Thanks for the info, Alice. I was leaning that way myself but haven't seen enough of these records to know for sure! My man was very nearly right "off the boat" from Bas-Rhin Alsace and probably jumped at the chance to earn some money as a substitute. Do you have any idea what the "M.I.R." stamp next to the handwritten "sub" might have meant? Thanks, Joe -- Joseph W. Mann Jr. joe@mannfamily.cc The Origins Genealogy Project at www.mannfamily.cc/public/index.html Member, The Hudson County Genealogical Society at www.HudsonCountyNJGenealogy.org On 4/15/08 2:53 PM, "Alice Gayley" <agayley@verizon.net> wrote: > "Sub" generally means he was a substitute; at least that's the indicator > used in the PA records. The agreements, between the man who recruited the > soldier to act as his substitute, and the substitute, were private between > the two men. As a result they usually are not a part of the substitute's > military record. Occasionally I have seen the name of the man for whom the > soldier was substituted, but that is the exception, not the rule. > > Alice Gayley > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Joseph Mann" <joe@mannfamily.cc> > To: <civil-war@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2008 1:34 PM > Subject: [CIVIL-WAR] Identifying marginal markings on an enlistment record > > >> I'm hoping someone who's seen this before can help - >> >> I have the enlistment card for ancestor named Francis Schuler who signed >> on >> to the 119th Regiment of New York Volunteers on July 4, 1862 for a term of >> 3 >> years in New York City. It indicates he was mustered in on Aug 30, 1862 as >> a >> private but there is no mustering out info recorded on the card and as of >> yet I have found no pension file, note of desertion or other info about >> his >> service. >> >> Curiously, the margin of the card has a note written in the same hand as >> whoever completed the card that says "sub" and then following it is what >> to >> my eye looks like typewriter-made lettering (but given the time period I'm >> guessing was a stamp) saying "M.I.R." >> >> Can anyone identify these marks? Does the "sub" probably mean Francis >> Schuler enlisted as a substitute or that he hired a substitute to take his >> place or something else entirely?