Board of Relief, Civil War, Social Welfare, Poverty, Child Welfare
The Chester County Board of Relief was set up by the Pennsylvania General Assembly’s Act of May 15, 1861, entitled "An Act to Create a Loan and to Provide for Arming the State" to aid local families of Civil War soldiers. Funded by state appropriations, its members included the County Commissioners and Court of Common Pleas Associate Judges. Township boards of relief were set up individually without legal precedent when townships felt the County Board did not meet the need for aid. Townships could petition the County Board to assist their local families, but the county did not always agree to help which motivated the township boards to aid families without county assistance. To receive the benefits of this program, families were required to submit an application. If the application was accepted the families would receive assistance based on their individual needs and circumstances. The applications are printed forms which include the same information as the corresponding account volumes. Information includes a full list of the soldier’s dependents, voucher number, page number the voucher is listed on in the corresponding volume, case history with dates and amounts of money given, date of enlistment, soldier's job or profession before enlistment, signature or mark of wife or dependent receiving aid, and date and signature of Board members affirming truth of documented information. A separate, every name index exists for this record series. For an index to this collection please see the following link: https://www.chesco.org/1702/Board-of-Relief-1861-1865