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Note
Joseph
Lewis (1748-1814) served as militia paymaster for Sussex, Morris
and Bergen counties from December 1777 until at least May 1780.
As such, he was responsible for the distribution of pay to militia
companies serving from this area of the state. When on active duty,
militiamen were paid by the state at the same rate as Continental
troops with additional bonuses or "bounty" pay to non-commissioned
officers and privates.
Legislative minutes indicate that funding for these payments came
from both the state treasury and loans from the Continental Congress.
When funds were available, they were distributed to the militia
paymasters, who would in turn distribute them to an officer from
each company.
The records in this volume (now disbound and foldered) document
the pay given to militia companies of Sussex, Morris and Bergen
which served between September 1777 and December 1779. Recorded
first are pay receipts (#1-#390, listed on pages 1-111). Following
several blank pages are then receipts for bounty pay (#27-#278,
listed on pages 116-189; the first 26 receipts are not included.)
The receipts contain the following information: place of payment,
date, amount in "proclamation money" (colonial money valued
lower than pound sterling), number of men in the company, where
the company served, name of the commanding officer, dates of active
service, signature of officer receiving the pay (usually a captain),
and the receipt number. Finally, the volume includes a summary account
of the receipts recorded on pages 1-111. It appears that Lewis received
funding for this pay from the Continental Congress, since the account
is headed "The United States to Joseph Lewis for the payment
of the militia of Morris, Sussex and Bergen."
NOTE: This volume
is indexed by the Revolutionary War cards and slips as "Militia
Pay - Morris, Sussex and Bergen Counties."
1.
Votes and Proceeding of the First General Assembly of New Jersey,
1777, p. 39. Assembly minutes report that Jonathan Styles Jr. was
appointed paymaster for Morris, Sussex and Bergen on 20 March 1780;
however, the records in this series show that Lewis continued in
an official capacity as late as May of that year.
2.
Votes and Proceedings of the First General Assembly of New Jersey,
1777, p. 169; Acts of the First General Assembly of the State
of New Jersey, chap. 20, p. 26, 1777; Acts of the Second
General Assembly of the State of New Jersey, chap. 20, p. 42,
1778. At the beginning of the war, the Continental Congress set
pay at just under $7 per month for privates and $20 per month for
captains. Bounty pay approved by the state legislature ranged from
30-50 shillings per month. For a complete listing of the pay of
Continental officers and men, see the Journal of the Continental
Congress, Vol. II, p. 220, 1775. Also, an overview of Revolutionary
War-era militia laws in New Jersey can be found in John R. Anderson's
"Militia Law in Revolutionary Jersey," Proceedings
of the New Jersey Historical Society, LXXVI (Oct. 1958), 280-296
and LXXVII (Jan. 1959), 9-21.
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