Bockstruck, Lloyd DeWitt. Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants: Awarded by State Governments, (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1996.)
Brumbaugh, Gaius Marcus. Revolutionary War Records: Vol. I, Virginia, (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1967.)
Claghorn, Charles E. Naval Officers of the American Revolution: A Concise Biographical Dictionary, (Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1988.)
Gwathmey, John H. Historical Register of Virginians in the Revolution: Soldiers, Sailors, and Marine, 1775-1783, (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1987.)
Lewis, James A. Neptune's Militia: The Frigate South Carolina during the American Revolution, (Kent, OH: The Kent State University Press, 1999.)
Pension Application of Byrd Chamberlayne R22
Pension Application of John Muir VAS781
In September 2020, this blog will be six years old and counting. The writer of this blog has recorded numerous entries concerning personnel and passengers who served, traveled, and fought on board the frigate South Carolina. He has also noted numerous operations which involved the frigate on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. He has traced the personal life histories of several individuals who served on board the patriot frigate, Americans as well as foreigners; some at great length, and some rather briefly due to a lack of information still existing directly addressing their life. But, what has piqued his interest most is whenever he encounters an individual who served on board the frigate South Carolina who is not recorded in Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, section entitled "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina", pages 135-170. Previously, the writer of this blog has located two men who served on board the patriot frigate but, for some unknown reason, do not appear on the roster as having done so. The two previous episodes are as follows:
"To Add to What is Already Known of Them" - Additional Information on Personnel on board the Frigate South Carolina" and posted on "04/27/2015".
The above post actually addressed numerous individuals who served on board the frigate South Carolina but, also introduced information concerning Joseph Croker who did indeed serve on board the patriot frigate. He is simply cited as having served on board the frigate South Carolina with no clarification as to what exactly he did on board the patriot ship-of-war.
"Previously Undiscovered Individuals Who Served on board the Frigate South Carolina - Personnel Who do not Appear in 'Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina" and posted on "10/05/2015".
This post specifically addressed Martin Rittsendall, dealt with him solely, and so is relatively brief in length. Yet, he is stated to have been a "mariner" in the service of "...the Naval Department of this State (South Carolina) in 1782...".
Now, after more than five years of writing and recording the lives of the crewmen and marines of the frigate South Carolina during the American Revolution, a third individual has been identified who does not appear in Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, section entitled "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina", pages 135-170. This third "previously unknown" individual will now be duly documented in this blog - Midshipman John Muir of Virginia.
Like the previous two individuals, Joseph Croker and Martin Rittsendall, not much is known (nor remembered) concerning the life of Midshipman John Muir. But, we do know more about him than the other two men, both of whom seem to have been sailors or "mariners" on board the frigate South Carolina. But, John Muir was a midshipman - an officer - on board the patriot frigate, unlike the previous two men who were most probably enlisted personnel. This fact alone further demonstrates to the writer of this blog that it is the officer class of men who served on board the frigate South Carolina who are more likely to leave more information behind them concerning their lives - letters, journals, pension applications, bounty land warrants, etc. - than are left by the "lower class" of men who served on board the exact same ship-of-war. This may be in large part due to the fact that these men were literate and composed these types of preceding named documents. Thus, they left a more substantial "footprint" than the men who served under them on board the frigate South Carolina. It could also be a factor of prejudice on the part of the older generation of genealogists and historians who more readily and willingly recorded the deeds of the "gentlemen class" of warriors for freedom than their subordinates who fought and suffered alongside of them.
Like Joseph Croker and Martin Rittsendall, nothing is known of the life of John Muir prior to the American Revolution and his participation in it. His last name - Muir - is Scottish in origin. But, we have no way of knowing whether or not he was an immigrant to the colony of Virginia or if he was the child (or even grandchild) of immigrants and yet retained the Scottish last name. If he was an immigrant himself, the only entry possibly concerning him turns up in David Dobson's work, Scots on the Chesapeake, 1607-1830, (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1992.) and is found on page 116. The entry is as follows:
John Muir - he was born in 1731, son of Hugh Muir, a merchant. He resided in Dumfries, Dumfrieshire. He settled in Alexandria, Virginia. He died on March 20, 1791. His gravestone is located in Christchurch graveyard.
This could all fit into the personage of the John Muir in question here except possibly, his age. He would have been 43 or 44 when the American Revolution broke out and he signed on with the Virginia State Navy. But, a midshipman was usually a much younger individual, probably a teenager or even a pre-teenager. These individuals were keen to prove their manhood, bravery and acumen on board ship and would have, with some degree of plum or foolish bravery, rapidly advanced beyond this entry level officer classification. But, in retrospect, these were the rebellious colonies and if the John Muir in question here had experience with shipboard matters, he may have entered a ranking far below his age, for one reason or another.
(Note: This individual could fit the true identity of Midshipman John Muir. But, simply because he initially landed in Virginia does not mean that he could not have landed elsewhere and moved (or ran away, if he was an indentured servant) to another colony. The writer of this blog has encountered additional information that seems to better fit the person of John Muir than the previous entry information. The following information is contained within the work Emigrants from Scotland to America, 1774-1775, (Baltimore, MD: Southern Book Co., 1959.) No author's name is attached to this work but, an entry occurs on the title page that reads "compiled and indexed in the London office of Viola Root Cameron, Genealogist". The reader may assume that Ms. Cameron was the individual who recorded this information for posterity but, this may ultimately prove to not be the case. The statement just before the information cited above addresses the manner in which this information was gathered and states that it was "copied from a loose bundle of Treasury papers in the Public Records Office, London, England". The entry information directly concerning him is found on page 4 and is as follows:
"(PRO/T/47/12) Port Greenock - List of Passengers from the 3rd of February, exclusive to the 10th of February 1774 inclusive.
John Muir of Paisley, Scotland. He was seventeen years old and a weaver by profession. He was bound for the port city of New York for the stated reason of "...for poverty and to get bread". He sailed on board of the Commerce, Duncan Ferguson, Master. The document is signed by John Clerk C. Collector, Alexander Campbell, D. Comptr, and John Dunlop, T.S."
John Muir's stated age - seventeen years old - and the underlying conditions of his emigration to America - "..for poverty and to get bread" - may indicate that this is the true identity of Midshipman John Muir. He could have left New York or run away from a master there and arrived in Virginia at the outbreak of the American Revolution. At this age, he could have easily signed on board a Virginia State Navy brig Mosquito as a midshipman. He would suffer being captured by the Royal Navy while on board this ship-of-war and would have been consigned to prison in England as will be revealed later in this post. But, as stated earlier in this post, we have no definitive information that either of these two men were indeed the actual John Muir in question here. These are all mere suppositions on the part of the writer of this blog.)
Once again, like Joseph Croker and Martin Rittsendall, little is known of John Muir's life, either before the American Revolution or afterwards. What we, in the 21st century, do have is a Bounty Land Warrant relating to John Muir but, filed on his behalf by one Byrd Chamberlane, and an entry in the Bounty Land Records book of Virginia concerning a land allotment to John Muir. But, yet once again, this is much more information than is known about Joseph Croker and Martin Rittsendall as enlisted men because John Muir was a midshipman, a member of the officer class on board the frigate South Carolina.
The bounty land warrant information is relatively brief and will be cited here in it's entirety. This information was provided by Byrd Chamberlane, another midshipman on board the patriot ship-of-war that John Muir also served on board of - the Mosquito, brig of the Virginia State Navy. This information is cited following the footnote below:
(Note: the writer of this blog has sensed that there is possibly some degree of confusion at work here concerning the true identity of the brig Mosquito. The footnotes associated with the information provided on behalf of Midshipman John Muir refers to both a Continental Navy brig USS Mosquito commanded by Lieutenant Thomas Albertson and a Virginia State Navy brig Mosquito commanded by Captain John Harris. Midshipman John Muir served on board the later of the two ships-of-war.)
"Bounty Land Warrant - information relating to John Muir VAS781
[from the Bounty Land Records in the Library of Virginia]
This is to Certify that John Muir was Midshipman on board the Mugreato [Mosquito], Brig John Harris Commanding in the State Navy & was taken in his vessel to England prisoner with me. He attempted to make escape when I did but had the misfortune to be taken & sent back where he remained from every intelligence I have had in Groton Prison [Forton Prison] upwards of three years. I believe he tried every means to come to Virginia & join the Service he belonged to, but still being misfortunate was kept in Europe until he got a passage in the Ship South Carolina. He came on board the Muguato [Mosquito] Brig January 22nd, 1777. We was taken the 4th of June following. I made my escape the [one or more words too faint to discern] December following. He remained a prisoner until 2nd of September 1789 [sic] & never received any pay or subsistence from the State.
Signed S/ Byrd Chamberlane
March 5th, 1784
I do acknowledge this to be a true Copy of the Original certificate
A Copy
Test S/ Charles Jones, Clerk A. Office"
(Note: As pertains to the footnote found immediately above, the Mosquito was a brig of the Virginia State Navy and was commanded by Captain Jacob Valentine first (with Isaac Young as her "husband") and by Captain John Harris next. The patriot ship-of-war was commissioned in 1776 and captured in June or August 1777 by HMS Ariadne in the West Indies near Barbados. The crew was confined in Barbados and the officers (possibly along with some of the crew members) were sent to Forton Prison in Portsmouth, England on August 8, 1777. The account above, given by Byrd Chamberlane, states that the patriot ship-of-war was taken on June 4, 1777 rather than in August 1777. It also states that Midshipman John Muir came on board the Virginia State Navy brig Mosquito on January 22, 1777. The Virginia State Navy brig Mosquito had an armament of 14 guns and a total crew of 72 men.)
(Note: As pertains to HMS Ariadne, she was a post ship carrying 20 guns. A "post ship" is a ship of the sixth rate (a Royal Navy system for ranking ship sizes and armaments) and smaller than a frigate. But, by virtue of being a "rated" ship-of-war, HMS Ariadne was required to be commanded by a post captain rather then a lieutenant. HMS Ariadne was commissioned 1776 and her most famous sea fight was against the USS Alfred in 1778, which she successfully took. She was refitted in 1792 to carry 24 guns and she was sold in 1814.)
The brief amount of information preceding these last two footnotes were given as supporting information to the bounty land warrant of John Muir and were filed on March 5, 1784, almost immediately after the cessation of hostilities with Great Britain. The affidavit was signed by Byrd Chamberlane, another midshipman in the Virginia State Navy and on board of the Virginia State Navy brig Mosquito, who successfully escaped from incarceration while John Muir was recaptured and recommitted to Forton Prison for another three years. The writer of this blog included the term "signed" only because of the statement on the bounty land warrant itself - that it was signed by Byrd Chamberlane. But, Midshipman Byrd Chamberlane misspells the name of the patriot ship-of-war - Mosquito - twice in the space of about one hundred and thirty words, uses ampersands in place of the word "and" four times, and makes little proper use of punctuation or capitalization. It is quite possible that Byrd Chamberlane was functionally "illiterate" and could only barely operate at a very low level of literacy.
So, a mere chance of the passage of time has preserved for posterity the above information concerning Midshipman John Muir of Virginia. But, there is one final piece of definitive information we still possess on the life of John Muir. This is in the form of a bounty land warrant which was issued to him after the cessation of hostilities with Great Britain and information associated with this bounty land warrant. Gwathmey's work, Historical Register of Virginians in the Revolution, page 571, simply notes that John Muir was in the "...Navy". This source further confirms that this information could be found in the "Index of the Revolutionary Records in the Virginia State Archives" and was "...compiled by Dr. H. J. Eckenrode in 1912 and 1914.". Claghorn's work, Naval Officers of the American Revolution, page 215, states that John Muir was a midshipman in the Virginia State Navy. Yet, Bockstruck's work, Revolutionary War Bounty land Grants: Awarded by State Governments, page 383, provides perhaps the most comprehensive information to this point in this specific post and is as follows:
"John Muir of Virginia. He was a midshipman. On March 10, 1784, he received 2666 2/3 acres of bounty land from the Virginia state government for his services."
These three references all seem to be indicating the same man referred to in these citations - Midshipman John Muir of Virginia. But, Brumbaugh's work, Revolutionary War Records: Volume I, Virginia, pages 61, 106, and 356 provide a most interesting bit of information regarding Midshipman John Muir of Virginia. The reference on page 61 in general cites the same information as found previously in Bockstruck's work. The information found on page 106 cites the same information as Bockstruck's work but, includes that the length of service of Midshipman John Muir. This length of service of Midshipman John Muir was approximately three years of service. This included his time on board the Virginia State Navy brig Mosquito and his time in incarceration at Forton Prison in Portsmouth, England. The citation for Midshipman John Muir on page 356 is very brief and gives even less pertinent information than these other two entries in Brumbaugh's work. It simply states that in accordance with Bounty Land Warrant #2745, that the warrant is being issued to John Muir; that he himself indeed did the service; and that the unit he did this service in is "Line Unknown" rather than State Navy, State Line, etc. This is not additional assistance at all, except for the title of the section of Brumbaugh's work, Revolutionary War Records: Volume I, Virginia. The full title is found on page 323 at the beginning of the list of bounty land warrants and is as follows:
"Virginia Military Land Warrants: Virginia Military District of Ohio, Granted for Revolutionary War Services - State and Navy, Beginning February 14, 1782"
This indicates that Midshipman John Muir was given a bounty land warrant within the boundaries of the territory of Ohio on the west side of the Ohio River from Virginia. This is the only entry for John Muir which indicates where his bounty land warrant lay in relation to from where he was actually from. The sources are silent as to whether he took the bounty land warrant and removed to the Ohio Territory, whether he sold part of the bounty land warrant and used the money to build on the remaining portion of it, or if he sold the bounty land warrant in it's entirety to a land speculator. But, from Bockstruck's work cited above, we can assume that the 2666 2/3 acres of land received by Midshipman John Muir were all located within the Ohio Territory. It is possible that the silence of the sources on this last issue might indicate that he chose to sell his bounty land warrant to a land speculator and walk away from it, as did so many veterans of the American Revolution who petitioned for and received bounty lands in compensation for their hard fought services. Only further research might be able to uncover this point of fact, now almost lost to the passage of time.
(Note: One final point of fact that stands as almost a contradiction to the truths that have been recorded here concerning Midshipman John Muir of the Virginia State Navy brig Mosquito. This was nothing less than tragedy befell the writer of his supporting affidavit for his application for the bounty land warrant he applied for in March 1784 - Lieutenant Byrd Chamberlane. Byrd Chamberlane's petition for a bounty land warrant was rejected by the state of Virginia based on lack of evidence that he indeed did serve for the specified period of time - three years - as a lieutenant in the Virginia State Navy. His daughter, "...Mrs. Evelyn B. Pollard, widow of the late Robert Pollard of King William County, VA..." and the birth daughter of Byrd Chamberlayne, of American Revolution fame here noted, was petitioning the government of Virginia for
"...recovering any amount, from the Government of the United States, for services rendered by her dec'd. [deceased] father Byrd Chamberlayne who was a Lieut. [Lieutenant] in the Navy during the Revolutionary war, and as she has been informed & believes remained in service to the end of the war.".
(Subnote: there exist two spellings of Byrd Chamberlane's last name - Chamberlane and Chamberlayne. In the supporting affidavit for John Muir's application for a bounty land warrant, the document is signed by Byrd Chamberlane as such -"Chamberlane". But, in the pension application of Byrd Chamberlayne R22, the last name is consistently spelled as "Chamberlayne". Also, and this has been stated frequently and much earlier in this overall blog, a pension application number always preceded by the capital letter "R" indicates that the pension application was ultimately rejected by the concerned authorities.)
Mrs. Evelyn B. Pollard had fallen on hard times according to the writings of "Alexander Fleet", a family friend and the apparent benefactor at the time of the writing of the letter, to "Colonel E. T. Montague" on September 9, 1856. Mr. Fleet wrote that he had
"...a great interest in the matter as a friend of Mrs. Pollard, who is one of the most amiable persons I ever knew, And who is not only deeply afflicted by the loss of an affectionate husband with whom she has spent so large a portion of her life, but her pecuniary circumstances are such as to render it especially desirable to receive at as early a day as possible whatever may be due to her as one of the two only surviving heirs to her dec'd [deceased] father.".
William Lindsay Hopkins's work, Virginia Revolutionary War Land Claims, 1783-1850 (Rejected), (Richmond, VA: William Lindsay Hopkins, 1988.), page 46, gives all known and recorded details of the naval services of Lieutenant Byrd Chamberlayne. This excellent work does not give the reason for the claim being rejected but, rather cites all that is known of the services of Lieutenant Byrd Chamberlayne. In addition, all of these documents cite that Byrd Chamberlayne died in December 1800 due to "...the Vessel in which he sailed from Virginia destined for Baltimore having been lost in a violent storm which happened on the 12th day of December 1800.". Brumbaugh's work, Revolutionary War Records, Volume I, Virginia, pages 57 and 93 both state that "...the allowance to the heirs of Byrd Chamberlayne has been stopped at Washington, and their petition for land is under the reconsideration of the executive.".
The conclusive evidence for the rejection of the bounty land warrant made on behalf of Mrs. Evelyn B. Pollard, daughter of Lieutenant Byrd Chamberlayne, stems from a lengthy letter submitted on January 15, 1834 by John Floyd, the Governor of Virginia, stating
"...that on the 21st of August 1778 Lieut. [Lieutenant] Byrd Chamberlayne appeared before the Navy Board and resigned his commission." & thence it is inferred, that the Office in Question could not have "Served Three Years" and is not entitled to Land Bounty.".
Even as late as March 21, 1857, the requests for governmental assistance on behalf of Mrs. Evelyn B. Pollard, the daughter of the by then long deceased Lieutenant Byrd Chamberlayne of the Virginia State Navy brig Mosquito, were being rejected by the government of the state of Virginia. She would have been ten years old when her father, the former Lieutenant Byrd Chamberlayne of the Virginia State Navy, was lost on the Chesapeake Bay during December 1800. Evelyn Byrd Chamberlayne Pollard had been born on April 30, 1790 in Richmond City, Virginia. At the time she applied for governmental assistance, she was sixty-seven years of age. She died on March 9, 1863 at the age of seventy-two years old. She is buried in the tiny Zoar Family Cemetery in Aylett, Virginia, King Williams County, Virginia. As far as we know today, she never received any governmental assistance for the services of her long-dead father, Lieutenant Byrd Chamberlayne of the Virginia State Navy brig Mosquito on board of which, so very long ago, he became acquainted with Midshipman John Muir.
All the above information was found on "find a grave memorial.com", entry for Evelyn Byrd Chamberlayne Pollard and was contributed by Carmella Adams. Total credit where total credit is due.)