- unitid
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{"value"=>"342372", "type"=>"local_mss"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1863-1868", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1863/1868"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"V. Protective War Claim and Pension Agency"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"simple", "value"=>"227 boxes, 3 volumes"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Historical note</p> <p>The Protective War Claim and Pension Agency (PWCPA) of Philadelphia, earlier known as the Protective War Claim Agency, was established in 1863 by leaders of the USSC in that city to assist local Union veterans of the Civil War and their families in prosecuting claims on the federal government for pensions, back pay, bounty, commutation of rations, prize money, and other benefits. The Agency operated until January 1867, when outstanding business was to be transferred to the Central Office of the USSC’s Army and Navy Claim Agency in Washington, D.C. Its solicitor, however, continued working into 1870 to bring outstanding claims to conclusion, for which he was partially compensated by the USSC.</p> <p>The Philadelphia Associates (Philadelphia Agency) of the U.S. Sanitary Commission, inspired by the work done by the Special Relief Department in Washington, created an exploratory committee to plan an agency that would prosecute war claims without fee for servicemen and their family members; their plan was approved by the Philadelphia Associates’ Executive Committee in March 1863.</p> <p>The committee, chaired by attorney William M. Tilghman, established the Protective War Claim Agency’s office at 1307 Chestnut Street, the building in which the Philadelphia Agency had its main office, and hired William N. Ashman (1833-1914) to be its solicitor and secretary. James Hazlehurst joined the agency as assistant solicitor in January 1864; two clerks were hired when the caseload increased. The agency was incorporated under Pennsylvania law on December 5, 1864 as the Protective War Claim and Pension Agency.</p> <p>Ashman and his associates met with claim applicants in person and corresponded with them by mail. The vast majority of the applications were for federal government benefits; some applications were filed at the state level as well. The agency applied to the U.S. Pension Office on behalf of invalid soldiers as well as the dependent relatives of deceased veterans. It applied to the Paymaster General’s office for bounty and back pay for veterans, to the Treasury Department’s Second Auditor for bounty and back pay for various family members of the deceased, and less commonly, to the Treasury Department’s Third Auditor for reimbursement for personally supplied equipment lost during battle, notably horses. On behalf of sailors, it applied to the Treasury Department’s Fourth Auditor for prize money and benefits. As the war continued, the agency also filed claims with the Commissary General of Prisoners for commutation of rations on behalf of former prisoners of war. In cases where claimants in need sought advances on claim payments or other assistance, the Agency worked closely with the Women’s Pennsylvania Branch to determine actual needs and recommend other sources of relief assistance before it extended any loans.</p> <p>While PWCPA was established as an agency of the USSC Philadelphia Associates, it also developed a relationship with the USSC’s Washington-based Army and Navy Claim Agency (ANCA). ANCA’s leadership considered PWCAP as one of its local agencies and required it to submit monthly reports on claim activity and monthly expense reports. Most local USSC claim offices sent claim applications to ANCA, which prosecuted claims with the applicable government departments on their behalf. A few local offices in major cities, such as Philadelphia, however, remained independent in its dealings, and Ashman and his associates maintained a separate correspondence with the government departments. Ashman did correspond with ANCA’s General Agent William F. Bascom, and to a lesser extent his predecessor there Darius Forbes, and with the Special Relief Department’s Chief Assistant J.B. Abbott. The offices collaborated in cases involving Pennsylvania soldiers who initially filed their claim applications in Washington. In addition, some Philadelphia cases seemed to require assistance from USSC personnel who were geographically, and perhaps personally, closer to federal government officials, such as Pension Commissioner Joseph Barrett and Second Auditor Ezra B. French.</p> <p>In November 1865, ANCA announced that its claim agencies would cease accepting new applications on December 31, 1865, and local agents, including William Ashman, distributed notices to this effect to current and potential claimants. Work on processing claim applications already submitted, however, continued in Washington, as well as in claim agencies in Philadelphia and a few other major cities well into 1866. In April 1866, PWCAP’s governing committee voted to extend the time period for settling the agency’s business until the end of the year. In January 1867, the governing committee voted to close the office and send all unsettled claims William F. Bascom and his business partner, Charles W. Seaton, both formerly of ANCA, who had agreed to settle all outstanding USSC claims under the same terms and conditions as previously offered by its agencies.</p> <p>However, Ashman continued to prosecute unsettled claim applications well into 1870, and perhaps into 1871, and the USSC supported this continued work by paying part of the rent for his personal offices. After the war, Ashman would go on to hold several public offices in Philadelphia, concluding his career as a judge in the Orphans’ Court, a position he held for more than 20 years prior to his sudden death in 1914.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>Scope and content note</p> <p>Records of the Protective War Claim and Pension Agency (PWCPA) consist of correspondence; the Agency’s minutes; and claim documentation. Materials provide insight into the workings of a local claim agency, and the condition and needs of soldiers, sailors and their families living in the Philadelphia area.</p> <p>Correspondence consists of letters received and letters sent regarding claim prosecution and to a lesser extent office administrative matters, as well as various correspondence registers.</p> <p>Letters received comprise two series of letters predominantly from claimants, arranged successively in alphabetical order (circa 1863 Nov-1864 Oct) and then numerical order (1864 Oct-1867 Apr), including registers of the numbered items. Also present are letters from federal and state government departments, and letters from the United States Sanitary Commission's Special Relief Department and the Army and Navy Claim Agency concerning claimants and administrative matters. Letters received also contain miscellaneous documents, including correspondence; sample forms and printed matter.</p> <p>Letters in the alphabetical and numerical series are written mostly by soldiers and other claimants, but letters and other documents from military officers, physicians, hospital officials, government officials, clergy, USSC personnel, and others are also found. Writers are generally asking for information about a claim application, acknowledging receipt of payment or returned papers, or providing evidence or other information regarding an application. Letters also include signed and returned receipt forms for discharge certificates or payment certificates for claims allowed, and letters written by office staff to military and government officials and sometimes claimants, returned by the respondent with notations. The majority of items in the alphabetical series are letters from claimants, which often include accounts of their financial, family, and/or military circumstances.</p> <p>Letters in alphabetical arrangement are filed by claimant surname. In cases where multiple claimants are discussed (in government and USSC correspondence), letters are filed by the surname of the first claimant listed. As in the alphabetical and numerical series, letters received from government departments and USSC staff also include letters or forms sent by the Agency, which were returned with notations concerning the claimant or matter discussed. General correspondence is arranged chronologically by date written.</p> <p>Letters sent comprise thirteen letterpress copybooks kept by William N. Ashman, clerks writing on his behalf, and James W. Hazlehurst. Their correspondents include soldiers and other claimants, military officers, government officials, USSC personnel and others. Also present are correspondence registers of letters sent.</p> <p>Explanations of the types of claim handled by particular government departments and the nature of their correspondence are found in the Army and Navy Claim Agency correspondence series. Any exceptions to standard form or content in Agency correspondence, as well as any necessary arrangement statements, are noted in the container list.</p> <p>Claim documentation consists of the first volume only of a series of eleven volumes of claim application registers; a record of medical examinations of applicants for invalid pensions; and receipt books for certificates or payments of claims allowed.</p> <p>The Agency maintained claim registers as a formal record of claim transactions but, unlike ANCA or the Protective War Claim Association of the State of New York, it did not maintain separate claim files, preferring instead to record its correspondence in registers, noting claim actions taken on envelopes in which the correspondence was enclosed. According to a USSC volume listing all USSC claims unsettled as of April 1, 1867 (Unsettled claims, 1867, New York, N.Y. Archives record group, series IV.A Office, box 79, volume 5), the Agency’s claim applications numbered over 11,000. Those numbers are sometimes found on the top of envelopes and on documents concerning claim settlements.</p>"}
- date_start
-
1863
- keydate
-
1863
- date_end
-
1868
- date_inclusive_start
-
1863
- date_inclusive_end
-
1868