Raynors 2012-09
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/27/2012
Imprint, House No. 391, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, May 13, 1864, 4pp., VG. In part, “…The recent letter of the attorney-general of the United States, relative to the refusal of a paymaster to pay the chaplain of the 54th regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers more than ten dollars a month, on account of his color, clearly indicates what the law is, as well as what is to be the policy of the government. In this letter he says: ‘I do not know that any rule of law, constitutional or statutory, ever prohibited the acceptance, organization and muster of persons of African descent, into the military service of the United States, as enlisted men or volunteers.’ ... ‘ that the paymaster should have paid Mr. Harrison his full pay ...” VG. Samuel Harrison retired from his Pittsfield pulpit in 1862 and began working with the National Freedmen’s Relief Association to solicit aid for former slaves on the South Carolina Sea Islands. In October 1863 Harrison was appointed chaplain of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment by Governor John A. Andrew. Almost immediately he was drawn into the dispute over discriminatory pay to the black soldiers. Harrison’s demand that he receive the same pay as white chaplains led Governor Andrew and United States Attorney General Edward Bates to write letters to President Abraham Lincoln to end the discriminatory practice. Lincoln did so in July 1864.
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