NC Confederate Pensions
Being able to view pension records for ancestors who served in the military can prove to be very enlightening. Just as important, filled with information, can be widows’ pension applications.
The North Carolina archives have the Confederate Pension records available online with the ‘1901 Confederate Pension Applications‘. The law was passed in North Carolina back in 1901 to offer pensions to former confederate soldiers, even those who did not serve from North Carolina but lived in the state then.
True, by 1901, many of those Confederate soldiers were no longer living, but many did have widows left behind. They too received widow’s benefits.
So by researching the site you might come up with some new information on a relative from the Civil War. Search also female ancestors, even those who were not born during the Civil War. Many ladies married the older veterans just because they were to receive this pension.
The spellings of names can be useful, see how a name was spelled over 100 years ago. Also dates of when a marriage took place and where a person lived.
There are some 35,000 applications available and more be added. Finding one, you can then download a digital copy for your files. Online you can zoom for easier viewing.
Don’t be surprised if you don’t find an ancestor. Under the conditions of providing pension, if a person had more than $500 worth of property or was earning a public salary of $300 or more they were ruled ineligible for a pension.
It can be fun searching to see what you can find.
Photo: NC – Widow, Frances L. Briggs for William W. Briggs in 1924
Related FamilyTree.com genealogy blogs:
< Return To Blog