Southern Claims Commission

United States U.S. Military  U.S. Civil War  Southern Claims Commission

Southern Claims Commission records may include information about people of all classes, all races, all political/military backgrounds, and explain their relationships.

Who Qualified and Who Was Mentioned
Although only a few people per county qualified for a settlement, the application papers of the Southern Claims Commission typically include questions mentioning hundreds of their neighbors. Neighbors of all races, and classes were questioned and discussed in these records.

Southerners from the 12 states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia qualified to file claims before the Southern Claims Commission (SCC) between 3 March 1871 and 3 March 1873 based on the fact they:


 * 1) were loyal to the Union during the Civil War
 * 2) had quartermaster stores or supplies taken by or furnished to the Union Army during the rebellion

While only losses incurred in the twelve states in rebellion at the beginning of the Civil War qualified many claims were made from other states by individuals that claimed to reside in the qualifying states during the war. As a result, records from a total of 24 states and the District of Columbia appear in the "Barred and Disallowed Case Files of the Southern Claims Commission, 1871-1880" (NARA M1407) records.

Southern Loyalists (those who were Union sympathizers) made 22,298 claims for property losses totaling $60,258,150.44. However, only 7,092 claims (32%) were approved for settlements totaling $4,636,920.69. Each claimant sought to prove their loyalty and loss through the testimony of others. The paper trail created by the claimants and the people who came forward to testify, for or against a claimant, provide a wealth of information about individuals living in the South during the Civil War.

Content of the Records
Southern Claims Commission records may include information about people of all classes, all races, all political/military backgrounds, and explain their relationships potentially including:


 * personal descriptions, and accounts of events during the war
 * military records of claimants, or their relatives
 * letters, diaries, and family Bible records
 * wills, property inventories, and probate records

Strategy for Finding Ancestors
The most effective strategy is to search all the Southern Claims Commission records for everyone living in the same Southern county as an ancestor. Any particular ancestor is unlikely to have actually applied to the Commission (only 0.2 percent of population), but he or she is more likely to have testified (2.3 percent) about an applicant, and an ancestor is even more likely to be discussed (about 10percent) in the hundreds of answers to questions in other people's testimony. This is an advanced, time-consuming strategy with a less than 50 percent chance of locating information about your ancestor. But you will learn about the way of life in the county where your ancestor lived, and much about relationships between his or her neighbors.

These are the steps to use to find all of the Southern Claims Commission records in a county. This strategy will involve reading thousands of manuscript pages with no guarantee you will find a particular ancestor mentioned in them. Step 1. Determine the Southern county where an ancestor lived.


 * Use family records, census, county histories, or other records to identify the residence of an ancestor during the Civil War from 1861-1865.

Step 2. Printout all the claimants in that county from the "Geographical List of Claimants.


 * A. Open the St. Louis County Library [Internet site] article “Geographical List of Southern Claims Commission Claimants.” Perhaps it is here.
 * B. Scroll down to the links to PDFs for states and counties listed in alphabetical order.
 * C. Click the link that would include the county where the ancestor lived between 1861-1865.
 * D. Print the page(s) of the PDF for the county where the ancestor lived.
 * E. Close the PDF.

Step 3. Copy data for each claimant in the county in Southern Loyalists in the Civil War.


 * A. Get access to Gary B. Mills, Southern Loyalists in the Civil War: The Southern Claims Commission (Baltimore: Genealogical Publ., 1994, or reprint 2004). [FHL book 975 M2s].
 * B. In this book find and copy all data provided for each claimant in the county.

Step 4. To identify which NARA microfiche to purchase, use an appropriate NARA descriptive pamphlet (DP) and follow instructions at the St. Louis County Library’s Internet site.

Step 5. Order from the National Archives a microfiche copy of the file for each claimant in your ancestor’s county.

Step 6. Search each county claimant’s file for information about your ancestor or his neighbors.

Step 7. Search related Commission journals, agent letters, and miscellaneous letters at the FHL.

Where to Find the Records
Online

(Note, Ancestry Fold 3 are subscription sites. Many can, however, be accessed free in the Family History Library and its branch Family History Centers. See table below)

Ancestry


 * U.S. Southern Claims Commission Master Index, 1871-1880 (Ancestry) ($) - index


 * Barred and Disallowed Claims:
 * U.S. Southern Claims Commission, Disallowed and Barred Claims, 1871-1880 (Ancestry) ($)


 * Approved Claims:
 * U.S. Southern Claims Commission, Allowed Claims, 1871-1880 (Ancestry) ($) - partial collection includes:
 * NARA M2062 Southern Claims Commission Approved Claims, 1871-1880: Alabama.
 * NARA M1658 Southern Claims Commission Approved Claims: Georgia, 1871-1880.
 * NARA M2094 Southern Claims Commission Approved Claims, 1871-1880: Virginia.
 * NARA M1762 Southern Claims Commission Approved Claims, 1871-1880: West Virginia.

Fold3


 * Southern Claims Commission (Fold3) ($) - partial collection includes:


 * Barred and Disallowed Claims:
 * NARA M1407 Barred and Disallowed Case Files of the Southern Claims Commission, 1871-1880.


 * Approved Claims:
 * NARA M2062 Southern Claims Commission Approved Claims, 1871-1880: Alabama.
 * NARA M1658 Southern Claims Commission Approved Claims: Georgia, 1871-1880.
 * NARA M2094 Southern Claims Commission Approved Claims, 1871-1880: Virginia.
 * NARA M1762 Southern Claims Commission Approved Claims, 1871-1880: West Virginia.


 * The approved claims records for the other eight states have never been microfilmed. Fold3 is in the process of digitizing these records directly from the original documents and placing them online. Fold3 is placing the records from the remaining eight states together in one collection named "Southern Claims Commission Approved Claims, 1871-1880". Check to see a list of states currently available.

Family History Library

The records have not all been filmed or fiched, See the chart below to learn what is currently available through the National Archives and the Family History Library (FHL). As noted below search on line sites for additional information.

(table last updated April 2009)

Related Books

 * Gary B. Mills, Southern Loyalists in the Civil War: The Southern Claims Commission (Baltimore: Genealogical Publ., 1994). [FHL book 975 M2s]. A composite directory of case file in alphabetical order by name of claimant; also provides county name, office number, report number, and status of claim.
 * Gary B. Mills, Civil War Claims in the South: An Index of Civil War Damage Claims Filed Before the Southern Claims Commission, 1871-1880 (Laguna Hills, Calif.: Aegean Park Press, 1980). [FHL book 975 H22m]. Index in alphabetical order by state, then by name of claimant.
 * United States, House of Representatives, Commissioners of Claims,  (Washington, D.C.: National Archives, 1945). [FHL film 1463963-76].
 * United States, National Archives and Records Administration, Barred and Disallowed Case Files of the Southern Claims Commission, 1871-1880 (Washington, D.C.: NARA, 1987). [FHL book 973 J53m no. 1407].

Websites

 * St. Louis County Library Researching Southern Claims Commission Records. Many of the NARA descriptive publications are actually online at this website including: