Mississippi, Confederate Veterans and Widows Pension Applications - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Mississippi 

What is in the Collection?
This collection includes applications for state pensions filed by Confederate veterans and by widows of Confederate veterans living in Mississippi. This collection covers the years 1900 to 1974.

In 1889 Mississippi began granting pensions to Confederate veterans. their widows and dependents. In most states the pension system began with providing pensions to injured veterans and then later expanded to include veteran’s widows or other dependents. In addition to Mississippi, Confederate pensions were also granted in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

What Can these Records Tell Me?
The information will vary depending upon the record and may include any of the following:


 * Name of soldier, widow, or dependents
 * Date and place of birth
 * Dates and places of enlistment and discharge
 * Company in which served and its captain
 * Length of service
 * Name of regiment and its commander
 * Details on wounds received
 * Sworn statements on proof of service by comrades
 * War Department service abstracts
 * Place and length of residency in the state
 * Date and place of marriage
 * Date and place of the veteran's death

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of the soldier.
 * The name of the widow or dependents.
 * The approximate birth date of the soldier.

Compare the information on the image to what you already know about your ancestor to determine if it is the correct family or person. You may need to compare several images before you find your ancestor.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page then select the "Beginning name - Ending name" category.

For tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

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.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Death dates may lead to death certificates, mortuary, or burial records.
 * Use the age to calculate a birth date and to find other records such as birth, christening, census, land and death records.
 * Use the information to find additional family members. Witnesses or bondsmen were usually relatives.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

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. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * 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.
 * Search the indexes and records of Mississippi, United States Genealogy.
 * Search in the Mississippi Archives and Libraries.

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