Cash Book for Volunteer Relief Fund

One of the most direct ways the war touched Westchester was financially. Industries dependent on Southern markets, such as the Peekskill Plow Works, suffered when they lost the largest percentage of their customers. Both for the many men who did not wish to fight, and for the families of volunteers who did fight, money was at issue.

The records of the Westchester County Board of Supervisors show petitions for war relief as early as November 1861. On March 1, 1862, the Board of Supervisors passed a bond of $50,000 toward the relief of families of volunteers. The Cash Book for the Yonkers Volunteer Relief Fund shows that in the first half of 1862 the wives of volunteers received a weekly sum from one to four dollars.

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