IN REPLYING QUOTE INITIALS

TREASURY DEPARTMENT

WASHINGTON

March 28, 1910

Talcott H. Russell, Secretary,
42 Church St.,
New Haven, Conn.

My dear Sir:--

I acknowledge receipt of your favor of March 23rd, enclosing form of inscription which might be considered in connection with the designs for the memorial. I shall be glad to give consideration to this form, and if any improvements suggest themselves to me, to advise you.

I note your suggestion that there be added to the committee Mr. Allen W. Evarts, and I beg to myself express concurrence in this suggested addition.

IN REPLYING QUOTE INITIALS

TREASURY DEPARTMENT

WASHINGTON

Apr. 5, 1910

My dear Sir:-

I acknowledge receipt of yours of April 2nd, enclos-
ing copy of letter to you from Secretary Anson Phelps Stockes,
Jr.

I thank you therefor, and note that at an informal
conference of a large number of the members of the committee the
conclusion indicated in the report was adopted.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT

WASHINGTON

Apr. 29,1910

My dear Sir:-

I have this morning your favor of April 28th, advising of the meeting of the Committee on Memorial to Yale Men who fell in the War Between the States, to be held at the Graduates Club at New Haven on May 9th. I am sorry that it will be impossible for me to be present.

As I previously advised you, however, I approve of the selection of Mr. Allen W. Evarts as a member of the Committee.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT

WASHINGTON

Jan.5, 1910

Talcott H. Russell, Esq.,
42 Church St.,
New Haven, Conn.

My dear Sir:-

I have this morning your favor of December 30th, en-
closing a list of Yale men supposed to have lost their lives in con-
sequence of military service in the war between the States.

I shall be glad indeed to look through this list and
see if I have any suggestions to make, and I shall also endeavor to
avail myself of such opportunities as there may be here in Washington
to note and mark such inaccuracies as may exist. Of course, in this
direction I am not at all sure what I may find it possible to do, but
it will be my pleasure to do what I can. I shall hope to let you
hear from me further regarding this before very long.

IN REPLYING QUOTE INITIALS

TREASURY DEPARTMENT

WASHINGTON

January 12, 1910.

Talcott H. Russell, Esq.,
42 Church Street,
New Haven, Conn.

My dear Sir:

Referring further to yours of December 30, to which I replied under date of January 5, I would say that I have communicated with the War Department to see if we could not check up the list of Yale men supposed to have lost their lives in the Civil War, which list accompanied your favor of December 30, but I am sorry to say that the regulations of the War Department are such as to preclude the opportunities of our having the checking up done that we had hoped for. I can quite appreciate the conditions which prompted the issuance of certain rules and regulations by the War Department. A printed copy of such rules I enclose herewith for your information.

I suppose it would be possible for work on this list to be done by someone who is in position to spend a good deal of time, and that might mean several weeks' time, in the Library of Congress, perusing and studying the Civil War rosters of the various States; but outside of that I do not see how a general investigation could be made with respect to all the men on the list which you prepared.

This last fall, just before I left New Haven, I had a moment's talk with Mr. F. L. Bigelow, '81-S., who I believe was about to get into communication with some Yale man who had made more or less of a study of this very question of Yale men lost in the Civil War. I rather assume that since my talk with Mr. Bigelow, he has himself seen you on the subject. I think that is what he intended doing.

Regretting my inability at the present time to be of any particular assistance to you in this matter, I am,

Enc.

WAR DEPARTMENT,

WASHINGTON, D. C.,

February 23, 1897.

ORDERS:

The muster rolls and other records of individual officers, enlisted men and organizations, which are on file in the Record and Pension Office of this Department and which pertain to the War of the Rebellion, the Mexican War, the various Indian wars, the War of 1812, and the War of the Revolution have become so dilapidated through years of constant handling, or other causes, that it has been found necessary to adopt stringent measures for their preservation, and to restrict reference to them to cases in which such reference is absolutely necessary. Many of the most important of those records have been reproduced by the index-record card system, but the handling of these cards, as well as the original records which they represent, by persons not thoroughly instructed in their use and not under the control of this Department, involves great danger of the loss, through misfiling or otherwise, of cards or other records which can not be replaced. For these reasons, as well as for others equally cogent, the Department is compelled to restrict access both to the original records and the index-record cards exclusively to persons who are in the employ of the Department and are lawfully subject to its control.

The Department will furnish at any time such information relative to any individual officer or enlisted man as its records afford, and as may be *actually necessary* to enable the proper officials of any State, or any relief association, patriotic society or other kindred organization, to pass upon any application that may have been made in good faith for aid, relief or membership, and that may properly come within the jurisdiction of such officials or organization. But requests for information relative to individual officers or enlisted men, or for the compilation of statistical or other data relative to particular organizations, to be used for historical or memorial purposes or for publication, can not be entertained, because the limited clerical force allowed by law is insufficient to enable the Department to comply with such requests without serious interference with more important current work.

The records of general historical value pertaining to the late war have either been published, or soon will be published, in the "Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies," so as to render them accessible to all who may be interested in them. Should Congress provide in future for a similar publication of the records relating especially to individual officers, enlisted men and organizations of that war and prior wars, the historical data which those records contain will also become available for general use, but until such publication

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shall have been authorized, or other legislation enacted, it will
be impracticable for the Department to furnish compilations
or statements from those records for historical, memorial, or
statistical purposes, or for publication.

For the reasons set forth above, the following rules have
been adopted relative to the subject of furnishing statements
or extracts from the records of the personnel of the volunteer
armies and other similar records on file in the Record and Pension
Office of this Department, and are hereby announced for
the information and guidance of all concerned:

1. All requests, made by persons other than officials of the United States, for information from the official records must, to receive favorable consideration, set forth the specific purpose for which they are made, and must be sufficiently in detail to enable this Department to determine for itself how much, if any, of the information asked for is necessary for the purpose indicated and can properly be furnished.

2. Any such request that may be made with a view to determining the merits of an application for State or other aid or relief must be made, over his own signature, by the State or other official who may be authorized by law to decide whether such aid or relief shall be furnished; or, in case the decision rests with a board, commission or association, the request must be made, over his or her own signature, by the chief officer of the board or other organization which is empowered to decide the case. All such requests must, to receive favorable consideration, meet the following requirements:

(a) The character of the relief or aid for which application has been made must be fully and specifically set forth.

(b) If the application is to be decided under a law of any State, that law must be definitely cited.

(c) If the application is pending before any board or association, not created by or acting under any law, the source from which such board or association derives its authority to act must be stated.

(d) If the pending application is that of some person other than the one whose record is desired, the relationship of the applicant to the person whose record is desired must be set forth.

(e) The full name of the person whose record is requested, the rank held by him, and the designation of the organization in which it is claimed that he served, must invariably be stated.

3. Any request that may be made for the purpose of enabling a society or association to decide as to the eligibility or non-eligibility of an applicant for admission thereto must be made by the chief officer, over his or her own signature, of that branch of the society or association in which the applica-

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tion is to be voted upon or otherwise decided, and must meet
the following requirements:

(a) The title or designation and the location of the branch to which the application for membership has been made must be given.

(b) The full name and residence of the applicant and the date on which the application was made must be stated.

(c) The relationship of the applicant to the person whose record is desired, if the application for membership was not made by such person himself, must be set forth.

(d) If the record of any other person has been requested of or furnished by the War Department in connection with the pending application a statement to that effect, including the name of the person whose record has been requested or furnished, must be made.

(e) The full name and rank of the person whose record is desired and the designation of the company and regiment, if any, in which he served, must be invariably stated in all cases in which service during the War of the Rebellion is claimed.

(f) The full name of the person whose record is desired, and the State from which he entered service or of which he was a resident at the time of his entry into service, must be invariably stated in all cases in which service during the Revolution or the War of 1812 is claimed. His rank and the designation of the organization in which he served, if known, should also be stated.

(g) Requests for the record of a man whose surname only is known, or for information relative to all the men bearing a certain name, will not be entertained.

4. Requests emanating from a post or other subsidiary organization of the Grand Army of the Republic must be forwarded through, and must be authenticated by the signature of, the department commander. Requests emanating from the subdivisions of other associations founded on military service during the War of the Rebellion must be forwarded and authenticated as follows: Union Veterans' Union, through department commanders; Union Veteran Legion, through the national commander; Sons of Veterans, through division commanders.

5. The information that will be furnished for use in connection with any application for membership in any society or association, or for State or other aid or relief, will be strictly limited to that which is actually necessary to enable a decision upon the pending application to be made, and will in no case comprise items that may be desired for any other purpose, such as to complete the records of a society, to make some other and different application, or to be used in the prosecution of a claim against the United States.

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6. Concise statements of the military histories, so far as shown by the records on file, of men who served in the Revolution or in the War of 1812, will be furnished upon the application of descendants of those men, under the following conditions:

(a) The relationship of the applicant to each person whose record is desired must be stated.

(b) The full Christian name as well as the surname of such person must invariably be given, and the rank which he held and the designation of the organization in which he served, if those are known, must be stated.

(c) The place, or at least the State, from which he entered service or of which he was a resident at the time of his entry into service must be designated.

(d) If the name of the person whose record is desired is a common one, the designation of the organization in which he served or the names of some of the regimental officers under whom he served must be stated.

(e) Requests for information relative to *all the men* bearing a certain name will not be entertained, nor will any other request involving an unreasonable expenditure of time and labor be considered.

(f) There will not be furnished to or for any one descendant the record of service of more than two ancestors in the Revolution, or of more than two in the War of 1812.

7. Each request for the record of an officer or enlisted man of any war should be made on a separate sheet of paper, should be complete in itself, and should fully meet all the requirements of this order. In no case should requests for the records of two or more men be combined in one communication.

8. Compilations or statements relative to individual officers, enlisted men or organizations will not be furnished, from the records on file in the Record and Pension Office, for historical, memorial or statistical purposes, or for publication, or to complete the records of States, societies or associations.

9. Because of the great danger of the destruction, loss or misfiling, through handling by inexperienced persons or those not under the control of this Department, of the muster rolls and other regimental or company records, index-record cards, and all other similar records, which are on file in the Record and Pension Office, and which pertain wholly or chiefly to the personnel of the armies of the various wars, the handling of those records will be restricted exclusively to the specially trained employees of that office, and no information will be furnished from them except as hereinbefore provided, or as may be otherwise required by law.

DANIEL S. LAMONT,
Secretary of War.

IN REPLYING QUOTE INITIALS

TREASURY DEPARTMENT

WASHINGTON

March 16, 1910.

My dear Mr. Russell:

I have this morning your favor of March 15th,
enclosing check of Mr. W. R. Callender for $5, as his contribu-
tion toward the Memorial matter.

I have acknowledged receipt to Mr. Callender as
per copy hereto attached.

Talcott H. Russell, Esq.,
Secretary,
42 Church Street,
New Haven, Conn.