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Post by Rusty Ayers on Dec 10, 2002 13:08:56 GMT -5
Marge, I'll be in DC for a week beginning Jan. 6 to begin orientation for a new job. However, I will be in Herndon, VA, near Dulles Airport. If you knew exactly what I needed to get, I might have enough time to take the Metro into the city one evening, grab the microfilm, make a few copies and leave again. I think the National Archives is open some evenings, and I still have my old Archives ID card from when I used to visit DC more often (the HQ for my old job was only 5 blocks away).
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Post by Marge Smith on Dec 11, 2002 0:03:43 GMT -5
You are so generous of your time. Thank You.
But first I'm going to see what I can do from here. Whitney says there were 18 companies in command of Henry Dodge that were paid for their service. I'll keep you informed.
Thank You again Marge
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Post by Greg Carter on Dec 11, 2002 1:08:57 GMT -5
Rusty,
Feel free to do all the research you want for me! I don't care what you research for me, but go right on!
GMC
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Post by Robert Braun on Dec 11, 2002 9:28:05 GMT -5
Well what are we waiting for Bob? Lets' saddle up with pick and shovel and head for Washington. The month of April would be a good departure time. It is a warm and beautiful time of the year there... Perhaps the OLRHS would sponser us, all expenses paid... If that don't work will write a grant application with backing from the Wisconsin State Historical Society. A Michigan Territory Militia roster would be a excellent memorial to those that served and fill a historical hole in Wisconsin's history. Larry K Larry, the Society limosine will pick you up at your home, to be whizzed to Mitchell Field and transported in the Society jet to General Atkinson Field just north of Washington. From there, the Society's D. C. bureau chief will pick you up in a climate controlled BMW for immediate transport to the National Archives and Records Administration. Lunch will be at the Willard Room on Pennsylvania Ave. (I hope you like French cuisine.) After lunch, return to the NARA until 3 p.m., when the Society car will pick you up for a brief tour of our D. C. bureau and other far-flung regions of the empire. Then, back to "GAF" (as we affectionately call it) for your return flight. Of course, all this happens on April 1!! ;D Seriously, the grant idea is an excellent one. Let me confer with the OLRHS president (who has grant writing experience) and look into what can be done to do a "Whitney" for the volunteers of the Michigan Territory. Larry, you are so right-- it WOULD be an excellent memorial, and an outstanding reference for future investigators. Bob.
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Post by Marge Smith on Dec 11, 2002 15:40:38 GMT -5
Rusty - Made 5 calls to the National Archives. My blood pressure has only increased 10 points.
1. The muster rolls have never been microfilmed for Michigan Territory.
2. I ordered copies thru email. I took a chance and included my master card to cut down on the delay.
3. They will let me know if they are too fragile to copy
So, we will wait and see. Marge
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Post by Larry Koschkee on Dec 12, 2002 22:51:59 GMT -5
My sources say that the information we seek in the National Archives is found in Record Group 92 and are probably to fragile to copy... but could be transcribed with extreme care.
The records are in an advanced stage of decay and if one would sneeze they could be atomized.
However, we wish Marge the best of luck in here attempt.
Larry K
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Post by Rusty Ayers on Dec 13, 2002 12:24:28 GMT -5
Hey, maybe we should all make requests to the archives for the same muster rolls. If they received enough requests perhaps it would convince NARA to microfilm the darn things. Or maybe we should ask through the LDS Church... they have some amazing resources when it comes to tracking down otherwise unavailable records.
If I wind up going, I'll be sure to take the cotton gloves and all the other minutiae to prove that I am a "serious" researcher.
And Greg, I am not researching anything for TEXT until you get a more distinctive name. Carter isn't much better than Smith or Jones.
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Post by Larry Koschkee on Dec 14, 2002 18:32:52 GMT -5
Sources have told me that when researching the muster rolls in the National Archives for the Michigan Territory Volunteers one needs to be cognizant of the fact that rolls were headlined as Michigan Militia, Iowa (County) Militia and Iowa (County) Mounted Volunteers...
This raises several questions.
1... What defines the 18 companies of volunteers of the Michigan (Western) Territory in what is now southwestern Wisconsin?
2... Is "Michigan Militia" the same as Michigan Mounted Volunteers?
3... Is Iowa Militia the same as Iowa Mounted Volunteers and if different was one considered infantry?
To give an example here; some time ago I observed a collection of muster rolls that listed individuals in Capt. Robert C. Hoard's Co of Iowa MILITIA and individuals listed in Capt. Daniel M. Parkinson's Co of Iowa MOUNTED VOLUNTEERS
Can anyone help me sort this out?
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Post by Marge Smith on Dec 14, 2002 19:31:48 GMT -5
I worded my request as
"I would like copies of the Black Hawk War Muster Rolls for Michigan Territory. I understand there were 18 companies that reported to General Henry Dodge."
I assumed it would be the rolls paid from. But Dodge starts out as Colonel of the Territory Militia before it is all federalized. I looked in the Territorial Papers of Michiagan Territory, 1829-1837 by Carter. In 1829 Governor Cass in a letter to the President says "one Major General and two Brigadier Generals are now required in the Territory of Michigan to complete the organization of the Militia. Provision for their appointment is made by the territorial laws, but the appointment itself devolves upon the President and Senate of the United States." Cass nominates a John R. Williams and Charles Larned which I assume to be from the eastern Michigan Territory. (Page 27)
On October 26, 1832 a letter from the Secretary of War (Tanney) to Governor Porter says
"Your letter of the 24th [letter not found] with the enclosures, relating to the services of the Michigan militia, called out by the Territorial authorities, upon the occasion of the recent hostilities with the Sac and Fox Indians has been submitted to the President; and he has decided, that the circumstances were such as to justify the call. These militia will therefore be recognized, as entitled to pay from the United States; and payment will be made, as soon as the proper measures can be taken in the Pay Master General Office, to examine and pass upon the rolls, which have been transmitted, so far as those rolls are correct, and as the appropriations made by Congress, and applicable to these objects will permit. (Page 531)
Marge
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