Revolutionary War veterans were not perceived as returning heroes like soldiers of today, and were not held in particularly high regard. The social expectation is that a military pension program would create a shiftless class of people supported by taxpayers’ hard labor, and even soldiers who stood to gain from pensions took offense at being labelled “pensioners.” George Washington regarded even the use of the word “pension” as loathsome. In one petition to Congress, he urged that they not consider paying bonuses or salaries to officers “in the odious light of a pension,” but rather as wages which they had earned. Although Continental Congress was quick to provide pensions to soldiers disabled in the war, service pensions were much more contentious.
Congress was generally reluctant to offer payment to war veterans, and dragged its feet in addressing how to care for America’s veterans. A number of laws passed by Congress over time, the most significant being:
Pension laws during the Revolutionary War: The first pension laws enacted during the war were designed to entice recruits and prevent widespread desertion or resignation by promising bonuses and pensions. These laws offered half pay to veterans who were disabled due to war injury and unable to earn a living. Widows and orphans of officers were also entitled to a pension. The limited scope of pensions to “invalids,” widows and orphans lasted for decades.
War Pension Act of 1818: Congress passed an act to expand the scope of pensions 35 years after the end of the war, when most veterans were already in their 50s. The law granted pensions to veterans who demonstrated significant poverty. After this law was passed, the number of claims astonished Congress, and there was insufficient funding to cover them all. Some claims were fraudulent, claiming false service or financial distress, but also the government severely underestimated the number of legitimate and eligible soldiers. Almost immediately, benefits were cut and Congress tried to crack down on fraud. In 1820, Congress passed a law that purged all pension rolls completely, and every former recipient had to prove their eligibility all over again. (Incidentally, the Pension Act of 1818 is the law that Dr. Campfield applied under, and he was stricken from the roll in 1820 along with everyone else. Only months away from dying at the age of 83, he did not reapply.)
Pension Service Act of 7 June 1832: More than 50 years after the war, at last Congress passed an act authorizing a pension to every veteran, as long as they could demonstrate 2 years of service, or 6 months of service for a partial pension.
To apply for a pension, a claimant was required to appear before a local court and describe his military service under oath, providing as much detail as he could remember. Normally, affidavits of witnesses were needed, as well as character witnesses and at least one clergyman. Enlisted men faced many obstacles in lobbying for their pensions. Chief among them was the widespread view that a pension was unnecessary patronage. Veterans’ advocates avoided using the word “pension,” instead emphasizing that the veteran only sought back pay. Another challenge was that the Pension Office wanted to see discharge papers or pay certificates as documentary evidence. However, discharge papers were usually not issued to non-ranking soldiers, and pay certificates were lost or sold in the post-war years. Many soldiers were illiterate, and migrating to the western frontier with all their belongings, they saw little reason to save slips of paper for 50 years or more. As a result of delays and obstacles, of the estimated 150,000-300,000 soldiers who served in the Revolutionary War, only 80,000 applied for a pension, and the number of successful applicants was far less: 20,485 on the pension roll in 1818, 1200 in 1828, and 33,425 in 1832 [Sources: Emily J. Teipe, “America’s First Veterans and the Revolutionary War Pensions” and National Archives, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Application Files].
With that as background, let’s consider the sad story of Morris County soldier/veteran, Daniel Farber (DAR Ancestor A038529). Farber was born in Morristown on 4 Mar 1765. When he turned 16, he was drafted into the army and enlisted in Morristown on 15 Mar 1781, serving in Captain John Howell’s company of the Continental Army. Farber fought in the Battle of Yorktown, where he was wounded twice (once in the head, and once in the chest).
Farber moved west after the war, eventually landing in Wayne Township, Jay County, Indiana, where he applied for a pension (R3432) in 1843. Like so many other soldiers, he encountered stiff resistance and had difficulty proving his case. Among other things, he was questioned on why he waited so long to apply. His response under oath was “Untill the year 1838 the said Farber was in moderate circumstances and able to live without the Aid of a Pension. And his understanding was that unless a person was wholly destitute of the means of living Otherwise, the Pension law would not award him any aid.” Farber was able to provide his discharge paper to the Pension Office, but even so, they denied his claim because they asserted that he was unable to provide proof of service. Perhaps this is because there was confusion on which organization he served. Barbara Hoskins, who studied Morris County Revolutionary War soldiers in the 1970s, recorded Farber as serving in the Morris County Militia. However, the captain who signed his discharge paper (John Howell) was in the Continental Army.
According to Hoskins, Farber personally made two trips to Washington DC to plead his case and prove his service, each time walking the 600-mile (each way) trek from Indiana. Given that he was over 80 years old by this time, that fact in itself is a remarkable testament to his perseverance. On his way home on the second trip, Farber died in Preble County, Ohio on 21 Feb 1847. He is buried there at the Old North New Paris Cemetery in New Paris, Preble County, Ohio. He never received a pension.
Sources
Pension record of Daniel Farber, R3432, National Archives and Records Administration, M804, RG15
Hoskins, Barbara, Men from Morris County New Jersey Who Served in the American Revolution, Morristown, NJ: The Joint Free Public Library of Morristown and Morris Township, 1979, pg. 66
Teipe, Emily J., America’s First Veterans and the Revolutionary War Pensions, New York: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2002
Morristown ChapterDaughters of the American Revolution