Humason, Joel & Ann Wheeler

Joel Humason: Pioneer, Farmer, American Revolutionary War Veteran

Birth: September 8, 1756, New Haven, New Haven County, Connecticut
Death: July 8, 1832, Vienna, Trumbull County, Ohio
Burial: Vienna Township Cemetery, Vienna, Trumbull County, Ohio
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Ann Wheeler Humason: Pioneer, Farmer

Birth: 1765
Death: March 13, 1838
Burial: Vienna Center Cemetery, Vienna, Trumbull County, Ohio
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Joel Humason (also Humaston, Humiston, and Hummason) and Ann Wheeler Humason were two of the earliest settlers in Vienna, though the year of their arrival is in dispute. Vienna resident Ichabod B. Payne, writing a brief history of the Township in 1875, stated that Joel Humason, Isaac Humason (Joel's son), Simeon Wheeler, Seth Bartholomew, and Sylvester Woodford arrived in 1800. Two other late-nineteenth-century histories cite the date as 1802. Joel Humason's wife Ann, when she (as his widow) applied for his veteran's pension in 1832, stated that they came to Vienna in 1803. In the same application Simeon Wheeler also stated in his deposition that the date was 1803 and, interestingly, that he had been friends with Joel Humason since the age of fifteen years.[1]

Humason married Simeon Wheeler's sister Ann Wheeler in Connecticut on June 16, 1776. They had four children: Isaac, Daniel, Mary, and Joel J. Humason.

Joel Humason's brother and sister-in-law, Jacob and Honour Hubbard Humason, settled in Vienna in June 1805.

Joel Humason's American Revolutionary War Service

In early 1775, Humason enlisted and served nine months as a private in the company of Captain Eli Leavenworth in the 10th Connecticut Regiment. Sometime in the summer of 1776 or in 1777, he was drafted into the company of Captain David Beecher for a five-month stint. His widow's pension application also lists two months' service at New London, and two unspecified tours of one month each at New Haven under Captain Brown and Captain Ezra Sperry--all as drafted service. Records of the Daughters of American Revolution cite service under Captain Curtis and Noadiah Hooker.

Ann Humason's Pension Application

On June 7, 1832, the United States Congress passed the last of the service-pension acts for Revolutionary War veterans. This law extended to more persons a pension of full pay for life based on service of at least two years in the Continental Line or individual state militias. Veterans who had served at least six months but not more than two years were eligible for pensions, but not at full pay. This service-pension act did not require that applicants show financial need.

This was the law under which Ann Humason first applied for her deceased husband's benefits in July 1832. A certificate was issued on September 21, 1833, granting Ann a pension of 60 dollars per year.

Ann Humason again applied to the Commissioner of Pensions in 1836. Another law, passed on July 4, 1836, allowed widows to apply for pensions that would have been available to their husbands when they were living, so long as they had married before he left service. Vienna-born attorney John Hutchins, whose father Samuel was one of the first settlers in the Township, represented the widow; two letters by his hand are in the pension record.

Yet Ann died on March 13, 1838, before a decision was made. On February 5, 1853, a certificate was issued to Joel J. and Isaac Humason to claim the arrears unclaimed by their mother before her death on March 13, 1838. Another New Connecticuter, Elisha Whittlesley, who in 1853 was the Comptroller of the United States Treasury in Washington, DC, also wrote to the Commission of Pensions on the Hummasons' behalf. They received the monies due.

In both cases the Humason family Bible, in which the family history was recorded, was the evidence upon which these claims were settled.

Joel Humason Pension Record (Selected Records), Case Files of Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Applications Based on Revolutionary War Service, ca. 1800-ca. 1900, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC. The file is available here: Ann Humason Pension Application.pdf