GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC: DEPARTMENT OF MINNESOTA:

An Inventory of Its Departmental Records at the Minnesota Historical Society

Government Records

Expand/CollapseOVERVIEW

Creator: Grand Army of the Republic. Department of Minnesota.
Title:Departmental records.
Dates:1866-1954.
Language:Materials in English.
Abstract:Records generated or accumulated by the headquarters office of the Grand Army of the Republic [GAR], Department of Minnesota, relating to the general administration and finances of the office, interactions with GAR posts in the state, and relations with the national GAR.
Quantity:16.0 cubic feet (17 boxes and 1 partial box).
Location: See Detailed Description for shelf locations.

Expand/CollapseSCOPE AND CONTENTS

The records include correspondence and miscellany (1884-1954), especially files created during the 1930s and 1940s by departmental secretary Marion Jewell; circulars, orders, and rosters (1882-1946); Minnesota encampment proceedings (1900-1947); an incomplete set of financial records; records and reports of various patriotic and commemorative activities or offices; information (primarily death lists and reports) on GAR members and other Minnesota Civil War veterans; miscellaneous data on GAR posts; and an assortment of printed and near-print issuances and memorabilia.

There are also records of the Woman's Veteran Relief Union (1900-1910) and the Woman's Relief Corps (1884-1948); and smaller files regarding the Military Order of the Loyal Legion (1913-1920), the Past National Aide Club (1935-1944), the Memorial Day Association (1917-1953), and other affiliates.


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Expand/CollapseADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Grand Army of the Republic. Department of Minnesota. Departmental Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession numbers: 241; 2053 (mss); 992-173; 993-113; 2011-47

Processing Information:

NHPRC logo

Processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with a Basic Project grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Catalog ID number: 001737058


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DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Location
113.F.4.8FCorrespondence, undated and December 1884-1899.
Location
113.F.4.9BCorrespondence, 1900-1930. 7 folders.
Includes some member transfer cards.
Circulars and orders, Minnesota Department, 1870-1876, 1880-1883, 1888-1917. 3 folders.
Black Book and Endorsement Book [order book]. 1 volume.
List of rejected applicants for membership, 1881-1883 (pages 6-7); record of decisions made by national and state headquarters regarding disputes and questions, 1882-1887 (pages 50-67).
Departmental organizational and printed records. 6 items in 1 folder.
Constitution, 1866; Ritual Book, 1883; Bylaws, 1884; Rosters, 1890, 1892; and Roll of the Dead, 1900.
National Patriotic Instructor: Report of Levi Longfellow, July 10, 1925.
Record of Post Memorial Day Services, circa 1894.
Minneapolis General Memorial Day Committee minutes, January 1897-May 1903. 1 volume.
GAR Minnesota Vicksburg Commission:
Papers, 1917-1918.
Account book, 1917. 1 volume.
Includes financial accounts, 1917 (pages 2-5) and list of attendees and settlements (pages 168-198).
Association of Commanders of the GAR of Minneapolis minutes, 1896-1899.
Vouchers, 1884, 1886-1889. 6 folders.
Audit Report, Entertainment of the National Encampment, GAR [by City of Minneapolis], August 1906.
Record of correspondence, circulars, and orders, 1897-1908. 1 volume.
Location
112.E.4.1B-1[Record book]. 1 volume.
Includes Annual Encampment minutes, 1866-1884; Council of Administration minutes, 1886-1893; and special orders, 1866.
Roster of members, 1891. 1 volume.
By post, Nos. 1-21 only.
Location
112.E.4.1B-2Register of visitors at National Encampments, circa 1888-1907. 1 volume.
Includes list of departmental staff, 1884.
Register of visiting comrades to Minnesota Department at National Encampments, circa 1900-1912. 1 volume.
Location
113.F.4.10FDepartmental ledger, 1880-1884. 1 volume.
Indexed.
Cashbook [departmental], 1888-1891. 1 partial volume.
Part of an account book of the Assistant Adjutant General.
The remainder of the volume is listed as part of "Post adjutant and quartermaster reports and summaries" (cataloged separately).
Assistant quartermaster general accounts, 1893-1895. 1 partial volume.
1893-1894 (pages 1-53) and 1895 (pages 117-123).
The remainder of the volume is listed as part of "Post adjutant and quartermaster reports and summaries" (cataloged separately).
Orton S. Clark, Assistant Adjutant General:
Cashbook, 1901-1906. 1 volume.
Includes accounts with Military Order of the Loyal Legion, 1910.
Journals, 1898-[April 1905]. 2 volumes.
Ledgers, 1898-1908. 2 volumes.
Reports of 25th Anniversary of the GAR Celebration, 1891. 1 volume.
Roll of 17th Encampment (St. Paul), 1896. 1 volume.
Roll of 18th Encampment (Minneapolis), 1898. 1 volume.
Council of Administration (Minnesota Department) minutes, February 1894-June 1919.
Memorial Day scrapbooks, 1891, 1893, 1894. 3 volumes.
Location
113.D.3.1BMarion Jewell, GAR Departmental Secretary, correspondence, 1945-1948.
With Commander Albert Woolson, and regarding an ongoing feud with "Madame X."
Correspondence, circa 1940s. 6 folders.
In alphabetical order by surname.
Departmental correspondence, 1929-1954. 14 folders.
Unorganized.
Colonel B. W. Jewell:
Correspondence with S. P. Elliott, Hog Haven Farms, Illinois. 2 folders.
Eastern Star Masonic Home.
Miscellaneous.
Diary, January 3, 1942-February 7, 1943. 1 volume.
Possibly official diary kept by Marion Jewell.
Location
113.D.3.2FCorrespondence:
1890, 1893-1896, 1900-1902.
Location
113.D.3.3B 1902-1906.
Military Order of the Loyal Legion, 1913-1920.
State Fair Committee, 1912, 1917-1918.
1928.
1937-1943. 10 folders.
Includes correspondence regarding 1941 and 1942 encampments.
Location
113.D.3.4F 1889.
1905.
A-Z, 1898. 6 folders.
Department, 1929-1932. 4 folders.
A-Z, 1937-1939. 2 folders.
Marion Jewell, 1938-1941.
A-Z, 1938-1942.
Open file, bulk 1940.
A-Z, 1940-1941.
GAR, circa 1937-1943.
Department, 1941-1947. 6 folders.
Department: Letters and telegrams regarding termination of Minnesota GAR, 1947.
Department, 1948-1953. 2 folders.
Location
113.D.3.5BPast National Aide Club:
Miscellany, circa 1939-circa 1943. 4 folders.
Correspondence, 1938.
Correspondence, 1940-1944.
Treasurer's record, 1935-1936.
Treasurer's miscellany.
Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War:
Minnesota Department General Orders, 1930-1953.
Incomplete.
Minnesota Department miscellany.
National Headquarters printeds.
Memorial Day Association:
Minutes, 1922-1926.
Correspondence, 1917-1921. 4 folders.
Flag Day Ceremonies Report, June 14, 1905.
Programs, 1896-1923, 1938-1953. 4 folders.
Incomplete.
Miscellany, 1921-1950.
National Flag Day Association (Minnesota Soldiers Home), 1937-1943.
Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, 1938-1946.
Mainly published materials relating to Minneapolis Camp No. 8.
Sons of Veterans, Minnesota Division, 1889-1916. 7 items in 1 folder.
Ladies of the GAR: Printed materials, 1931-1941.
GAR Patriotic Instructor's Office: Printed materials, 1906-1921, 1930.
Supreme Forest of Woodmen Circle: St. Paul Grove No. 8, undated.
Reflecting Marion Jewell's involvement.
Location
113.D.3.6FWoman's Veterans Relief Union:
Adjunct of the GAR.
Precinct 4:
Minutes, 1900-1910. 2 volumes.
Cashbook, 1900-1910. 1 volume.
Reports of Union Treasurer, 1903-1908.
Precinct Union Quarterly Reports.
Precinct 2: Roll Book.
Rituals.
Miscellaneous printed materials.
National Headquarters circulars, 1900-1908.
Miscellaneous correspondence, Precincts 2 and 4.
Woman's Relief Corps:
Adjunct of the GAR.
Departmental rosters, 1910, 1930/1931, 1937/1938-1944/1945.
Departmental general orders, 1884-1885, 1911, 1927-1948.
Incomplete.
Departmental printed materials.
National WRC general orders, 1896, 1905-1945.
Incomplete.
National WRC miscellaneous printed materials.
Convention materials, circa 1940s.
Programs and speeches.
Marion Jewell and miscellany.
Miscellany.
Journal, [Department of Minnesota?], 1942-1947. 1 volume.
Ledger: Garfield Corps No. 5, 1884-1892. 1 volume.
Location
113.D.3.7BGAR Department of Minnesota:
Rosters, 1901-1929/1930.
Incomplete.
Circulars, orders, and special letters, 1882-1946. 10 folders.
GAR Ritual Books, 1884, 1889, 1891, 1910, 1911.
GAR miscellaneous printed items.
Patriotic songs. 2 folders.
GAR sample forms.
Minnesota Encampment Proceedings. 11 volumes and 2 folders.
Official Guide, 18th Annual, Minneapolis, 1884.
1900, 1905.
1912/1913.
1916/1917.
1917/1918.
1925/1926.
1926/1927.
1929/1930.
1931/1932.
1937-1941.
1942-1946.
1946-1947.
Ceremonial instructions, undated.
Location
113.D.3.8FDepartmental list of encampments, 1866-1941.
Departmental Annual Encampment Proceedings, 71st-81st, 1937-1947. 18 folders.
Includes related correspondence and miscellany.
Final Encampment miscellaneous papers, 1947.
Audit and investigation, 1937-1938.
Departmental financial record, 1942-1943.
Quarterly budget estimates, 1939-1951. 2 folders.
Order Register, 1900-1912; Council of Administration minutes, 1921-1922. 1 volume.
Post No. 50 cashbook, January 1902-January 1918; Council of Administration minutes, June 1920; Council of Administration receipts/disbursements register, 1923-July 1931. 1 volume.
Departmental cashbook, 1936-1950. 1 volume.
Headstone record, 1902-circa 1913. 1 volume.
Apparently state headquarters.
Roll of 16th Encampment, March 1896; Headstone application record, circa 1907-1921. 1 volume.
Lists of soldiers graves in Oakland Cemetery, St. Paul, 1909. 3 volumes in 1 folder.
Location
113.D.3.9BReport of Assistant Adjutant General, Post 21, 1930.
Death rolls, 1921, 1926-1928, 1939. 5 folders.
Forms submitted by each post.
Roll of the Dead, 1908, 1911, 1912, 1920, 1922, 1924, 1926.
Death lists, 1937-1941.
Post deaths, 1928-1932.
Reported deaths of Civil War veterans in Minnesota, 1936-1948. 8 folders.
Post annual reports (of patriotic instructors), 1922.
Miscellaneous data on posts.
Register of visitors at National Encampments, 1928-1938. 1 volume.
Miscellaneous data on GAR members. 4 folders.
Lists of Civil War veterans living in Minnesota, 1938-1945.
Deceased Commanders biographical data and photographs.
Post questionnaires (1938) and miscellaneous data. 1 volume.
Credentials [forms listing post officers], 1921/1922, 1930, [1940s?]. 3 folders.
Historical data on Minnesota GAR.
Charter correspondence and miscellany. 2 folders.
Descriptive book of members statewide [by post], 1938.
With later death entries.
[Charters and dispensations granted], 1889-1921. 1 volume.
Log of correspondence regarding charters and reports.
Biographical memorabilia of Captain Jacob D. Rogers, 1865-1875.
Includes muster and honorable discharge papers from his Civil War service with the 68th Regiment, U.S. Colored Infantry Volunteers, as well as later commendations and mementoes.
Letter, Ferdinand Speigel, 1892.
To his sons in St. Paul; Speigel was stationed with the U.S. Army in Chickamauga, Georgia, during the Civil War.
Location
113.D.3.10FDeath reports:
Recorded on paper slips.
1889-1919, 1934-1936. 3 card file boxes.
Chronological; include biographical data and post membership; cards for most years include deaths at the Minnesota Soldiers Home as a separate unit. Cover 1889-1890, 1896-1898, 1900, 1902, 1905-1906, 1908, 1911-1914, 1915-1917, 1919, 1934-1936.
Nos. 1-192, 1880s-1920s. 2 card file boxes and 1 partial card file box.
By post; include biographical data.
Cards organized by city, of post name, organization date, date charter surrendered. 1 partial card box.
Includes death reports by year, 1915-1936.
Location
113.D.4.1BClippings.
Loose, unorganized.
Location
112.E.4.2F-4Minnesota GAR [voucher register], 1897-1929. 1 volume.
Central GAR office receipts/disbursements.
Minnesota GAR semi-annual reports, Assistant Adjutant General, 1912-1922.
Index to burials in St. Paul Cemeteries.
Unidentified post; possibly Post No. 8.
Minnesota Association of Union Ex-Prisoners of War: Personal narratives, undated.
Location
112.C.3.1Charters and miscellany:
Charter, Minnesota GAR, 1881. 2 sheets.
Authorization for the encampment to form a department.
Location
+325Resolution of appreciation, GAR to people of Minnesota, for hosting 18th National Encampment.
Location
112.C.3.1Sample GAR commissions as aide-de-camp, 1898-1937.
Charles H. Hodge, May 12, 1892.
B. Wood Jewell, December 1, 1898.
Fred Dohm, May 1, 1901.
C. H. Tolland, July 6, 1906.
W. C. Fisher, January 12, 1937.
Charter, Biddle Circle 38, Ladies of the GAR, 1898.

Expand/CollapseCATALOG HEADINGS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:
Memorial Day.
Patriotic societies -- Minnesota.
Veterans -- Minnesota -- Societies, etc.
Women -- Minnesota -- Societies and clubs.
Persons:
Clark, Orton S.
Dohm, Fred.
Fisher, W. C.
Hodge, Charles H.
Jewell, B. Wood
Jewell, Marion B.
Rogers, Jacob Drake.
Speigel, Ferdinand.
Tolland, C. H.
Organizations:
Memorial Day Association (Saint Paul, Minn.).
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. Minnesota Commandery.
Past National Aide Club.
United States. Army. Colored Infantry Regiment, 68th (1864-1866).
Woman's Relief Corps (U.S.). Department of Minnesota.
Woman's Veteran Relief Union.
Places:
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Societies, etc.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Veterans.

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