Content Note

The records in this series document interest paid by the State Treasurer on "militia indents" given to the officers and soldiers of New Jersey during the Revolutionary War. Militia indents were pay certificates issued as a result of "An Act to procure an Estimate of the Sums due the Militia and Troops who have been raised for the Defence of the Frontiers of the State, and to provide for the Settlement of the Same" (Acts of the Eighth General Assembly of the State of New Jersey, chap. 20, p. 40, 1783). This law appointed commissioners for each county to review militia payrolls, determine payments due, and issue payment notes (i.e., indents). The indents were to bear 6% interest annually until the principal was paid; however, the law did not stipulate when the principal would be due and made no provision for funding the interest payments.

It was not until November 1787 that the first interest payments were made as a result of "An Act to raise the Sum of Twelve Thousand Five Hundred Pounds per Annum, for the Term of twenty-two Years, for the Purpose of paying the Interest on the Debt due from this State to the Inhabitants thereof" (Acts of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of New Jersey, chap. 208, p. 429, 1787). This law directed the treasurer to make interest payments on state-issued certificates each year for a period of twenty-two years. Three years later, however, the law was repealed and interest payments on certain state-issued certificates were limited to four years (Acts of the Fifteenth General Assembly of the State of New Jersey, chap. 323, p. 675, 1790).

Below are descriptions of the six items included in this series followed by a detailed list of the contents of each.

Item 1	This is a disbound volume of receipts for interest payments on the militia indents. The majority are for first-year payments, but there are also a few for the third year. The receipts contain the following information: voucher number, certificate number, signed by whom (one of the county commissioners), payable to whom (soldier's name), amount of principal, and amount of interest. Following each receipt is the statement "Received [date] of James Mott" followed by the payment amount and the signature of the recipient. The back of each page is endorsed with the inscription "Examined and allowed" followed by three signatures of Legislative Council and General Assembly committee members assigned to settle treasurer's accounts. This volume is made up of separate "booklets" of receipts which were bound and given page numbers. Unfortunately, the booklets were bound out of their proper date/voucher order. While the disbound booklets (now foldered) remain arranged by page number, they are cited in the Contents list below in order of payment year and then by date/voucher number. It should also be noted that the first booklet of receipts from this volume (pages 1-12), recording interest payments on "depreciation notes," has been placed with related records in the series Department of Treasury/ State Treasurer's Office/ Receipts for Interest Paid on Revolutionary War Depreciation Notes, 1788-1792.
Item 2	Items 2a through 2d are separate booklets of receipts for fourth-year interest payments on militia indents which were never bound into a hard cover. Their format is similar to that of Item 1, and they are arranged in date/voucher order. Item 2e consists of photocopies of receipts for second- and fourth-year interest payments from an original booklet containing receipts for interest payments on several types of state notes (see the series: Department of Treasury/ State Treasurer's Office/ Account and Receipts for State Notes Issued by Silas Condict and Maskell Ewing, ca. 1786-1792).
Items 3-6	Items 3 through 6 are registers of the first-, second-, third- and fourth-year interest payments on militia indents. These volumes, in part, duplicate information recorded in Items 1 and 2. The following is included for each payment: payment date, voucher number, person paid, certificate number, certificate date, signed by whom (one of the county commissioners), payable to whom (soldier's name), certificate amount, annual interest, and total paid. An abstract of first-year payments made from November 1787 to October 1788 is included with Item 3. Also, the second-year payment register (Item 4) includes a semi-alphabetical index which is followed by the continuation of the third-year payment register (Item 5). Finally, the fourth-year register (Item 6) ends with a combined register of first, second, third and fourth year payments made from November 1792 to April 1796. Apparently, as the number of payments dwindled, it was decided to register them in a single account.

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