The following is the story of John Michael Boltz (my fourth great-grandfather) a Patriot who tried and failed to obtain the Act of Congress passed June 7th, 1832. The Act of June 7, 1832, was a landmark pension law partial lifetime pension to surviving Revolutionary War veterans and their eligible widows.
As he states in his letter of application October 16, 1849, he was a teamster for the Revolutionary War. His father’s team was pressed by Adam Bowers Commissary to the army and that he was taken to drive his father’s team that he hauled grain called Spelts which belonged to his father and which Bowers seized for the use of the army, that he hauled the grain from his father’s farm in Lebanon Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to the barracks at Philadelphia, that he hauled flour from Soopes Mill on the Brandywine and from John Herderings Mill on the Schuylkill.
During the American Revolutionary War, a teamster was a person who drove a team of horses, oxen, or mules hitched to a wagon, serving as the army’s primary supply carriers They hauled food, ammunition, cannon, medical supplies, clothing, tools, and fodder for the animals themselves. Teamsters often walked alongside their wagons on rough, muddy, or icy roads, managing their animals and ensuring the integrity of their loads. They faced constant threats from enemy raiders, and handling ammunition wagons carried the risk of catastrophic accidents.
Teamsters typically used Conestoga wagons, which were custom-built, heavy-duty wagons capable of carrying up to eight tons of freight. These wagons had a boat-shaped bodies to prevent loads from shifting and were often equipped with bells on the horses to signal their approach. The work required skill in animal management, wagon repair, and navigation of difficult terrain. Civilians could volunteer, be hired, or be requisitioned by the military to serve as teamsters, and inexperienced soldiers were sometimes pulled from the line, which could lead to problems with sick or injured animals.
Without teamsters, the Continental Army could not have functioned effectively, as they ensured the continuous supply of essential materials to troops in the field. Their work was physically demanding, dangerous, and often overlooked, yet it was indispensable to the success of the Revolutionary War. Teamsters exemplify the critical role of logistics in military history, demonstrating that victories often depended as much on supply and transport as on battlefield heroics. As he stated he was only seventeen years old at the time he first became a teamster, that was a lot of responsibility for someone in their teens at that time.
In 1790 he married Margaret Phoebe Grantham, and they started their life together in Fredricks County, Virginia. The Census of 1810 shows that they were living in Berkeley County, Virginia. The Census of 1820 Census finds John and family in Liberty, Highland, Ohio. He and his family remained in Ohio throughout the rest of his life.
Letters from early communications on his behave from family, friends, and others.
John Boltz/Puls/Pulse/Pults/Pultz.
Sept 29, 1848 Yellow Springs, Ohio
Oct 2, 1848, Letter
Dear Sir;
I directed a communicant to you a few days since concerning the claims of John Boltz, to a pension but learning from a gentleman who says he has written to you some time since and as yet has received no answer and that you might think my communication not sufficient definite to induce you to reply, and as Mr. Boltz is in great need of his claim if it can be had, and wishes to present his claims to the next Court in this County, which term will commence on the 10th of the present ultimo. I have taken the liberty to present this matter to your consideration, in hopes that when an appeal is made by one of the fathers of our Country that will not be in vain. I have seen him since I wrote to you and he says that if anything can be done, he wants me to attend to it immediately, as he is in great need his title to his Claim is Clear and indisputable he says that he is eighty-seven years of age and that he was drafted three different times from which he was honorably discharged, besides having acted as a teamster in the early days of the Revolution, he refers to Daniel Berber & Lessey’s of Martinsburg Va as being acquainted with his Character as a man and also of his services as a Soldier of the revolution But what we desire most to know is whether there is any funds providing his claim can be established, any information on the subject and also a copy of the pension laws would thankfully receive, as I have consulted the older members of the bar in this place but who appear to be ignorant of the subject I hope if your Excellency is too much engaged in business of more importance you will at least see that this is attended to.
Yours very respectfully.
Richard Partington
Atty at Law Hon W.L. Marcy Sec of. War PS. please direct to Xenia Ohio, Richard Partington Pension claim of John Pulse. P2463. See Oct 3/48. Pension Office Ans, Washington M. L. Marcy S. District Honorable W L Marcy Sec of War Washington District of Columbia
My Dear Sir
John Pulse, a Revolutionary soldier, has solicited me. to enquire concerning his claims to a pension, he state that he lived in Lancaster County Pennsylvania and that during the early part of the revolution his father teams was taken under Commissary Adam Bowers during which term he served as teamster, and that he afterwards served three different times of four months each, for which at the expiration of each term he received an honorable discharge, he states that his memory has greatly failed (being very old and feeble) but he remembers several of his officers and comrades, one of his captains was Michael Hansler and if he is not mistaken another was something like Motreke he remembers one of his Majors whose name was Latshaw his Colonel was Curtis Jauch he is not certain as to the exact pronunciation of the name, but he states that his Colonel was owner of a furnace in Lancaster County Lebanon Township and that his General was of the same name, Peter Grube he states a number of other circumstances connected with his service sufficient to substantiate his claims fully to the right of a pension he also states that he has never before applied for a pension, that his father was very wealthy and that he has been in very good circumstances and that he always looked upon pensions in the light of beggars and had resolved never to apply. But he is now become very poor and he with his wife lives with their son who has a large family and is also very poor and not able to furnish them the necessaries of life, he bears the reputation in the neighborhood where he now lives and also in the neighborhood where he lived previously, of being a very upright and honorable man and a member of the Episcopalian Church, though since he has come to this he has not lived in the bounds of his own Church and thinks it wrong to connect himself with any other. And from the knowledge I have of your Excellence I know that it is necessary that you should know about this case and you will provide relief please write immediately.
Yours with great respect Hon H L Marey Sec of War Richard Partington Atty for Petition Pension Yellow Springs, Green County, Ohio October 26th, 1849.
This office affords no evidence of the service in Pennsylvania troops; Some evidence may perhaps be obtained on application to the Secretary of State & Comptroller General of Pennsylvania at Harrisburg. If no parole evidence can be obtained some parole evidence of persons who knew him during or shortly after the termination of the Revolutionary War and can testify to his character having had the character of having been a Revolutionary soldier. He should state under oath his reason for not making earlier application for a pension. Richard Partington Esq. Yellow Springs, Green County, Ohio October 26, 1849. No. 3 November 7, 1849, J. L. Edwards Esqr Commissioner of Pensions Washington D.C.
To Be Continued
Brumley Family Branches 