People and communities
Frank Gardiner: the name and mark on the pay receipt
Documented history · Sources compared
Two official documents preserve a local cavalryman’s service and a surname that appears in several spellings.
A term of service ends
The discharge copy names Frank Gardiner, Company C, First New Jersey Cavalry. It gives July 27, 1861, as enrollment and September 16, 1864, as discharge at Trenton because his term had expired. The society’s quoted grave-registration summary instead gives August 17 for enlistment. These dates should be compared with the muster roll, not silently combined. Gardiner discharge copy; THS veteran research.
The receipt carries a mark
The next day’s Treasury receipt records $52.73 in state pay for February 19, 1862, through May 1, 1864. Beside the written name is an X identified as his mark, witnessed by another person. This describes how he acknowledged this payment; it does not measure all his earnings or establish his literacy throughout life. Gardiner pay receipt.
Names cross between record systems
The society connects Garner, Gardner and Gardiner records with a veteran who worked on farms and later cut wood around Shamong and Southampton. The spelling on a single document is useful evidence, but identity still depends on the surrounding records. THS veteran research.
Sources and research limits
Both official-document images were inspected. They are presented as copies in the state-archive collection. The complete service file and original census returns remain unexamined.