RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF THE THIRD ASSISTANT POSTMASTER GENERAL

An act of June 2, 1836 (5 Stat. 80), to provide more effectively for the settlement of the accounts of the Post Office Department authorized the appointment of a Third Assistant Postmaster General. The Postmaster General assigned to the Third Assistant the supervision of the newly established Inspection Office, which was authorized to review and report on mail-service contracts and to supervise postmasters. Letters commenting on the efficiency of contractors and the quarterly postage accounts of postmasters were also directed to this office.

By order of the Postmaster General in 1846 the Office of the Third Assistant Postmaster General was made responsible for all financial operations of the Post Office Department not delegated to the Auditor by law. Many of the Third Assistant's inspection duties were then transferred to the Office of the Chief Clerk.

As the postal service expanded in the latter half of the 19th century, the work of the Office of the Third Assistant Postmaster General became more varied and differentiated. In addition to a Division of Finance the Office set up divisions to handle dead letters; issue stamps, stamped envelopes, newspaper wrappers, and postal cards; manage moneyorder, parcel-post, postal-savings, and registered-mail systems; and classify mail matter. The Office of the Third Assistant and its subordinate organizational units became known collectively as the Bureau of the Third Assistant Postmaster General in the second decade of the 20th century.

The Bureau of the Third Assistant Postmaster General was redesignated the Bureau of Finance on August 20, 1949, in accordance with the President's Reorganization Plan No. 3.

The records of the Bureau of the Third Assistant Postmaster General that are in the National Archives--including fiscal records that predated the Bureau--are arranged according to the Bureau's organization at the time it was redesignated the Bureau of Finance. The extant records of the Divisions of Postal Savings, Letters and Miscellaneous Mail, and Registered Mail are at the Post Office Department or at the General Services Administration Federal Records Center, Alexandria, Va.

Records of the Division of Finance

The Division of Finance was established by the Postmaster General in 1872 to handle the receipt and disbursement of postal revenues.

GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE. 1922-37. 4 ft.

1 Chiefly letters received, copies of letters sent, and reports of postmasters relating to the deposit of postal funds in national and State banks. Also included are notifications by the Treasury Department of banks in receivership, and correspondence concerning lock-box rentals, responsibility for stolen post-office funds, safekeeping of stamps and

money-order forms, and postmasters' checks returned because of insufficient funds. Arranged alphabetically by State and chronologically thereunder.

ACCOUNTS OF THE GENERAL POST OFFICE IN PHILADELPHIA AND OF THE VARIOUS
DEPUTY POSTMASTERS ("LEDGER OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN"). July 26, 1775-
Jan. 5, 1780. 1 vol. 2 in.

2

This volume contains the accounts of Benjamin Franklin, Richard Bache, Ebenezer Hazard, and Samuel Osgood as Postmasters General under the Continental Congress and the accounts of deputy postmasters with the General Post Office. The latest entry for accounts still open in July 1776 is dated January 1780. Arranged chronologically.

LEDGERS OF THE GENERAL POST OFFICE. 1782-1803. 7 vols.

7 vols. 9 in.

3

In three groups as follows: (1) Five general ledgers, (a) May 1, 1782, to Mar. 10, 1790, (b) July 1, 1783, to Jan. 21, 1794, (c) Oct. 1, 1793, to Dec. 31, 1796, (d) Jan. 1, 1797, to Dec. 31, 1799, and (e) for New York, Oct. 19, 1789, to Nov. 16, 1790, Philadelphia, Jan. 3, 1791, to Aug. 30, 1797, and Trenton, Sept. 1797. These five volumes show accounts of the Postmaster General, the Assistant Postmaster General, deputy postmasters, mail route contractors, and post riders relating to compensation, quarterly accounts, commissions, postage, mail service contracts, contingent expenses, letters sent by foreign or coastwise ships, incidental expenses, and drafts. (2) Ledger of errors in quarterly reports by deputy postmasters, July 1, 1799, to Oct. 1, 1803. (3) Cash ledger, Oct. 19, 1789, to June 30, 1796. This volume contains information relating to expenditures for salaries of post-office clerks, operating needs, mail contracts, and money received from deputy postmasters. Within each group the records are arranged chronologically; the second group is arranged thereunder alphabetically by name of post office.

JOURNALS OF THE GENERAL POST OFFICE. 1782-1801. 2 vols. 3 in.

4

One volume contains a General Journal dated Feb. 2, 1782, to July 25, 1790, and a Cash Book dated Sept. 25, 1792, to Oct. 22, 1795; and the other contains a Miscellaneous Journal dated July 1, 1795, to Mar. 28, 1801.

LEDGER OF POSTAGE ACCOUNTS OF POST OFFICES WITH THE GENERAL POST OFFICE. July 1785-Jan. 1786. 1 vol. 1 in. 도

Contains information about paid, unpaid, undercharged, overcharged, way, dead, and ship (coastwise and foreign) letters; letters remaining

in post offices; letters missent and later forwarded; and salaries. Arranged chronologically.

SPECIMEN SALARY CHECKS, DRAFTS, AND WARRANTS. Aug. 1916; Feb. 1933-Sept. 1938. 1 in. 6

A chronological file of correspondence relating to the printing and handling of forms for checks, drafts, and warrants. Included are some undated and unarranged samples of the forms, about 1880-1938.

RECORDS RELATING TO POST OFFICE BOXES. 1894-1934. 1 ft.

Correspondence, memoranda, reports, and tables relating to post-office boxes (lock boxes). Included are memoranda on the regulations governing the use of the boxes, correspondence embodying suggestions for improving the service, postmasters' reports on box rentals and key deposits, tables of rental fees, and related material. Unarranged.

Records of the Division of Money Orders

The domestic postal-money-order system was established on November 1, 1864, within the Office of the Postmaster General. The program was transferred to the jurisdiction of the First Assistant Postmaster General on July 16, 1892, where it was administered by the Division of Money Orders. On December 1, 1905, it was transferred to the Third Assistant Postmaster General. Its functions include the general direction of the money-ordersystem, both domestic and international, and the preparation of conventions for the exchange of money orders with foreign countries.

GENERAL RECORDS. 1868-1936.

6 ft.

8

Correspondence, memoranda, sample forms, and reports of the Division. The correspondence and memoranda relate to difficulties encountered in obtaining funds with which to cash money orders during the Panic of 1907; money-order redemptions for prisoners of war; embezzlement, counterfeiting, and forgery of money orders; money orders issued and paid in foreign countries; and money orders mailed to foreign countries during the moratorium of 1933. Sample forms include those used for postal-savings banks in foreign countries and those suggested by employees and the public for use in connection with proposed systems of domestic postal-saving banks. The reports deal with the electrical accounting system for the issuance, recording, and redemption of money orders; the decrease in money-order business as a result of raising the fees in 1925; and the cost of moneyorder business during the depression of the 1930's. Arranged by subject. RECORDS OF INTERNATIONAL MONEY-ORDER CONVENTIONS. July 1873-May 1903. 3 ft. 2

Mainly correspondence between postal officials of the United States and foreign countries concerning conventions for the exchange of money orders. Included are copies of conventions, with proposed amendments and changes; pamphlets and circulars of regulations governing money-order issuance and redemption; lists of foreign offices handling money orders; specimen copies of money-order forms; and correspondence relating to foreign exchange rates. Arranged alphabetically by country and chronologically the re under.

Records of the Division of Stamps

The Division of Stamps was established by the Postmaster General in Its functions include the general supervision of the production and distribution of postage-stamp paper.

1872.

"STAMP BILL BOOKS."

1870-97. 6 vols. 1 ft.

10 Contain monthly statements of purchases of ordinary postage, commemorative, specimen, postage-due, special-delivery, newspaper, and periodical stamps, and stamped envelopes; newspapers wrappers; registered-package envelopes; letter-sheet envelopes; and postal cards. Also included are lists of the contractors who furnished postal supplies, statements showing the cost of stamps and supplies, memoranda on the method of disbursing supplies, and a recapitulation of purchases made for the years 1879-97. Arranged chronologically.

LEDGER. 1898-1900. 1 in.

11

Shows quantities and costs of postage stamps, postal cards, stamped envelopes, and newspaper wrappers furnished to Cuba, Puerto Rico, Philippine Islands, and Guam. Arranged chronologically.

RECORDS PERTAINING TO POSTAL CARDS.

1893-1923. 40 ft.

12

Mainly correspondence, together with such related records as reports, memoranda, and circulars, documenting the activities of the Postal Card Agent and Inspector. The correspondence relates to personnel of the Postal Card Agency, contracts for paper and postal cards, defective postal cards, shipments, shortage and overage of cards, chemical analysis of paper used, locks and tags used for shipments, and postal card plates, dyes, and inks used. Included are samples of paper to be used, copies of contractor's weekly reports, receipts for rejected postal cards, sworn statements of contractor's daily production, reports of the postal-card factory, and yearly statements of production. Arranged by type of material.

A Postal Card Agent was appointed in 1893 by the Postmaster General for the inspection and issuance of postal cards. The United States Postal Card Agency was located for short periods of time at Birmingham, Conn., Castleton, N. Y., Piedmont, W. Va., and Rumford Falls, Maine. In 1910 the Agency was moved to Washington, D. C., and the Postal Card Agent was designated Post Office Inspector in Charge of Postal Cards.

Records of the Division of Newspaper and Periodical Mail

The Division of Newspaper and Periodical Mail was established in November 1943, as a successor to the Division of Classification. Its main function relates to the classification of matter admissible to the mails.

RECORDS RELATING TO SECOND-CLASS POSTAGE RATES. Apr. 1917-May 1920. 3 in.

13 Correspondence, memoranda, reports, and circulars, relating to a proposed increase in rates for second-class mail matter. The records consist chiefly of correspondence with Members of Congress, various postal officials, private companies, fraternal organizations interested in the secondclass mailing privilege, and charts, tables, and graphs showing the effect of the increase in rates on the Department's revenue. The congressional correspondence is arranged chronologically, and the remainder is unarranged.

STATEMENTS OF OWNERSHIPS.

1923-54. 618 ft.

14 Consist of sworn statements, on form 3256, of the ownership, management, and circulation of newspapers, magazines, periodicals, and other publications, as required by acts of August 24, 1912, and March 3, 1933. The statements, which had to be filed by October 1 of each year, include the names and post-office addresses of editors, publishers, business managers, owners, stockholders (if the publication is owned by a corporation), bondholders, mortgageholders, and/or other security holders. Statements on

daily newspapers include the average number of copies sold or distributed to paid subscribers during the preceding 12 months. Arranged chronologically by calendar year, thereunder alphabetically by States, and there under alphabetically by name of the publication.

Records of the Division of Parcel Post

The Parcel Post Service was established January 1, 1913, within the Office of the Postmaster General. To supervise the service, the Postmaster General, on November 22, 1930, established the Division of Parcel Post within the Bureau of the Third Assistant Postmaster General.

RECORDS RELATING TO PARCEL-POST FACILITIES IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. Sept. 1911-Jan. 1912. 5 ft. 15 Include bulletins, booklets, and memoranda relating to parcel-post rules, regulations, and rates in foreign countries. These were obtained in countries with a parcel-post service by diplomatic officers of the United States in response to a State Department circular dated August 24, 1911, and were transmitted to the Postmaster General. Parcel-post information was received from Australia, Austria, Germany, Great Britain, Guatemala, Haiti, Hungary, Luxemburg, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, San Salvador, Spain, Switzerland, and Venezuela. Arranged alphabetically by country.

RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF THE FOURTH ASSISTANT POSTMASTER GENERAL

The Office of the Fourth Assistant Postmaster General was established by order of the Postmaster General on August 1, 1891, in accordance with provisions of the Appropriations Act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. 944), which authorized the appointment of a Fourth Assistant. Three divisions were set up within the Office to carry out the duties of supervising the establishment of new post offices; appointing, bonding, and commissioning postmasters; operating the inspection service; and investigating mail depredations. The ever-increasing volume of work performed by the Post Office Department made necessary the development of additional services and divisions within the Office of the Fourth Assistant, which about 1930 achieved the status of a bureau.

As most of the records described here were created before a reorganization of 1946, they are arranged according to the divisional organization existing during the early part of that year. Records of the Division of Rural Mails, however, which had been transferred to the Bureau of the First Assistant Postmaster General in 1929, are described as part of the records of the Fourth Assistant.