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Benjamin Secor
There is information on Benjamin Secor at the site Heritage Quest Online:
http://www.heritagequestonline.com/hqoweb/library/do/index
The database of interest is Revolutionary War Era Pension & Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files. For Benjamin, the reference is:
Series: M805, Roll 724, Image 305, File S22975, Pages 1 to 6
Starting on Page 3, Benjamin tells his story in applying for a Revolutionary War Pension:
"State of New York, Rockland County
On this twenty-ninth day of November in the year A.D. 1832
personally appeared in open Court, before the judges of the court
of Common Please [sic], now sitting, Benjamin Secor, a resident
of the town of Ramapo, in the county of Rockland, aged seventy
nine years, the fourteenth day of April, 1832 who being first
duly sworn according to law, doth on his oath make the following
declaration, in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of
Congress passed June 7 1832. That he entered the service of the
United States under the following named officers, and served as
herein stated That about the first of August 1776 I enlisted as a
sergeant for five months in a Company commanded by Capt. Abraham
Onderdonk, [Osborn?] and and Garner were Lieutenants, at the town
of Hampstead (now Ramapo) where I then and have since resided.
Coln Nicoll of Goshen I believe was the Coln
of the regiment, and we first went to Nyack, then to Fort
Montgomery, then to Redhills near Peekskill, and [?] from there
to White Plains, which [ordered?] was [?], then returned to
Redhills again and assisted in building a fort where we remained
until Jany 1777 our time being expired I was discharged and came
home. I then early in the spring of 1777 was attached to a
Company of Militia Commanded by Capt. Acker in a Regiment
commanded by Coln A Hawkes Hay, and served therein
until the Close of the war. During the year 1777, there being but
few that was willing to take up arms in defending there [sic]
country I was obliged to be almost continually out on duty, but
after that time the Militia being divided into four classes and
one class to serve every fourth week I had a little more time to
stay at home but during the time I was off of duty in the
division of Militia as aforesaid I was obliged to attend at every
alarm which was frequently made and I had to serve then from two
to ten days at a time and our duty was guarding along the Hudson
River from Hoboken to Fort Montgomery and in scouting along
through the now county of Rockland and the county of Bergen and I
was with General [W?]'s Army the day after the Battle of the
retaking of Stony Point and guarded the prisoners taken by Genl
[W?] as [?] at Judge [Steffen's?]. Positively to state the time I
was engaged in the service of the United States is now after the
lapse of so many years out of my power as I kept no record of my
services but can confidently declare that it exceeded two years
exclusive of my enlistment. I have no documentary evidence of my
services to offer as I did not receive a discharge for my five
months service and no written document for my other services and
can prove a part of my services by some of the Survivors of the
Revolutionary War - He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever
to a pension or annuity except the present and declares that his
name is not on the Pension Rool [sic] of the agency of any state.
Sworn and subscribed, the day and year aforesaid.
David Pye clerk
Benjamin Secor"
Benjamin's statement was followed by the statements of witnesses confirming his story. These witnesses were Andres Onderdonk of Ramapo, John Felter of Haverstraw, and Resolvert Steven of Clarkstown, all in Rockland County. His submission was accepted and he did receive a pension, though there is no indication of how long he received it.
From Benjamin's statement we have a date of birth for him that is apparently April 14, 1753. While he was from present-day Rockland County, this does not state that he was born there. The 1790 census lists a Benjamin Secor in Haverstraw, Orange County, NY. (Rockland County, containing Haverstraw, was set off from Orange County in 1798.) His household consisted of one male over 16, three males under 16, and three females.
The information that I can see in the Ancestry family trees is unanimous in agreeing that this man was the son of John and Maria (Gerow/Giraud) Secor, that his wife was Theodosia Vanhorn, and that he died on May 11, 1834. John Secor/Sicard is said to be the son of James/Jacques and Anne (Terrier) Sicard, with James/Jacques the son of Ambroise Sicard the immigrant. I have not attempted to confirm this information. It appears that there may be a missing generation in there, given the date of birth of Benjamin and the presumed date of birth of John.