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Andrew Ferguson moved to Indiana (which became a state in 1816) after the Revolutionary War. The 1830 United States Census, shown here, documents Ferguson’s residence in Monroe County. Ferguson is listed as a “Free Colored” man between the ages of 55 and 100. A “Free Colored” woman between the ages of 36 and 55, possibly his first wife, is listed in Andrew’s household. No other family members are documented in their household. 

National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC/Ancestry.com

In 1851, Andrew Ferguson returned to the courthouse in Monroe County, Indiana, to describe his service during the Revolutionary and request an increase in his pension payment from the United States Government. Because of his old age (he was about 86 years old at the time) and the pain from his two wartime injuries, Ferguson could not support himself and his family. It is unclear if the government granted his request. 

National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC/Fold3.com

The recently discovered poll lists document elections that took place in four different townships in three New Jersey counties between 1800 and 1807. Each location is plotted on this 1795 map of the state. Prominent local taverns served as the polling places for the elections in Montgomery Township, Upper Penns Neck Township, and Bedminster Township. The election in Chester Township was held in a schoolhouse in Moorestown, Burlington County. 

Image courtesy of Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington, D.C.

Andrew Ferguson moved to Indiana (which became a state in 1816) after the Revolutionary War. The 1840 United States Census, shown here, documents Ferguson’s residence in Monroe County. Ferguson is listed as a Revolutionary War veteran who received a pension for his military service. He is listed as being 82 years old (or born in about 1758), but he had previously claimed that he was born in about 1765. No other family members are documented in his household. 

National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC/Ancestry.com

Just days later after writing his August 1782 letter from West Point, James Davenport travelled down the Hudson with 8,000 other soldiers to a new encampment at Verplanck’s Point. Washington used this move to think through how an amphibious assault on New York might work. And as you can explore in the Museum’s Picturing Washington’s Army interactive, he used the encampment there to impress French allies. The Continental Army was encamped in a long line, and soldiers built elaborate structures, gateways, and arbors. Just down the line from the 8th Massachusetts, a sergeant in another Massachusetts regiment wrote in his journal that “We have here a fine encampment which will furnish the public with a curious map someday or other.”

Davenport made no mention of this activity besides noting that on October 23, he was encamped on “Lunts Creek” a few miles below “Peeksville” (today’s Dickey Creek feeds into Lunts Cove just outside Verplanck, New York, down the Hudson from Peekskill). More important to him was the absence of news from home, and he opened this letter with an amusing dialogue between himself and his pen, perhaps inspired by the popular fictional “object narratives” of this period. 

Andrew Ferguson received veteran’s pension payments from the United States Government totaling $20 each year. Like many of his fellow veterans, Ferguson struggled with poverty as an elderly man. His pension payments helped him pay for food, clothing, and a place to live. Andrew passed away in 1855 in Indiana at about the age of 90.

National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC

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In 1844, Andrew Ferguson sent a petition to the United States Government to request an increase in his Revolutionary War pension payments due to the growing pain of his wartime injuries. This written record documents the denial of Ferguson’s request by the House of Representatives one year later. According to this document, Ferguson had gathered support from “several hundred” people who signed his petition. The House of Representatives denied his application because Ferguson’s petition did not include sworn testimony from people that could authenticate his claims about his military service and wounds. 

National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC

Andrew Ferguson moved to Indiana (which became a state in 1816) after the Revolutionary War. The 1850 United States Census, shown here, documents Ferguson’s residence in Monroe County. Ferguson and his wife Jane (also known as Jenny; married in 1844) are listed near the bottom of the page. “B” in the column to the right of their age and gender stands for Black, their race. Andrew Ferguson is listed as being 95 years old (or born in about 1755), but he had previously claimed that he was born in about 1765. 

National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC/Ancestry.com

Take a closer look at General Washington’s tent perched on a hill overlooking the encampment. Nearby, other tents made up the headquarters of the Continental Army. Charles-Louis-Victor, Prince de Broglie, a colonel in the Saintonge Regiment of the French Army, wrote about seeing Washington’s tent at Verplanck’s Point: “I noticed on a little hill which overlooked the camp...the quarters of General Washington.” 

Image: Museum of the American Revolution, Gift of the Landenberger Family Foundation 

As a reward for military service during the Revolutionary War, veterans, like Andrew Ferguson, could apply to receive land in what is now the Midwest region of the United States. The land had been previously settled by Native Americans and taken over by the United States Government. According to an act passed by Congress in March 1855, veterans, their widows, or the children of deceased veterans could apply to receive 160 acres of land. This document records Andrew Ferguson’s application for his parcel of land. Ferguson’s application was approved, but he died in 1856, the same year he was granted the land. 

National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC/Fold3.com