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V23 2020 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 23, Number 6, February 9, 2020, Article 11

CIVIL WAR ALLOTMENT CHECKS

Syd Martin submitted this response to Michael Atkins' query. Thanks! -Editor

With respect to Michael Atkins' article in the recent E-Sylum, which pictured an “Allotment Check” requesting additional information, I submit the following. An Allotment Check allowed a civil war soldier to send a portion (the allotment) of his pay directly to someone else (generally his wife or parents).

According to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allotment_Commission_(United_States_Civil_War )

“The Allotment Commission was a quasi-governmental agency of the federal government of the United States during the Civil War. It was established by an act of Congress on December 24, 1861. It was a voluntary program whereby 1/3 of a participating Union soldier's pay was sent home to family and friends. The purpose was to prevent wasteful spending among idle and bored soldiers in camp.”

They appear to have been issued by several (if not all) of the Union states, and by both the Army and Navy.

A copy of one in my collection is:

New York Army allotment checl

My New York, Army Allotment check is virtually identical to the one in The E-Sylum except that it features the bust of Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War. However, mine still has the stub attached at the left side:

New York Army allotment checl with stub

As these checks would have been returned to the issuing authority after being cashed, they were likely held for a period and then simply destroyed.

Such allotments have been used by the military ever since the Civil War for any number of reasons (e.g., to family, paying off a debt). I remember when my mother used to get “Allotment Checks” while my father was stationed in Korea during the Korean War.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
QUERY: A BLANK CIVIL WAR PAYCHECK (https://www.coinbooks.org/v23/esylum_v23n05a13.html)

Guth E-Sylum ad02 Detective Agency


Wayne Homren, Editor

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