Again, in the course of this research, the writer of this blog has collected twenty-one pension applications filed by members of the crew and marines of the frigate South Carolina. It would appear that among these twenty-one there were a number that were requests or pleas fro restoration of their previous pensions due to their having been struck from the pension rolls or for increases in their pensions in order to make their "autumn years" a bit more comfortable. For some of these requests, there is no indication that their petition was successful. But, for at least three of these former crew members or marines of the frigate South Carolina, their requests seem to have yielded results.
The information for this post was taken from the following source:
No Author. Pensioners of Revolutionary War Struck Off the Rolls: With an Added Index to States, (Genealogical Publishing Company, 1969).
The three crew members or marines of the frigate South Carolina in question here are all very familiar to the readers of this blog - Isaac Dade of Gloucester, Massachusetts; Robert Faucett of Tarborough, North Carolina; and Michael Spatz of Reading, Pennsylvania. Isaac Dade and Robert Faucett were dealt with in a combination post on "05/18/2015" and will thus be dealt with after addressing Michael Spatz.
Michael Spatz was one of a company of about seventy men who were recruited by the enigmatic Edward Scull (or Scully) though he only mentions being recruited into "...a company commanded by a Capt. Joiner..." He was a member of the marine contingent on the final, ill-fated voyage that ended with the capture of the frigate South Carolina. After the capture of the frigate "...he was placed with the rest of the prisoners on board the prison ship called "Old Jersey" that he was kept and treated as a prisoner of war until the close of the war that from the time of his enlistment until released was upwards of one year that during his imprisonment he suffered very much..." Later on in his pension application, Michael Spatz states that "...his first pension was granted under the Act of Congress of the 18th March 1818 of $96 per annum to which he refers wholly for the proof of the above 18 months service, he further declares, that under the Act of the 20th May 1820 he was suspended from the pension rolls on account of his having property beyond the limits prescribed by the aforesaid Acts; and that he was not a pensioner of the United States from that time, until the passage of the Act of 7th June 1832."
According to the work, Pensioners of Revolutionary War Struck Off the Rolls, page 78, Michael Spatz of Reading, Pennsylvania was restored to his pension under the Act of Congress of June 7, 1832. When he appeared before the judges of the Courts of Common Please in Berks County, Pennsylvania on November 7, 1834 to petition to have his pension restored to him under the Act mentioned in the previous sentence, he was "...aged 70 years past..." When he first applied for a pension from the government, he stated that "...by his reduced circumstances [he] stands in need of the assistance of his country for support and that he is in indigent Circumstances." His signature appears as "S/ Michael Spatz, X his mark" which indicates, as stated in an earlier post, Michael Spatz was illiterate and had to have someone witness him making "his mark" on the document in question.
Isaac Dade of Gloucester, Massachusetts and Robert Faucett of Tarborough, North Carolina have already had one entire post just dealing with their few dissimilarities and their numerous similarities posted on "05/18/2015", Again, even earlier than that Isaac Dade was addressed in a post on "10/20/2014" and Robert Faucett was addressed in a post on "11/20/2014". With this post, one more similarity might be added to the increasing list of common features between these two men. Isaac Dade filed his pension application with no reference to the date it was filed in the Court of Common Pleas. He does mention that he did belong "...to the Company of Captain Gardner in the Regiment of Colonel [Henry] Lee of Virginia..." Further in the same application, he mentions six months of service under "...captain Gillan [sic: Commodore Alexander Gillon...] in "...the Continental frigate South Carolina..." Further on in this same section of his application, Isaac Dade states "..that by reason of my reduced circumstances in life and poverty, I stand in need of assistance from my country for support, being now of the age of seventy years...it is out of my power to produce any evidence of my service, other than the nature & circumstances of my case & the examination of my person may afford together with the Depositions of the Overseers of the poor of Gloucester which are heretofore annexed."
The next section of the application was brought before the court by a William Wetmore, who had been given authority to submit the facts of Isaac Dade's period of service "...to the consideration of the Secretary with the hope that they may be satisfactory..." This brief, one-paragraph long portion of the pension application was filed on June 29, 1819. A note of a more somber nature immediately follows and notes that on August 3, 1838, Fanny Blundel Dade, the widow of Isaac Dade, appeared before the court to apply for a pension based on her marriage to Isaac Dade on December 22, 1787. She stated that Isaac Dade had died on February 4, 1819. In other words, Isaac Dade had died almost five months prior to the appearance of William Wetmore in court, pleading the extenuating circumstances of Dade's case before "...the Secretary..."
According to the work, Pensioners of Revolutionary War Struck Off the Rolls, page 35, Isaac Dade of Gloucester, Massachusetts was restored to his pension under the Act of Congress of March 1, 1823. This was just over four years after his death at the age of sixty-three years old. In order for Fanny Dade to appear once again, over fifteen years later, to apply for a pension as Isaac Dade's widow, Isaac Dade's name must have been stricken from the pension rolls under one of the subsequent Acts of Congress. Fanny Blundel Dade was seventy-two years old at the time of her application for a pension.
Robert Faucett of Tarborough, North Carolina has many similarities with Isaac Dade even though they might possibly have not even known each other. They did serve on board the frigate South Carolina at the same time frame but, there is no hard evidence that they knew each other. But, unlike Isaac Dade, Robert Faucett does state dates in his rather rambling recitation of his services performed for the patriot Cause during the American Revolution. His actual statement concerning the frigate South Carolina is confined to a single, brief, run-on sentence - "That he afterwards served on board the Frigate South Carolina, under command of, Commodore Gillen, and that afterwards he was discharged from the service at the City of Philadelphia." Towards the end of his pension application, he, too, sends up the plaintive cry that "...he is in reduced circumstances, and stands in need of the assistance of his Country for Support..." When he appeared before the Court of Common Pleas on August 3, 1818, Robert Faucett was "...aged 66 years saving the one day..."
According to the work, Pensioners of Revolutionary War Struck Off the Rolls, page 87, Robert Faucett of Tarborough, North Carolina was restored to his pension under the Act of Congress of March 1, 1823. His pension application does not note where or when he died or whether or not he was ever married.