Southern Claims Commission

United States  > African American Research  > Southern Claims Commission

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 12 states (West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas) filed 22,298 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

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.

Strategy for Finding Ancestors in These Records

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, but he or she is more likely to have testified about an applicant, and is even more likely to be discussed 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.

Resources

This comes from the St. Louis County Library website which has an excellent article on the Southern Claims Commision records. Many of the descriptive publications are actually online at this website including a geographical list of claimants[1].  Footnote[2] also has a highly recommended article and online resources about Southern Claims Commission records.

The following are some of the Southern Claims Commission records in the Family History Library collection:

• Southern Loyalists in the Civil War: The Southern Claims Commission 'by Gary B. Mills (in alphabetical order by name of claimant; also provides county name, office number, report number, and status of claim) FHL 975 M2s

• Civil War Claims in the South: An Index of Civil War Damage Claims Filed Before the Southern Claims Commission, 1871-1880' ''''by Gary B. Mills (in alphabetical order by state, then by name of claimant) FHL 975 H22m

• Records of the Commissioners of Claims (Southern Claims Commission) 1871-1880  'United States. House of Representatives. Commissioners of Claims FHL film numbers 1463963 -1463976

• Barred and Disallowed Case Files of the Southern Claims Commission, 1871-1880  'United States. National Archives and Records Administration  FHL 973 J53m no. 1407

Availability

The records have not all been filmed or fiched, note the chart below to learn what is currently available through the National Archives; the Family History Library (FHL) has not accquired them as of April 2009. As noted below search on line sites for additional information.

                                                          Southern Claims Commission Records

 

State	Record	Record Group	NARA #	FHL First Film	Number of Films
National	U.S. Court of Claims 1884-1943	123	M2007	unavailable	5 rolls
Alabama	Approved Claims, 1871-1880	217	M2062	unavailable	36 rolls
Arkansas		217	M2094		Not on film
Florida		217	M2094		Not on film
Georgia	Approved Claims 1871-1880	217	M1658	unavailable	761 fiche
Louisiana		217	M2094		Not on film
Mississippi		217	M2094		Not on film
North Carolina South Carolina Texas Virginia		217	M2094		Not on film

Online Resources

• St. Louis County Library
• Footnote
• Tennessee Southern Claims Commission Index
• Rockingham County, Virginia

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