Confederate Pension Application Sources Collection, Part 1, Available in the Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library

by Delia Cothrun Bourne

At the end of the Civil War, the Federal government provided pensions to Union soldiers who were disabled, or to widows and dependent parents of those who had died. Later, the government provided pensions to all Union veterans or widows. Confederate veterans were not eligible for Federal pensions because they had fought for another country, the Confederate States of America (CSA), which no longer existed. In the decades following the war, the various state governments of the former CSA stepped in to provide pensions for those who had served their states by serving the Confederacy. Of course, no state outside of the Southern states provided pensions for Confederate veterans.

Through a mutual agreement of reciprocity among the states, pensions were granted from the state of current residence rather than the state of service. Most states had regulations that linked length of residence to eligibility. Applications for the veterans could include such information as the veteran’s name, current address and length of residence, birth date and place, regiment and company with dates of service, statement or proof of disability or indigency, and information on employment, financial status and dependent children. Widows’ applications could include much of the same information, as well as marriage date and place, and death date and place of the veteran. Also included in the applications may be witness or physician statements. Some of these applications may have been indexed. Some of these indexes provide a great deal of information to aid in identifying the veteran; others provide only name and application number. Copies of some states’ pension applications, and/or indexes to the pensions are available at the Historical Genealogy Department.

In 1867, Alabama began granting pensions to disabled Confederate, and expanded this to include widows in 1886, and then all indigent veterans or widows in 1891. The applications are listed alphabetically at the Alabama Department of Archives in Montgomery, but are not available in the Historical Genealogy Department of the Allen County Public Library.

Between 1891 and 1939, the state government of Arkansas enacted a number of legislative measures to provide for veterans and widows. The Historical Genealogy Department owns copies of the applications for pensions on 123 rolls of microfilm. Two indexes exist for this set: One is Desmond Walls Allen’s “Index to Arkansas Confederate Pension Applications” (ACPL call no. GC 973.74 AR48ALR), which includes name of veteran and widow; company, regiment and division; application date and county from which enrolled; and death dates. The other index is Frances T. Ingmire’s “Arkansas Confederate Veterans and Widows Pension Applications” (ACPL call no. GC 973.74 AR48I). The citations in this index include veteran’s and widow’s names and application numbers; company, regiment and division; dates of service and applications; county of residence; and the death dates of the veterans and widows. Both of these indexes can be found in the Genealogy Department.

Article taken from the Genealogy Gems[1]: News from the Fort Wayne Library
No. 8, October 31, 2004