Florida State Archives Completes Confederate Pension Collection

The Florida State Archives has completed scanning its Confederate Pension Collection and made it available online at http://dlis.do s.state.fl.us/barm/Pensionfiles.html . Records of about 14,000 pensions are available.

Confederate pension requirements and qualifications changed over time, but the pension itself was established in 1885. You can search this collection by surname (soldier's surname or widow's maiden name) or by application number.

A search for "Smith" found 257 results. Results are included in a table that includes the application number, the surname, given names, service unit, reference, wife's name, and application county and year (some of the application dates in the results table are wrong; for example, Helen Smith, widow of William Smith, applied in 1905 not 1995. I saw legitimate dates that were as recent as 1961.)

Click on the application number and you'll get basic information about the pension applicant (name, given name, service unit, etc.) You'll also get a link to the PDF pages of the application. What's in these applications varies. Basic pages include widow's and soldier's applications that provide basic information about name, service, and wounds if any. Other materials in files include correspondence relating to the service, sworn testimony relating to service, and additional information. Some of the PDF pages are very difficult to read. Hardcopies of pension files are available from the Florida State Archives for a flat rate of $7.50 each; information on ordering files is available from the front page of the site. Also from the front page is a link to the entire list of pensions available sorted by application number.

Posted to US-Florida