Southern Claims Commission

United States  > African American Research  > Southern Claims Commission

Union sympathizers in the gray states on this map who suffered losses in the Civil War (1861-1865) could apply for relief from the 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 officially 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.

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 10 ? percent) 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.

Steps of Using SCC Records

These are the steps to use to find ALL the SCC 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 during the Civil War.

Step 2. Photocopy ALL the claimants in the county of your ancestor in the Geographical List of Claims.

Step 3. Find and copy all the data provided for each of the county’s claimants in Gary B. Mills’ Southern Loyalists in the Civil War (a master index).

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.

Resources

On the Internet

• St. Louis County Library, "Researching Southern Claims Commission Records" in St. Louis County Library [Internet site] at http://www.slcl.org/branches/hq/sc/scc/scc-main.htm (accessed 1 April 2009). Many of the NARA descriptive publications are actually online at this website including:
  
• St. Louis County Library, "Geographical List of Southern Claims Commission Claimants" in St. Louis County Library [Internet site] at http://www.slcl.org/branches/hq/sc/scc/scc-geolist.htm (accessed 1 April 2009). Use this list to find all the applicants in a given county.
  
• Footnote.com, a subscription site also available at some libraries, is beginning to index SCC records.
  
• Dick Eastman, "Southern Claims Commission 1871-1880 Online" in Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2007/03/southern_claims.html (accessed 1 April 2009). Explains SCC records.
  

At the Family History Library

• 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, Records of the Commissioners of Claims (Southern Claims Commission) 1871-1880 (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].

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 Disallowed Case Files and those barred, U.S. House of Representatives Summary Reports: A: Consolidated Index of Claims; B: Summary reports of the Commissioners. 1878-1880 U.S. Court of ClaimsDocet Cards for Congressional Case Files, ca. 1884-ca. 1943 Records of the Commissioners of Claims, 1871-1880	123 233 123 56	M2007 M1407 P2257 M2007 M87	Unavailable Unavailable Unavailable Unavailable 1463976  roll 14: Consolidated index 1463975 roll 13: Geographical List of Claims	5 rolls 4,829 fiche 1 roll 5 rolls 14 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		217	M2094		Not on film
South Carolina		217	M2094		Not on film
Tennessee
Texas		217	M2094		Not on film
Virginia	Approved Claims 1871-1880	217	M2094	unavailable	45 rolls
West Virginia	Approved Claims 1871-1880	217	M1762	unavailable	3 rolls

Online Resources

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

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National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C.

Family History Library (FHL); now called, FamilySearch Library (FSL)