The Southern Claims Commission was created by an Act of Congress approved 3 Mar 1871 to allow Union sympathizers from the Southern States to apply for and receive compensation for stores and supplies confiscated by the Union Army during the war. In early 1872, the Act was extended to include property taken by the Navy. Applicants were required to prove they were loyal to the Union during the War, and the amount, nature, and value of the property taken.
In all, more than 22,000 claims were filed but fewer than a third were approved. Proving one's loyalty was not always easy; and there were some whose claim of loyalty to the Union was contradicted by Confederate records available to the Commission. Even claimants who could prove loyalty to the Union sometimes wildly exaggerated the value of the items taken.
In Benton County, the claims were for a wide variety of items, including horses, mules, oxen, cattle, hogs, sheep, grain, fodder, bacon, flour, molasses and sugar, wagons and bedding, bee hives, lumber, fence posts and rails, and at least one "house appropriated for a fort." Those files which include records of the testimony can be quite large and may contain a wealth of information about family, friends, and events. These abstracts are for claims filed by people who were residents of Benton County, either during the war or at the time of filing, and include only the bare facts of the claims.
| Claim | Witnesses | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
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Arendale, Richard Claim No: 9240 Amount: $1,245.00 Allowed: $479.00 Filed: 3 Jun 1871 |
Sarah Arendale, Fanny Arendale, Augustus Simmons, John N. Curtis, James Woolsy, John R. Woods, J. W. Stroud | The claimant is 76 years old and claims to have been in sympathy with the union cause from the beginning to the end of the war; and to have assisted the regular officers of the U.S. Army in procuring supplies & forage. That he gave a home at one time to Gen Blunt's command & forage at other times. Had protection papers from federal officers; belonged to the union Home Guard, and took an oath of allegiance to the U.S. when he joined it; that shortly before the battle of Pea Ridge he was taken a prisoner at his house & brought to Bentonville for trial by the confederate authorities, for being a union man. Alphonzo Curlew, a neighbor, testifies that he lived near & saw him often and that his public reputation was as a loyal union man. Loyalty proven. Only testimony to the taking of property comes from claimant, his wife and his son-in-law. The [value of] items is greatly exaggerated. |
| Armstrong, Elijah Claim No: 5930 Amount: $550.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 9 May 1871 |
Mrs. Cyrus Kindley, Sarah Ford, Jackson Armstrong, Adarchis Armstrong, Ephraim Weaver, Simeon Garrett, Elijah H. Buttram, Sarah Walker, Cyrus Kindley | |
| Arthur, Subrina Claim No: 21539 Amount: $5,149.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 31 Mar 1872 |
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| Baker, Maria Claim No: 1609 Amount: $532.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 15 May 1872 |
William Hasting, Joseph Shelton, J. T. Carpenter, Nancy Fairs, Joel Fairs | |
| Ballard, Sallie Claim No: 18725 Amount: $820.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 10 Jan 1873 |
Patsey Luckey, Isaac Nidiffer, Sabrina Arthur, Jacob Nidiffer | |
| Benton, Jessee H. Claim No: 16859 Amount: 1,620.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 7 Sep 1872 |
S. T. Fair, Nancy Fair, Pall A. Benten, Jane Benton, Joseph Benton | |
| Black, William W. Claim No: 682 Amount: $702.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 11 Apr 1871 |
William H. Woods, Thomas F. Kindley, Cynthia Kindley, Robt. S. Woods, J. M. Jenkins, John R. Woods | This claimant was paid $420.14 for corn, oats and fodder furnished the Confed. States in 1861. See his receipt to Major Montgomery Q.M. at Sugar Creek Ark. Jul 20, 1861. |
| Blanset, Archibald Claim No: 9600 Amount: $767.50 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 22 Apr 1871 |
Joel Graham, Eliza Tillman, Emily Crocknell, Mary Cox, John S. Reynolds, Benjamin Mahuren, John Wilcocks, Sarah Mahuren, Elizabeth Blanset, Mary L. Blanset, Nancy Blanset, Charles W. Rice, Thomas R. Marshall | |
| Blevins, John W. Claim No: 20151 Amount: $528.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 27 Jan 1873 |
Michael Blevins, Ellen Blevins, May Woods, James Kelly, Susan Dickers, Thompson Blevins, Clarissa Blevins | His going to Texas with a body of rebel Cavalry and enlisting with them is not like the conduct of a really loyal man. We are not satisfied that he was loyal. Claim rejected. |
| Buck, Henderson Claim No: 18785 Amount: $1,641.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 11 Jan 1872 |
No local witnesses | |
| Buttram, Eliza Claim No: 5780 Amount: $477.00 Allowed: $399.00 Filed: 7 Nov 1871 |
John George, Martha George, Thomas Walter, James D. Harston, Lewis Buttram, Mary Swinigin. | The claimant was most unquestionably a Union woman. The rebel bushwhackers in July 1862 shot her husband William, & while his corpse was lying in the yard they told her they killed him because he was a Union man. They threatened to kill his father, robbed the house; they came afterwards several times to insult & abuse her & finally in the fall of '62 she left for Mo. She carried information to federal officers and soldiers & showed in everything her true Union feelings. |
| Buttram, Joel Claim No: 2408 Amount: $400.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 20 May 1871 |
John M. Curtis, J. W.Stroud, James Elam, | |
| Buttram, William D. Claim No: 9604 Amount: $764.50 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 3 May 1871 |
Martha Morrow, Violet J. Buttram, John Miser, Sarah Miser, Elizabeth Vandergriff, Charles Vandergriff, William Vandergriff, Horace H. Patterson, George R. Foser, Robt. C. Foster, H. T. Lassater, E. H. Buttram | |
| Buttry, John Claim No: 9278 Amount: $1,147.00 Allowed: $490.00 Filed: 7 Nov 1871 |
Dr. John Mitchell, Joah Buttry, Susan Buttry, Martha Woods, Mrs. Eliza Vaughn (Madison Co.), Mary J. mcGinnis (Christian Co. Mo.), Wm. Patten, John Patterson, Capt. Jno. Miser, Hezakiah T. Lasater, Raschal Martin, Wilkerson Lawson. | Owned farm of 300 acres on Pea Ridge; 55 acres were cultivated. Was opposed to secession and voted against it. Bold & outspoken at first, had to be prudent & silent afterwards to escape persecution. Fed Union soldiers without charge. Went out with Union forage parties. Had four brothers in the Union Army. |
| Clement, Stephen R. Claim No: 9609 Amount: $533.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 10 Jul 1871 |
William Clement, Teresa Clement, Pierce Clark, A. H. Alfrey, James W. Clark, James Woolsey | Claimant, who is young (13 years when war commenced), is put forward in the place of disloyal parents, who really owned the property, but can not prove the requisite attachment to the Union cause. |
| Colville, Ann Claim No: 9790 Amount: $440.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 10 May 1871 |
Martha L. Wilson, John Keel, Edmond L. Nast, Laura C. Wilmott | Filed by son John G. Colville. Mother dec'd about 2 yrs ago. Supported the Confederacy. |
| Covey, John N. Claim No: 19760 Amount: $1,280.00 Allowed: 0.00 Filed: 5 Feb 1873 |
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| Cowan, Catherine Claim No: 9801 Amount: $1,041.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 11 May 1871 |
M. A. Cowan, Hettie L. Gendeman, E. C. Wilmoth, John W. Strand, P. C. Winningham, William F. Creager, John Cunningham, Martin Walker | |
| Crowder, Martin C. Claim No: 18478 Amount: $1,115.00 Allowed: $620.00 Filed: 17 Nov 1872 |
John N. Curtis, P. Stokes, C. M. Young, B. W. Heatherstone, Mrs. Woolsay (Washington Co.) | Lived at Bentonville throughout the war -- a farmer, rented & cultivated 20 or 25 acres about 2 miles out of Bentonville. In summer of '61 he says he & others were ordered out to resist an expected raid of Indians & Jayhawkers, staid three or four days, but soon were disbanded. In '63 or the first of '64 he went at the request of Lieut. Mundas of the 1st Ark. Cav'y (U.S.) as one of a guard for a commissary train to Cassville, Mo. He was hung up three times by a party of rebels who came to his house, but it would seem their main object was to get money. He kept three wounded Union soldiers in his house at different times & charged nothing but was paid in one instance. He was enrolled in the U.S. militia in the fall of '64 & served till the close of the war -- guarded commissary trains several times from Bentonville to Fayetteville & back. Two witnesses confirm his loyalty. The taking of property by army officers for army use is unusually well proved. |
| Crowell, Charles Claim No: 1298 Amount: $1,740.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 1872 |
Proof of loyalty is far from satisfactory. Claimant is fifty-two years of age. He resided in Benton County, Arkansas from April 1, 1861, to February, 1865, and now resides in Van Buren, Crawford County. He claims to have been a loyal adherent to the cause and the Government of the United States during the war. If so, he certainly could have found some of his neighbors and acquaintances to testify for him. His only witnesses are his two sons, one of whom was only eleven years of age when the war commenced, and the other was in the Union Army in Tennessee for a portion of the war. Neither relates any fact or incident tending to establish his father's loyalty. Mr. Crowell had one son conscripted into the rebel army. For want of satisfactory proof of loyalty the claim is rejected. | |
| Damm, Elizabeth ClaimNo: 18753 Amount: $1,384.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 9 Jan 1873 |
Hugh Tinner, Thomas Keywood, Clement hayden, John May, James Hyser, Mary Ann Synch, Catharine Shivel, Sarah J. Keyroom, Robert Simens | |
| Daniel, John Claim No. 9271 Amount: $222.00 Allowed: $125.00 Filed: 30 Aug 1871 |
Mary A. N. Daniel, James Daniel, J. R. Rutherford, James M. Douglass, Cyrus A. Martin, Dryden Dole | This claim was filed by John Daniel who died in 1873. It is prosecuted by his widow, Mary H. Daniel. The claimants were in favor of the union and opposed to secession. By his loyal conduct, Daniel excited the Rebels to very biter hostility against him to such a degree that his life was threatened and he fled to Springfield Mo. for protection. He was employed in the post Quartermaster's department as a carpenter, and later went to Ft. Scott where he was employed in the same occupation. His family received transportation at the hands of the Union Army. They had a son-in-law in the Union Army, and the testimony establishes their loyalty beyond doubt. |
| Davenport, Mary A. Claim No: 18579 Amount: $575.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 21 Oct 1872 |
John Harrison, Harris Gilbert, Borland Clark, Helena Davenport | |
| Davidson, Elizabeth J. Claim No: 10844 Amount: $415.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 26 Sep 1871 |
Abner Martin, Galitan Murtrie, John Kinchloe, Thos. Martin | Age 37, Father is Gallatin Martin. Husband Alexander enlisted in Co F 1st Ark Cavalry Union 19 Nov 1862 and died at Fayetteville 3 Mar 1863. Brothers Abner & Jacob W. Martin were soldiers in Union Cavalry. Children: Finly C. 16; William G. 16; Elizabeth A. 10. Claim rejected because supplies were taken by Cherokee Indian Brigade. |
| Dawson, George Claim No: 5782 Amount: $500.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 2 Aug 1871 |
James Threat, Winney Threat, Mrs. Ada Williams, Andrew Dean, Archiibald Blanchard, Christian C. Sager, Fredrick P. Simms | |
| Dean, Alfred Claim No: 1874 Amount: blank Allowed: $0.00 Filed: blank |
Supplied bacon to the Confederate Army. Received payment at the town of Pocahontas AR on 21 Aug 1862 of Capt. John Y. Fisher, a Commissary of Subsistence of the C. S. Arm. See receipt for $49.25 on file. | |
| Deans, Reuben Claim No: 9771 Amount: $658.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 26 Apr 1871 |
Sarah A. Quail, Thomas H. Walker, M. F. Buttram, Thomas Luck, William Wardlow, Charles W. Rice | |
| Dearmond, Monarky Claim No: 9611 Amount: $800.00 Allowed: $150.00 Filed: 5 Jun 1871 |
William C. Derreberry, James H. McPherson, Andrew McLellan | Claimant is a widow whose husband died in Oct 1862. They lived on the Cherokee border. Went to Benton Co. in 1862 where husband raised a crop and died. Claimant with her family then went to Kansas in a government train, and then moved to Missouri. One son remained in Cherokee Country and served in the Rebel Army. Two growns sons went North. Two witnesses testify to her loyalty and that of her deceased husband. |
| Derreberry, William C. Claim No: 9797 Amount: $1,000.00 Allowed: $436.00 Filed: 18 Nov 1871 |
Wen. Mason, Isaac Coonfield, J. N. Curtis, Benj. Coonfield, Wallis True, Harriet R. Derreberry, Rebecca A. Derreberry, | Farmer 47 years of age. Resided in Benton Co when the war commenced. When the conscript law was passed, he was ordered to report for service and refused. Was threatened & in Nov 1862 went under the protection of a military escort sent by Gen. Blunt to Kansas where he resided for the remainder of the war. He served in the Kansas Militia. |
| Dickey, Susan Claim No: 20153 Amount: $858.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 7 Feb 1873 |
John Blevins, Sandy Ingram, | |
| Dovey, W. B. Claim No: 19761 Amount: $515.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 5 Feb 1873 |
J. N. Curtis, John Galbreath, J. W. Clark, Harriet Harman, Sarah Kelley, Jane Covey | |
| Dunham, Jane Claim No. 1080 Amount: $1,025.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 14 Apr 1871 |
Samuel Dunham, Stephen Dunham, Samuel Ransey, William Robertson | |
| Dunlap, Absalom H. Claim No: 12901 Amount: $834.50 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 23 Mar 1872 |
Mary Dunlap, Paul G. Dunlap, Iredel Wright, Jackson Oaks, Susan Justice, Eliza Hileman, J. S. Curtis, J. D. Haraton | |
| Dunlap, Daniel G. Claim No: 12902 Amount: $540.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 23 Mar 1872 |
John E. Cash, Alexander Oakes, Walter M. Spivy, Mary Dunlap, J. H. Curtis, John W. Stroud, Mason Stroud, j. D. Harston | Claims to have voted against succession but served in C.S.A. |
| Easley, Rebecca Claim No: 9792 Amount: $206.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 24 May 1871 |
William Easley, Manson Easley, Elizabeth Miser, Rebecca Manes, James Jackson, Thomas Nichols, Thomas J. Gorden | |
| Edens, Landon C. Claim No: 2202 Amount: $1,565.50 Allowed: $567.00 Filed: 20 May 1871 |
Col. M. Larue Harrison (Fayetteville), W. J. Patton, Col. F. J. Hunt (Little Rock), John Roberts, Deincid Edens, Sarah Edens, Shaderick Gibson | Farmer 61 years of age. Resided in Benton Co. until Oct 1863 when he went to the military post at Fayetteville for protection & remained there until the war closed. He opposed secession, voting & talking against it. Son conscripted in the Confederate service, deserted & joined the Federal army and fought to the end of the war. Claimant was several times arrested by the Confederates who threatened his life, robbed his house & then burned it. In Dec 1863 he was enrolled in the Union Militia at Fayetteville & performed the duties of a soldier, serving until the war ended. |
| England, Edward Claim No: 9802 Amount: $1,048.00 Allowed: $172.50 Filed: 5 Jun 1871 |
Jane Lewis, Maximillian Lewis, A. J. Lane, Jam Yarberry, Joseph R. Rutherford, John F. Owens, Mark Wilson | We find the claimant loyal. He was molested & threatened by the rebels. |
| Evans, William Claim No: 21537 Amount: $532.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 3 Mar 1873 |
Now resides in Barry Co., Missouri. Bond of Louis Hanauer of the State of Arkansas dated Sept 12 1861 in the sum of Twenty Thousand Dollars as a purchasing agt in Commissary and quarter master dept of same state. With Jacob Hanauer and Wm. Evans as Sureties. See letter of Lewis Cruger to W. W. Taylor acknowledging Receipt of same. | |
| Fair, Nancy H. Claim No: 9919 Amount: $2,718.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 22 Nov 1871 |
Wm. Hastings, Jos. M. Shelton, Jesse. H. Benton, M. A. Benton, P. E. Benton, Sarah E. Fair | The lady says she sympathized with both sides. She had 4 sons in the rebel Army. The lady has to give so many excuses for herself, that we can not help seriously doubting her pretences. The whole tenor of her evidence shows her disloyal. Claim rejected. |
| Farrar, Junius H. Claim No: 18507 Amount: $710.00 Allowed: $160.00 Filed: 1 Jan 1873 |
J. D. Harston, J. W. Strowd, Catherine Farrar, John H. Farrar, Seth Souther | Evidence shows he was outspoken for the Union from the beginning, and that he and his two sons enlisted in the Union Army in April 1863. In 1862 he was on the Quartermaster's list of Union men and received pay for corn taken from him. Claimant charges he was swindled both as to quantity and price. Hogs and oats were taken and the charge seems fair. The story of the taking of the mule is mostly hearsay. |
| Featherson, B. W. Claim No: 11247 Amount: $1,518.75 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 23 Dec 1871 |
J. G. Curtis, Joel Buttram, James Jackson, John B. Featherston, Mary A. Featherston | |
| Ford, Ivan S. & John H. Claim No: 10188 Amount: $1,385.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 6 Dec 1871 |
Ivan b. Tennessee. Both conscripted into Rebel Army and swore oath to C.S.A. Served for a year before deserting and going to Missouri. | |
| Foster, Elizabeth Claim No: 5933 Amount: $1,076.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 24 Jun 1871 |
George R. Foster, Margaret C. Bullock, Mary Jones, N. J. Curtis, Charles Rice, James D. Harston, Calvin Woods | |
| Foster, George R. Claim No: 19431 Amount: $1,760.00 Allowed: $960.00 Filed: 4 Feb 1873 |
Jas. D. Harston, Russell Lee, J. R. Rutherford, Randolph Crowley, Robert Hays, Richard Hays, John G. Foster, Robert Foster, Sarah Sikes, Allen Foster, Thomas Wood | Claimant swears to loyal sympathies. Two of his sons volunteered in the federal army and he furnished them horses to ride. He moved to Fort Smith in 1863 and was employed an trusted by Union officers. A number of witnesses testify to his loyalty and confirm his statements. |
| Foster, John W. Claim No: 13736 Amount: $3,215.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 1 Jun 1873 |
Dr. G. C. & Amanda Keel (Boone Co.), Elizabeth Foster, Nancy Donnell, Robert Harston, Rhoda A. Foster, John N. Curtis, Jas. M. Higginbothum | In 1862 when the Federal troops took possession of his vicinity he moved to Texas. He says it was for the benefit of his health. It doesn't seem probable that a loyal Union man would have moved his family to that section of country at that state of the War. The testimony in support of his loyalty is not sufficient to overcome ... we therefore reject his claim. |
| Foster, Robert C. Claim No: 5785 Amount: $324.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 10 Mar 1871 |
Mary E. Foster, Jancy J. Foster, Sarah Foster, Robert Carden, Elijah H. Buttram, John Patterson, John N. Curtis, Kiah Lasiter | Confederate Bond and Surety. |
| Gallian, Shadwick Claim No: 5934 Amount: $475.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 27 Apr 1871 |
William Parker, Ruth Gallion, Mahala Bellew, Elizabeth Gallion, Daniel McKisick, William Callis, Edward T. Graham, John Burton | |
| Gambell, George W. Claim No: 3786 Amount: $1,124.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 1 Jul 1871 |
Mrs. Jane M. Gambell, Samuel M. Gambell, Gallatin, Martin, Abner Martin, James Bradshaw, Malinda Gamble, jesse Jourdan, Leonard Thompson, James Yarberry, John Kinchloe | Nephew Abner Martin, a Union soldier, often stayed overnight with him and "can't say whether I considered him a Union man or not." |
| Gibson, William Claim No: 9268 Amount: $969.50 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 7 Jun 1871 |
Mrs. Julia McClelland, F. M. Blakemore, William R. Gibson, H. D. McClelland | If this is the claimant he sold to the Confederacy $574.25 worth of corn. See his receipt to Maj. F. A. Rector, Qr Mr C.S.A. September 17th 1862, at Sugar Creek, Ark. Signed payroll receipting for $24.40 in payment for services as blacksmith for the Rebel Quartermaster Department from Nov 1st to Dec 31, 1862. This money was received at Fort Smith, Sebastian Co. Arkansas. |
| Goddard, King R. Claim No: 15483 Amount: $420.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 25 Jul 1872 |
Amanda Packard, Welcom A. Goddard, John A. Dienst | Claimant says that he was notified to appear at the rendezvous in the latter part of 1862 by Conscript Officer and that he went there and enlisted intending to desert when opportunity offered and then he did subsequently desert the Rebel service, and enlisted in the Union Army in 1864. The service ***** compulsory rendered by claimant in bearing arms against the Union and the Government is inconsistent with practical loyal adherence to the cause of the Union and the government of the United States from the opening to the close of the War of Rebellion and we therefore reject the claim. |
| Gordon, Thomas J. Claim No: 9617 Amount: $1,895.00 Allowed: $683.00 Filed: 22 Apr 1871 |
Cathrine Gorden, Eliza Galey, John H. Browning, Harris C. Gilbert, John Gordon, Mary Knox, John Harman, John N. Curtis, Harris O. Gilbert, John W. Stroud, Samuel Woods, Mrs. Elizabeth Miser | Claimant is 75 years, lived on farm of 100 acres (45 in culivation) in Benton Co till Dec 1862 when the rebels came after him to kill. He left in woman's clothes, escaping to Missouri & staid at Mt. Vernon till the end of the war. In Ark. was arrested and threatened with hanging. Had much property taken -- he says $7000. Mr. Gilbert, a Union man who went with him to Mo. & Mr. Curtis Assessor of Benton Co. both testify in his favor. |
| Gum, Louisa Claim No: 5786 Amount: $233.00 Allowed: $0.00 Filed: 9 May 1871 |
John Gum, Harman F. Gum, Jack Reynolds, George Brewer |