Post-CW Sack Coat?

[Booner]

Because of my interest in the CW, I was given this coat years ago by a lady who said it belonged to her gg grandfather who was in the CW. I don't think she was correct. It looks to be post war to me, perhaps it was a jacket he wore to GAR meetings?

There is no lining in the body of the jacket, but the sleeves are lined and the seems are mostly machine sown, with some hand stitching at the shoulders and cuffs. There are two interior brest pockets, one on each side.

The coat is missing the collar button, but all the rest, including the cuff buttons were made by "A.Thomas & Co. Philadelphia, PA"

I was thinking of donating the jacket to the Missouri Military Museum, but would like to know more about when the jacket was produced, if it was military, or perhaps a National Guard issue, GAR jacket, etc.

Any help along these lines is appreciated.

The interior view;

And if anyone needs more images, I'll be happy to oblige.

-Booner

 

[major bill]

I will have to give this some thouhgt. We do have some people on the forum who are very good at this kind of thing

 

[Billw12280]

Because of my interest in the CW, I was given this coat years ago by a lady who said it belonged to her gg grandfather who was in the CW. I don't think she was correct. It looks to be post war to me, perhaps it was a jacket he wore to GAR meetings?

There is no lining in the body of the jacket, but the sleeves are lined and the seems are mostly machine sown, with some hand stitching at the shoulders and cuffs. There are two interior brest pockets, one on each side.

The coat is missing the collar button, but all the rest, including the cuff buttons were made by "A.Thomas & Co. Philadelphia, PA"

I was thinking of donating the jacket to the Missouri Military Museum, but would like to know more about when the jacket was produced, if it was military, or perhaps a National Guard issue, GAR jacket, etc.

Any help along these lines is appreciated.

View attachment 349028

The interior view;
View attachment 349029

And if anyone needs more images, I'll be happy to oblige.

-Booner

Looks like a 5 button sack coat from the 1880s-1890s to me. A general rule of thumb is if it has 5 buttons it is post Civil War as most ACW sack coats had 4 unless altered. Close ups of the buttons front and back would help narrow down a timeframe. The collar looks a little wider and not rounded so IIRC that would indicate the earlier side of the scale. It does appear to be a military jacket, perhaps he continued to serve after the war? If you have his name you could probably track down his service records. Either way it is a beautiful coat and anybody would be lucky to have it.

 

[Booner]

Looks like a 5 button sack coat from the 1880s-1890s to me. A general rule of thumb is if it has 5 buttons it is post Civil War as most ACW sack coats had 4 unless altered. Close ups of the buttons front and back would help narrow down a timeframe. The collar looks a little wider and not rounded so IIRC that would indicate the earlier side of the scale. It does appear to be a military jacket, perhaps he continued to serve after the war? If you have his name you could probably track down his service records. Either way it is a beautiful coat and anybody would be lucky to have it.

Other than a few moth holes it's in pretty good shape. When my son was in Jr. High, he wore it to school a few times.
It's a darker blue than my photo would indicate. I can try and take a close up picture of the buttons if that would help. The museum I was thinking of donating it to is the MO. National Guard Museum, which is a very nice museum and are pretty well covered in different uniforms, but most of their items are WWI and later.

 

[Booner]

Picture of one of the buttons

I don't think I can get it better in focus with this tablet, sorry.
On the back, as I said it says "A Thomas Philadelphia Pn"

 

[UCVRelics]

The A Thomas back-mark is post war and I don't believe its a GAR coat as most GAR uniforms had GAR buttons. Lets see what our uniform expert has to say. paging @Package4

 

[Billw12280]

Picture of one of the buttons
View attachment 349055
I don't think I can get it better in focus with this tablet, sorry.
On the back, as I said it says "A Thomas Philadelphia Pn"

That's what has been termed the "chicken neck eagle button" and was in use for enlisted men from 1875-1902. I agree with @ucvrelics this is not a GAR coat but a military issued coat and I would venture to say federally issued as the state militias would still often put their state seal button on National Guard uniforms. Very nice coat, if the museum doesnt take it I'm sure you would find no shortage of interested collectors.

 

[major bill]

It is still a nice item, just not Civil War.

 

[Package4]

Because of my interest in the CW, I was given this coat years ago by a lady who said it belonged to her gg grandfather who was in the CW. I don't think she was correct. It looks to be post war to me, perhaps it was a jacket he wore to GAR meetings?

There is no lining in the body of the jacket, but the sleeves are lined and the seems are mostly machine sown, with some hand stitching at the shoulders and cuffs. There are two interior brest pockets, one on each side.

The coat is missing the collar button, but all the rest, including the cuff buttons were made by "A.Thomas & Co. Philadelphia, PA"

I was thinking of donating the jacket to the Missouri Military Museum, but would like to know more about when the jacket was produced, if it was military, or perhaps a National Guard issue, GAR jacket, etc.

Any help along these lines is appreciated.

View attachment 349028

The interior view;
View attachment 349029

And if anyone needs more images, I'll be happy to oblige.

-Booner

I agree with the others, most likely an IW issue coat of the 1880s

 

[Booner]

I thank you all for your time and expertise.