Pension Application

S.15392
Pension awarded $86.66 per annum
Declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress passed June 7, 1832.
State of New York
County of Cayuga SS.
            On this twenty first day of September in the year AD 1832 personally appeared in open court before Joseph S. Robinson, Asohel Fitch, Gersham Morse & August F. Ferris Esquire, the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas now sitting Obediah Cooper a resident of the town of Conquest and State of New York aged seventy three years who being first 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 and served as herein stated. That he entered the service of the United States under Captain Vedder (1) Lieutenant James Burnside and Ensign Teneyke In Colonel Quackenbush Regiment of Militia as a volunteer in the month of October as he thinks in the year 1775 at the town of Bethlehem County of Albany in the State of New York at which place he then lived and was discharged in the month of November or December thereafter and was out from home about a month & a half that he was marched from said Town of Bethlehem to Fort Edward and there laid till discharged. This was at the time of the Americans were retreating from Canada.
            That he again entered the service of the United States under the aforesaid named officers as a volunteer in the month of May or June in the year 1776 as he now thinks at Bethlehem aforesaid where he then lived, and was discharged in about four weeks—That whole engagement was out at this time and were marched to Saratoga where he lay till discharged as aforesaid.
            That he again entered the service of the United [States] in the month of July 1777 under the aforesaid named officers at Bethlehem aforesaid where he then lived and was discharged in the month of October or the forepart of November that he entered this service as a volunteer and was out between three and four months—That he was marched to Saratoga and there lay til the taking of Burgoyne and was in the battle at Bemis Height.—(2)
            That in the Spring of the year and as he thinks in the month of April 1778 he entered the service of the United States again under Captain Ostrum (3) Lieutenant Jeremy Hogan in Colonel Butler’s (4) Regiment Colonel Butler he thinks was a regular officer the Captain was a Militia officer—that he resided in Bethlehem aforesaid where he entered the service and was discharged in May as he thinks of same year and was out a month that soon after he entered this service marched to Schoharrie [Schoharie] at the Middle Fort so called and there laid till discharged.
            That he again entered the service of the United States as a volunteer under Captain Winne, (5) Lieutenant Vandeburgh (6) in the month of September as he thinks in the year 1778 and was out a month & better and was discharged in October as he thinks—Resided at Bethlehem aforesaid where he entered the said service and was marched to Schoharrie Middle Fort where he lay till discharged.
            That he again entered the service of the United States in month of August or September and he thinks in September of the year 1779 under Captain VanWie, Lieutenant Devoe (7) in Colonel Staats’ (8) Regiment and was discharged in September or October and thinks in October, that he was out from home twenty five or six days. That he laid at aforesaid where he entered this service and marched to the lower Fort in Schoharrie.
            That he again entered the service of the United States and served as herein stated in the year 1780 the tories came to plunder his fathers home in said town of Bethlehem and afterwards threatened his father’s life and the lives of his family and the town committee called on his father and brought a guard from Albany taken from Colonel VanRensselaer’s Regiment (9) and he was to work at Albany then as a teamster for the army and the committee called on him and directed him to go to his fathers as one of the guard accordingly he went and joined the guard and did duty as a guard and as a Scout till into the month of January 1781 when he was discharged and the rest of the guard was also then discharged that during the whole of this service drew rations at Albany once a week for a week’s rations—That he went into this service in fore part of June 1780 was discharged first January 1781 and was employed about seven months on this service.—
            That he again entered the service of the United States under Captain Vedder, Lieutenant Burnside, Ensign Jeremy Hogan in Colonel Vandeburgh’s Regiment (10) in the fall of the year 1781 and he thinks in September or October and was discharge about a month after he went into this service. That he was marched from Bethlehem aforesaid where he then went to Saratoga and there remained till discharged as last foresaid.
            That he again entered this service of the United States in the year 1782 and he thinks in the month of August under Lieutenant Burnside who acted as Captain at Bethlehem aforesaid where he then lived and marched to Fort Hunter [?] Schoharie and brought some prisoners to Schenectady and there laid till discharged and was out on this service a month or thereabout—entered this service as a volunteer—
            That he has no documentary evidence of any of the above services—That he knows of no person whose testimony he can procure who can testify to his services except the testimony of Thomas Cooper & Uzziah Cooper.
            He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present and declares that his name is not on the pension [roll] of the agency of any state—(Signed) Obediah Cooper
            Sworn & Subscribed the day & year aforesaid.

On October 20, 1775, Captain Abraham Veeder’s Company was in Colonel Francis Nicholl’s Regiment of Albany County Militia, Third Regiment. The other company officers were First Lieutenant James Burnside, Second Lieutenant John Voorhuyse and Ensign Andries Ten Eyck. Philip P. Schuyler was appointed Colonel of this regiment on June 22, 1778. Henry Quackenbush was the First Major but on April 4, 1778 Major Quackenbush was appointed Colonel of the Fifth Regiment of Albany County Militia. Also on this date Captain Veeder and First Lieutenant Burnside are also in this regiment. The Second Lieutenant is Myndert Legrange and Ensign Ephraim Hudson.
The Battle of Bemis Heights, Second Battle of Saratoga, was fought on October 7, 1777. The Albany County Militia, General Abraham TenBroeck’s Brigade was engaged in this battle.
Captain Henry Ostrum’s Company was in the Third Regiment of Albany County Militia. The other company officers were First Lieutenant Jacob Weaver, Second Lieutenant Philip Hemstreet and Peter S. Schuyler was the Ensign. The only Hogan is George as an Ensign in Captain Barent Staats’ Company in the Third Regiment of Albany County Militia. George also shows up as a Second Lieutenant in Captain Dirk Bicker’s Company in the Fifth Regiment of Albany County Militia.
The militia detachment would have been under Colonel William Butler of the Fourth Pennsylvania Continental Regiment. A Continental Officer outranked any officer of the militia except a Brigadier General. Colonel Goose VanSchaick of the First New York Continental Regiment faced this dilemma in 1777 when he wrote of Governor George Clinton. He did not want to bring his regiment into the upper Mohawk Valley as he did not want to take orders from Brigadier General Nicholas Herkimer.
There was a Captain William P. Winnie (Winne, etc.) in the Fifth Regiment of Albany County Militia, originally this was part of the Fourth Regiment of Albany County Militia but under the new arrangement it became part of the Fifth Regiment.
First Lieutenant Tunis Vandenburgh of Captain John VanWie’s Company in the Fifth Regiment of Albany County Militia.
First Lieutenant John Devoe in Captain Winnie’s Company.
Lieutenant-Colonel Barant Staats was appointed June 22, 1778 to the third regiment not in the fifth regiment.
Captain Nicholas Staats’ Company was in Colonel Kilian VanRensselaer’s Regiment of Albany County Militia, Fourth Regiment. The other company officers were First Lieutenant Obediah Lansingh, Second Lieutenant Philip Staats, and Ensign Leonard Witbeck and all of the officers were appointed on October 20, 1775. At a later time Martin VanBuren became the ensign for this company.
Garret G. Vandenburgh was appointed lieutenant-colonel on October 20, 1775 of the fifth regiment. Sometime in 1776 he was promoted to colonel but he resigned on April 4, 1778 and Quackenbush was made the new colonel. On March 22, 1781, Colonel Quackenbush, Lieutenant-Colonel Volkert Veeder and Major Conrad T. Eyck of the fifth Albany resigned. Their resignations were accepted. There is a lot of confusion between the “new arrangement” of officers and the resignations of the officers which makes it hard to track the right officers for the right time for the right regiment.