- unitid
-
{"value"=>"338411", "type"=>"local_mss"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1861-1867", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1861/1867"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"III. New York Office records"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"simple", "value"=>"51 boxes, 3 volumes"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Creator history</p> <p>The United States Sanitary Commission opened an office in New York on May 26, 1862. Its initial function was to coordinate the USSC’s hospital transport work. In April 1862, Surgeon General Clement Finley approved a proposition by the USSC to assist with the transporting of sick and wounded Army of the Potomac soldiers from points in Virginia to hospitals in the North by steamer. The ship Daniel Webster was subsequently transferred to the Commission, with the capacity for 250 patients. In addition, the USSC assisted on the ships S.R. Spaulding, Elm City, Ocean Queen, St. Mark, and others. Soldiers were usually taken to New York, but on occasion were taken to Boston or Albany. Operations continued into the fall of 1862. According to Charles J. Stillé’s History of the United States Sanitary Commission (1866), over 8,000 soldiers were served aboard hospital transports by the USSC during the Peninsular Campaign. The USSC also was involved in the recruitment of transport personnel, both paid and volunteer, including doctors, nurses, apothecaries, surgeons' assistants, dressers, and stewards.</p> <p>With most of the transport work concluded at the end of 1862, the New York Office primarily coordinated supply shipments. Superintendent Benjamin Collins helped to coordinate the delivery of supplies from New York and elsewhere to departments in the field, especially to the Department of the Gulf in New Orleans, the Department of North Carolina in New Bern, and the Department of the South in Beaufort, South Carolina. The New York Office also arranged supply shipments to Washington, Baltimore, and City Point, Virginia. Collins worked in conjunction with the Woman’s Central Association of Relief in fulfilling supply requests, and contacted other branches and agencies (especially the New England Women’s Auxiliary Association and the Philadelphia Agency) to help fill large orders. Collins also purchased supplies not obtainable from aid societies, such as condensed milk, from local New York vendors when necessary.</p> <p>In addition to its transport and supply responsibilities, the New York Office accepted financial contributions and, for much of the war, ran the Commission’s Document Bureau, the main distributor of publications.</p> <p>After the war’s end, the Office established the Lincoln Home at 45 Grove Street, which provided temporary housing and assistance for recently discharged disabled soldiers and sailors. The Lincoln Home housed 365 veterans over its year of existence. The last inmates were discharged in June 1866, with many heading to the Soldiers Home in Albany. Superintendent Marvin M. Marsh also assisted with special relief work in the city, issuing supplies and assistance to disabled veterans and to widows.</p> <p>The New York Office, known as the New York Agency until 1864, was first located at 498 Broadway. It moved to 823 Broadway at the end of 1862, remaining at that address through October 1865, when the USSC’s Historical Bureau opened at 21 West 12th Street.</p> <p>Thomas J. Faile, Jr. was superintendent of the New York Office from May through the summer of 1862. Benjamin Collins (1822-1900) became superintendent in September 1862; he later held the positions of assistant secretary, Eastern Department (in 1863-1864), and assistant treasurer (in 1864-1865). Francis Fowler was assistant secretary after April 1864. Clerks in the New York Office included H.E. Lord, Thomas J. Reddish, Samuel H. Stebbins, Jonathan Woods, Thomas Jackson, Richard Follos, and Elisha Smith. Charles G. Lathrop served as a clerk and as bookkeeper.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>Scope and content note</p> <p>Records of the New York Office contain over 13,000 letters, telegrams, and reports received by the office, mostly from USSC personnel in Washington (Frederick Law Olmsted, Alfred J. Bloor, J. Foster Jenkins, Howard Martin, Lewis H. Steiner) and from other USSC departments in the south and west (John S. Newberry, George Blake, Marvin M. Marsh, J.W. Page) and Philadelphia (R. M. Lewis), and from branches, especially WCAR (Louisa Lee Schuyler and Ellen Collins) and NEWAA (Abby May). Some are from Army and government personnel, and private citizens. The letters and reports chiefly concern supplies needed, received, and issued; activities in field departments; and monetary donations to the USSC. Items also pertain to financial accounts, USSC publications, employment and personnel matters, sanitary fairs, and special relief work. Rosters of various USSC departments can also be found here. Many letters and reports from 1862 concern the procurement of supplies and recruitment of personnel for hospital transport ships.</p> <p>A considerable number of letters received pertain to monetary contributions to the Commission. The Accounts and Vouchers record group (New York Office) contains other records detailing USSC financial activities in New York, including those of treasurer George T. Strong.</p> <p>Letterpress copybooks contain copies of letters and telegrams sent by General Secretary J Foster Jenkins, President Henry W. Bellows, and several assistant secretaries and clerks. The letters concern personnel assignments, activities, and concerns; financial matters; supply shipments; USSC activities in the field, especially in the Army of the Potomac; procedures, meetings and minutes, board resolutions, and the distribution of publications.</p> <p>In addition to correspondence, the records of the New York Office consist of hospital transport records (including registers of sick and wounded transported, registers of job applicants for transport-related positions,and records of supplies received and delivered by transport ships); accounts of supplies purchased, received, and forwarded; cashier’s correspondence; Document Bureau correspondence, inventories of publications and distribution records; and records of the Lincoln Home, including a register of admissions and meeting minutes of its directors. Also of note is a journal kept by J. Foster Jenkins recording his activities during the spring of 1864, including letters and reports received, description of this travels, Board sessions, and instructions to agents.</p> <p>There is little material in New York Office records from 1861 and early 1862. Prior to the opening of the office in the spring of 1862, USSC administrative matters in the city were handled by Bellows, Strong, and others. Strong conducted USSC business and accepted financial contributions at his 68 Wall Street address throughout the war. Some New York Office records extend into the timeframe of Historical Bureau activities, due to the continued employment of some staff at the Historical Bureau in similar capacities, following the closure of the Office.</p>"}
- date_start
-
1861
- keydate
-
1861
- date_end
-
1867
- date_inclusive_start
-
1861
- date_inclusive_end
-
1867