and
"Mississippi Confederate Pension Applications Index" Look-ups
I, Jim Huffman, am willing (time permitting) to do look-ups in these two vital indices. For many MS CS soldiers, a listing in one of these indices is the sole proof of their service, as so many military records were lost during the War of Northern Aggression. A listing of our ancestor in one of these indices is generally accepted by the SCV as proof of that ancestor's military service.
Please note that these two sources are indices only! To request a COMPLETE Pension Application or a FULL Graves Registration, you must email or write the MS Dept. of Archives & History! MDAH is online at: at www.mdah.state.ms.us. What I can find for you (if it exists in the indices) is simply an indication that such a Pension Application or such a Graves Registration may exist.
Typically, an entry in the Graves Registration index gives this info
only: Last name, first name & middle initial, unit served in,
birth & death dates, county/state of birth, and county of burial.
A typical entry is:
GULLY, Samuel K. 43rd MS Inf. 1828-1870
Kemp Kemp
where "Kemp" is an abbreviation for
Kemper County.
Typically, an entry in the Pension Applications index gives this info only: Last name (of veteran or widow), first name & middle initial (of veteran or widow), date pension application was filed, unit veteran served in, and county in which pension application was filed. If a widow filed the pension application, her husband's name is listed.
A typical entry is:
Berrynill, Mary E., 1900, 43rd
MS, Webs
[Husband -- William H. Berryhill]
where the widow of Wm. H. Berryhill filed
a pension application in 1900 from Webster County.
In either the case of a Graves Registration index listing or a Pension Application index listing, the above cited examples are ALL that I would have on these veterans/widows. Again, you must contact MDAH for the FULL Graves Registration or the COMPLETE Pension Application.
A typical FULL Graves Registration from MDAH would include the veteran's name, birth and death dates, unit he served in, name and specific location of cemetery where buried, and the source for this info (usually a relative or newspaper article). FULL Graves Registrations are pretty scant, but vital for locating a vet's burial location, if unknown. Some registrations contain more info, some less.
PLEASE NOTE that very few war-time burials are listed in this index, as most war-time casualties were buried where they died in unmarked graves! These Graves Registrations are almost wholly of post-war vintage, with the vast majority of these being from the 1890's and later. If your ancestor was killed in action during the war, he is almost certainly NOT listed in this index.
A typical COMPLETE Pension Application would include the soldier's/widow's address (usually just the name of his/her post office), the unit he served in, the names of some of his officers, whether he was ever AWOL, whether he was with his command at the surrender, whether he was ever wounded, whether applicant is able to support himself/herself, whom the applicant currently lives with, who is responsible for supporting the applicant (usually children), and sometimes a brief statement from fellow vets swearing that they know the applicant to have been a loyal Confederate soldier. (Note that this testimony almost never contains any useful info about the vet's actual military experiences.) Some applications contain more info, some less.
When sending me a PENSION APPLICATION look-up request, please include the following info: as full a name as possible, unit served in (if known), approximate birth-death years, county of residence in old age (if known), and spouse's name (as full as possible).
When sending me a GRAVES REGISTRATION look-up request, please include the following info: as full a name as possible, unit served in (if known), approximate birth-death years, and county of residence in old age (if known).
To submit a
request, simply email your request (including as much of the
indicated info as possible) to
huffman1234@bellsouth.net.
Inquiries sent without the requested info will be ignored, as just looking up "John Smith" or "Tom Jones" without further, clarifying data is all but impossible and exceedingly time-consuming! Thanks for understanding!
[Finally, I would like
to thank legendary MS historian Ms. Betty Wiltshire for her immense
service to our Confederate Heritage in putting together these
indices! You may purchase your own copies of her 3-volume "MS
Confederate Graves Registrations" index from Betty on-line
at www.pioneersoutheast.com,
along with many other books authored by her and others. Betty's
"MS Confederate Graves Registrations" index is not available from her
directly. However, the entire 3-volume work
is available on CD from Heritage Books, online at: http://heritagebooks.com.
(Be sure you request the CD “Early Mississippi Records, Volume 2,” by
Betty Couch Wiltshire, as it is this Volume 2 that contains the MS
Confederate Graves Registrations.) Please support Betty's ongoing
MS historical work by purchasing some of her books today!]
posted
08/12/05