Unbound
1870
"Recruits wanted for the Army and Navy, Highest Bounties Paid. Substitutes Furnished and Town Quotas Filled."
Paris, Maine, 1863-1870.
These 14 items vary in size. All came from a descendent of S. P. Maxim, a selectman of the town of Paris, Maine, who was a member of its Civil War recruiting committee. Most of these items reference either Maxim or the town of Paris.
The items are:
1 - An undated, flag-illustrated business card for the "Recruiting Agency, No. 10 India Street, Portland Me. [that notes] Recruits wanted for the Army and Navy, Highest Bounties Paid. Substitutes Furnished and Town Quotas Filled."
2 - A handbill from Maine's "Adjutant General's Office, Augusta, Oct 5, 1863 [noting that an order authorizing] "payment of bills of Orderly Sergeants, and accounts of Examining Surgeons, for services in raising the nine months troops in 1862 [as well as] the transportation and subsistence of nine months troops."
3. A letter, dated January 26, 1864, from Maxim to Capt Wm. A Barrows reporting "that our quota is now full If the men can save the Same bounty this town pays they had best improve the opportunity. If we can make any transfer we shall be happy to pay our own Paris Boys for their hard service." No mailing envelope.
4. A partially-printed receipt from February 1864 signed by George M. Damon acknowledging his receipt of $200 from "the hands of [the] Treasurer of the Town of Paris . . . on account of the State Bounty, for enlistment on the quota of said town under the call of the President of February 1st, 1864."
5. A letter from Wm. K. Kimble, datelined "Headquarters, Madisonville, La. / Febry 20th, 1864" to Maxim in response to a query regarding the current number and status of Paris soldiers in his unit to which he replied in part, "I have been detached from my Regiment, and now 5 companies of it compose a small part of my command and 5 companies are scattered for the distance of 30 to 80 miles from here. I think I have but Three (3) men from Paris. . .. No man from my regiment has ever rec'd one cent as bounty and they are suspicious that they never will. W never cost the state of Maine so much as a pair of shoes but still, we have done what we could for the 'Old State' and the 'Old Flag'. . .." No mailing envelope,
6. A partially-printed document from Maine's Adjutant General's Office dated March 29, 1864 acknowledging George Damon's enlistment (see above) was applied to Paris's quota.
7. A postally used envelope franked with a 3-cent stamp (Scott #65) from the "Provost Marshal's Office [addressed to] John Russell Esq, / Enrolling Officer / Cambridge Me." with a circular Augusta, Maine postmark dated May 27, 1864. No content.
8. A manuscript document dated August 27, 1864 recording a vote held at the Parish town meeting of "the 25th day of August, A.D. 1864" pledging to "raise thirteen hundred and seventy-five dollars as required by law for recruiting purposes to fill the quota under the last call." The document is franked with 10-cent and 5-cent Internal Revenue Inland Exchange stamps (Scott #s R7 and R36).
9. A manuscript document similar to the one immediately above dated September 2, 1864, and franked with five 10-cent Internal Revenue Inland Exchange stamps (Scott #R36).
10. A manuscript document datelined "Upton Sept 15th 1864" stating that "Warren O Douglas is not Enrolled in the Town and is at liberty to go for any Town he Chooses."
11. A telegraph message dated September 21, 1864 to Maxim reading, "Bryant done nothing lacks Eleven 11 men Will try to-morrow."
12. A manuscript document dated "Paris Oct. 25. 1864 [signed by Elias W Murdock certifying that] the town of Paris has this day advanced me the State bounty of three hundred dollars and I do hereby assign my claim . . . to the said town of Paris."
13. A large "Pension Certificate [dated January 23, 1868,] identifying Max as the "Guardian of the widow of Alanson Proctor late a Private in Co B 30th Regt of Infantry Maine Vols in the War of 1861, for the suppression of the Rebellion" and authorizing him to collect on her behalf "Four Dollars per month . . . for one year."
14. A letter on stationery of the Adjutant General's Office datelined Augusta November 10, 1870 acknowledging that its prior finding of a $3,600 "'deficiency' [related to the] call of Oct 17th 1863 . . . has been examined, found to be incorrect, so cancelled, and the State Treasurer notified thereof."
(For more information about the Civil War draft, bounties, and recruiting, see Marvel's "A Poor Man's Fight" at the National Park Service website, "Bounty System" at the Encyclopedia Britannica online, online genealogical databases, and Lapham & Maxim's A History of Paris, Maine from Its Settlement to 1880).
While all Civil War recruiting and bounty documents are scarce, this collection contains two that are especially so: the Recruiting Agency business card, and the partially-printed receipt signed by Damon acknowledging receipt of an enlistment bounty.
A significant collection documenting the workings of a Union town's efforts to meet its Civil War recruiting quotas set by the Lincoln administration's imposition of the draft. (Inventory #: 009939)
Paris, Maine, 1863-1870.
These 14 items vary in size. All came from a descendent of S. P. Maxim, a selectman of the town of Paris, Maine, who was a member of its Civil War recruiting committee. Most of these items reference either Maxim or the town of Paris.
The items are:
1 - An undated, flag-illustrated business card for the "Recruiting Agency, No. 10 India Street, Portland Me. [that notes] Recruits wanted for the Army and Navy, Highest Bounties Paid. Substitutes Furnished and Town Quotas Filled."
2 - A handbill from Maine's "Adjutant General's Office, Augusta, Oct 5, 1863 [noting that an order authorizing] "payment of bills of Orderly Sergeants, and accounts of Examining Surgeons, for services in raising the nine months troops in 1862 [as well as] the transportation and subsistence of nine months troops."
3. A letter, dated January 26, 1864, from Maxim to Capt Wm. A Barrows reporting "that our quota is now full If the men can save the Same bounty this town pays they had best improve the opportunity. If we can make any transfer we shall be happy to pay our own Paris Boys for their hard service." No mailing envelope.
4. A partially-printed receipt from February 1864 signed by George M. Damon acknowledging his receipt of $200 from "the hands of [the] Treasurer of the Town of Paris . . . on account of the State Bounty, for enlistment on the quota of said town under the call of the President of February 1st, 1864."
5. A letter from Wm. K. Kimble, datelined "Headquarters, Madisonville, La. / Febry 20th, 1864" to Maxim in response to a query regarding the current number and status of Paris soldiers in his unit to which he replied in part, "I have been detached from my Regiment, and now 5 companies of it compose a small part of my command and 5 companies are scattered for the distance of 30 to 80 miles from here. I think I have but Three (3) men from Paris. . .. No man from my regiment has ever rec'd one cent as bounty and they are suspicious that they never will. W never cost the state of Maine so much as a pair of shoes but still, we have done what we could for the 'Old State' and the 'Old Flag'. . .." No mailing envelope,
6. A partially-printed document from Maine's Adjutant General's Office dated March 29, 1864 acknowledging George Damon's enlistment (see above) was applied to Paris's quota.
7. A postally used envelope franked with a 3-cent stamp (Scott #65) from the "Provost Marshal's Office [addressed to] John Russell Esq, / Enrolling Officer / Cambridge Me." with a circular Augusta, Maine postmark dated May 27, 1864. No content.
8. A manuscript document dated August 27, 1864 recording a vote held at the Parish town meeting of "the 25th day of August, A.D. 1864" pledging to "raise thirteen hundred and seventy-five dollars as required by law for recruiting purposes to fill the quota under the last call." The document is franked with 10-cent and 5-cent Internal Revenue Inland Exchange stamps (Scott #s R7 and R36).
9. A manuscript document similar to the one immediately above dated September 2, 1864, and franked with five 10-cent Internal Revenue Inland Exchange stamps (Scott #R36).
10. A manuscript document datelined "Upton Sept 15th 1864" stating that "Warren O Douglas is not Enrolled in the Town and is at liberty to go for any Town he Chooses."
11. A telegraph message dated September 21, 1864 to Maxim reading, "Bryant done nothing lacks Eleven 11 men Will try to-morrow."
12. A manuscript document dated "Paris Oct. 25. 1864 [signed by Elias W Murdock certifying that] the town of Paris has this day advanced me the State bounty of three hundred dollars and I do hereby assign my claim . . . to the said town of Paris."
13. A large "Pension Certificate [dated January 23, 1868,] identifying Max as the "Guardian of the widow of Alanson Proctor late a Private in Co B 30th Regt of Infantry Maine Vols in the War of 1861, for the suppression of the Rebellion" and authorizing him to collect on her behalf "Four Dollars per month . . . for one year."
14. A letter on stationery of the Adjutant General's Office datelined Augusta November 10, 1870 acknowledging that its prior finding of a $3,600 "'deficiency' [related to the] call of Oct 17th 1863 . . . has been examined, found to be incorrect, so cancelled, and the State Treasurer notified thereof."
(For more information about the Civil War draft, bounties, and recruiting, see Marvel's "A Poor Man's Fight" at the National Park Service website, "Bounty System" at the Encyclopedia Britannica online, online genealogical databases, and Lapham & Maxim's A History of Paris, Maine from Its Settlement to 1880).
While all Civil War recruiting and bounty documents are scarce, this collection contains two that are especially so: the Recruiting Agency business card, and the partially-printed receipt signed by Damon acknowledging receipt of an enlistment bounty.
A significant collection documenting the workings of a Union town's efforts to meet its Civil War recruiting quotas set by the Lincoln administration's imposition of the draft. (Inventory #: 009939)
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