Last year I wondered how a local newspaper could know very accurately how much money was being sent home by Union volunteers. Apparently much of the money was funneled through a soldier’s captain, and the captain told the press.
From a Seneca County, New York newspaper in April 1863:
CAPT. MCDONALD, of the 50th regiment, writes that at the last pay-day his company placed $4,000 in his hands, to be sent to their family and friends at home. Three-fourths of this sum was sent to Seneca Falls.
According to Measuring Worth the value of $4,000 today could range from $60,200.00 to $7,920,000.00 depending on how you calculate it. the site calculates that the purchasing power today would be $73,900.00.
