Private John Carter (Caster): Verifying Claims in a Rejected Pension File (R1749)

Maria Williams-Cole, SAR Grave Memorial Service, 2014

In 2014 at the culmination of my research for the North
Carolina Society Sons of the American Revolution (NCSSAR), I wrote a post entitled, Private John Carter: Revolutionary War Pension File (R1749) He was honored on March 16th of that year at the Grave Memorial Ceremony at Harlowe Community Center in North Harlowe, North Carolina--in the community where my father-in-law, Chester Carter Sr., was born and raised. 

Vetting Sources

When I worked with the NCSSAR, I not only researched the list of Patriots names the group supplied me with, but I gave them my database of over 2,500 descendants of Paul and Hannah Carter and Peter and Joan George, the progenitors of the Carter and George families in North Harlowe, along with the intertwined branches of that tree, including the familiar surnames of those still living in the community:

Anderson	Andrews	Bannister
Battle	Becton	Bell
Black	Boone	Braddock
Bryan	Cannady	Carter
Chadwick	Coleman	Culley
Dove	Falls	Fenner
Fisher	Frazier	Gaskill
Gaudet/Godette	George	Hardesty
Harkley	Hickman	Hodges
Hoyt	Huskins	Hyman
Johnson	Jones	Lewis
Martin	Mitchell	Moore
Perkins	Pickett	Richards
Roberts	Robinson	Smith
White	Whitehead	Whittington
Williams	Willoughby	Woods

Now that I'm working on the Forgotten Patriots Project with SOFAFEA.org, I'm going back to my old work and vetting claims and sources. What does that look like? Last week I completed the 9-Part series, Isaac Carter: Determining Identity in Same Name Rev War Soldiers. Today I'll be looking at the claims made in a rejected pension file for Private John Carter (Caster).

Claims made in the Declaration

The Service-Pension Act of 1818 offered financial assistance to those Revolutionary War Soldiers who had served a minimum of 9 months or to the end of the war "in a Continental military organization or in the U.S. naval service (including the Marines)."[1] These benefits continued for life. There were three types of pensions offered: "S" files were for survivors, "W" for widows, and "R" were rejected, and these letters were followed by a file number. 

The Act of 1820 added the eligibility requirement that the veteran prove financial need and describe the state of health for everyone in the household. 

The Act of 1832 lowered the length of service to a minimum of six months of service and added a provision for those who served in the State troops and militia. These servicemen's files were often incomplete because of the lack of state-level records proving service and discharge. Applicants had to appear in court and have a witness corroborate their service.

All three Congressional acts relating to the survivor's pension required the applicant to give a social history in open Court in their home county. Questions included the date and place of enlistment & discharge, the regiment, commanding officers, troop movements and engagements participated in, property owned, financial condition, spouse's and children's names, and health.[2]

As you'll see when I get into the analysis of John Carter's pension application, some trouble spots caused his case to be rejected.

The claims made in file R1749

Enlistment, Discharge, Service

John Carter applied under the Acts of 1818 and 1820. He declared that he "enlisted for the term of nine months on the [blank] day of [blank] in the year [blank] in the State of No Carolina in the company commanded by Capt Quinn--in the 10th Regiment commanded by Colo Davidson in the line of the State of North Carolina--on the Continental Establishment, that he continued to serve in the said Corps nine months. when he was discharged from the said service at Halifax in the State of North Carolina." Right off we can see that there are gaps in his history. 

It was customary for Wiliam Hill, the Secretary of State of North Carolina, to Certify the service record of North Carolina pension applicants, about John Carter, he said, "It appears from the muster rolls of the Continental line of this State in the Revolutionary war that John Carter a private in Capt Quinn's Company of the 10th Regt was mustered on the 20th July 1778 for nine months. The date of his discharge is not mentioned."

Encampment, Engagements, Compatriots

John Carter's declaration states, "he was not in any encampment but was in some skirmishes near West Point and at Kings Ferry. He has no other evidence of his services in his power except the adjoined deposition of Asa Spelman." 

Verifying the evidence

Just as we did in the Isaac Carter identity series, we can use the clues presented for analysis. 

When I first started researching Revolutionary War history, my late husband's friend who was a SAR genealogist in Western North Carolina told me that even though the 10th North Carolina Regiment had been reassigned at Valley Forge and the regiment disbanded, enlistment officers continued to designate it on enlistment records. It didn't mean much to me then; but, years later, I fully commiserate! 

Our clues:

1. enlisted on July 20, 1778,
2. nine months,
3. Captain Quinn's company,
4. commanded by Colonel Davidson,
5. Skirmish near West Point,
6. Skirmish at King's Ferry.

One of my go-to sources for researching free black families is Paul Heinegg's Free African Americans of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina (online database). The Revolutionary War page records an entry for the State Records of North Carolina (Vol. XVI: 1034). This is a "Roster of North Carolina Troops in the Continental Army (1791)," and the soldier's name was transcribed into the record as "John Caster." But you can also see on this page how many men who enlisted in this period didn't have a recorded discharge date. All the other facts (1-3) check out.

My next step, look up Captain Michael Quinn on Carolana.com, by J.D. Lewis. As you can see, from the Spring of 1778 to 1779 Captain Quinn was with the 3rd North Carolina Regiment New Levies, who were "nine-month men." 

In Colonel William Lee Davidson's bio, I learned that on June 1, 1778, he was transferred to the 3rd North Carolina Regiment--just 50 days before John Carter's enlistment--and that he commanded the regiment at the Battle of Monmouth on June 28, 1778.

Reckoning dates

So, now that we know that John Carter served in the 3rd North Carolina Regiment, it's time to compare notes and reckon dates. Compare notes? Yes. Two other soldiers I've researched, Private Isaac Perkins and Private Martin Black, served with the 2nd North Carolina Regiment and were also present for two skirmishes: 

• Near West Point: May 16, 1779, and 
• King's Ferry/Fort Lafayette: May 31, 1779.

Wonderful! But wait a minute. Wouldn't nine months from July 20, 1778, be in April 1779? And these skirmishes happened in May? 

Unit histories

Now it's time to check the unit history. Where was the 3rd NC Regiment in July 1778? On June 1, 1778, they were sent home from the Northern theater to recruit. So, it makes sense that John Carter enlisted as a New Levy in July. By late 1778 the unit was rejoined with Washington's main army, reassigned from the Middle Department to the Southern Department, only to be sent home again in April  1779. They weren't rebuilt again until November of that year.[3] 

Battle histories

J.D. Lewis records these skirmishes on his timeline, "North Carolinians Outside of North Carolina During the Revolution," but only records the NC Provincial, State Troops, or Militia involved in them:

• Skirmish Near West Point: "Col. Thomas Clark with the 5th NC Regiment and Col. John Patten with the 2nd NC Regiment skirmishes with 500 British Regulars."
• Skirmish at Fort Lafayette, NC: "Capt. Thomas Armstrong and 70 NC Continentals, remnants of the 2nd NC Regiment and the 5th NC Regiment forced to surrender to much larger British Army."[4]

Hugh Rankin in his book, The North Carolina Continentals, records the only details of the Skirmish near West Point that I've seen. "And it was Clark's First and Second North Carolina regiment that received the first spring thrust by the British." Two columns of about 500 soldiers crossed the Hudson River and marched toward New Bridge, their objective being Paramus Church. The British rounded up the cattle and pillaged the houses before falling back across the river.[5]

Fort Lafayette was situated at Verplanck's Point where the King's Ferry made river crossings between there and the garrison at Stony Point. On May 31, 1779, Clark spotted a large British force of about 6,000 disembark from 70 ships and 150 flat-bottomed boats on both sides of the river. Stony Point fell quickly; then, the British turned their force against Fort Lafayette.[6]

Analysis

There are issues with dates. The 3rd North Carolina Regiment had been sent home in April and these skirmishes didn't occur until May.

The troops present were recorded as being from the 2nd North Carolina and the 5th North Carolina Regiments. 

The survivors at Fort Lafayette had surrendered to the British. 

With three questionable items, Private John Carter was included in the SAR memorial, but I've decided not to include this soldier's service in the SOFAFEA Forgotten Patriots Project. 

[1] "National Archives Microfilm Publications, Pamphlet Describing M804, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land-Warrant Application Files." Washington, D.C., 1974.

[2]"Revolutionary War Veteran and Widow Pensions," National Park Service.

[3] J.D. Lewis, "Third North Carolina Regiment: Brief History of the Regiment," Carolana.com. 

[4] J.D. Lewis, "North Carolinians Outside of North Carolina During the Revolution," Carolana.com.

[5] Hugh Rankin, The North Carolina Continentals, UNC Press, 1971, p. 169.

[6] Hugh Rankin, The North Carolina Continentals, UNC Press, 1971, p. 170.