Missouri, Confederate Pension Applications and Soldiers Home Applications - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States Missouri

What is in the Collection?
This collection contains digital images of Confederate pension files and applications for admission to the Confederate soldiers' home for the years 1911 to 1938. The applications are arranged in alphabetical order. The pensions are for Confederate veterans who were living in Missouri, although they may have enlisted from another state. The Confederate Soldiers’ Home in Higginsville, Missouri, was open for infirm and dependent former Confederate soldiers and sailors, their wives, widows, and orphans.

Service records were kept for each Confederate soldier. Those records, or abstracts of those records, were compiled into individual files. Each envelope/jacket contains information and cross references to original records relating to the soldier.

These records were created as permanent record of Confederate service and to determine eligibility for benefits and admission to the soldier’s home.;

The information in these records is generally reliable. However, some of it depends on personal memory so it still may contain inaccuracies, such as slightly altered spellings and dates or misinterpretations.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
Information found in this collection may include:
 * Soldier’s name and place of residence
 * Date of application
 * Dates of service
 * Birth date or age
 * Birthplace
 * Name of spouse
 * Names of dependent children
 * Death date, if deceased
 * Military unit in which served
 * Commanding officers of company and regiment
 * Witnesses declaring veracity of statement

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The place where your ancestor lived.
 * The approximate age of your ancestor.
 * The names of family members and their relationships.

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 "Pension Record Type" ⇒Select the "Beginning name - Ending name" which takes you to the images.

Search the collection by image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine which one is your ancestor. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to make this determination.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family. This information will often lead you to other records.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the information found to search for death certificates, mortuary, or burial records.
 * Use the age to calculate an approximate birth date.
 * Use the birth date or age along with the residence or place of birth of the deceased to locate census, church, and land records.

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

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Look for another index. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records.
 * Search the indexes and records of nearby counties.
 * Try alternative search methods such as only filling in the surname search box (or the given name search box) on the landing page leaving the other box empty and then click on search. This should return a list of everyone with that particular name. You could then browse the list for individuals that may be your ancestor.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

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.

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