Surprise find on a Civil War Musicians sword

[johnny12550]

Found this sword today, It had no scabbard and the blade is a little rough. Was going to pass on it but looked a little closer to find that it is named to Jos. H. Harman, Co D, 3rd United States Colored Troops. I haven't found anything yet on Harman, but i'm still looking.

 

 

 

 

 

[Bob Hudson]

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[sundance]

Very nice.

[beerdragon54]

Love it

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[johnny12550]

Thanks Bob, I appreciate the information!!

[johnny12550]

I found his death certificate with the information provided by Bob. looks like he was a Black soldier of the regiment

[johnny12550]

Death Certificate

[aznation]

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[aznation]

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[aznation]

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[aznation]

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[johnny12550]

Wow! Aznation, Thanks for the info, you really dug a lot up pretty quickly!!!

[aznation]

You're welcome. He's listed here as well as others from Co. D. => http://www.pa-roots.com/pacw/usct/3rdusct/3dusctcod.htm

 

Also see here for information on the 3rd Regiment => http://www.pa-roots.com/pacw/usct/3rdusct/3rdusctorg.html

[aznation]

3rd Regiment United States Colored Troops Reenactors on Facebook => https://www.facebook.com/3rd-Regiment-United-States-Colored-Troops-Reenactors-378047122261179/

[Nack]

Wow! Congrats!

[sundance]

Great find. I love anything named. Where did you find it, if I may ask - antique shop, auction?

[36thIDAlex]

Awesome find. Civil War stuff is always hard to get named and you’ve got a great example.

[Bob Hudson]

There just cannot be that many named enlisted swords from the Union Army Colored Troops! I looked at worthpoint.com and elsewhere and the only Colored Troops sword sales I found were for white officers.

[johnny12550]

Thanks to everyone for their input. Yes, I actually found it antique antique shop in Rockland County, NY. The guy cleans out houses and it is one of the things he brought in. I never expected it to belong to a black soldier. I figured it would come back to a White NCO from the regiment

[mdk0911]

Awesome rare find - well done!!

[M24 Chaffee]

What a great find! How cool to have that sword and now the information on the soldier. Thanks for posting this!

 

 

Frank

[johnny12550]

I have one question. In the above documents it shows him certified as invalid as early as 1900. How would the Government declare you invalid and issue you a certificate. Would it have to be somehow service connected? Was it that he was wounded in the war and later on in life those wounds disabled him somehow?

[aznation]

Under Remarks on the first page of his Army Invalid card, you’ll note From Act of June 27, 1890. At the top of his card, you can also see Act of May 1, 1920.

 

Act of June 27, 1890

The Dependent and Disability Pension Act was passed by the United States Congress (26 Stat. 182) and signed into law by President Benjamin Harrison on June 27, 1890. The act provided pensions for all veterans who had served at least ninety days in the Union military or naval forces, were honorably discharged from service and were unable to perform manual labor, regardless of their financial situation or when the disability was suffered. The bill was a source of contentious debate and only passed after Grover Cleveland had vetoed a previous version in 1887.

 

First Attempt

The first comprehensive pension disability bill was put together in 1887. This bill was almost identical to the bill to be passed in 1890 in that it granted pensions to all Union veterans suffering from a disability, regardless of its origin. However, it was distinct from the 1890 bill in two ways. First, it awarded all eligible veterans a $12 monthly pension. This differed from the Dependent and Disability Act, which gave pensions worth between $6 and $12 depending on the severity of the disability in question. Second, it required applicants to prove that they were financially dependent on another source, a feature that was absent from the final version of the bill passed in 1890.

 

1888 Election and Act's Passage

 

Following his inauguration, Harrison reorganized the Pension Bureau and appointed James Tanner as the new commissioner of pensions. Harrison pushed for a disability bill, which ultimately passed without a single vote from a Southern congressman. Under the final form of the law, any disabled Union veteran who had served at least ninety days was eligible to receive a pension, regardless of whether or not his disability was incurred in service. The final version of the act also allowed for the collection of pensions by widows of veterans and for children under the age of 16.

 

Impact

As the “largest single appropriation ever made for a government expenditure” the act paved the way for future government pension spending. It would take another step in 1904 when an Executive Order was issued by Theodore Roosevelt declaring all veterans over the age of 62 to be eligible for a pension, effectively making old age a disability.

 

 

 

 

Act of May 1, 1920

Changes in Pension Regulations

 

Normally pensions were revoked when a deceased veteran’s widow remarried, but a March 3, 1901, act allowed a widow who lost her pension to remarriage to start collecting a pension again if she were widowed again following the later marriage or in cases when the later marriage ended in a divorce that was not the widow’s fault.

 

Beginning May 1, 1920, remarried widows of veterans who had served at least 90 days in the Civil War and were honorably discharged or died in service were eligible for a pension. In cases where the veteran served less than 90 days, if he died of a disability incurred in service, the widow would also qualify.

[aznation]

Joseph Harman was a disabled Union veteran who had served at least ninety days and was eligible to receive a pension, regardless of whether or not his disability was incurred in service. That said, I would think that some other method of determining whether his disability incurred during his service would need to be obtained.

[johnny12550]

Aznation,

 

Thanks for answering my question. This helps explain things quite a bit. I appreciate the time you put forth.