The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 19, July 1915 - April, 1916 Page: 112
452 p. : maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Southwestern Historical Quarterly
the last annual report of the Postmaster-General and every form
of the Department, together with postal maps of the Southern
States."'
After his appointment on March 6, 1861, Reagan had to pro-
cure offices and furniture for the use of the department.2 The
first office was a room in the Exchange Hotel in Montgomery, and
for some time the office staff was composed of two assistants.3
Practically all the men from Washington came as requested, bring-
ing with them the information necessary for the organization of
the postal service in the Confederacy, including a postal map of
Texas, the only Southern state for which a map of this kind
could be procured.
The new men were assigned positions, and other necessary
appointments were made. A school for the information of the
officers and clerks of the department was then organized, holding
sessions from eight to ten o'clock in the evenings. As soon as
the books were at hand, the appointment books were made up,
containing the names of the postmasters . . . [in the Con-
federacy], with the amount of receipts of their several offices, and
showing whether they were draft or collection offices, and also
showing the names and addresses of the route and special agents
of the Department and the amount of compensation.4
Complete organizations for the contract and finance bureaus were
also prepared in proper detail.
In addition to the office of chief clerk, there were, as subdi-
visions of the post office department, five distinct offices or bureaus,
headed by as able men as the postmaster-general could procure
"from the most experienced men of Southern birth who had re-
signed office at Washington because of the accession of Lincoln."5
The duties of these men corresponded to those of the assistant-
postmasters-general at Washington; but their offices were desig-
'Reagan, Memoirs, 124-125; Reagan to John R. McPherson, March 7,
1861, Reagan to H. P. Brewster, March 9, 1861, copies in Letter Book of
the Postmaster General of the Confederate States, No. I, p. 50.
2Report of the Postmaster General of the Confederate States, April 29,
1861, p. 1.
8Semi-Weekly Richmond Enquirer, Dec. 24, 1861.
4Reagan, Memoirs, 125.
'Semi-Weekly Richmond Enquirer, Dec. 24, 1861.112
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 19, July 1915 - April, 1916, periodical, 1916; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101067/m1/127/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.