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

What is in This 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 This Collection?
You can search the index or view the images or both. To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor
 * The name of a relative or date of the event

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page then:
 * 1) Select Beginning name - Ending name

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images.

I Found the Person 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
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.

"Mississippi, Confederate Veterans and Widows Pension Applications, 1900-1974" Images. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : accessed 2017. Citing Chancery Courts. National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D.C.
 * Collection Citation:

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