{"value"=>"<p>ANCA’s local agents served as liaisons between the central office in Washington, DC, and claimants in over 100 towns and cities in 23 states and the District of Columbia. They took claim applications from soldiers, sailors, and their family members in their regions, forwarded the necessary paperwork to ANCA, and maintained communication with claimants and others assisting with the prosecution of individual cases. Most local offices were established during the summer of 1865, but some started as early as 1862. Early offices, such as the Philadelphia’s Protective War Claim and Pension Agency or the Protective War Claim Association of the State of New York, were generally either founded by local USSC affiliates or established independently, coming under the aegis of the USSC as the war progressed. Some claim work initially conducted by USSC relief agents was continued on a local agent basis. Most local agencies closed in the fall of 1865, after ANCA General Agent W.F. Bascom announced that ANCA would cease accepting new claim applications on December 31, 1865. Some had closed earlier, while others worked to close pending applications into early 1866. Local agents turned their records over to ANCA upon closure of their offices.</p> <p>Records consist of registers and cash books maintained by local agents as a record of their claims prosecution and operating expenses, as mandated by ANCA. Registers typically identify the name, rank, and regiment or ship information for the soldier or sailor making the claim, or upon whose service the claim was based; name and relationship of the individual family member making application; address; date and circumstances of discharge, disability, or death; claim type; application date; evidence required and when it was received or sent; dates of communication with ANCA; whether a claim was settled, rejected, or required further action; and any claim settlement in dollar amounts. The amount of information recorded varies. Entries in registers (most of which were supplied by ANCA) are arranged alphabetically by the first letter of the soldier or sailor surname and chronologically within each section; exceptions are noted at the item level. Expenses incurred in the prosecution of claims, such as magistrate’s fees, postage, and rent, were recorded either in the registers or in separate cash books. Local agents’ correspondence with ANCA, monthly reports to ANCA, and employment agreements with ANCA are found in that sub-group.</p> <p>Further information about local agents, with a regional listing, can be found in John S. Blatchford’s “Statement concerning the Army and Navy Claim Agency of the U.S. Sanitary Commission, From September 1, 1864, to October 1, 1866.” [Washington: The Commission, 1866].</p>"}