Citizens' Bounty Fund Committee records


Collection 1558

( Bulk, 1862-1863 ) 1861-1887, undated
(9.8 Linear feet ; 22 boxes, 13 volumes)
© The Historical Society of Pennsylvania1300 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA, 19107
215-732-6200

Summary Information

Repository
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Creator
Citizens' Bounty Fund Committee.
Title
Citizens' Bounty Fund Committee records
ID
1558
Date [bulk]
Bulk, 1862-1863
Date [inclusive]
1861-1887, undated
Extent
9.8 Linear feet ; 22 boxes, 13 volumes
Author
Finding aid prepared by Dana Dorman
Sponsor
The Digital Center for Americana pilot project was funded by the Barra Foundation and several individual donors.
Language
English
Mixed materials [Volume]
1-13
Mixed materials [Box]
1-22
Abstract
The Citizens' Bounty Fund Committee records relate to an effort in Philadelphia in 1862 to encourage Union enlistments through the payments of bounties and premiums. The records include the administrative papers of the committee, as well as the enlistment and bounty records of the men who qualified for bounties under the system. Administrative papers include resolutions, committee reports, minutes, and assorted financial papers. The bulk of the collection is volunteer enlistment forms, enlistment affidavits, bounty certificates, muster forms, muster rolls, and lists and statements of bounties and premiums paid.

Preferred Citation

Cite as: [Indicate cited item or series here], Citizens' Bounty Fund Committee records (Collection 1558), The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

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Background

During the summer of 1862, President Abraham Lincoln called for another 300,000 Union troops, after the Army of the Potomac failed to take Richmond, Virginia. The War Department gave each state a quota to fill, but recruitment was slow.

Concerned about a possible draft, Philadelphia Mayor Alexander Henry (1823-1883) led a public meeting on July 24, 1862 to discuss how best to increase enlistment. Meeting attendees decided to create a bounty fund so that volunteers could be paid for enlisting, a tactic that other cities were using. The attendees at the meeting donated $40,000 to create the bounty fund, and two days later, Philadelphia City Council voted to allocate $500,000 to the fund. A large number of private citizens met at Independence Hall to donate another $160,000 to the fund.

The Citizens' Bounty Fund was administered by a committee of private individuals from the city's elite, with Mayor Henry serving as chair of the committee and Thomas Webster serving as vice chair. Lorin Blodget (1823-1901) served as secretary, and Singleton A. Mercer served as treasurer. Dispersing agents included Michael V. Baker (died circa 1866), George Whitney (1819-1885) and Mercer.

Philadelphia City Council approved giving $50 bounties to "each volunteer for new regiments for three years or the war." City Council also approved paying $6 to volunteers for existing regiments, in addition to the $25 bounty offered by the United States, plus another $50 when the new enlisted man joined the regiment. Captains organizing their own companies qualified for $5 per man to help repay their expenses.

Philadelphia filled its enlistment quota without needing to turn to a draft, but the Citizens' Bounty Fund Committee concluded in early 1863 that the bounty system was a waste of money (see Box 3, Folder 3). Worse, they concluded that the bounties encouraged desertion. A committee resolution indicates the committee planned to turn over the remaining bounty fund assets to a "Soldiers' Claim Association of Philadelphia," which would provide aid to soldiers and their families.

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Scope and Contents

This collection contains the records of the Citizens' Bounty Fund Committee, including administrative papers and enlistment and bounty records of men who qualified for bounties under the system. The records are divided into two series: Series I contains the administrative records of the committee; Series II consists of the enlistment forms, muster records, and other tracking of bounties and premiums paid by the committee.

Series I contains resolutions, committee reports, minutes, and assorted financial records, including statements, settled checks, cash books, donation notebooks, subscription lists, and a small number of bills and receipts. This series also includes committee correspondence, much of which relates to bounty claims, and a letter book from dispersing agent Michael V. Baker.

Series II contains enlistment forms, enlistment affidavits, muster forms, muster rolls, bounty certificates, and lists and statements of bounties and premiums paid.

Both series are arranged chronologically, with volumes arranged by size within each series.

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Overview of Arrangement

This collection is arranged into two series:

Series I. Administration, 1861-1887, 3 linear feet

Series II. Bounties, premiums, 1862-1864, 6.8 linear feet

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

 The Historical Society of Pennsylvania 2010

1300 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA, 19107
215-732-6200

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Provenance

The majority of the collection was a gift of the Lorin Blodget estate, 1911. A small number of papers were moved from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania Collection of Civil War Papers (Collection 1546).

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Controlled Access Headings

Corporate Name(s)

  • Citizens' Committee on Bounty Fund.

Geographic Name(s)

  • United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

Personal Name(s)

  • Baker, Michael V.
  • Blodget, Lorin, 1823-1901.

Subject(s)

  • United States. Army--Recruiting, enlistment, etc.

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Bibliography

Gallman, J. Matthew. Mastering Wartime: A Social History of Philadelphia During the Civil War. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000.

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Collection Inventory

 I. Administration 1861-1887   3.0 Linear feet

Scope and contents

This series contains the administrative records of the committee. The minutes of the committee are present, as are a variety of reports and resolutions concerning its work. A newspaper from 1887 (Box 3, Folder 6) includes a history of the committee written by Lorin Blodget. Other administrative records include extracts regarding Col. Ernennein's Regiment, newspaper clippings of bounty fund statements, as well as newspaper clippings of other committee and military matters.

This series also includes committee correspondence, which primarily relates to bounty claims, enlistments, and donations of tents and other supplies, as well a small amount of subscription-related correspondence in Box 5. Other correspondence relating to applications for bounties can be found in Series II.

The bulk of this series is financial records, including statements, cash books, a receipt book, settled checks, bonds, donation notebooks, subscription lists, and a small number of bills and receipts.

This series also includes eleven bound volumes, including cash books, a letter book from dispersing agent Michael V. Baker, minutes books, and a check book.
Box

Committee reports; Treasurer's statements; miscellaneous financial statements; minutes (1862-1863, undated) 

 1

Telegraph dispatches; correspondence (1862-1865, undated) 

 2

Resolutions; notes; newspaper clippings; bonds; bills and receipts; settled checks (1861-1887) 

 3

Settled checks; cash books; receipt books; donation notebooks; subscription book; bounties book (1862-1866, undated) 

 4

Treasurer's book; subscriptions; correspondence (1862-1863) 

 5
Volume

Cash book for dispersing agents (Aug. 11, 1862-March 16, 1863) 

 1

Cash book for dispersing agents (March 16, 1863-Dec. 24, 1864) 

 2

Letter book of Michael V. Baker, dispersing agent (Aug. 14, 1862-Oct. 10, 1863) 

 3

Minutes book of meetings of dispursing agents (Aug. 13, 1862-Feb. 14, 1863) 

 4

Record book, No. 1 (July 22, 1862-Oct. 25, 1862) 

 5

Record book, No. 2 (Oct. 25, 1862-Jan. 18, 1864) 

 6

Check book, F&M Bank (July 27, 1863-Sept. 14, 1866) 

 7

Subscriptions and minutes notebook (circa 1862) 

 8

Receipt book (1862-1866) 

 9

Subscription book (July 1862-Sept. 1862) 

 10

Subscription book (Sept.1862-Jan. 1863) 

 11

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 II. Bounties, premiums 1862-1864   6.8 Linear feet

Scope and Contents note

This series contains volunteer enlistment forms, enlistment affidavits, muster forms, muster rolls, bounty certificates, bounty certificate books, and lists and statements of bounties and premiums paid.

The volunteer enlistment forms include an array of personal information about the volunteers, including name, place of birth, occupation, eye and hair color, complexion, height, and signature. The forms also record the regiment he will join, the date of enlistment, and the names of the recruiting officer, bounty fund dispersing agent, and witness.

The enlistment affidavits include only the enlistee's name, signature, date of affidavit and signature of the city alderman who witnessed the affidavit.

Bounty certificate books include records of bounties paid, akin to a checkbook, where volunteers were given a portion of the form for mustering. These books include details of the volunteer's name, what branch or regiment he enlisted in, eye and hair color, complexion, height, date of enlistment, and signature. Occasional muster forms remain attached to the certificate books.

The muster forms are also present in the collection, as well as muster forms for a $25 bounty. Both muster forms include minimal personal information, listing the volunteer's name, company he is enlisting in, and dates and signatures of the various officials involved in paying and witnessing payment of the bounty. Muster rolls are organized by regiment where possible.

This series includes a smaller number of applications for bounty, which consists primarily of correspondence.

There are also records of bounty certificates paid, organized by date, with each regiment listed on a separate sheet. Lists of bounties and premiums paid by alphabetical listing, by date, and by regiment are also included at the end of the series.

There are also two bound volumes, an alphabetical bounty book and an alphabetical premium book.
Box

Volunteer enlistment forms, No. 1-830 (July-Sept. 1862) 

 6

Volunteer enlistment forms, No. 831-1672 (Sept. 1862) 

 7

Volunteer enlistment forms, No. 1673-2515 (Sept.-Oct. 1862) 

 8

Volunteer enlistment forms and muster forms for $25 bounty (Oct. 1862-Jan. 1863) 

 9
Box Folder

Muster forms for $25 bounty, No. 3003-4026 and No. 4059-5099 (Oct. 1862-Jan. 1863) 

 10 1-2

Volunteer enlistment affidavits, No. 1-644 (Nov. 1862-April 1863) 

 10 3-6

Volunteer enlistment affidavits, 152nd Regiment, Co. M, and 154th Regiment, Co. A, Co. B, Co. C (Dec. 1862-Feb. 1863) 

 10 7-10

Volunteer enlistment affidavits, 156 Regiment, Co. A, and 180th Regiment, Co. A and Co. B (Dec. 1862-Jan. 1863, undated) 

 11 1-4

Volunteer enlistment affidavits (Nov. 1862, Feb. 1863) 

 11 5-7

Muster forms for $50 bounty, No. 2584-5904 (Nov. 1862-April 1863) 

 11 8-12
Box

Muster rolls for Harrisburg volunteers and reserves, 13th Regiment, 68th Regiment, 114th Regiment, 116th Regiment, 117th Regiment, 118th Regiment (Aug.-Nov. 1862) 

 12

Muster rolls and related papers for 119th Regiment, 121st Regiment, 143rd Regiment, 144th Regiment transferred to 119th Regiment, 145th Regiment, 152nd Regiment, 154th Regiment (Aug. 1862-April 1863) 

 13

Muster rolls and related papers for 156th Regiment, 157th Regiment, 159th Regiment, 180th Regiment, and Roberts Artillery; papers connected with last settlement of consolidating 156th Regiment members into 157th, (Oct. 1862-March 1863) 

 14
Box Folder

Miscellaneous muster forms and receipts, various regiments (circa Aug. 1862-March 1863) 

 15 1-2

Blank muster forms (1862) 

 15 3

Rolls of honor for 112th Regiment and miscellaneous regiments (circa Jan. 1863) 

 15 4-5

Applications for bounty (July 1862-March 1863) 

 15 6-8

Papers regarding application for Patrick Garrigan (June-Oct. 1863) 

 15 9

Bounty certificate books, No. 1-200 (Nov. 1862-Feb. 1863) 

 15 10-11

Bounty certificate books, No. 201-700 (Dec. 1862-April 1863) 

 16 1-5

Bounty certificates paid, No. 10-429 (Aug. 1862) 

 16 6-7
Box

Bounty certificates paid, No. 430-1624 (Aug.-Sept. 1862) 

 17
Box Folder

Bounty certificates paid, No. 1625-2514 (Sept.-Oct. 1862) 

 18 1-5

Bounty certificates paid and unpaid (Sept. 30-Oct. 29, 1862) 

 18 6

Unpaid bounty certificates (Sept.-Oct. 1862) 

 19 1

Bounty certificates new (Nov. 11, 1862-Jan. 31, 1863) 

 19 2-4

Drafts and receipts for bounties, No. 56-663, 755-2033 (Aug.-Sept. 1862) 

 19 5-8

Draft bounties (Oct.-Dec. 1862) 

 20 1-5

Drafts and receipts for premiums (Sept. 1862-Feb. 1863) 

 20 6-8

Bounty notebooks by regiment, by date, and alphabetical (Aug. 1862-March 1863) 

 20 9-11

Bounty notebook for 156th and 157th Regiments (Dec. 1862-March 1863) 

 20 12
Box

Bounties lists and statements by regiment and alphabetical; premiums list by regiment; men sent to Harrisburg entitled to premium and bounty (July 1862-Jan. 1864) 

 21
Box Folder

Pension and back pay claims (circa 1864) 

 22 1

Bounty receipt ledger pages (Aug. 19, 1862-March 17, 1863) 

 22 2-5
Volume

Alphabetical bounty book (circa 1862-1863) 

 12

Alphabetical premium book (circa 1862-1863) 

 13

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