On this 20th day of October 1832 personally appeared in open court before the Hon. Thomas C. Browne, Judge of the circuit court of Union County State of Illinois now sitting, Peter MEISSENHEIMER, a resident of the county and state aforesaid, aged 77 years, who being duly sworn according to law, doth on his oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of an act of Congress passed June 7th 1832.

That he entered the service of the United States under the following officers and served as herein stated.

That he lived in McLinburgh [Mecklenburg] County, North Carolina, at the time of his entering the service, he thinks 1781. That sometime in the first part of that year, the day and month he does not recollect, one Peter BLUER was drafted to stand a three months tour, but being (probably) rather of the Tory cast and not likely to go, this applicant voluntarily took his place and time and served it out. That one John STARNS or STEIRNS was his captain in this expedition, and one John WYATT [or WHITE] commanded as Major, RUTHERFORD being his general. That his company joined General RUTHERFORD at Lents Creek whence they were marched to Russell's Creek, where they lay a few 'days. That then they marched to Gum Swamp [near Camden, S.C.], where they arrived in the night, .and on [August 16, 1780] the next morning had a battle with the British in which they were defeated, at which time GATES was the regular general. That they met the enemy in the night and that there was some firing among the front guard, which soon ceased, only to be revived the following morning. He further states that they were defeated and that he thinks that GATES was among the first that fled from the circumstance. That one of his neighbors, with whom he was well acquainted, was laying on the road crippled and saw him pass by or near him. Here, he thinks, General RUTHERFORD was taken prisoner. That after the defeat, the militia made their way homeward. Sometime after their return home from this defeat, he obtained a discharge, which has been long since lost or destroyed by the ruthless passage of time.

He further states, that as he thinks, in the fall of the same year, or in the latter part of the winter following, he was drafted and served another tour of three months, under one Captain BOTTS [or maybe BOST], his given name not recollected, whose company belonged to the regimental command of Colonel Francis LOCK. Under these officers, he was marched to Haw River, where he met Major-General GREENE. He was thence marched to Buffaloe Creek, where the light infantry had a skirmish with the British. That they had no fighting while he was out this time. He marched about, from place to place, nothing memorable or worth nothing transpiring during the balance of his time, at the expiration of which, he was discharged and returned home to residence in McLinburg [Mecklenburg] County. He got no written discharge this time, as he was verbally discharged by his ___ [blank], under promise to get it at some further period, but his captain lived some distance from him (25 or 30), he never called on him for any, not thinking it of any use to him at any rate. Besides his inferior officers, he states he knew Colonel LOCK and Colonel WASHINGTON and Major-General GREEN of the regulars.

He further states that he volunteered, but whether before or after this tour of draft service he does not recollect, to repel and disperse the Tories, under Captain STEIRNS and Colonel Henry BARRIER's Regiment, and marched to meet the Tories at Rock River. That before they reached there, in Montgomery County, North Carolina, the Tories retreated so near the British that they thought fit and prudent not to follow them. He was after this marched home and dismissed, not recollecting any other particulars or even the period of his service, it having been so long since, that the operations of memory have become fleeting, childish, and weak.

Also, at another time, he thinks possibly before his drafted service, he volunteered under Captain Frederick BLITHER and marched to Charlotte, the place of rendezvous where Major James WHITE assumed the command. He thinks their rendezvous at Charlotte was a few days after BLEUFORD's defeat ² and saw several men who were wounded in that battle. They expected that the British would come to Charlotte, but they not having done so, he was again discharged. He does not recollect how long he was out this time either.

He further states that although he does not remember the dates of his service more particularly than he has above described, in the particular circumstances attending them, yet he rests under the honest consciousness of having served the length of time to which the different services above enumerated would amount upon calculation. He does not positively know whether the companies to which he belonged to the Continental Line or not, but they must have been of the militia or state troops service. In 1818 or 1819 he removed from North Carolina to this county and state, [where] he now lives and has lived ever since. He has no documentary evidence of his service, and knows no persons whose testimony he can procure, who can testify to his service. He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity, except the present, and declares his name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any state.
Sworn to and subscribed}
The day and year aforesaid}

We, John WHITEAKER, a clergyman, residing in the County of Union and State of Illinois, and Daniel KARRACAR, residing in the same, hereby certify that we are well acquainted with Peter MEISSENHEIMER who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration, that we believe him to be 77 years of age, that he is reported and believed in the neighborhood where he resides to have been a soldier of the Revolution, and that we concur in that opinion. Sworn and subscribed the day and year aforesaid. ³

And the court do hereby declare their opinion after the investigation of the matter and after putting the interrogatories prescribed by the War Department, that the above named applicant was a Revolutionary soldier and served as he states. And the court further certifies that it appears to them that William ECHOLS who has signed the preceding certificate is a clergyman residing in the county of Union and State of Illinois is a credible person and that his statement is entitled to credit.

Interrogatories supplementary to the declaration of Peter MEISSENHEIMER
in the matter of application for a pension
1. Where and in what year were you born? In Philadelphia County, State of Pennsylvania, in the year 1755.
2. Have you any record of your age, and if so, where is it? I have; it is recorded in my Bible, as taken by myself from my father's entry in his Bible.
3. Where were you living when called into service, where have you lived since the Revolutionary War, and where do you now live? In North Carolina, McLaneburg [Mecklenburg] County, thence I removed to the County of Union and State of Illinois, where I now live.
4. How were you called into service, did you volunteer, were you drafted, or were a substitute? And if a substitute, for whom? A substitute for Peter BLUER and the second time was drafted.
5. State the names of some of the regular officers who were with the troops when you served, such Continental and militia regiments as you can recollect, and the general circumstances of your service. GATES and GREEN were the principle officers. The general circumstances of my service have already been stated in my declaration, to which is supplementary.
6. Did you ever receive discharge from the service, and if so, what has become of it? I did, but have lost them.
7. State the names of persons to whom you are known in your present neighborhood and who can testify to your character for veracity and their belief as to your services as a soldier of the Revolution. John WHITEAKER and Daniel KARRACAR.

NOTES: Peter MEISSENHEIMER was issued pension certificate #832408 on 18 July 1833 and received a pension of $21.11 per year. His DAR marker at St. Johns Cemetery, Union County, Illinois, states that he died in 1835 in Union County, Illinois.

1. This declaration is also recorded in Union County, Illinois, Circuit Court Record, Book B, page 344.
2. Colonel Abraham Buford's 3rd Virginia Continentals; defeated at the Battle of the Waxhaws on 29 May 1780.
3. This affidavit is also recorded in Union County, Illinois, Circuit Court Record, Book B, page 362.