About the Southern Claims Commission
The Southern Claims Commission 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. The “They Had Names” project is transcribing all the Liberty County claims that are still legible. Below is one of the transcripts. The claimants’ lives are also being researched, and there is a list of all the Liberty County claimants with links to the transcripts that have been completed, some of which have also been researched.
Transcript of
Southern Claims Commission Petition By
Scipio and Susan Bennett
Claim transcribed by: Stacy Ashmore Cole
Find the original claim file at this Ancestry.com link: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1217/images/RHUSA1871A_118421__0027-01037.
Summary
Claimant’s Name (Last Name, First Name): Bennett, Scipio by his widow Susan
Listed as “Colored”? (Y/N):
Amount of Claim: $215
Total Amount Allowed:$120
Nature of Claim: Army Supplies
Claimant living in: Riceboro on Est. Wm. G. Thompson
Incident occurred in: Riceboro on plantation of Est. Wm. G. Thompson
Claim #: 21478
Secondary Claim #: 36604
Date Claim Submitted [YYYY-MM-DD]: 1872-11-26, 1873-02-26
Date Testimony taken [YYYY-MM-DD]: 1874-06-01
Claimant’s Attorney: Raymond Cay Jr
Property Removed to: Midway Church
Date property removed: 1864-12-20
Army unit involved: Howards Corps, commanded by Genls Kilpatrick & Howard
Date Submitted to Congress [YYYY-MM-DD]:
Post Office of Claimant: Riceboro
Items Claimed
Transcription
Remarks: Claimant is a widow whose husband died since the war. They were both slaves during the war and their loyalty is established by the evidence. It would seem that the widow is entitled to prosecute this claim for her own benefit and that of her little children in her own name. She and her fellow servants testify to the ownership of the property by Bennett and to the taking thereof by the soldiers of Gen. Sherman’s Army in December 1864. The claim was originally filed in the name of Scipio Bennett and he made oath to its justice.
We substitute the name of his widow Susan Bennett and allow the sum of one hundred and twenty dollars.
[Transcriber’s Note: Below is a summarization of the original petition documents and a transcript of the Commissioners’ remarks and decision. Unfortunately, the parts of the claim that held the testimony of the claimant and the witnesses was too faded to transcribe.]
Claim No. 36.604
Sett No. 4747
Susan Bennett, widow of Scipio Bennett, dec’d
$120
Due her
Out of the appropriation for
“Claims of Loyal Citizens for Supplies
Furnished during the rebellion”
For amount allowed h34
By the Southern Claims Commission
Reported: March 16, 1875
Returned: March 20, 1875
Requisition No. 4215, dated Apr 12, 1875, transmitted for
Warrant Apr 13, 1875
————————————————————
The United States
To Susan Bennett, widow of Scipio Bennett, deceased of Ga
For the amount allowed her by Act of Congress, Private No.
Approved March 3, 1875, entitled “An act making appropriations for the payment of claims reported allowed by the Commissioners of Claims under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1871.”
The sum of $120
Payable in care of Raymond Cay, Jr
Savannah, Georgia
Treasury Department,
Second Comptroller’s Office
March 20, 1875
H. Spalding, Clerk
Treasury Department
Third Auditor’s Office
Mar 21, 1875
James [name], Clerk
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 the legible information, including 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.