QUARTERMASTER SERGEANT JOSEPH H. HICKMAN'S MANUSCRIPT LEDGER FOR CLOTHING ALLOTMENTS FOR MEMBERS OF EFFINGHAM, ILLINOIS' COMPANY G, 4th ILLINOIS VOLUNTEERS, DURING THE SPANISH AMERICAN WAR
Effingham, IL: 1898 - 1899. Tall, narrow ledger book, bound in buckram, with leather corners (chipped). Hinges cracked, some staining to boards and spine, but text all legible. 38 x 15 cm., approx. 239 pp. of entries, for clothing issued to each member of Effingham, Illinois' Company G as they were outfitted for duty in the Spanish American War. Each soldier's name and rank appears at the head of a page, followed by the items requisitioned to him, the date and their cost. The front endpaper records a list of "State goods at Order 37 prices," which includes blankets, blouses, drawers, hats, leggings, undershirts, shoes, socks, trousers, and shirts. The first group of entries for the volunteers is dated April 26, 1898, with items issued starting in May. [This coincides with the company's arrival at Camp Tanner on April 26 to begin training.] On page 6, Hickman records his own requisitions, including 19 cents to pay for his sergeant's stripes. A second group of entries begins on June 18, when the company began adding men to fill their quota. The final entries are dated Jan. 1899. Soldiers were responsible for the purchase of their uniforms out of their wages and the balance sheets in this ledger calculate the difference. Occasionally the soldier owed the army rather than the other way around.
A handful of pages (from 240 - 273) were used for a later enterprise, from Sept. - Oct. 1899. A group of agents or solicitors from Effingham and other small towns in the area were hired for periods of 40 days to 3 months, assigned territories, and reported days and hours worked, as well as "no. seen" and "no. sales." Eighteen names are listed, including one woman. We are uncertain what this enterprise was. Item #70273
Heeding President McKinley's call for troops, the men of Effingham, Illinois organized Company G, 4th Illinois Infantry to serve in the war with Spain. On April 26, one day after congress declared war, the company arrived at Camp Tanner in Springfield. According to John Skinner's book "History of the Fourth Illinois Volunteers in Their Relation to the Spanish-American War for the Liberation of Cuba and Other Island Possessions of Spain," [Logansport, IN: 1899], they were quartered in cattle barns where they suffered for "want of sufficient clothing and bedding to meet the raw chilly weather...." They underwent physical exams the next month, and the men who passed were sent on to Tampa, Florida on May 26, then on to Camp Cuba Libre in Jacksonville. New recruits were solicited to fill out the company quota, and between June 18 - 23 they were sworn in and sent on to join the rest of the company there. Company G was later stationed at Camp Panama Park, then Savannah, Georgia. Those who survived the camp born illnesses finally were assigned to Camp Columbia in Cuba in January 1899, as part of the army of occupation following the cessation of hostilties and the signing of a peace treaty in December 1898. The troops returned home and were mustered out in May 1899.
An article in the Effingham Republican on Oct. 14, 1898, reported that Joseph Hickman was recovering in a hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. He had worked with the printing department of the newspaper before leaving "for the seat of war," and they hoped to have him back soon. He may not have accompanied the troops to Cuba as the ledger records on page 135 that he was issued an overcoat (cost, $11.74) on Dec. 24, 1898, and an additional 85 cents, "drawn at Ft. Monroe." The Census of 1900 lists his profession as a photographer, and other news articles from 1902 and 1903 state he was a professor at the Illinois College of Photography.
Price: $2,250.00