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Veteran Corps of Artillery and Military Society of the War of 1812 records

Call Number

MS 3120

Date

circa 1878-1946 (bulk 1890s-1921), inclusive

Creator

New York (State). Militia. Veteran Corps of Artillery
Military Society of the War of 1812

Extent

7.5 Linear feet in 7 boxes

Language of Materials

The documents in the collection are in English.

Abstract

The collection primarily holds scrapbooks documenting activities of the Veteran Corps of Artillery and Military Society of the War of 1812 from the 1890s to about 1921, with some earlier and later material; the enrollment and involvement of volunteers recruited by the Corps and Society for civil defense on the homefront during World War I; and lists and descriptions of the military service of the original members.

Biographical / Historical

The Veteran Corps of Artillery (more fully known as the Veterans Corps of Artillery, State of New York, or VCASNY) was formed in 1790 by veterans of the Continental Army after the Revolutionary War. It became an active militia and as such participated in the War of 1812. Subsequent to that war, a separate organization of veterans was formed, the Military Society of the War of 1812. The Corps and the Society (as the documents in the collection commonly refer to them) merged in 1848.

It appears that in 1848 and for some decades afterward neither organization was incorporated and their merger was more a practical one of administrative and membership convenience, as both organizations retained their identities and separate membership qualifications. In the 1890s, there appears to have begun an effort, credited to Asa Bird Gardiner, to revitalize the organization, and the fact that so much of the present collection originates in that timeframe can likely be attributed to that revitalization.

In 1892, the organization incorporated under the name Military Society of the War of 1812. Still, both the Corps and the Society retained separate identities, roles, and membership qualifications. Those separate identities have persisted down to the present, and may have intensified, as reflected in the separate websites of the Corps and the Society. The ambiguities are reflected in the collection as many documents, which date principally from the 1890s to about 1920, can include one or the other name, or both. A 2013 history of the organization, available at N-YHS, refers in its title to this relationship as "Veteran Corps of Artillery constituting the Military Society of the War of 1812."

(The above note was based largely on the content of the two organizations' websites: http://www.vcasny.org/ and https://www.militarysocietyofthewarof1812.com/.)

Arrangement

The collection is organized in three series:

Series I. World War I Service, 1917-1920

Series II. Member Lists and Related Documents, 1878-1932

Series III. Scrapbooks, 1880s-1946

Most of the scrapbooks and other volumes in the collection had no title and so were given a unique identifier (e.g., SN-1, SN-2) by the processing archivists as they were found on the shelves. These identifiers are intended only to facilitate reference and are not indicative of any overall numbering scheme found in the collection itself.

Scope and Contents

The collection primarily holds scrapbooks documenting activities of the Veteran Corps of Artillery and Military Society of the War of 1812 from the 1890s to about 1921, with some earlier and later material; the enrollment and involvement of volunteers recruited by the Corps and Society for civil defense on the homefront during World War I; and lists and descriptions of the military service of the original members.

Access Restrictions

Materials in this collection are stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Use Restrictions

Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.

Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions

Preferred Citation

The collection should be cited as: Veteran Corps of Artillery and Military Society of the War of 1812 records, MS 3120, New-York Historical Society.

Location of Materials

Materials in this collection are stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of the Veteran Corps of Artillery, March 29, 1950

Related Materials

Various related material is held by the N-YHS. When searching the on-line catalog, Bobcat, both organizational names should be used to identify all the relevant items.

Collection processed by

Larry Weimer and Elise Winks

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:46:08 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing Information

In 2020, project archivist Elise Winks surveyed the collection, flagged the volumes with unique identifiers, and did baseline description. In March 2022, the collection was more fully inventoried and processed to a minimal extent by archivist Larry Weimer.

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024