User:Tlreed97/Sandbox/provostmarshals

PROVOST MARSHAL RECORDS HANDOUT

History of the United States Provost Marshal 29 July 1775 The Continental Congress approved the position of Provost Marshal as requested by General Georg Washington. It was based after the British model. The Provost Marshal was tasked with maintaining jails and supervising executions. The position ended at the end of the war. During the Civil War James Fry was appointed the first Provost Marshal General on 3 March 1863. The federal Adjutant General’s office issued General Order No. 140 in September 1862 which appointed Provost Marshals for each state. The office dealt with recruitment and desertion issues, The Invalid Corps (Disabled soldiers at garrisons), investigating charges or acts of treason, arresting deserters, spies and any person deemed disloyal, maintaining troop discipline, Prisoners of War, administering punishments, suppressing depredations and disturbances caused by Union troops, limit marauding against citizens, picking up stragglers, maintaining good order and discipline, administer and enforce laws, conduct searches, seize property, issue passes to citizens for movement through Union line, and record and investigate citizen complaints. The position was abolished in 1866. After the Spanish-American War a Provost Marshal was appointed to oversee law enforcement in Manila and the provinces of the Philippines. A year later the position was again abolished. During World War I, the Provost Marshal office enforced the Selective Service System, oversaw the military police, prisoners of war, and criminal investigation in Europe. After the war the Provost Marshal was an advisor to the War Department until 1927. During World War II, the Provost Marshal was tasked with handling security clearance investigations, military police, prisoners of war, prisoner of war camps, Japanese-American relocation camps, investigating and apprehending deserters, and the War Crimes Division of the Judge Advocate General’s Office.

Union Provost Marshals' Records There are two collections relating to records of the Provost Marshals. One is the "Union Provost Marshals' File of Papers Relating to Individual Civilians" (NARA M345) and the other is the "Union Provost Marshal's File of Papers Relating to Two or More Civilians" (NARA M416).

Union Provost Marshals' Records (Individual Civilians) The "Union Provost Marshals' File of Papers Relating to Individual Civilians" (NARA M345) is a collection of papers relating to civilians or "citizens" who came into contact with the Army. The records were assembled in the War Department from documents that were extracted from the files of Union Army provost marshals and from other records of Army territorial commands. The records include correspondence, provost court papers, orders, passes, paroles, oaths of allegiance, transportation permits, and claims for compensation for property used or destroyed by military forces. These records can also be found on Fold3.com, Ancestry.com, and FamilySearch.org.

Union Provost Marshals' Records (Two or More Civilians) The "Union Provost Marshal's File of Papers Relating to Two or More Civilians" (NARA M416) is similar to the "Union Provost Marshals' File of Papers Relating to Individual Civilians" (NARA M345). The collection includes records of civilian prisoners on rolls 84-94 of the set. They are listed alphabetically by prison location. These records can also be found on Fold3.com, Ancestry.com, and FamilySearch.org.

Missouri Provost Marshal Database In 2010, the Missouri State Archives completed an index project to digitize the Missouri portion of the Union Provost Marshals’ File of Papers Relating to Two or More Civilians (microfilm reel numbers F1580-F1662), and Recruitment Lists of Volunteers for the United States Colored Troops for the State of Missouri (microfilm reel numbers F1892-F1897). The database index can be searched by name, county, and subject. The database contains over 72,000 entries with 18,000 relating to St. Louis alone. The results include the following: Results for the United States Colored Troops enlistment will include:
 * Name (be alert to alternate spellings of proper names)
 * Subject (subjective main topic phrase assigned by indexer)
 * County (name of Missouri county)
 * City (name of Missouri town/city)
 * Date reel number (State Archives microfilm reel number)
 * Name (both slave and master if a slave)
 * County of residence
 * Recruiting station
 * Reel number (State Archives microfilm reel number)
 * Page number

Tennessee Provost Marshal Database The Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSLA) created a database to index those documents from the Provost Marshal offices in Tennessee and that relate to Tennesseans during the Civil War. The fully searchable database includes name, location (city or county), year, file number (if provided), and a brief description of the document(s). These documents concern civilians who came in contact with the U.S. Army during and just following the Civil War could include the following: Online links containing information and data concerning Provost Marshal Records:
 * correspondence
 * compensation and property claims
 * summonses
 * passes
 * reports on prisoners
 * receipts
 * applications to ship goods
 * requests for hearings
 * statements of witnesses
 * oaths of allegiance
 * parole documents
 * court findings and other papers
 * draft notices
 * licenses
 * land forfeitures

Civil War Ancestry.com: http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=2399 FamilySearch.org https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/573199 https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1845948 https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/United_States,_Union_Provost_Marshal%27s_File_of_Papers_Relating_to_Civilians_%28FamilySearch_Historical_Records%29 https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Union_Provost_Marshals%27_File Fold3: http://www.fold3.com/search/#query=provost+marshal&ocr=1&offset=135&t=31,38,656,42,29,40,41,836,35,872,50,762,24,914,60,903,782,86,817,852,59,822,57,16,887 Massachusetts: Phillips Library digital Collections: http://phillipslibrarycollections.pem.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15928coll1/id/968 Missouri: http://www.sos.mo.gov/records/archives/archivesdb/provost/ Pennsylvania: http://peoplescontest.psu.edu/psul/peoplescontest/facsimile_collections-householdandfamily1510.html Proquest: http://cisupa.proquest.com/ksc_assets/catalog/104005.pdf Tennessee: http://www.tnsos.net/TSLA/provost/ Other Wars and Operations Fold3 (WWI): http://www.fold3.com/search/#query=provost+marshal&ocr=1&t=74,823,486,899,80,487,93,488,764,809,825,778,894,483 Fold3 (WWII): http://www.fold3.com/search/#query=provost+marshal&ocr=1&t=785,759,839,755,753,499,776,754,859,757,795,847,801,837,756,632,760,781,758,82,750,492,823,899,796,858,909,921,495,95,829,825,493,620,894,476,490,491,494 Fold3 (Vietnam): http://www.fold3.com/search/#query=provost+marshal&ocr=1&t=657,823,899,825,457,861,658,894 Fold3 (Non-military Records): http://www.fold3.com/search/#query=provost+marshal&ocr=1&offset=3&t=215,639,640,636,637,642,641,638,292,268,246,437,715,714,705,722,671,728,704,734,717,719,740,173,167,762,497,123,18,17,664,11,471,22,475,15,451,460,660,462,122,71,88,23,58,646,662,665,124,461,495,457,658,16 General Information about Record Group 110 at NARA: NARA: http://www.ourarchives.wikispaces.net/Record+Group+110