Below is an image copy of the deposition made by Alice Watson in support of her mother Abiah Watson’s application for a widow’s pension.
The question being addressed was whether or not Abiah had married Samuel during the time he was actively serving in the Revolutionary War. (Women who wed their husbands after their military service was over were not entitled to federal pensions.) Abiah Watson could find no formal record of her marriage to Samuel and had to submit the testimony of her family, friends, and neighbors as proof of the timing of her marriage.
Note the words “in Stephentown” stricken from this record by Justice of the Peace William Dyer. A possible reason for striking out these words could be that it was inadvisable to provide too many details about one’s relatives. Justice Dyer no doubt realized that an official might deny government funds to widow Watson if it looked as though she had family nearby who might be a source of financial support. There are other documents in the Watson pension file with William Dyer’s signature on them that bear witness to this man’s concern for Abiah Watson’s case.
Beneath the image is a transcription of this deposition.
I Alice Watson of Voluntown in the County of Windham in the State of Connecticut aged fifty one years do testify and say that I am the chi[ld] of Samuel and Abiah Watson, that I have had three brothers older than myself all being born as I have always understood, after the marriage of my said parents. My eldest brother Hazzard died in August 1822 aged 43 years and would have been fifty eight years old had he now been living, my second brother lives in the State of New York in Stephentown and is fifty six years old at this time, that I have always understood my father and mother were married during the war of the Revolution in the year 1778 and further the deponent saith not –
(signed) Alice Watson
State of Connecticut
Windham County / Voluntown December 28th 1836
Now personally appeared Alice Watson above named and signed the above deposition in my presence and made solemn oath to the truth of the same before me — And I certify that she is a credible Witness
(signed) William Dyer Justice of the Peace
Back to the paragraph about Daniel Watson in the Appendix.
To view image copies of the deposition made by Elisha Sweet, click here.
Back to the beginning of the article “Regarding Samuel #26 Watson in The American Family of John Watson
of the Narragansett Country, Rhode Island”