Who Were New Jersey’s Continental Soldiers?

4,505 soldiers listed in Stryker’s - 696 veterans of the Jersey Continental line - Jersey Blues and Jersey Greys - applied for 1818 pension - approximately 15%. Does not include Jerseymen who enlisted in other State battalions, like Pulaski’s Corps or others. Additional 87 men were not Jersey line. High rate of approval - only 10 rejected (including Robert Young who applied in 1829 but then reapplied and was approved under the Act of 1832.

Tiny number of veterans owned firearms.

Pension Applications Per Year, March 1818 - March 1832

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Number of Pension Applications Per Month in Calendar Year 1818

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 How Much Did They Receive?

Pensions under the Act of 1818 were set at $96 per year, disbursed in semi-annual payments of $48 on the 4th of March and the 4th of September. for enlisted men, or $240 per year, or 2 payments of $120 for commissioned officers.

 The first payment a veteran received after his application was approved included an arrears which was calculated from the day the veteran was inscribed on the pension roll (typically the date of their initial application) to the date the semi-annual payment would have been disbursed before the certificate of pension was issued.

For example, Johanis Hoogland (S.34407) of North Brunswick, Middlesex County who served as a private in Colonel Elias Dayton’s 3rd New Jersey Regiment, was inscribed on the Pension Roll of the State of New Jersey on May 25, 1818. His pension certificate was issued on April 21, 1819.  Since he was issued his pension certificate after the March payment was distributed, Hoogland was granted an arrears of $74.83, calculated at the rate of $8 per month for the 9 months and 10 days between May 25, 1818 and April 21, 1819, which would be paid, along with his regular semi-annual payment of $48, on September 4, 1819. 

 Ephraim Woodruff (W.2309) received the smallest arrears payment, at a paltry 26 cents, where John Vanarsaln (W.4840) received a generous $420. The vast majority of veterans received an arrears of less than $100, and most of these between $30 and $50.

Wartime Ranks of New Jersey Veterans Applying Under the Pension Act of 1818

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Enlisted/Other Ranks

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Length of Service

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Pension Applications Per Year, May 1820 - January 1828

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Pension Applications Per Month in Calendar Year 1820

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Occupations

The men who served as Jersey Blues and Jersey Greys pursued a wide variety of occupations in their post-Revolutionary civilian lives. Several veterans indicated that they had no trade, but worked as either a laborer or farmer - these were listed under the occupation “Laborer” or “Farmer.” Some, like Nicholas Goldy (S.34373) simply declared they had “no trade or profession and am in extreme indigdence and stand in need of the assistance of my Country for support and owing to my age and infirmity I am unable to support myself.”

Ailments

Several veterans directly attributed their infirmities with their service. Benjamin Baldwin (S.33256) noted that “[b]y reason of a Rheumatic complaint in my right shoulder and other infirmities of body (the effects doubtless of the hardships in war) all which circumstances render it extremely difficult to obtain comfort and subsistence.” James Andrews (S.39934) could not do much as a laborer “in consequence of a wound I received at the battle of Springfield in New Jersey - having lost the use of my left hand by casualty.”

Other ailments included phthisic (10), lameness (8), palsey (7) consumption (2), dropsy (2), and asthma (1). Adrian Johnson (S.33336) complained of “giddiness in the head,” William Maples (S.42914) suffered from a scythe wound to his knee, and both Adam Pearce (S.34468) and John White (S.33893) both were afflicted erysipolas, as known also St. Anthony’s Fire - a horrifying form of poisoning caused by eating rye infested with the fungus Claviceps purpurea. Delirium and hallucinations would be coupled with intense burning pain in the hands, feet, and even whole limbs, which would often turn gangrenous. Pearce’s case had progressed far enough to where he lost the use of his right arm.

Family Composition

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Single includes veterans whose spouses left them, like John Seeley (S.33638) who had “a wife Hannah aged about 39 years who left me after I was taken to the Alms House.”

Wife Ages

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 Veteran Households with Children

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 Total Individuals In Household For Whom Veteran Is Financially Responsible

How long did live?

 Quote about pension in declining years

FOOTNOTES.

 One holy man, one eponym, three distinct diseases. St. Anthony’s fire revisited - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7975928/