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Van Meter Family Transcript of Jacob Van Meter's Revolutionary War Statement IMPORTANT NOTE: The below document refers to Jacob Van Meter, the nephew of the older Jacob Van Meter whose biography is included on this website. Many people, including their own descendants, have confused the two men and have mistakenly attributed the younger one's Revolutionary War service to his uncle. STATE OF KENTUCKY Jacob Vanmeter of the county and state aforesaid Personally appeared before me John Morris a justice of the peace for the county aforesaid and made oath to the following statement viz that he the said Jacob Vanmeter was commissioned an ensign in the Illinois Regiment commanded by Col George Rogers Clarke in February 1778 and commenced recruiting men for Capt. Harrod's company of said Regiment on the Monongahela River about ten miles above redstone fort that having finished recruiting that he started down the river with part of three companies commanded by Captains Helm Harrod and Bowman the Whole under the command of Col George Rogers Clarke for the falls of the Ohio now Louisville where they remained about a month and built a fort on Corn Island they then left the falls of the Ohio for the old Cherokee fort on the Ohio called afterwards for Mapac [?] where they only staid one night then they left the boats five in number and commenced their march to Ocan [?] now called Kaskaska [sic] which was taken by Col Clarke from the enemy who commanded by a frenchman of the name of Roublack [?] Leaving Captain Wm Harrod and Col Clark at Kaskaska [sic] he marched under the command of Capt Joseph Bowman of the Illinois Regiment to coho [Cahokia?] a small french village about ten miles below the present site of St. Louis from this place he returned under the command of Capt Bowman and Rejoined his Regiment under the command of Col Clarke at Kaskaska's [sic] the following summer his was with Col Clarke at Vincennes that he continued as an ensign in the Illinois Regiment until the end of the war that in 1782 when Col George R Clarke then General commanded an expedition against the Shawnee Indians there was not full command for the officers of the Illinois Regiment he received the appointment of Captain of Militia to command a Company from [word difficult to read] licks which he did command for about two months which ended the expedition but that he did not consider his acceptance of the commission of Capt of Militia to have annulled his commission as Ensign in the Illinois Regiment that it was only a temporary appointment for the expedition that he afterwards continued to hold his Commission of Ensign of the Illinois Regiment until the end of the war and as such was recognized by the Board of Officers who assembled at Louisville in 1784 under an act of the assembly of Virginia for the purpose of allowing to the officers of the Illinois Regiment their portion of land in the Illinois Grant and that he was allowed for his services to the end of the war as Ensign in the Illinois Regiment 2156 acres of bounty land that when the declaration was prepared for him by Mr Northrup to obtain a portion under the act under the act of 1832 he was totally un advised of the provisions of the law that he then stated to Mr Northup tha the was an Ensign in the Illinois Regiment and also a Capt of Militia but never intended to convey the idea that he was an Ensign of Militia and that he served only seven months in that capacity for that in truth he served in said Illinois Regiment for several years viz from February 1778 when he was first commissioned until the close of the war that Mr Northrup must have mistaken the seven months service as Ensign of Militia for seven months of active campaigning mentioned to him when Ensign of the Illinois Regiment that he did not intend to convey the idea that he only served seven months in said Regiment but only alluded to a particular portion of the time when in service. Given under my hand this 6th day of October 1835. John Morris JPHC [Justice of the Peace, Hardin County] [This statement is followed by a declaration signed by County Clerk Samuel Haycraft, Jr., attesting to Morris' qualifications and another declaration attesting to Haycraft's qualifications signed by Green Adams, Presiding Justice of the County Court.]
Van Meter Family
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