Most Revolutionary War Patriots weren’t allowed to seek pensions until nearly fifty years after the battles ended. By the time Congress opened the door wide enough for soldiers to step through, many were elderly men with fading memories carrying old stories that had lived in their minds for decades. One was Thomas Thompson. At seventy-seven years old, he made his way into the Court of Common Pleas in Hamilton County, Ohio, in 1834 to record the service he’d given as a young man.
To mark the United States’ 250th birthday, the Daughters of the American Revolution has joined forces with America250, the nationwide commemoration of our country’s semiquincentennial, to pay tribute to Revolutionary War Patriots. As part of the celebration, I’ll be sharing the stories of those laid to rest in Delaware County, with help from Kathi Hirons Kesterson -the regent of the Paul Revere Chapter of Muncie’s DAR– over the next several Fridays.
Thomas Thompson was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania, in 17571. In December 1776, with the war turning grim and enlistments running thin, he stepped forward as a substitute for his brother Robert at Princeton, New Jersey2. Thompson found himself attached to the Second Jersey Regiment, serving under a slate of officers that included General Maxfield, Colonel Shreves, Captain Cummins, Lieutenant Coons, Sergeant Abraham Lyser, and Corporal George Waggoner3. As he later recalled, he stayed with the regiment “for the space of two months and some days over until the last of the month of February when my brother returned and I was discharged4.”
The paper trail shrinks during Thompson’s second stint in uniform, but his surviving testimony suggests he once again stepped in as a substitute for his brother through November 1777, when he was discharged a second time5. His service didn’t end there, though: later that year, Thompson was sent out as a guard to the Scotch Plains, operating under the same officers as before. He remained there until the following March, holding his post “as a Soldier until my brother returned to his station6,” as he put it years later.
After Robert’s return, Thomas stayed in the service as a volunteer guard at Newark. At the end of his service, he took his brother’s place yet again at Elizabethtown, serving as a guard, “until a portions of the Soldiers were sent to West Point to repair breaches made there by the British and to replace the chain and redoubt at that place7.”
Thompson remained a soldier until November 1778. Around 1780, though, he again took up arms as a volunteer at the Battle of Springfield under Colonel Cortner and Captain Williams. “My terms of Service,” he recalled, “were always indefinite being bound to the officers to remain until my brothers return and done accordingly8.”
After the war, Thompson returned to New Jersey before moving to Pennsylvania and Ohio. It was there, in 1834, that he initially declared for his pension. Unfortunately, “by reason of old age and the consequent loss of memory9,” he simply couldn’t swear with certainty to the exact length of time he’d served. All Thompson had received were a series of verbal discharges, and his request was rejected.
Thomas Thompson spent the rest of his life trying to win the pension he deserved10. By 1839, he’d relocated to Delaware County, where he may have lived with his son, Jesse11. That year, he appeared before Judge William W. Comstock, an associate judge of the county circuit court, to declare for his pension again. “I was eighty four years old on the 24th day of June last as I believe but have no record of my age, my fathers bible in which my age was recorded having been burnt12,” he stated under oath.
“My Brother,”Thompson continued, “for whom I was a substitute has long since deceased but not until after he had served out his aforesaid term of enlistment and I know of no person now living by whom I can prove my Services, John Samuels and John Conner can testify as to my character and their belief as to my services as a revolutionary Soldier13.”
Ultimately, Thompson’s application was denied a second time for failing to prove he served at least six months. After pouring out everything he could remember, he was left with nothing more than the echo of a life lived in service. Unfortunately, beyond his 1839 declaration before Judge Comstock, Thompson’s trail grows cold. He doesn’t appear in the 1840 census, and history leaves no clear trace of where he spent his final years, when he died, or where he was laid to rest.
Despite nothing to show for it, Thomas Thompson stepped forward again and again when his burgeoning country needed him, taking his brother’s place without hesitation and serving wherever he was ordered. His memories endured long enough for him to speak them aloud, but not long enough to meet the unforgiving standards of a pension board half a century removed from the Revolution itself. Although the details of Thompson’s last years have slipped beyond the reach of record, a cenotaph in Muncie’s Beech Grove Cemetery ensures his name -and his service- won’t be forgotten.
Sources Cited
1 Barnet, B. (1976, July 3). Pvt. Polen Watched Redcoats Quit on Grandest Day in World History. The Muncie Evening Press. p. 35.
2 Thomas Thompson, pension application, declaration dated 19 June 1834, Hamilton County, Ohio, Court of Common Pleas; Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800–1900; NARA microfilm publication M804; digital images, Fold3 (https://www.fold3.com: accessed 13 Nov 2025). Transcribed by Kathryn Kesterson.
3 (See footnote 3).
4 (See footnote 3).
5 (See footnote 3).
6 (See footnote 3).
7 Thomas Thompson (New Jersey), pension file R.10557, US, Revolutionary War Pensions, 1800–1900, publication M804, NARA catalog ID 300022, Case Files of Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Revolutionary War Service, compiled ca. 1800–ca. 1912; documenting the period ca. 1775–ca. 1900, Roll 2379 (New Jersey). Digital images, Fold3.com (https://www.fold3.com : accessed 16 Nov 2025); transcribed by Kathryn Hirons Kesterson.
8 (See footnote 3).
9 (See footnote 2).
10 (See footnote 1).
11 Kesterson, K. & Shideler, T. (2025, November 18). Personal communication.
12 (See footnote 7).
13 (See footnote 7).
The judicial standards and customs of that time are far different from those today. I suspect that this kind of testimony today would make an applicant a shoe-in for benefits. And today, someone would have no hesitation to swear to facts, whether a hazy memory or not.