The Southern Claims Commission was created after the Civil War to repay loyal Southerners who had had property taken or destroyed by the Union Army. Witnesses had to attest to the damages. In many cases, for former slaveowners, their former slaves served as witnesses. Some slaves themselves even filed claims. The testimony also had to show that […]
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Court Records Rock
I absolutely, positively LOVE court records! OK, I guess I should caveat that: I don’t particularly like court records about myself, but historical court records in search of those ever-elusive ancestors are way, way cool. They are second on my “genealogical excitement” scale only to Civil War pension records. I have an entire brief I […]