Scope and Content Note
The papers of Samuel McGowan (1870-1934) span the years 1883-1943, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1900-1920. The collection is organized into orders to duty, correspondence, a subject file, and miscellany and therein alphabetically by name of person, topic, or type of material.
The correspondence consists of letters to family members and official papers concerning McGowan’s duties as paymaster. Prominent correspondents include Philip Andrews, Bernard M. Baruch, Charles J. Bonaparte, Thomas Jefferson Cowie, Josephus Daniels, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Benjamin R. Tillman, and Woodrow Wilson.
The subject file includes material pertaining to the Pay Department of the Atlantic Fleet, the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts in World War I, and McGowan’s role in the changing of naval regulations. McGowan objected to what he regarded as unfair discriminations against officers who were not line officers, such as those in medical categories and construction units. Partly in response to his protests, the regulations were ultimately changed. The papers also contain two scrapbooks concerning McGowan’s duty as paymaster general in World War I.