Two Partially Printed Documents by the United States Office of Board of Claims Relating to the Service of Thomas Massey, An Ex-Enslaved Soldier in the 9th Regiment of the USCT, 1864

Baltimore and Worcester County, 1865. Two documents affixed at top edge, measuring 9 x 6 ¾ and 14 x 8 ½ inches. Tape repairs at folds, some with heavy clear tape, else excellent, good condition overall. With the embossed stamp of the Board of Claims to first document and two revenue stamps affixed. Good. A pair of documents relating to the emancipation through military service of Thomas Massey of Maryland and compensation to his enslaver, Joseph Godrey, of Worcester County, Virginia. Massey enlisted in the 9th Regiment of the USCT in 1864, and in accordance with Order 329 of the U.S. War Department, Godfrey received compensation, which was not to exceed $300. The present documents “To facilitate recruiting in the states of Maryland, Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky, the War Department issued General Order No. 329 on October 3, 1863. Section 6 of the order stated that if any citizen should offer his or her slave for enlistment into the military service, that person would, "if such slave be accepted, receive from the recruiting officer a certificate thereof, and become entitled to compensation for the service or labor of said slave, not exceeding the sum of three hundred dollars, upon filing a valid deed of manumission and of release, and making satisfactory proof of title." (https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/blacks-civil-war/article.html) The order was meant to provide financial incentives to enslavers following the Emancipation Proclamation earlier that year. We find a record of a Thomas Massey from Worcester County born in 1855, which would raise the possibility that he enlisted at age 9, or that the Thomas Massey in question in these documents is not findable in the genealogical references we checked.