Registers of Letters and Telegrams Received
setName: label: See more items in
content: Records of the Assistant Commissioner for the State of Louisiana, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865–1869
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAAHC.FB.M1027, Series 3
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Registers of letters and telegrams received are also typical of 19th–century recordkeeping practices. In addition to a summary of the contents of an incoming letter, the registers usually include such identifying information as the name and sometimes the office of the writer, the date of receipt, the date of the communication, the place from which it was written, and the entry number assigned to it.

The eight volumes of registers of letters and telegrams received, July 1, 1865–May 10, 1869, are arranged by time period. Entries in each volume are arranged by initial letter of surname of correspondent or office and thereunder by the number assigned on the date of receipt. Correspondence from General Howard is usually listed under "R," for Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, Bureau of; correspondence from the Superintendent of Education is listed under "E," for Education, Superintendent of. In some volumes, all telegrams are entered under "T" regardless of the correspondent's name.

Many entries in the registers are annotated with cross–references to endorsement books by using the notation "EB" (endorsement book) followed by a number. The number refers to the page in the endorsement book whose dates encompass the date of the registered letter. If "EB" is followed by a fraction instead of a whole number, the numerator refers to the volume number of an endorsement book and the denominator refers to the page number. A cross–reference consisting of an alphabet letter followed by a number refers to another entry in the same register of letters received.

Originally, complete name indexes existed only for Volumes 4 – 7. Indexes for Volumes 1 – 3 list the names of persons mentioned in the correspondence but not the names of the correspondents. The NARS staff finished the indexing of Volumes 1 – 3 by compiling name indexes to correspondents, then prepared a name index to Volume 8. Indexes for Volumes 1 – 3 and 8 are arranged alphabetically. Indexes for Volumes 4 – 7 are arranged alphabetically by the initial letter of surname or place name. The NARS prepared indexes to names of correspondents for Volumes 1 – 3 are filmed before the other indexes for those volumes. Each index is filmed immediately before the register to which it refers.

Because the number of pages allotted to each alphabetical division in the volumes sometimes proved insufficient, it became necessary to continue the entries elsewhere in the volumes. The NARS staff has filmed the registers in correct order; therefore, some of the pages as they appear in this publication are not in the original numerical sequence.

A number of documents entered in the registers are no longer among the files of registered letters and telegrams received. Often, communications were either forwarded to Bureau headquarters, referred to staff or other subordinate officers, or returned with endorsements to the sender. The NARS staff has annotated the registers with a single asterisk to show which letters are still on file among the registered letters and telegrams received. Entries marked with a double asterisk are located in other series reproduced in this microfilm publication.