Page News & Courier

Heritage and Heraldry

Page County's Civil War claims amounted to only one percent


Article of December 17, 1998

The American Civil War costs Americans, not only a great deal in lives, but also an incredible amount in personal financial loss. In the early 1870's Congress created a channel through which pro-Union Southerners could apply for reimbursements for some of the losses caused as a result of the war. The Southern Claims Commission handled these claims and remained flexible in that it extended the deadline for application several times before finally closing acceptance in March 1880. In all, 22,298 cases were filed by individual family groups, churches and businesses claiming a total of $60,258,150 in damages and losses. However, after reviewing all applications, only one-third (7,092) of the claims filed were accepted.

Recently I had the opportunity to sift through a book entitled Southern Loyalists in the Civil War: The Southern Claims Commission (by Gary B. Mills. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, Md., 1994). Interestingly, out of the 45 applications from Page County, only 1% were accepted. The typical Page claimant was from Luray, 40 years of age (as of 1860), and held the occupation of a farmer.

Of the total number of applicants from Page County, 33 claims were listed as "Disallowed" and seven were listed as "Barred." Several of these claimants were ex-Confederate soldiers.

Of the claims "Allowed," all but one had been filed in 1874. Reuben Kite filed in 1877. Two of the claimants (John Dogans & Martin Ellis) were from Luray and the remaining three from Grove Hill (Kite), Leakesville (Joseph Painter, Sr.) and Massanutten (Benjamin Strickler). If Dogans is the same John A. Dugans that was listed as a free mulatto living in Luray with his family in 1860, no occupational data is available. Ellis was a 48 year old farmer with $825 in Real Estate and had a son that served in the 97th Virginia Militia. Kite was a 34 year old farmer with $6,000 in Real Estate with no known (at present writing) of any direct affiliations with Confederate soldiers. Painter was a 42 year old farmer with $350 Real Estate. Strickler was a 55 year old farmer with $4,665 in Real Estate and a son in the 7th Virginia Cavalry.

From the claim applications filed from Page County, (especially considering the number with Confederate soldier affiliations) it appears that either the public was poorly informed as to the policies regarding the acceptable criteria or ignored them in the hope of receiving government money in a financially difficult post-war period. While some of the claimants may have in fact been "loyalists,"with the above being taken into consideration, filing a claim with the Southern Claims Commission in no way indicated that the claimant had been loyal to the United States during the Civil War.

If you review the book, find a familiar name and wish to order a copy of the claim file, obtaining copies of these files may not be as simple as a one day trip to the National Archives. For "Allowed" claims - provide a full citation to:

Civil Reference Branch (NNRC) National Archives 8th & Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, D.C. 20408

If the claim was "Barred" or "Disallowed" consult NARA microfiche M1407 "Barred and Disallowed Case Files of the Southern Claims Commission, 1871-1880. First consult the NARA's Descriptive Pamphlet M1407 for a table that provides exact fiche numbers that can be purchased. This pamphlet is available without charge and is available from:

Publication Services Branch National Archives Building 8th & Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20408

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