22]
In
1947, the David West Bible was in possession of Edna West Herrman of Camden,
NY. [23]
6. Wering, Waring, or Warren West
b. 25 Apr 179(?)—probably 1796; d. before 1845.
“Wering
Born April 25 179(?)” (paper torn)
m.
Jane Race. Children: Lemuel West, Joel West.
7. Orrin or Orren West
b. 1 Sep 1798; d. before 1845.
“Orren
Born Sept 1 1798”
War
of 1812, private, NY Militia [24]
8. Silas West b. 30 Jul 1800; d. 12
Feb 1883.
“Silas
Born 30 July” (Aaron did not write the year)
m
(1). Harriet Eastman. Children: Maria West, Sarah West, Frederick Levant West,
Maria Louise West, Horatio Gates West, Alban West, Silas West, Jr.
m
(2). Rebecca Davis. Children: Ezra D. West, Judson West, Charles E. West.
Silas
“settled in Orwell before the War of 1812. . . in the Bennett neighborhood.” [25]
9. Betsey West
b. 11 May 1803.
“Betsey
Born May 11 1803”
m.
David (or Daniel?) Balch
10. Francis West
b. 12 Apr 1806; d. 30 Jun 1867.
“Francis
Born April 12 1806”
m (1). Alaira (or Almira) Cable. Child:
Frances Sophia West.
m (2). Hannah Balch. Children: William Francis
West, Mary Etta West.
11. Julia West
b. Oct 1809; d. 1887.
“Julia
Born Octaber 1809” (Aaron’s spelling)
m
(1). Gaylord Houghton. Child: Ethelia Houghton.
m
(2). Jason Dewey. Child: Celia Dewey.
m.
Ira West, Jr. [26] Children: Juliette West, William West, Milo West.
Moving
to New York
According to
his Revolutionary War pension application, Aaron lived in these towns:
Winchester (Winsted), Litchfield
County, CT for 5 years
New Hartford, Litchfield County, CT
Whitestown, Oneida County, NY
(originally Herkimer County) for 15 years
Redfield, Oswego County, NY (originally
in Herkimer County) for 5 years
Rome, Oneida County, NY
Orwell, Oswego County, NY for 22
years [27] plus five more years for Susannah.
Census records show these
migrations. [28]
These places
are mostly along today’s State Highway Route 69 in upstate New York. Whitestown
was located on a very large land patent belonging to Hugh White and other
investors. Many of the original settlers of Whitestown were from Middlesex
County, Connecticut. R.W. Bacon, editor of The
Middler: Newsletter of the Society of Middletown First Settler Descendants,
writes, “From this 12 million acre expanse, 28 counties and more than 400 towns
were formed. By 1810 the population of this New York frontier grew from 200
families to almost 300,000 people.” [29]
This area was
also the gateway to the Connecticut Western Reserve, a parcel that would become
the future State of Ohio. [30] Charles D. Fitzgerald, a descendant of Aaron and
Susannah West wrote:
If you wonder as I did why Aaron and
Susannah West moved so many times, family traditions say he was a lumberman,
and when the easy logging was done in an area, he took ax, oxen and family to a
wilder, more richly forested area. [31]
Aaron West’s work
was essential in settling the new frontier. Many families moved from Middlesex
and Litchfield Counties, Connecticut, to the region. Ahead were the “rich rolling
lands of the Oneida Country”:
It was a region of beauty and fertility,
well calculated to excite the desires of the hard-working and ill-compensated
farmers of Western Connecticut to better their lot, and to make them
discontented with their own hard-featured, unproductive region. The spirit of
emigration was again aroused. . . All the new towns of Litchfield County were
seriously retarded in their growth by this first emigration westward, and not
one of them so irretrievably as Old Winchester. The old inhabitants speak of it
as “the Great Exodus.” [32]
Later
Years of Aaron and Susannah
Aaron West is given a passing mention in
History of Oswego County, as a
subject of a legal matter in Redfield, NY. [33] He was about 47 years old when
he moved his family to Orwell, Oswego County, NY. He is mentioned as an early
Methodist in Orwell. [34] He was “elected to School commissioner for the Town
of Orwell on 5 Mar 1818 in the second year of the Town’s existence.” [35]
Aaron’s Revolutionary War pension
application was approved in 1833. He was 70 years old. He received $80 per year
until his death, equivalent to about $2,200 today. [36] Aaron died 15 May 1840
at Orwell, Oswego County, NY. After
this, Susannah applied for a widow’s pension. She died 15 July 1845. Both were
buried at Pekin Hill Cemetery, Orwell, New York.
The very last item put in the pension
file was a note three years later, reporting Susannah’s death date to the
Department of War. [37] The family representative mentions the surviving
children and where they lived:
.
. . each of them is over the age of twenty one years, to wit William West of
Oneida County, New York, Francis West, David West, Charlotte Strong, Julia
West, Silas West & Betsy Balch of Oswego County New York, Caroline Reynolds
of Jefferson County, New York.
A
Lasting Memory
After determining that there was no
headstone marking Aaron West’s grave in Pekin [Hill] Cemetery, Town of Orwell,
Oswego County, NY, application was made to the Veterans Administration for a
marker.
On the Friday which began Labor Day Weekend
1984, just as our 17 guest couples were settling their RVs in our south grove,
a truck drove into our Snake Creek summer place in Brookdale, PA. The driver,
eager to start his own long weekend by completing delivery of the last package
on the truck, shouted, “Who gets the grave stone?” Our male guests shouted in
unison, “Chuck!
Several weeks later, with the aid of cousins
Mildred Brown, Ivonee Corse, Lois Davey and Marin Valley (all descendants of
Aaron and Susannah), the beautiful granite stone was set in cement in the West
plot in Pekin Cemetery. – Charles D. Fitzgerald [38]
The tombstone reads: “Aaron West, Webb’s Regt. Conn. Inf.
Rev. War, June 3, 1763-May 15, 1840.” [39]
References
and Additional Notes
1. West DNA Family Group #5 results are at
http://web.utk.edu/~corn/westdna/west5.htm#FG5.
2. Lorraine Cook White,
editor, 1994-2002: The Lucius Barnes Barbour
Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records, Vol. 1-155, Genealogical
Publishing Company, Baltimore, Maryland, p. 163 (Chatham Vital Records). Also
known as the Barbour Collection.
3. This was the location of the West family land in
Middlesex County. Benjamin and Hannah West settled in the area in 1698. For
more of this history please consult the articles on Benjamin West, Sr. and Benjamin
West, Jr. on this blog site.
4. Aaron West, Private, Connecticut Line, 1779-1782. Pension
certificate No. 19607, Orwell, Oswego County, New York, 24 September 1832.
Susanna West (Widow’s Application) File No. W19607, 7 December 1840. National
Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC. Digital images on
HeritageQuest.com. Accessed Dec 2013.
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Norwalk. Accessed Oct 2014.
6. Henry P. Johnston, editor, 1889: “Return of the Levies that Served
in 1780 in Col. S.B. Webb’s Regiment,” The
Record of Connecticut Men in the Military and Naval Service during the War of
the Revolution, 1775-1783, The Adjutant-General of Connecticut, Hartford,
CT, p. 252. The record shows Aaron West was discharged 4 Dec 1780.
7. Johnston, “Col. Canfield’s Militia Regiment at
West Point, Sept, 1781,” p. 582. The Captain is listed as “Capt. William Starr”
of Middletown. The line should read “Capt. David Starr.”
8. David West, Private (and Sergeant), Connecticut Line, 1776-1781.
Pension certificate No. 16773, City of New York, 24 Dec 1819. File No. S43275,
National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC. Digital images on
HeritageQuest.com, accessed Dec 2013.
9. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Yorktown. Accessed Oct 2014.
10. Henry Whittemore, 1884: “Town of Chatham,” in The History of Middlesex County 1635-1885, J.H. Beers and Company,
New York, p. 186. Aaron West and his cousin Hopkins West (bapt. 1756) are on a
list “taken from the town treasurer’s book, of soldiers to whom bounties were
paid in 1781-82.” Hopkins West was the son of Moses West and Sarah Hopkins
West. Moses was the brother of David West, Sr., Aaron’s father.
11. Charles D. Fitzgerald, 1995: “Grandpa Was a Soldier . . . (But
Never Fired a Shot at the Enemy!),” Heritage
Quest, The International Genealogy Forum, Issue 60, November-December 1995,
p. 17. Charles Fitzgerald was ten generations from Thomas West (b. 1630/1631)
and Phebe Waters. He was a descendant of Aaron and Susannah’s son Francis West
and first wife Alaira (or Almira) Cable.
12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oblong_Friends_Meeting_House. Accessed
Oct 2014.
13. West DNA Family Group #5 results are at
http://web.utk.edu/~corn/westdna/west5.htm#FG5. Notes from the results: “It
appears likely that W66 [Judah West, b. 1765] and W113 [David West, b. 1758] are
from the same branch of this family that either immigrated to the New England
area, or moved there from the Virginia area before 1750. W66 and W113 have
values of 30 for the marker DYS 389-2, while everyone else in this group has
values of 29.”
14. John Boyd, 1873: Annals
of Family Records of Winchester, Connecticut with Exercises of the Centennial
Celebration, on the 16th and 17th Days of August, 1871,
Case, Lockwood, and Brainard, Hartford, CT, p. 289. Aaron West’s cousin,
Hopkins West moved to Winchester at the same time and later moved to Cambridge,
NY. (Boyd, p. 157).
15. Boyd, p. 297.
16. Barbour Collection,
Colebrook Vital Records, p. 259. She is listed as “Lurannah” which is probably
a visual approximation of the original written record. At the time, “S” and “L”
were written similarly. Throughout the pages in the pension folder, her name is
“Susannah.” Her signature (in her 70s) looks similar to “Luranna.” In 1903, Sarah
West Mather, a descendant of Silas West, said that her grandmother’s name was
Luranna, based on this signature. (Source: West, p. 3—see Reference #20,
below.)
17. Connecticut, Church Record
Abstracts, 1630-1920, Connecticut State Library, Hartford, Connecticut. Volume 077, New Hartford, CT, p. 56. This
record mentions Isaac and Martha Kellogg as members of the church, but does not
mention her last name. The (secondary) source that many Kellogg family
researchers use is: Timothy Hopkins, 1903: The
Kelloggs in the Old World and the New, Sunset Press, San Francisco,
California, p. 110. In that publication, her maiden name is Merrill. Merrills
had married Kelloggs before. In the Hopkins publication, the marriage
information for Susannah Kellogg is incorrect.
18. Barbour Collection,
Hartford Vital Records, p. 237.
19. Connecticut, Church Record
Abstracts, p. 57. She is listed
as “Luranna.” In the widow’s pension application of 1840, Susannah states her
age as “Seventy seven years Eleven months and twelve days.” She was actually
about 75 years old.
20. Ray Dayton West, 1947, compiler: Wests: Partial Lineage. “Gathered with assistance from many family
members including Edna West Herrman of Camden, N.Y., Julia Widrig Wart of Sandy
Creek, N.Y., Carrie Allen Wightman of
Pulaski, N.Y., and Allen J. Acker of Ogsdenburg, N.Y.” Mimeographed manuscript,
self-published by Ray D. West, Menominee, Michigan, 60 pages plus Index, p.
2. The publication (without original
attachments) is available from the University of Wisconsin through the Haithi
Trust, http://babel.haithitrust.org. Accessed Mar 2014. Ray West was nine
generations from Thomas West (b. 1630/1631) and Phebe Waters. He was a
descendant of Aaron and Susannah’s son David, and wife Ruth Simmons.
21. Adjutant General’s Office New York, 1860: Index of Awards on Claims of the Soldiers of the War of 1812,
Albany, NY. Reprinted 1969 by the Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., p.
528.
22.
Claims of the Soldiers of the War of 1812,
p. 528. “David West, Williamstown, Oswego Co. NY”
23.
West, p. 7.
24.
National Archives and Records Administration: Index to the Compiled
Military Service Records for the Volunteer Soldiers Who Served During the War
of 1812. Washington, D.C. Online at Ancestry.com. Accessed Nov 2014. “Orrin
West.”
25. Crisfield Johnson, compiler, 1877: History of Oswego County, New York: With Illustrations and Biographical
Sketches, Some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, L.H. Everts and Company,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, p. 298.
26.
Ira’s parents were Ira West and Lucy Curtis. I have not discovered which West
DNA Family Group he comes from. Ira was possibly born in Oneida County, NY. His
sister, Chloe West, married William Strong, son of Charlotte West.
27. This is based on the
number of years to 1840, when Aaron died. Susannah lived five more years.
28. All census information is
from the Records of the Bureau of
the Census, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
Census of 1790: Litchfield, Litchfield County, CT; 1 male 16 and
over; 1 male under 16; 3 females.
Census of 1800: Not counted, or records lost.
Census of 1810: Oneida County, NY; 1 male 26-44; 1 female 26-44;
3 males under 10; 2 females under 10. The Wests probably moved to Oswego County
shortly after this census was taken.
Census of 1820: Orwell, Oswego County, NY; 1 male 45 and over; 1
male 16-25; 1 female 16-25; 1 male 16 to 18; 1 female under 10; 1 male under 10.
For some reason, Susannah (i.e. 1 female 45 and over) does not appear in the
record.
Census of 1830: Orwell, Oswego county, NY; 1 male 60-69; 1
female 60-69.
29. R.W. Bacon, 2007: “Middletown Pioneers
followed Hugh White to the ‘Mother of Towns’—Whitestown, N.Y.,” The Middler: Newsletter of the Society of
Middletown First Settlers Descendants, Volume 7, No. 2, p. 4-5.
30. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connecticut_Western_Reserve. Accessed
Oct 2014.
31. Fitzgerald, p. 18-19.
32. Boyd, p. 223-224.
33. Johnson, p. 425.
34. Henry
Perry Smith and W. Stanley Child, 1895: Landmarks
of Oswego County, New York, Higginson Book Company, New York, p.
636.
35. Fitzgerald, p. 18.
36. The inflation calculator that I used is at
http://www.davemanuel.com/inflation-calculator.php. Accessed Nov 2014.
37. Note submitted to Aaron West’s pension file, from James K.
Richardson, County of Seneca, Waterloo County, NY, 26 May 1848.
38. Fitzgerald, p. 19. The cousins mentioned in this excerpt were all
descended from Francis West, b. 1806. S.L. says her mother and grandmother were
there that day, and that the American Legion places a flag there every Memorial
Day [Source: ancestry.com]. In the first half of the 20th Century,
there was still communication among many descendants of Aaron West and Susannah
Kellogg West. Ray West, in his compilation of 1947, mentions the following
specific individuals:
Charlotte West
(b. 1785): Carrie Allen Wightman of Pulaski, NY.
Caroline West
(b. 1787) Maude Richardson Thomas.
David West (b.
1794): Ray D. West, Menominee, MI; Edna West Hermann of Camden, NY, Allen
J. Acker of Ogdensburg, NY.
Silas West (b.
1800): Sarah West Mather of Cazenovia, NY.
Julia West (b.
1809): Juliette West Widrig of Sandy Creek, NY.
If you are a descendant, you are eligible for Sons of the American
Revolution or Daughters of the American Revolution through Aaron West, and
Susan West’s grandfather, Captain Isaac Kellogg.
39. Aaron West’s tombstone is pictured at http://www.findagrave.com.
Accessed Nov 2014.
Aaron
West’s Revolutionary War Pension Application, Section 1
Declaration in
order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress passed June 9, 1832
State of New York
County of Oswego
On the 24th
day of September 1832 before the ____ ____ judges of the Court of Common Pleas
of the County aforesaid now sitting. Aaron West, a resident of the town of
Orwell in the County of Oswego and State of New York, aged Sixty-nine years who
being first duly sworn according to law doth on this oath make the following
declarations in order to obtain the benefit of Congress passed June 7th,
1832.
That he entered
the service of the United States under the following named officers and served
herein stated. That he enlisted in a Regiment of Connecticut State Troops
Commanded by Colonel Ephraim Brooks of old Haddam and a Company commanded by
Capt Joseph Balch of Chatham.
That he enlisted as
a private for the term of nine months and as he believed about the 15th
of March 1779 and or on the first of April he marched to East Haven where he
was stationed until the last of June or first of July at which time General
Tryon plundered and burned Fairfield and Norwalk. That he was at or near New
Haven when Tryon came in that the company to which he belonged arrived at the
long wharf soon after Tryon had left, that he marched directly to Fairfield and
Norwalk and found them both smoking in ruins that at Fairfield he saw a
Regiment of regular soldiers on the march to New Haven does not recollect any
of the Regular officers names.
That after
remaining at Fairfield two or three days he marched to Danbury where he lay two
or three weeks and then marched to Horse Neck where he was stationed about two
months. That when he was at Fairfield as above stated, news came that General
Wayne had taken Stony Point on the Hudson River.
That from Horse
Neck he marched back to East Haven and remained in the Neighborhood of East and
West Haven until the Regiment was disbanded, which he thinks was about the last
of December or the first of January.
That he enlisted
again as a private in a Regiment of Connecticut State Troops commanded by
Colonel Canfield, does not recollect the Colonel’s given name.
That he enlisted
about the middle of March 1781 in the Company commanded by Captain David Starr
of Middletown and immediately marched to Danbury and New Haven, and from there
to Fishkill on the East side of the Hudson River and from Fishkill down the river
to Nelson’s Point where he joined the Army and soon after crossed over to West
Point where he was stationed all summer except when out on commands. That he
was out on those commands two or three times down the River to within eight
miles of King’s Bridge and a number of times to Stony Point on the Jersey side.
Recollects well of
holding a day of rejoicing at West Point about the first of November on hearing
of the Capture of Cornwallis also of assisting in December in taking up the ___
across the River opposite Fort Clinton. Thinks there were not any regular
soldiers at West Point that season but he may be mistaken as to that. He was
discharged the last of December or first of January.
That he enlisted
again as a private on or about the first of May 1782 for the tour of three
months in a Regiment of Connecticut State Troops commanded by Colonel John
Taylor in a Company commanded by Captain Joseph Clark of Wethersfield that he
went immediately to Middletown where the troops were assembled and marched
directly to Danbury from there to Fishkill and from Fishkill to West Point.
That a few days after arriving at West Point he was taken sick and carried to
the hospital where he remained sick until some time after his term of service
expired, that his brother took him from the hospital and carried him to Quaker
Hill in the Nine Partners where he lay some time before he was able to go home.
That he has born
in the town of Chatham in the County of Hartford and State of Connecticut on
the 3rd day of June 1763, that he has no record of his age except
one made by himself and taken from his Father’s records that he resided in
Chatham at the time of all his enlistments and that he resided there 2 more
years after the close of the war. That he moved from Chatham to Winchester in
Litchfield County in the same State where he resided five years and then moved
to New Hartford in the same County and from there he removed to Whitestown then
in Herkimer County now Oneida County and State of New York where he resided
fifteen years, and then removed to Redfield there in the same county where he
resided five years then her removed from Redfield to the town of Rome in Oneida
County that he removed from Rome to the Town of Orwell in Oswego County where
he now resides and has resided about fourteen years.
That he
voluntarily enlisted into the service at each enlistment; that he has no
documentary evidence, and that he knows of but one person now living whose
testimony he can procure who can testify to his service; that here is no Clergyman
residing in the town of Orwell now nearer than nine miles of him, of the said
applicant.
That he hereby
extinguishes ever 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 the day and year aforesaid – Aaron West
Aaron
West’s Revolutionary War Pension Application, Section 2
Aaron West made an additional deposition
on the same day. He gives information not given in the longer statement, above.
He is clarifying his service of March through December 1780.
Declaration in
order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress of the 8th of
June 1832
State of New York
County of Oswego
On the 24th
day of September 1832 personally appeared before the Court of Common Pleas of
Oswego County now sitting. Aaron West, a resident of the Community of Orwell in
the County of Oswego and State of New York, aged Sixty-nine years who being
first duly sworn according to law doth on this oath make the following
declarations in order to obtain the benefits of the provision made by the Act
of Congress passed June 7th, 1832.
That he enlisted
as a private in the Army of the United States in the year 1780 for the term of
nine months and served in the 9th Regiment of the Connecticut Line
under the following named officers viz Colonel Samuel B. Webb and Major Willis
does not recollect the Captain’s name nor the Major’s given name. That he
enlisted in the Company commanded by Captain Walker does not recollect the
Capt’s given name. Thinks Colonel Webb was a prisoner in New York at this time
and that Colonel Samuel Huntington Commanded the Regiment during the Campaign.
That he was
enlisted at the old State house in Middletown by Sergt Elijah Bowman in the
month of March and marched immediately with him to Nelson’s Point on the Hudson
River where he joined the Army and there crossed over to West Point and after
remaining there about a week the Brigade Commanded by General Starks or General
Poor to which he was attached he does not recollect which of these Generals
commanded crossed over the River again to Nelsons Point and from there down the
River to King’s Ferry below Stony Point where they re-crossed the river into
the Jerseys and marched own the Jersey side – to the English Neighborhood
opposite New York. that he was stationed at the English Neighborhood until
Arnold’s Treason and escape when he was immediately marched to West Point that
he remained at West Point about ten days and then was marched back to the
English Neighborhood where he remained until about the first of November when
he was marched back to West Point and went to building Barracks and that after
working at the Barracks a few days he was discharged and as he believes some
five or six weeks previous to the expiration of the term for which he enlisted.
That he was at the English Neighborhood when Major Andre was executed. That he
was inspected a number of times during this Campaign by Baron Steuben.
He hereby
relinquishes every Claim whatever to a pension or an annuity expect the present
and he declares that his name is not on the pension rolls of any agency in any
State.
Sworn to and
subscribed the day and year aforesaid. Aaron West.
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