| 1st. Where
& in what year were you born: Answer
I was born in Guilford New Haven County in the
State of Connecticut on the 9th day of October in
the year 1760.
2nd. Have you
any Record of your age & if so where is it?
Answer
The period of my birth is written in my family
Bible which Bible is now in my possession at my
place of residence in Collinsville Madison
County.
3rd. Where
were you living when Called into
Service—Where have you lived since the
Revolutionary War --- and where do you know live?
Answer
I resided in Guilford New Haven County, State of
Connecticut at the time I was Called into the
Service of the United States. After the war I
lived about forty years in Litchfield in the
State of Connecticut & then came to the State
of Illinois & have resided in the County of
Madison Ever Since.
4th. How were
you Called into Service were you draughted- did
you volunteer or were you a Substitute: and if a
Substitute for whom?
Answer
I was draughted into the Service for the period
of Eight months as stated in My
Declaration—When I went into the Service in
the family of Genl Ward I went as a volunteer
& Continued two months as Stated in My
Declaration.
5th. State the
names of Some of the regular Officers who were
with the Troops where you Served: Such
Continental & miltia regiments as you Can
recollect & the general circumstances of your
Service.
Answer
It is So long Since the period of my Service
& my Memory has become So much impaired that
I Cannot well recollect the names of the Officers
who were with the Troops. I recollect the names
of Major Humphrey, Genl Putman, Capt. Humphreys
Sergeant Fowler & Lieutenant Ely. I cannot
recollect the names of any of the Regiments
Either of the Miltia or Continental troops.
6th. Did you
Ever receive a discharge from the Service, and if
so by whom was it given & what has become of
it?
Ans.
I never had a regular discharge.
7th. State the
names of persons to whom you are known in your
neighborhood & who Can testify to your
character for truth & veracity & their
belief of your Services as a Soldier of the
Revolution.
Answer.
I can name a great many individuals who have been
intimately acquainted with me for many years.
Since I came to the State of Illinois, the
following persons know me well, A. Small, H.
Look, Geo. Churchill, William Hadley, John T.
Lusk, Daniel Burkee & Thomas Loppincott which
latter gentleman was for many years & until
the last two months the pastor of Collinsville
society of which I am a member & have been
Such member for Eighteen years.
|
On this Twelft day of
August in the year of our Lord one thousand &
Forty, personally appeared in open Court before
the Circuit Court in and for the said County of
Madison. Now sitting, William Collins, a resident
of the County of Madison & State of Illinois
aged about 80 years born in the year 1760 in the
town of Guilford & State of Connecticut: who
being 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 7, 1832. “That he Entered the Service
of the United States under the following named
officers & Served, as herein Stated. That he
went into the Service of the United States at the
age of Seventeen years by being drafted in the
State of Connecticut, and Served from April 1777
until January following a period of eight months
in the Seventeenth Regiment Commanded by Colonel
Return Jonathan Meigs—which Regiment was
called the “ Scouting Regiment”.
