Arkansas Ex-Confederate Pension Records - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Arkansas

What Is in the Collection?
Records of the Arkansas State Auditor's Office consisting of minutes of the State Board of Pensions with lists of pension claims allowed from February 3, 1893 to August 9, 1905; August 5, 1907 to 1916; and June 14, 1929 to September 1, 1939; Registers of Pension Warrants Issued between August 27, 1891 and December 15, 1939 which is a record of payments made.

The U.S. pension law governing claims based on death or disability from military service was passed on 14 July 1862. Later pension laws were based on length of service and disability not necessarily incurred in the service. Beginning in 1892 women who were employed as nurses by the government were also eligible for pensions.

Pensions were granted to Confederate veterans, widows, and orphans by the former Confederate states. Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia have posted indexes and some links to images of Confederate pension records. The Family History Library has an excellent collection of available Confederate pension records. Those for the following states are available on film at the Family History Library.

Pensions were created to provide financial assistance for veterans or their widows after serving in the military. The information in these records is generally reliable.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
These records may contain the following information:


 * Full Name of pensioner
 * Pension Date Issued
 * Warrant Number
 * Amount Allowed
 * Amount Paid
 * The name of the County

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know at least some of the following:
 * The name of the soldier or widow.
 * The age or residence of the pensioner.
 * The date the pension was issued.

View the Images
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 * 1) Select Pension Board minutes or Pension Lists
 * 2) Select Year Range and County Range

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.

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

What Do I Do Next?
If these are indexes, the original records may contain additional information than was not indexed, or the information might have been indexed incorrectly. You may want to search for the original record at the State Auditor's Office, Little Rock.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * In case you need to find this record again later, copy the citation below in the Citing This Collection section. It's always a good idea to keep your citation on a Research Log. This is an important tool to help keep track of what you have and have not found.  Family search wiki has a  Example Research Log that you can download and use.
 * Use the age or estimated birth date to find county or Arkansas Vital Records such as birth, baptism, marriage, and death records.
 * Use the information found in the record to find additional family members in the United States Census, 1890 (FamilySearch Historical Records) or the United States Census, 1900 (FamilySearch Historical Records) or the United States Census, 1920 (FamilySearch Historical Records) or the United States Census, 1940 (FamilySearch Historical Records). Search the state censuses as well.
 * Use the information found in the record to find United States, Internal Revenue Assessment Lists (FamilySearch Historical Records).
 * Use the information found in the record to find United States, Bureau of Land Management Tract Books (FamilySearch Historical Records).
 * Search for death or burial information in BillionGraves Index or at Find A Grave.
 * If applicable, search for immigration and naturalization records as well.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking For, What Now?

 * If your ancestor does not have a common name, collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you find possible relatives.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching a nearby locality.
 * Try different spellings of your ancestor’s name.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Check the infobox above for additional FamilySearch websites and related websites that may assist you in finding similar records.

Citing This Collection
A citation is a note that shows where you found information. Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Using citations allow others to find the same records. Below are the proper citations to use for this whole collection as well as for individual records and images:

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image Citation: Top of Page