The Pennsylvania Civil War pollbook collection contains three poll books with records of the 1864 election, held October 11, 1864, for soldiers in the field voting by absentee ballot in Pennsylvania.
The book for residents of Westmoreland County within Company C, 11th Pennsylvania Infantry, documents many aspects of the election. These include its location (Fort Dushane in Dinwiddie County, Virginia), the names of the poll officials, the names and residences of the 15 soldiers who voted, and the number of votes received by various candidates. The offices up for election were U.S. Representative, State Representative, Prothonotary, Clerk of Quarter Sessions and Oyer and Terminer, County Commissioner, Director of the Poor, County Auditor, and Trustees of Academy.
The book for voters of Philadelphia and Delaware Counties within Company E, 198th Pennsylvania Infantry, contains similar information for their election, held at "Camp near Petersburg." It includes the names and addresses of 31 voters, as well as names of candidates and number of votes each received for the following offices: U.S. Representative, State Representative, State Senator, Sheriff, Register, Clerk of Orphans' Court, Coroner, County Commissioner, Director of the Poor, County Auditor, Reviewer of Taxes, and City Commissioner.
The pollbook for residents of Wyoming County, within a detachment at Camp Biddle, contains the voting record of just one man, Albert Strong of Northmoreland Township.
During the election of 1864, 19 Union states, including Pennsylvania, allowed soldiers in the field to cast their votes by absentee ballot. In Pennsylvania, absentee elections were conducted on October 11, 1864, and election officials recorded the votes of various companies of soldiers in pollbooks. This collection contains the pollbooks for residents of Westmoreland County within Company C, 11th Pennsylvania Infantry; one inhabitant of Wyoming County within a detachment near Camp Biddle in Pennsylvania; and residents of Philadelphia and Delaware Counties within Company E, 198th Pennsylvania Infantry.
The 11th Pennsylvania Infantry was organized at Harrisburg and in Westmoreland County in August 1861. The regiment fought in many important battles, including Cedar Mountain, Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Cold Harbor, and Appomattox Court House.
The 198th Pennsylvania Infantry was organized at Philadelphia on September 9, 1864. The regiment participated in the Siege of Petersburg, and saw action in the battles of Poplar Springs Church, Boydton Plank Road, Hatchers's Run, Dabney's Mill, White Oak Road, Five Forks, and Appomattox Court House.
