Alabama, Southern Claims Commission Approved Claims - FamilySearch Historical Records

''United States Alabama

What is in the Collection?
The United States Congress established Southern Claims Commission, on March 3, 1871. The purpose of the Commission was to review and make recommendations to the House of Representatives regarding claims from Southerners who were loyal to the Union, and who had involuntarily “furnished stores and supplies for the use of the U.S. Army” during the Civil War. Later the law was extended to resources taken by the U.S. Navy. Claims were processed through May of 1880. Only about one third of submitted claims were approved.

The images in this collection show the claims approved by the Southern Claims commission for Alabama. The collection is NARA publication M2062 Southern Claims Commission Approved Claims,1871-1880: Alabama and is from RG 217, Records of the Accounting Officers of the Department of the Treasury. It contains 828 approved applications arranged by county and then alphabetical by name.

You will be able to browse through images in this collection when it is published.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
Information may differ between cases and may include any of the following:

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:


 * The name of claimant
 * The residence of the claimant

Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information in the list to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct family or person. You may need to compare several persons in the list before you find your ancestor.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒ Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒ Select the "County" category ⇒ Select the "Approved Claims (Name)" category which takes you to the images.

What Do I Do Next?
Whenever possible, view the original records to verify the information and to find additional information that might not be reported. These pieces of information can lead you to additional records and family members.You should also look for leads to other records about your ancestors.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the residences to locate other records such as vital records, census, church, and land records. These may help you find other family members.
 * Use the occupations listed to find other types of records, such as employment or military records.
 * Keep in mind that there may be some variation in the information given from one record to another record.
 * Witnesses may be heirs or relatives.
 * Compile the entries for every person who has the same surname as the claimant, this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual.
 * Search the records to identify relatives who may have also had claims.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Check for an index. There are often indexes at the beginning of each volume. Local historical and genealogical groups also compile indexes to local records.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image. Collection Citation:

Image Citation: