Chester County History Center - Chester County Archives and Record Services - Chester County Board of Relief

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About This Collection

This collections represents all extant records of the Chester County Board of Relief from 1861 through 1865. The Chester County Board of Relief was set up by the Act of May 15, 1861 P.L. 749, 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 Board to assist their families although the Board did not always agree to help and the township boards assisted families without assistance from the county. The materials in this collection document the actives of the Board of Relief and provides detailed information on the families who sought its assistance. This collection is divided into four record series: account books, applications, correspondence, and administrative records. A full index to the account books, applications, and correspondence can be found here: https://www.chesco.org/1702/Board-of-Relief-1861-1865.
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Board of Relief Administrative Records
Board of Relief, Civil War, Social Welfare, Poverty, Child Welfare, Administrative Records
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. This series contains miscellaneous records relating to the administrative function of the Board of Relief including minutes and resolutions, pay roll records, and committee books. The three small Committee books have one township per page. Each page lists one to three members of the township board of relief and the names of resident soldiers who are receiving county relief. Also listed are references to which volume and page in the set of three account books the soldier's account is on. The pay rolls of West Chester are for families of soldiers in West Chester receiving aid from the Board but they are a separate sequence from the vouchers. They include the date, pay order number, and a list of person’s signatures by the amount of money they received. Pay rolls include many names per page.
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