Civil War Collection

Records pertaining to Monmouth County volunteers, kept by the county clerk, including muster lists, correspondence with New Jersey Adjutant General's Office, bounty payment vouchers, medical examiner certificates, certificates of exemption, subsistence and transportation vouchers, and monthly vouchers or state payments for wives and widowed mothers, chiefly concerning soldiers from the 14th, 28th, and 29th New Jersey regiments, but also including men from other units, Afro-American troops, and a few naval and marine enlistees.

Records transferred by Jane G. Clayton, Monmouth County Clerk to County of Monmouth, Archives and Records Center. Finding aid in the repository. The repository also has microfilm and indexes of the collection available for public use. Indexes are arranged alphabetically by name of soldier, town, regiment, company, and "Colored troops."

I. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

On April 17, 1861, two days after President Lincoln made his first call for troops, New Jersey's Governor Charles S. Olden issued his own proclamation calling for 3,120 volunteers to help in the Union cause. The initial call for volunteers required the recruits to serve for three months. The majority of Monmouth County volunteers were mustered into Company A and G of the 3rd Regiment on April 27, 1861. Other Monmouth County men, for various reasons, enlisted in other counties and as far away as New York and Philadelphia. By April 30, 1861, the Monmouth volunteers met with the entire New Jersey Brigade for their march to Washington.

As the war dragged on, call after call was made, each time for more volunteers and for longer terms of service. Another large group of Monmouth County men were raised under President Lincoln's call of August 4, 1862, for 300,000 nine-month and three-year volunteers. At that point, it was thought the government would have to resort to a draft, but within a few weeks, New Jersey's quota had been filled with more than enough volunteers.

The Monmouth County men were placed in nine Monmouth County companies of the 28th Regiment (nine months, mustered in September, 1862, mustered out June and July, 1863); the 29th Regiment nine months, mustered in September, 1862, mustered out June and July, 1863), and the 14th Regiment (three years, mustered in August, 1862, mustered out June, 1865). The 14th, 28th, and 29th were all raised at Freehold's Camp Vredenburg, which is now part of the Monmouth Battlefield State Park.

Most Northerners underestimated the determination and stamina of the South and few imagined the war would last for four years. It became increasingly difficult for the states to fill their quota with volunteers. The enthusiasm of volunteers did not last and, on March 3, 1863, President Lincoln was forced to order the first draft call through "An Act for enrolling and calling out the National forces."

Most in the North were not happy with the drastic draft measure and believed that encouraging volunteers would help fill the states' quotas. In 1863, New Jersey's Governor Parker issued a final call for volunteers before resorting to the draft. To lure recruits, he authorized the Boards of Chosen Freeholders in the counties to offer bounty payments for each volunteer ranging from $100 to $500.

At a Special Meeting held August 11, 1863, the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders met to discuss ways to raise the necessary funds to cover the cost of the bounty payments. The result of the meeting was a resolution to petition the State legislature for an act to authorize the Board to issue bonds and to raise the money to pay for the bonds and interest by increasing taxes assessed to each township. It was also agreed that each volunteer receive a $200 bounty payment. Since Monmouth offered one of the lowest bounties, it was not unusual for Monmouth residents to sign up in other counties or other states where payments were much higher.

The Board also directed that the County Collector maintain records of all monies disbursed for the war effort. Bounty payments were issued by the County Collector to the volunteer once he received written notification from the Adjutant General verifying that the recruit had been accepted and mustered into service.

Payments also were made to civilian recruiters who had persuaded a friend, relative, or neighbor to help serve in the cause. There are many instances of payments made to individuals who recruited "colored" volunteers (enlistment of African-American troops was authorized on January 1, 1863). Not only did the recruiters receive payment for obtaining a volunteer, they also received payment for subsistence and transportation to deliver their volunteer to a nearby camp.

Substitution also became a routine procedure. To avoid service, men eligible for the draft were permitted to find a substitute who was not draft eligible.

II. SCOPE AND CONTENT

During the war, military record keeping became a massive job at the federal, state, county and municipal levels. The Civil War series is a collection of the County Clerk's and County Collector's records pertaining to Monmouth County's volunteers. The collection consists of two groups of records: General Records and Dependent Bounty Payment Vouchers.

A. GENERAL RECORDS (Boxes 1-4, Microfilm Roll 1)

The following types of documents, within the General records, are arranged chronologically, followed by a supplement.

1. Muster Lists

The muster list was a very important record of each regiment and company and includes the volunteer's name, place of residence, and marital status. In most cases, the name of the wife or widowed mother, who received a monthly State payment while the soldier lived, is noted on the muster list. Notations are found on the lists concerning promotions, transfers, deaths, desertions, and discharges. The lists are interfiled according to the date the regiment was mustered into service, except for oversized muster lists which are stored flat in a map drawer cabinet.

2. New Jersey Adjutant General's Office Correspondence

Correspondence from the Adjutant General's Office in Trenton notified the County Clerk and County Collector to add or strike names from the muster list of a regiment. This information verified the soldier's status in active service so that the County Collector could issue bounty payments and the monthly payments to wives and widowed mothers. A typical letter from the Adjutant General's office gives a soldier's regiment, company, and date of muster in or discharge date. There are often inconsistencies in the spelling of names, the regiment and company, the name of the wife or widowed mothers, and sometimes in the date of death or desertion.

3. Bounty Payment Vouchers

Since the County Collector held the final responsibility for monies disbursed, the Civil War collection includes bounty payment vouchers issued by the Collector and signed by the volunteer certifying that he did receive his payment. The voucher usually gives the Regiment and Company but, in some cases, the voucher contradicts the muster list information. A supplemental group of vouchers, arranged by voucher number, includes payments made during 1865 and are filed at the end of the collection.

4. Medical Examiner Certificates

A small number of Medical Examiner certificates provides a complete physical description of the volunteer, including age, height, complexion, hair and eye color.

5. Certificates of Exemption

"Certificates of Exemption on Account of having furnished a substitute" includes the names of the draftee and the substitute. These Certificates do not identify the regiment and company.

6. Subsistence and Transportation Vouchers

The County Collector issued payments to civilian recruiters for enlisting "colored volunteers." The vouchers include the names of the volunteers and, in some cases, a brief physical description of the volunteer. In addition, the voucher indicates the cost for meals and fees in transporting the volunteer to the camp.

The series also includes a number of vouchers pertaining to Navy enlistees and a few Marines.

B. DEPENDENT BOUNTY PAYMENT VOUCHERS (Boxes 5-14, Microfilms 2 and 3)

Monthly Payment Vouchers for Wives and Widowed Mothers

Monthly payments were paid to the wife or widowed mother while the husband or son remained in active service. The women would bring their voucher to the town collector and, after endorsing the voucher, receive their payments. The vouchers include the husband's name, regiment, company, and town. The monthly vouchers are arranged alphabetically by wife or widowed mother's name.

C. SUPPLEMENT: COUNTY COLLECTOR BOUNTY PAYMENT VOUCHERS (Box 15)

These bounty payments were paid to volunteers in 1865. The vouchers are arranged by voucher number. Other such vouchers are interfiled in the General Records (see II, A3 above).

III. USE

The series is available on microfilm and is arranged, within the General section on microfilm Roll 1, in strict chronological order by date of correspondence, voucher, certificate, or muster list. Muster lists are filed by the date the Regiment was mustered into service. Dependent bounty payments to wives and widowed mothers are arranged on microfilm Rolls 2 and 3 in alphabetical order. The supplement of 1865 bounty payments has been microfilmed separately.

Indexes Two different indexes to the Civil War records are available:

	Index to General Civil War Records (Boxes 1-4)
	Index to Bounty Vouchers for Dependants (Boxes 5-14).

The Index to General Records is provided in the following sorts:

	A. Alphabetically by name of soldier
	B. Alphabetically by town, and alphabetically by soldier thereunder
	C. Alphabetically by Regiment and Company, and alphabetically by soldier thereunder
	D. "Colored troops" (African-Americans)
	E. Alphabetically by last name of wife or widowed mother

The following field headings are used in the General indexes:

	NAME name of soldier with notes such as age, height, and substitutions
	COLRD if soldier was an African American, a C will be found in this field
	TOWN town where soldier lived
	DATEENL date of enlistment
	REG regiment, if known; also contains cross references
	CO company, if known
	TERM term of enlistment
	BOUNTYPAY bounty (bonus) paid for enlistment
	M_S_W marital status: married, single or widower
	DEPENDNAME name of dependent and relationship
	TERMDATE termination date of service. Cause and date (discharge or death) with reference to documentation"

The Index to Bounty Vouchers for Dependants is provided in the following sorts:

	A. Alphabetically by Name of Soldier
	B. Alphabetically by Name of Dependant

The Bounty Voucher index includes the following field headings:

	SOLDIER
	DEPENDENT,
	RELATION of dependent to soldier
	BOUNTY FROM date payments began
	BOUNTY TO date payments ended
	TOWN
	BOX
	MFILM microfilm roll number

In addition to the nine Monmouth County companies, volunteers were also represented in other state-wide regiments listed in the following table:

*Included 36th Regiment

February 1994

Revised August 1996