Southern Claims Commission 1871-1880 Online

Disclaimer: This article describes a new offering from Footnote, Inc., the sponsors of this newsletter. There is a possibility that I am displaying some bias in favor of the sponsor, although I honestly don't think that is the case. I'll simply mention the possibility and then let you judge for yourself.

One of the most valuable sources of genealogy for anyone with southern U.S. ancestry went online a couple of months ago. The Southern Claims Commission records can provide a wealth of information not found in census records, church records, tax lists, or elsewhere. In fact, for many people who lived in the southern states during and after the Civil War, the Southern Claims Commission records often are the only source of family relationships that still survive today. Surprisingly, many genealogists with southern roots are not even aware of this valuable resource.

As in any war, it takes a lot of food and other supplies to keep an army in fighting condition. Also, as in most wars, supplying front line troops with the necessary food, weapons, and clothing is always a great problem. Both sides in the Civil War tried to solve the problems in the same manner that armies have used for centuries: they simply seized whatever they needed as they traveled.

If you were a farmer, a shopkeeper, or simply someone who owned a horse in the early 1860s and you were also unfortunate enough to have an army pass by, you had a high probability of your goods, animals, and crops being confiscated. In fact, there are many reports of people having their crops taken by both armies, a few days or weeks or months apart. Such are the ravages of war.

Of course, the losing side never compensates the victims after the war is over, for obvious reasons. The Union, however, did recognize claims by its citizens for reimbursement of these necessities. The Southern Claims Commission was established by an act of Congress on 3 March 1871. The commission reviewed the claims of Southerners who had "furnished stores and supplies for the use of U.S. Army" during the Civil War. A little more than a year later, Congress extended this to include property seized by the U.S. Navy.

Citizens who filed claims before the three-member board were required to show proof of lost property and provide satisfactory evidence of their loyalty to the federal government throughout the war. If someone had crops or horses taken by the Union army, they could apply for compensation. Other claims talk about families forced to leave their homes when the army commandeered the house as its local headquarters. Storekeepers may have had their inventory of food, hardware, and other supplies taken without permission. Others lost wagons, mules, hogs, cattle, bacon, hay for horses, cordwood, and anything else that could help keep an army on the move. Anyone loyal to the Union could later apply for compensation. The paperwork in the files is often extensive.

Most of the applications were filed in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. A handful of the applicants lived in those states during the Civil War but later moved elsewhere.

Three commissioners, appointed by the President, were compelled to "receive, examine, and consider the claims of those citizens who remained loyal adherents to the cause and the government of the United States during the war, for stores or supplies taken or furnished during the rebellion."

The phrase "loyal adherents to the cause and the government of the United States during the war" obviously was a stumbling block for many. However, that did not stop some former Confederate soldiers and their families from applying for compensation. In their applications, many simply never mentioned their service and sympathies although applications without proof of loyalty were usually rejected. A few claimed that they had been forced to join the Confederate forces for various reasons, even though their loyalties supposedly remained with the Union.

Many of the applications name relatives, neighbors and others, regardless of the other person's political loyalties. Even if your ancestor was a loyal Confederate and never filed a claim, it is quite possible that he or she was mentioned as a witness or a bystander in a claim filed by someone else. He or she even may have filed a lengthy affidavit describing, among other things, the relationship to the claimant. The Southern Claims Commission records contain thousands of references, such as "my brother John" or "my father-in-law, Will Durham." In many cases, these are the only available records of family relationships. Only the claim applicants were required to state their loyalty; there was no such requirement for witnesses and others mentioned in the claim applications. As such, the records of the Southern Claims Commission contain amazing information about southern residents, Confederates and non-Confederates alike.

More than twenty thousand claims were filed by the March 3, 1873, deadline. Evidence supporting the claims, which included depositions, testimonials from neighbors and family, receipts, and personal interviews, had to be filed by March 10, 1879. This gave the commission six years to finish the job.

Out of the 22,298 claims filed, less than a third (7,092) perfectly satisfied the commission's stringent requirements for loyalty, as well as proof of the value, ownership, and military nature of the possessions taken. Of the amounts claimed, totaling over $60 million, just over $4.6 million, or 7.7%, were approved and paid.

While roughly two-thirds of the claims were eventually disallowed, that fact is irrelevant for genealogical purposes. Allowed and disallowed claims alike are full of information of interest to genealogists. The files are instructive as well as entertaining to read. They are filled with first-person accounts of how average civilians participated in the war, the circumstances surrounding the dispossession of property, and descriptions of wartime not often revealed in history texts. Most claimants had to answer a long list of pre-determined questions. Even the summation reports that the investigators submitted  are often candid, revealing informative parts of the story.

Anyone searching African American ancestry in the south will also have a strong interest in these records. Nobody knows how many blacks filed applications or were mentioned in the claims filed by others. The Southern Claims Commission simply never kept totals of the ethnicity of the applicants. However, the text of many applications will reveal former slavery, often including the names of former owners and the names of family members. Many of the claims were filed by people of modest means. The Southern Claims Commission records contain information about blacks, slave-owning whites, and non-slave-owning whites in a manner unequalled anywhere else.

In an article published in the July/August 1999 edition of Ancestry Magazine, Reginald Washington wrote, "…the Southern Claims case files also have extraordinary amounts of personal data. Scattered among the thousands of pages of testimony, special reports, and affidavits is a wide range of information concerning the names and ages of former slaves, their places of residence, names of slave owners, plantation conditions, wills and probate matters, slave manumissions, slave ownership of property, slave and free black entrepreneurship, conditions of free blacks, and a great deal more on what it was like to live as an African American during slavery and the post-slavery period. For the Afro-American genealogist whose ancestor filed a claim before the commission, the information could prove to be invaluable."

NOTE: Reginald Washington is an archivist/genealogy specialist with National Archives and Records Administration. He lectures frequently on the use of Federal records for African American genealogy research. You can read the full text of his article at http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=213.

Some of the records of the Southern Claims Commission have been available on microfilm and microfiche for some time. However, the full collection is not on film. Anyone who has only examined the microfilm/microfiche versions has missed approximately one-third of the pages of the Commission. The other third was only available on paper but now is being scanned by Footnote.com. It seems that the film version only contains the "barred and denied" claims and a fraction of the approved claims.

None of these records have ever been available on the Internet; Footnote was the first company to place these rerecords online.

Footnote.com's online Southern Claims Commission database contains images of every claim and all accompanying paperwork. These are images of original documents, often filled out in the claimant's own handwriting. You can view the documents on your computer screen, print them on your own printer, or save them on your hard drive for later use in genealogy programs, word processors, or image editing programs. Many of the documents are of such high quality that they are suitable for framing with little or no editing required by photo editing software.

I found it easy to locate individual claims in the Southern Claims Commission. In fact, you can identify claims without a membership in Footnote.com and without paying any money. However, to view the original document or to save it to your hard drive, you will need to choose from a couple payment options: either you can pay a modest fee to access the document, or you can obtain a membership for unlimited access to all the documents for a fixed period of time.

To start, I went to http://www.footnote.com and clicked on CIVIL WAR COLLECTION. I then clicked on SOUTHERN CLAIMS COMMISSION. At that point, I was offered two choices:

1. To search for individuals words that appear anywhere in the collection (not just surnames and first names; the search also finds towns, counties, and more. A search for "mule" will find all references to that word anywhere in the Southern Claims Commission data.)
2. A search by states and county and then by name of the applicant.

As I often do, I searched first for my own surname and was pleasantly surprised to find 56 references. At random, I selected the claim of William Eastman of Warren County, Mississippi, filed 24 January 1872, as Claim number 11268. I could even see a thumbnail image of the first page of the document, too small to read. So far, I had not been asked for a user name, password, or payment of any money.

When I clicked on the thumbnail image of the document, I was asked for user name and password. I entered the information. If I did not already have a Footnote.com membership, I could have paid $1.99 to view the document immediately, or I could also sign up for a membership at that point.

After entering my user name and password, the 14-page document appeared on my screen. I found it easy to go from page to page, zoom in and out, print, or download and save the document. I have seen a lot of image viewers used to display historic documents, and I must say that the Flash-based image viewer on Footnote.com is the best one I have seen. Even better, it works identically on both Windows and Macintosh systems.

After reading the document, I found that William Eastman asked for payment of $600 as reimbursement for the two horses and two mules taken from him. I assume that $600 was a lot of money at the time. He supplied an affidavit that apparently was dictated by Richard Eastman (the same name as my own) stating, "I am a brother of the claimant. We were raised together and slaves of the same master, James Allen." Richard then mentions Elijah Anderson, who was also a slave of James Allen. Richard tells about Mr. Allen's policy of allowing his slaves to raise their own food and even sell it, if they wished. He wrote, "We made sometimes $150 dollars a year."

Richard then testified, "My brother's family consisted of a wife and two children. He was sober and industrious and well to do, and master's favorite, and was allowed a good many advantages; he was foreman on the place. When we made a good crop, Mr. Allen would frequently give claimant a hundred dollars and would give him a big Christmas dinner to the people on the place of which the claimant would have charge. He was foreman of the place and I had charge of the plow hands under him."

The affidavit goes on for many pages, describing how his brother William came to own the animals. The affidavit ends with a small letter "X" surrounded by the words, "Richard Eastman - his mark" and the signature of witness E. P. Jacobson. The claim application also includes affidavits from other witnesses.

Sadly, the Commission denied the claim of William Eastman as he had no receipt for the animals when taken by the Union army. While William never got his money, his claim left behind a lot of information about his life and the lives of his family. It even gives a glimpse into the manner in which his former master, James Allen, treated his slaves. Even though this is a claim filed by William Eastman, the descendants of James Allen might be very interested in reading it. Such information is never found in census records and is rarely found elsewhere.

This is but one example of the information found in the Southern Claims Commission records. You can find another 22,297 other examples online at http://www.footnote.com.

Indeed, the Southern Claims Commission records contain a wealth of information about southern whites and blacks alike. I am always amazed at how few genealogists with southern heritage are aware of these records.

If you are interested in post-Civil War society or have roots in the south, you will find a good dose of enlightening history within these records, as told in the words of those who lived it. If your ancestors were in the southern states between 1861 and 1880, you need to look at these records.

Again, the Southern Claims Commission records are available online now at http://www.footnote.com. You can view individual documents (often multiple pages) for $1.99 each. You may find it more cost-effective to purchase a monthly or annual membership and gain unlimited access to as many images as you care to view. A monthly membership only costs $9.99 while an annual membership is available for $99.99.

Comments

[Karen Beck]

I just bought the $1.99 deal to see a multi-page Southern Claim; however, it did not give me access to all pages, only the first page. My receipt says: "Image Purchased" not "Document" as your article indicated. I guess I'll have to pay the monthly rate to obtain the whole document.

[Joan Armistead]

When looking by state, and then county, and then name note that the index has not been well edited. Example Lauderdale County in Alabama is spelled Lauderdale, Landerdale, Laududale and Launderdals. While the choices for the names of individuals seem to be alpha ordered by their first name although some are by the last name when the indexer entered a comma. Which I suspect was the way it was supposed to be done.

[Jason Presley]

The documents are transcribed exactly as found, which is why there are so many oddities in the names. A major point of the service is that you can annotate all of the documents yourself if you see something that needs correcting or elaboration.

[Sylvia Akin]

Several years ago, I requested a copy of my ancestor's SCC file. I received 123 pages. Most were depositions given by her friends and neighbors, who were witness to General Grant's raid on her property. Their stories confirmed stories I had heard about the event as a child. The depositions also contained valuable genealogical information; death dates, causes of death, a glimpse of family life, and most important the name of her nephew which was the proof I needed to connect my line to the South Carolina branch of the family. I strongly urge anyone who finds their ancestor's name on the index to obtain their file.

[Karen Beck]

In followup to my original post, I must say I am impressed with footnote's personnel. They read my previous post and have refunded my $1.99 without even being asked! Also, I had sent them a suggestion and they responded asking me to be more specific. There are real human beings listening to what is being said about their website and they really care!

When viewing the Southern Claim I was interested in, it was 45 pages long. I first printed one of the copies and then decided to just download all the images. I downloaded all of them as jpeg images and think I prefer that to printing. These documents are full of interesting information. Thank you Dick Eastman and Footnote!!

[soccermom]

Great idea and a great database to add, but I'm worried about how many mistakes it has in the indexing.

I have a photocopy of the complete Southern Claims record for D.A. "Doc" Gilbert, Lincoln Co., TN. He was one of the 20% of applicants who received compensation after the war. I tried to find his record on footnote.com, but was UNable to find it at all. Checked Lincoln, Bedford, Fayette, Giles Counties, TN and the blank and no county entries at the top of the county list. Searched for Gilbert in TN. NO LUCK. Not a good sign for this database. The handwriting in his file is very legible, so I'm wondering why it isn't indexed.

The SC records are fabulous, by the way. How else would I have known that Gilbert kept his son Peter out of the Confederate Army?

[Jason Presley]

I was able to find the claim of my 5th great grandfather, John Minton, who lived in Gravelly Springs, Alabama, where the largest massing of troops (up to that time) in the Western Hemisphere occurred during the war. I never knew the plural for beef was "beeves"! Apparently General Sherman's army made off with Mr. Minton's beeves, along with his chickens, horses, sheep and all the corn and feed the soldiers could card away.

[Chuck Sherrill]

Keep in mind that Allowed Claims from most of the southern states are not part of the Footnote documents. The allowed claims from only four states have been microfilmed by the National Archives (GA, AL, VA, WVA). Those are included on Footnote. The others (TN, MS, TX, NC, SC, etc.) are only available for research at the National Archives branch in College Park MD.

[Teresa Elliott]

Thanks Chuck, you saved me some money. The ones I wanted to view were all allowed claims. Will have to do that via the National Archives. I will have to see if I can find me one that wasn't allowed.

[James Boyter]

I believe that my GGGFather William Smith served as a agent of the commission in Carroll County GA. Are there any sources of information on the men who served as agents?

[Dr. Barbara Branch]

I found my ancestor, James Branch, Chickasaw County, MS, listed in the SCC on ancestry.com but could not find a record on footnote.com. I already have a footnote.com account. Any suggestions?

Dr. Barbara Branch
drbabs@starstream.net

[Linda Matthews]

I am confused by the copyright status of the approved claims for Virginia. I have NARA microfilm roll 35 with my relative's approved claim on it, marked "for reference only." I transcribed it with effort. Now if I want to publish it, do I have the right? What if I want to do a print collection of all the approved claims for one county? I can't seem to get a straight answer about this and don't see why NARA documents wouldn't be perfectly public and free of copyright.

[Dick Eastman]

Disclaimer: I am not an attorney. What follows is my admittedly non-attorney opinion. For details, I would advise you to contact an attorney specializing in intellectual property issues.

The Southern Claims Commission records (in their original form) are public domain and will always be public domain, assuming that Congress doesn't change the copyright laws. You have always been legally able to look at the original documents on paper or to look at government-created microfilm images of the originals and you have always been legally able to transcribe those records as you wish. That hasn't changed.

In the future, you will still be able to legally transcribe the original documents on paper or to transcribe government-created microfilm images of the original records as you wish.

What you CANNOT do is take someone else's "new and improved" images and republish those elsewhere without the permission of the people who created the "new and improved" version.

If someone else improved the clarity of the images, created an every-name index, and made other improvements, they have a copyright on the improvements although not on the original documents. You cannot add even more improvements on top of their improvements and publish the results. However, you will always be legally able to use the original (unimproved) documents and transcribe and publish those as you wish. There is no change.