1875 Paymaster General’s Document – Brig. Gen. Benjamin Alvord Signature For Sale

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1875 Paymaster General’s Document – Brig. Gen. Benjamin Alvord Signature:
$125.00

1875 Paymaster General’s Document – Brig. Gen. Benjamin Alvord Signature

Offered for your consideration is an official governmentpaymaster document regarding the settlement of an outstanding account. It wasissued from the “Paymaster General’sOffice”, part of the “(WARDEPARTMENT,)”, and was dated from “Washington,”on “Sept.18”, 1875”. It was addressedto “MajorW. Nicholls / Paymaster, U. S.A., / Care Maj. Gibson / San Antonio, Texas”. It states (inpart) that “Your account for Apr., May & June, 1875 No. 3106, has been turned over to the Second Auditor, for settlement, accompaniedwith an analysis of the disbursements and remarks thereon … You will upon yournext account current (if not previously done) charge yourself, under the statedappropriations, with the amount of debt transfers, and credit yourself, in likemanner, with the amount of the corresponding credit transfer …”. Therecipient is also told that “… You mayat the same time credit yourself … with amounts noted on the analysis as overcarried to abstract of Paymasters collections. Suspensions noted ‘charged topaymaster’ will be taken up, … on the next account current rendered by you …”.It is boldly signed at the conclusion by “Benj Alvord” in his capacity as “Paymaster General, U. S. A.”. The backof the document is blank. A rather mundane document, signed by a long-servingUnited States Army officer (albeit, predominantly a paper pushing officer).

Benjamin Alvord was born in Rutland, Vermont onAugust 18, 1813. He entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in1829 (at the ripe old age of 16) and graduated with the class of 1833. Heserved as an officer with the 4th United States Infantry for thenext twenty-one years, except for two years when he served as an instructor athis alma mater. He was present with his unit during the Seminole War, and atPalo Alto, Reseca de la Palma, and in the advance on Mexico City during theMexican War. He was breveted major for his service in the latter operation, andafter garrison duty in the early 1850’s, was advanced to the full rank of majorwhen he accepted an appointment as paymaster. He served as chief paymaster ofthe Department of Oregon from 1854 until 1862, when, on April 15, 1862, he wasappointed a brigadier general of volunteers and placed in command of the newlycreated District of Oregon. He remained in this position until March, 1865, withmost of his effort being spent in mediating with the local native peoples. Heresigned his volunteer commission in August, 1865, and the following monthbecame paymaster at New York City. He subsequently served as the chiefpaymaster at Omaha, chief paymaster of the Department of the Platte, andpaymaster general of the United States Army after 1872. He was promotedbrigadier general in the Regular Army in 1876, and retired in 1880. BenjaminAlvord died in Washington, D. C. on October 16, 1884 and was buried in theEvergreen Cemetery in Rutland, Vermont.

The presently offered document exhibits signs of period use,followed by reasonable long-term storage. Light toning is noted across theentire surface, imparting to the paper an off-white to beige hue. Darker spotscan be seen at the edges, undoubtedly the result of the oils in our hands beingdeposited upon the paper. Several folds are present, though due to the type ofpaper used, these have not caused any separations at this time. The contrast issomewhat light throughout, except for Alvord’s signature at the conclusion(though light, all of the manuscript material is legible). Measuringapproximately 8 x 10 inches, this document would look nice framed with aportrait of Alvord, or with a display of period currency.

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Buy or offer with Confidence – American Coins &Collectibles President Richie Self has worked 6 years as a paper moneygrader/authenticator. He has contributed to numerous reference books within theindustry, as well as being a co-author of “The Comprehensive Catalog andHistory of Confederate Bonds, 2nd Edition” with Douglas B. Ball,Ph.D., Henry F. Simmons, M.D., Ph.D. and James R. Desabaye. Mr. Self is a lifemember of the American Numismatic Association, the Society of Paper MoneyCollectors, as well as numerous regional numismatic associations. He is anauthorized submitter to NGC, PCGS, and PMG, a diamond founding member of CoinDealers Helping Coin Dealers and a supporter of the Industry Council forTangible Assets. American Coins and Collectibles can be found at many of thestate and local coin shows.

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