Coat of Major Samuel Willard Saxton (1829-1933)

From the collections of PVMA • Digital image © Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Assoc. • Image use information

About this item

The United States government decided to follow a mostly hands-off policy toward the approximately three million freed African Americans in the years immediately following the Civil War. The Freedmen’s Bureau, created in 1865, was a limited exception to this policy.  Under  the direction of Union General Oliver O. Howard, it covered “all subjects relating to refugees and freedmen.” Although it provided much-needed food and educational opportunities to the formerly enslaved, the Freedman’s Bureau was a relatively weak, understaffed organization. It could do little to protect freedmen’s rights during Southern Reconstruction (1865-1877). Major Samuel Willard Saxton (1829-1933) of Deerfield, Massachusetts, was one the soldiers General Howard retained to serve in the Freedmen’s Bureau after the war. Saxton was named for Deerfield’s anti-slavery minister Samuel Willard. He wore this uniform coat and these epaulettes in the 1880s.

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Details

Item typeClothing
Datecirca 1880
PlaceDeerfield, Massachusetts
TopicMilitary, Wars, Battles
Slavery, Indenture
EraRise of Industrial America, 1878–1899
EventAmerican Civil War. 1861–1865
MaterialCloth
Dimension detailsWidth: 56.00 in Height: 36.00 in
Catalog #1965.03.01.01
Coat of Major Samuel Willard Saxton (1829-1933). ca. 1880. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/1965-03-01-01/. Accessed on December 6, 2024.

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