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American Legion. Sauls-Bridges Post 13 (Tallahassee, Fla.)
Title, Dates:
American Legion, Sauls-Bridges Post #13 and Voiture Local #1120 records, 1919-1954, 1983-1985.
Amount:
0.75 cubic ft.
Medium Included:
Organization/Arrangement:
By record type.
Restrictions:
Terms Governing Use:
Biographical/Historical:
The United States Congress first chartered the American Legion in 1919 as a patriotic veterans' organization. The Legion then established a state program (department) in all 50 states and U.S. territories. The American Legion, Department of Florida, established its thirteenth post at Tallahassee in 1919 with former Army Captain R. A. Gray as the first post commander. Originally named the Claude Sauls Post in honor of Tallahassee's first World War I fatality, Corporal Claude L. Sauls, Post members changed the name in 1946 to the Sauls-Bridge Post to also honor Tallahassee's first World War II fatality, Ben H. Bridges, Jr.
In 1933, the Sauls-Bridges Post established its own local unit of an honor society open only to American Legion members, the Voiture Locale #1120 of La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux, "The Society of Forty Men and Eight Horses," or "Forty and Eight." Its name refers to the carrying capacity (40 men and 8 horses) of French railroad box cars used as military transports during the First World War. Some members in the honor society were U.S. Senator Claude Pepper, Florida Governors David Sholtz and Millard Caldwell, and Florida Secretary of State R. A. Gray.
Summary:
The collection contains records of the American Legion, Sauls-Bridges Post #13, and the Voiture Local #1120. The Sauls-Bridges Post records include minutes, May 30, 1919 to January 6, 1921; a 1924 membership roster; a list of Post Commanders, 1919-1964; bulletins of the American Legion, Department of Florida; and a memorial resolution given to the Gray family at the time of R. A. Gray's death. The Voiture Local records include minutes, 1947; membership records, 1933-1948, 1952-1954, and 1983-1985; and its 1933 charter application to La Societe des Quarante Hommes et Huit Chevaux. The collection documents the social and political activities of veterans' societies in Tallahassee, Florida, after World War I.
Finding Aids:
Folder listing available. 0
Additional Physical Form:
Reproduction Note:
Location of Originals/Duplicates:
Associated Materials:
Language Notes:
Ownership/Custodial History:
Mr. Davenport collected these records from the possession of several former Post Commanders of the American Legion Sauls-Bridges Post 13.
Publication Note:
General Note:
Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields:
Gray, R.A. 1882-1975 (Robert Andrew),
Patriotic societies Florida Veterans Florida. Veterans Societies, etc
Minutes. aat
Leon County (Fla.) Tallahassee (Fla.)
for detailed listing.