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

Record Description
This Collection will include records from 1863 to 1974.

This collection includes applications for state pensions filed by Confederate veterans and by widows of Confederate veterans living in Mississippi.

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.

For an alphabetical list of names currently published in this collection, select the Browselink from the collection landing page.

Pension applications were created to provide a way for veterans or their widows to obtain financial assistance after serving in the military.

Censuses were created to keep track of veteran's (or their families) receiving compensation for their service.

The information in these records is generally reliable.

Record Content
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 to Use the Record
To begin your search it is helpful to know the following:


 * Soldier's name
 * Widow's or dependent's names
 * Approximate birth date or other identifying information

Search the Collection
To search the collection by image ⇒Select the Browse link in the initial search page ⇒Select the "Beginning name - Ending name" category which takes you to the images

Search the collection by image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

As you are searching it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor’s given name and surname, some identifying information such as residence and age, and family relationships. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.

Using the Information
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. The pieces of information in the record 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. For example:


 * Death dates may lead to 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.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * Compile the entries for every person who has the same surname as the deceased; this is especially helpful in rural areas or if the surname is unusual.
 * Continue to search the records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives who may have been seeking the pension.
 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.
 * When searching for an application keep in mind that in some cases the applications were filed under the name of the widow or other dependent who submitted the application.
 * Applications were sent to and processed by the state where the veteran or family member lived at the time, which was not always the state in which the soldier had served.

Related Wiki Articles

 * Mississippi in the Civil War
 * Confederate Pension Records

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the information for collections published in FamilySearch.org. Source citations include the author, custodian, publisher and archive for the original records.