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State of Arkansas,
ss.
County of Scott,
On this 18th day of June, A.D. one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five,
personally appeared before me, a justice of the peace within and for the
county and state aforesaid, Mary B. Sorrels, aged sixty-five years, a
resident of Waldron in the State of Arkansas, who, being duly sworn
according to law, declares, that, she is the widow of Washington Sorrels,
deceased, who was a orderly sergeant in the company commanded by Captain
Reynolds, in the regiment of Mississippi militia, commanded by (she thinks
Col. Reynolds commanded the regiment) he was under the command of General
Nickson in the war with Great Britain, declared by the United States on the
18th day of June, 1812. That her said husband volunteered at Monticello,
State of Mississippi, sometime in the month of December, A.D. 1814 or
January, A.D. 1815, for during the war and term of about one month and was
honorably discharged at __________ sometime in the month of February, 1815,
or there about.
She further states that she was married to the said Washington Sorrels in
Elbert county and State of Georgia, on or about the 9th. day of Sept., A.D.
1802; and that her name before her said marriage was Mary B. Chalmers. That
her said husband died at Waldron, Scott county, Arkansas on the 4th day of
February, A.D. 1855, and that she is now a widow.
She further declares that her said husband made application in his lifetime,
for bounty land under the act approved 28 September 1850, and obtained a
land warrant for forty acres, No. 29151, which has been legally disposed of
and cannot now be returned.
She further states that she has written to the Ordinary of Elbert county,
State of Georgia, where she and her deceased husband, Washington Sorrels,
were married, for a certificate of said marriage, and that she is informed
by said officer that there were and are no records on file in his office of
the date at which she was married to the said Washington Sorrels. And
further that there is no family record of said marriage. She makes this
declaration for the purpose of obtaining the bounty land to which she may
be entitled under the "act approved March 3d., 1855. Mr. Thompson is hereby
constituted my attorney in this behalf.
Mary B. (her X mark) Sorrels
We, F.D. Ferguson and W.T. Vinson, residents of Scott county, in the State
of Arkansas, upon our oaths, declare: That, the foregoing declaration was
signed and acknowledged in our presence, and that we believe from the
appearance and statement of the applicant, that she is the identical person
she represents herself to be. And further, that we are personally acquainted
with the said Mary B. Sorrels and Washington Sorrels in his lifetime, that
they have, during our acquaintance, lived and cohabited together as husband
and wife, and were and are still repsected to have been duly married, and
that we have heard the said Washington (Sorrels) say that he had lived with
the said Mary, his wife, upwards of fifty years. That, the said Washington
Sorrels is now dead, and letters of administration upon his estate have been
granted to the said Mary B. Sorrels, as his widow, and that she is still a
widow.
F.C. Ferguson
W.T. Vinson
The foregoing declaration and affidavit and power of attorney were sworn to
and subscribed before me on the day and year first above written. And I
certify that I know the affiants to be credible persons; that the claimant
is the person she represents herself to be, and that I have no interest in
this claim.
O.A. Munn, J.P.
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State of Arkansas,
ss.
County of Scott,
I hereby certify that O.A. Munn, Esq., before whom the within declaration,
affidavit, and power of attorney, were made and executed and who has
thereunto subscribed his name, was at the time of so doing, a justice of the
peace in and for the county, aforesaid, duly commissioned and sworn, and
that his signature thereto is genuine.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name and affixed the seal of
the circuit court of Scott county, aforesaid, on this eighteenth day of
June, 1855.
E.H. Featherston, Clerk.
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Waldron, Scott county,
Arkansas, June 18, 1855.
Dear Sir,
Herewith, I enclose to you the application of Mrs. Mary B. Sorrels for
Bounty Land. Her husband, now deceased, obtained, in his lifetime, a warrant
for forty acres. At her request I wrote to the clerk of Elbert county,
Georgia for the certificate of marriage of her & her said husband. His
answer, I enclose to you, that there was no such record kept at the time of
their marriage; the family Bible has entries in the handwriting of the
decd., of the ages of himself, wife, and children, but no reference to
marriage.
Please direct to me, as above.
M. Thompson
Comr. Pensions
Washington City, D.C.
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Reply from the Clerk of Elbert county, Georgia
Elbert on May 17th 1855
O.A. Munn, Esq.
Dear Sir,
I recd., you(r) requesting a copy of the License & marriage of Washington
Sorrels & Mary B. Chalmers, & in answer can inform you that there is no
License recorded of file previous to 1806 in our county.
Yours Respectfully,
W.B. Nelm
Ordinary
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Bounty Land Application of Mary B. Sorrels, widow of Washington Sorrels, Act
of March 3, 1855, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
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