Liberty County's
Southern Claims Commission Petitions
In 1871, the U.S. Congress created the Southern Claims Commission to consider claims brought by loyalist southerners for supplies that had been confiscated by the U.S. Army during the Civil War. Claimants had to prove that they had been loyal to the Union during the War. The SCC claims provide vivid accounts of the raids and the encounters with the “Yankee” soldiers. At least 144 Liberty County residents, both white and African American, made claims, 86 of which were approved. Each claimant had to answer a long list of questions, provide detailed information on the property that was lost and how it had been acquired to prove ownership, and call witnesses to testify as to both loyalty to the Union and the facts of the case. Below are the claims we have transcribed so far, which sometimes include research on the claimant. For a list of all the claims, click here.
Please note that the excerpts shown below are direct quotes from the petitions — sometimes quotes from the testimony and sometimes the Commissioners (terribly biased) conclusions — unless I have done research on the claimant. The software I use for this page does not show quote marks.
Samuel Maxwell – Southern Claims Commission
Claim Summary Samuel Maxwell, who was held enslaved on George W. Walthour’s Westfield plantation in Liberty County, Georgia at the end of the Civil War,
Pulaski Carter – Southern Claims Commission
Claim Summary “At the beginning of the rebellion, I sympathized with the Union party. My feelings were all for the Union party for they were
David S. Baggs & Isabella Baggs – Southern Claims Commission
Southern Claims Commission Petition By David S. Baggs & Isabella Baggs In the early 1870s, David Spurlock Baggs filed a claim with the Southern Claims
James Stacy – Southern Claims Commission
Claim Summary The Southern Claims Commission was impressed by James Stacy’s detailed account of how he earned the property U.S. soldiers took from him during
James Anderson – Southern Claims Commission
Claim Summary The Southern Claims Commission case files offer the opportunity to distinguish two James Andersons, both previously enslaved, who lived in Liberty County in
Richard Bacon – Southern Claims Commission
Claim Summary “My name is Richard Bacon. I am 29 years old. I belonged to Laurence Winn. My father was Mr. Tom Mallard’s old driver
Elizabeth Somersall – Southern Claims Commission
Southern Claims Commission Petition By Elizabeth Somersall James and John Somersall were white brothers who lived in rice-growing, slave-owning Liberty County, Georgia. They were poor.
George Gould – Southern Claims Commission
Southern Claims Commission Petition By George Gould “I used to have all the privileges a slave could have, but I would not give one of
James Anderson – Southern Claims Commission
Southern Claims Commission Petition By James Anderson James Anderson, who had been an enslaved man belonging to Joseph Anderson prior to Emancipation, owned hogs, cows,
John Lambert – Southern Claims Commission
Southern Claims Commission Petition By John Lambert John Lambert was only about 10 years old — an enslaved child — when the U.S. Army swept
Titus Alvin & Eliza LeConte – Southern Claims Commission
In 1877, Titus Alvin, an African American man from Liberty County, Georgia, filed a claim with the Southern Claims Commission on behalf of a deceased
Joel Hodges – Southern Claims Commission
During the Civil War, Joel Hodges of Liberty County slept with a gun beside his bed…not out of fear of the U.S. Army but because
Sampson Bacon – Southern Claims Commission
Sampson Bacon, formerly enslaved in Liberty County, Georgia, originally put in a claim in 1872 with the Southern Claims Commission for property he said was
William (“Billy”) Gilmore – Southern Claims Commission
William (“Billy”) Gilmore was about 43 at the end of 1864 when the soldiers of Sherman’s Army arrived in Liberty County, Georgia, where he was
Boston Polite – Southern Claims Commission
Boston Polite’s Southern Claims Commission case file was relatively short, because his claim was disallowed on the grounds that he was able to call no
Aberdeen LeCounte – Southern Claims Commission
“At the beginning of the rebellion I sympathized with the Yankee side I felt glad and long[ed] to see the day come and when they
Lafayette DeLegal – Southern Claims Commission
“I was so glad to be set free it seemed to me what little time I had been free was a long time.” Lafayette Delegal
Toney Axson – Southern Claims Commission
“I was rejoiced when I first heard of the war and I said thank God so that my wife and daughter could have the same
A Different Civil War Story
James and John Somersall were white brothers who lived in rice-growing, slave-owning Liberty County, Georgia. They were poor. They owned a few acres of land,
Jack Williams – Southern Claims Commission
In 1877, Jackson Williams testified before the Southern Claims Commission in an attempt to get compensation for property he said was taken from him by
Augustus Williams – Southern Claims Commission
Augustus Williams presented his claim to the Southern Claims Commission in 1877 for $185 worth of property taken from him by U.S. troops when Sherman’s
Jack Wilson – Southern Claims Commission
Jack Wilson submitted his Southern Claims Commission petition in 1873, asking for $463.50 for 3 horses, 4 cows, 2 hogs, poultry, corn, and potatoes taken
William Wilson – Southern Claims Commission
William Wilson filed his Southern Claims Commission petition in 1877, claiming $59 for two hogs, corn, rice, and 40 head of poultry taken from him
Paul LeConte – Southern Claims Commission
In 1878, Paul LeConte, a formerly enslaved man, submitted a Southern Claims Commission petition for $160.75 in compensation for rice, honey, hogs, corn, potatoes, fowl,
Jacob Dryer – Southern Claims Commission
In 1877, Jacob Dryer, described as a “very prosperous and thrifty man,” made a claim against the U.S. government for $485 in property taken by
Joseph Bacon Sr – Southern Claims Commission
In his 1873 Southern Claims Commission claim, Joseph Bacon said that his name was Joseph Bacon, Sr, 74 years old, and a former slave of
Mack Golding – Southern Claims Commission
Mack Golding was born on Thomas Mallard’s plantation as a slave, and became free when the Union Army passed through Liberty County on foraging raids
Pompey Bacon – Southern Claims Commission
Pompey Bacon, formerly enslaved by Thomas Mallard since birth at the latter’s plantation a few miles from the Midway Congregational Church in Liberty County, Georgia,
Sandy Austin – Southern Claims Commission
Sandy Austin, who had been enslaved on Joseph LeConte’s Syphax Plantation in Liberty County, Georgia, all his life until Emancipation, filed his Southern Claims Commission
Samuel Harris – Southern Claims Commission Claim
Below is a transcription of a successful Southern Claims Commission claim made against the U.S. government by former enslaved man Samuel Harris of Liberty County,
Southern Claims Commission: Windsor Stevens (1873)
The Southern Claims Commission was established after the Civil War to evaluate the claims of Union sympathizers living in the South for reimbursement due to