Claim Summary
Claim transcribed by Stacy Ashmore Cole
About the Southern Claims Commission
The Southern Claims Commmission was set up by Congress in 1871 to adjudicate claims for property taken by U.S. federal troops during the Civil War. More than 140 Liberty County residents — both black and white — filed claims, mostly for property taken during December 1864 when a unit of Sherman’s Army commanded by General Kilpatrick camped at Midway Church and conducted foraging raids throughout Liberty County. Horses, cows, hogs, poultry, corn and rice were the most common items of property taken. In Liberty County, many slaveowners allowed their enslaved people to work on their own time and own small amounts of property, most of which was taken by the U.S. troops for use by the Army.
The claims files, which are held at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), have been digitized and are available at Ancestry.com or Fold3.com. For more information on these files, click here. A set of standard questions were used to take the testimony of claimants and witnesses. This set of questions was amended twice, in 1872 and 1874. The questions are not usually part of the digitized file, but we have included them to help make sense of the answers. The questions we used were provided online courtesy of the St. Louis County Library Special Collections, as taken from National Archives Microfilm Publication M87, Roll 1, Frames 104–105, Records of the Commissioners of Claims (Southern Claims Commission, 1871-1880), and can be found here.
About This Transcription
What you are seeing: The Southern Claims Commission files for each claimant included all forms filed for the claimant, including cover pages, standard forms with filled in information, a special agent’s report about the claim, remarks made by the Special Commissioner summarizing the case, testimony from the claimant and his or her witnesses based on a standard set of questions, and copies of other paperwork involved. Much of the information contained in the forms is repetitive. We have summarized that information into one block, and transcribed all testimony, the Special Commissioner’s remarks, the special agent’s report, and any other relevant text.
Methodology: The testimony of the claimant and the witnesses has been transcribed exactly as seen. Some of the files are faded and/or difficult to read. Any words that cannot be read are indicated by “[word]”, or, in the case of entire sections, “[section illegible]”. Alternative spellings of names are also indicated with brackets.
The Claim: Summary & Transcription
Find the digitized original of this claim file at this Ancestry.com link.
Summary
SCC Disallowed Claim Liberty County – Moses Quarterman
Claimant’s Name (Last Name, First Name): Quarterman, Moses
Listed as “Colored”? (Y/N):
Amount of Claim: 327.50
Total Amount Allowed: N/A, disallowed
Nature of Claim: Army Supplies
Claimant living in: Medway, Liberty County, Ga
Incident occurred in: Medway, Ga, on the plantation of the Estate of Thomas Mallard
Claim #: 21421
Secondary Claim #: N/A, disallowed
Date Claim Submitted [YYYY-MM-DD]: 1873-02-26
Date Testimony taken [YYYY-MM-DD]:
Claimant’s Attorney: Raymond Cay Jr (Savannah, Ga); R. Wm. McAllister (Washington, DC)
Special Commissioner: Unknown
Property Removed to: Medway (Midway) Church
Date property removed: 1864-12-21
Army unit involved: Howards Corps commanded by Genls Kilpatrick & Howard
Date Submitted to Congress [YYYY-MM-DD]: N/A, disallowed
Post Office of Claimant: Riceboro, GA
Transcription
Items Claimed
[Transcriber’s Notes: Only the actual claim was included in the digital file on Ancestry.com at https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1218/images/rhusa1871_115834__0014-00468. Normally the resolution of the case would also be included. This claim was in the “Disallowed and Barred Claims” file. The claim was witnessed by Moses Quarterman in the presence of John L. Harden, notary public and Justice of the Peace.]