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 with links, 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.

Search the petitions by entering search terms in the field below.

Matilda McIntosh – Southern Claims Commission

The U.S. Southern Claims Commission petition by a formerly enslaved woman of Liberty County, Matilda McIntosh, is very revealing of the Commission’s biases. Mrs. McIntosh had belonged to George W. Walthour before Emancipation, and afterwards lived with Elizabeth Somersall, a white woman who had presented her own claim against the government for property taken by the U.S. soldiers in 1864. The Commission did not believe that Mrs. McIntosh had owned the property she claimed, because she produced no white witnesses or any members of her master’s family, and it seemed improbable to the Commission that she could have earned enough by sewing in her spare time to buy a horse and buggy. Mrs. McIntosh testified that she had lived with Walthour’s wife in Walthourville and was a seamstress. She testified, “I sympathized with the union, sir. I knew they was come to give us free. I heard about it all the time in whispers and I was very glad. I did not say much but those I could trust I used to say to they are coming to make us free I am very glad.”

Mary H. Bird – Southern Claims Commission

Mrs. Bird in her testimony says that she had three sons in the Confederate Army to whom she provided clothes, money & horses & supplies whenever she could get a horse and that her and her husband’s sympathies were with the Rebellion. Claim disallowed.

Jane Holmes – Southern Claims Commission

In 1864, Jane Holmes, a formerly enslaved woman in Liberty County, Georgia, saw the cattle she had earned (and owned) by her hard labor shot down by soldiers, leaving the carcasses for the buzzards. In 1872, this strong woman, whose husband had been an enslaved driver (foreman) for Rev. Charles Colcock Jones, filed a claim against the U.S. Government for the lost property. Mrs. Holmes testified in 1873 that she was 60 years old and that she was living on the Lyons Plantation in Riceboro, Liberty County, where she worked in the fields. During the Civil War, she was living at Briar Bay plantation and, she said, “When I heard the guns I used to go and pray for them [the Union soldiers] and I always prayed for them night and day.”

Richard Livingstone – Southern Claims Commission

The claimant lived, according to his own testimony, in bondage, until the war closed. In all cases where former slaves file claims, we require strict proof of the ownership of the property. We are not to suppose that a slave from before the war ‘till Dec ‘64 was in possession & the absolute owner of eleven head of cattle, 25 hogs, a horse, buggy, harness & considerable other property in all to the value of nearly a thousand dollars without reasonable proof to establish such an exceptional case. This is one of a number of cases of colored claimants in Liberty Co Ga filed by the same attorney in which the testimony was taken by the same Com’r at about the same date. To say that this testimony was all machine-work would not improperly characterize it.

London Way & Andrew Marshall – Southern Claims Commission

This is one of a number of claims filed by colored claimants from Liberty Co. Geo. The title to the property is not satisfactorily proved. The claimant, Marshall, is not sworn at all; he seems very nearly to have dropped out of the case in the testimony; his disappearance is not accounted for. Way says he lived in slavery until the end of the war. When former slaves present claims they must make strict proof of title. That title must at least be one which is recognized by their masters & it must so appear in the proofs. They fail to make such proof in this case & the claim is disallowed.

Edmund Bacon – Southern Claims Commission

Edmund Bacon lost a horse, buggy, chickens, hogs and other provisions to Sherman’s Army when soldiers came foraging in December 1864 on Lawrence Winn’s plantation, where Bacon was the enslaved foreman. Bacon may have used the name Quarterman too, as his original Southern Claims Commission petition was filed under that name by attorney Raymond Cay Jr. He received $194 from the U.S. government for his claim. When the Army came and took his things, Bacon testified, also present were John Lambert, Richard Harden, Joe Bacon and Scipio King. John Harris and James Stacy testified for Bacon in his hearing. Bacon said he went to the U.S. Army camps and cooked and washed for them for $15 a month, though he only stayed with them nine weeks. Then he went to Savannah for a year after the Army came, then returned to Winn’s land to farm.

William Golding – Southern Claims Commission

This is another of the class of claims of 20.645 to which refer. The clm’t was 21 years old at the beginning of the war. In reply to Q 70 he says “Slave at end of the war” & “owned the property before the war & worked & bought it.” So he owned the property not only when a slave but before he was of age. In this case Lyman B. Mallard testifies again that when he was 5 years old he knows clm’t was allowed to own & did own property. Cassels is atty.

Edwin Williams – Southern Claims Commission

The claimant was a free colored man. He swears to the ownership and taking of the property but is not confirmed by witnesses and we must decline to make an allowance simply on his unsupported statement.

John Bacon – Southern Claims Commission

John (Jack) Bacon Sr., formerly enslaved by Simon Frazier, applied for and was granted compensation for property taken by U.S. soldiers during Sherman’s March to the Sea in 1864. Bacon, who was about 60 years old in 1873, was a foreman on Frazier’s Liberty County, Georgia, plantation. After Emancipation, Bacon bought land from William W. Winn and farmed it. One of his witnesses, Washington Bacon, testified that many of Frazier’s enslaved people had belonged first to “old Major Bacon” and that they had taken the Bacon name at Emancipation. Henry Bacon and Sandy Powell also testified, as did Simon Frazier’s son James.

Jupiter James – Southern Claims Commission

The testimony of Wm. James, the brother of the claimant & his agent, and of Sharper Way his cousin is all the evidence in the case. All that is shown as to the claimant’s ownership of the property is – “Jupiter James owned it – he worked for it” – nothing more. What means of knowledge the witnesses had as to how clm’t acquired the property is not shown. Such proof of ownership of property by a slave, who was a slave when it was taken is not suff’t [sufficient]. Claim rejected.

Sam Winn – Southern Claims Commission

The claimant was a plantation slave during the war. His claim consists of a dozen items and he and two witnesses testify identically to the same number of articles in each item to the same number of pounds, and bushels and to the same value. A [words] and worthless as testimony for it is evident that the two witnesses swear right after the claimant in [two words] and whether he swears from his own knowledge and memory or according to instructions is doubtful. Most of the articles are such as slaves would consume for food and probably belonged to claimant’s owner. We cannot recommend payment of the claim.

Southern Claims Commission – James H. Johnson

Claimant swears to his loyal sympathies but after the [words] his sympathies were with the people of the State. He had a son in the Rebel Army and furnished him a horse and some money and clothing. One witness talked with claimant and thinks from the tone of his conversation that he was opposed to secession but never heard him talked of and don’t know how his neighbors regarded him. That is all that is said on loyalty except that claimant was never molested nor harassed in any way and that he got passes to go to Savannah and to Charleston and returned. We are not at all satisfied with the sufficiency of the testimony.

Zenus L. Boggs – Southern Claims Commission

Claim rejected. Mr. Boggs lived upon his farm of about 1200 acres in Liberty Co. Georgia during the war. He thinks he voted for Bell & Everett, and claims to have been a decided Union man. The postmaster at Savannah & a colored man once his slave testify to his loyalty. On the other hand he was a man of considerable property – was never molested or threatened – had a son, son in law and a nephew in the rebel army & cxchanged horses with his son & son in law when they were in the army.

Silvia Baker – Southern Claims Commission

My name is Silvy Baker. I was born on Thomas Bacon Plantation in Liberty County Georgia, a slave, and became free when the Union Army came into the County. I am about 45 years of age. I reside on Major William Thompson Plantation. I work at farming I am the Claimant in this case

Andrew Stacy – Southern Claims Commission

Andrew Stacy, born into slavery in Liberty County, Georgia, around 1838, became free at the end of 1864, when Sherman’s Army arrived. In 1873 Andrew Stacy told the story of that day to the U.S. Southern Claims Commision’s Special Commissioner in support of his claim for compensation for property the soldiers took from him.

James Crawford Fleming – Southern Claims Commission

This claimant was a slave during the war. He says the mare charged was given him by his father and that he bought the rest of the property. His witnesses swear at random that he bought all the property. No particulars as circumstances are detailed. Only two witnesses and they fellow slaves are called as witnesses. No facts developed to show why this claimant should own more property than any other slave. And finally there is no sufficient and satisfactory evidence of ownership of claimant to justify the commissioners in charging the government with the value of this property and allowing compensation therefore to the claimant. We therefore reject the claim.

Mrs. Sarah Ann Watson – Southern Claims Commission

laimant is a widow whose husband died in 1862. He was conscripted she says. She swears to loyal sympathies and to feeding deserters. She calls as her witnesses her daughter and a man who was 14 years old when the war closed and they testify to her loyalty of course. We fail to find any loyal conduct or unequivocal indications of loyalty in the evidence, and we know of no reason aside from the proof why the claimant should have been loyal and all her neighbors disloyal. We reject the claim.

Mrs. Nancy Wells – Southern Claims Commission

Claimant is a widow. The property belonged to her husband who was in the Confederate Army. It don’t appear when he died, and there is no evidence of his loyalty except claimant’s assertion of the fact. We are not satisfied with the sufficiency of the evidence in support of it, and we are therefore constrained to reject the claim.

Mrs. Nancy E. Brannen – Southern Claims Commission

Remarks: The claimant has married since the war a second husband. The property claimed belonged to her first husband who is dead. It does not appear when he died nor is his loyalty or claimant’s satisfactorily proved. We therefore reject the claim.

John Way – Southern Claims Commission

My name is John Way, my age 49 years, my residence Rice Hope, Liberty Co. in the state of Georgia, and my occupation a farmer; I am the claimant and have a beneficial interest in the claim.

James D. Polite – Southern Claims Commission

I was born in Liberty Co. a slave & became free after the raid came through. My master was Major Bacon. He had about 40 slaves – he was a good master. He sold me to McAllister – I belonged to him when the raid came through. I am 62 yrs old. I live on Belmont Chatham Co. Ga. I am a farmer. I am the claimant in this case.

James Miller – Southern Claims Commission

Lydia Baker – Southern Claims Commission

Summary ofSouthern Claims Commission Petition By Lydia Baker Claim transcribed by: Stacy Ashmore Cole Lydia Baker SCC Find the digitized original of this claim file at this Ancestry.com link. [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 […]

Pulaski Baker – Southern Claims Commission

Claim transcribed by Stacy Ashmore Cole [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 were too faded to transcribe.] About This Transcription What you are seeing: The […]

Scipio and Susan Bennett – Southern Claims Commission

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 […]

Frances Brown – Southern Claims Commission

Frances Brown Southern Claims Commission image Claim transcribed by Stacy Ashmore ColeScroll down to see full transcriptionFor research on Frances Brown, click HERE. 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 […]

Daniel Bryant – Southern Claims Commission

COMMENT: This claim was unfortunately extremely faded. It is transcribed below as well as possible. For detailed research on Daniel Bryant’s life, please see https://theyhadnames.net/2025/11/29/daniel-bryant/. Daniel Bryant – SCC 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 […]

Moses Stewart – Southern Claims Commission

SCC Disallowed Claim Liberty County – Moses Stewart Link Claimant’s Name (Last Name, First Name): Stewart, Moses Listed as “Colored”? (Y/N): Y Amount of Claim: $389.50 Total Amount Allowed: N/A, disallowed Nature of Claim: Claimant living in: Incident occurred in: Claim #: 18114 Secondary Claim #: N/A, disallowed Date Claim Submitted [YYYY-MM-DD]: 1872-11-26 Date Testimony […]

Henry Harris – Southern Claims Commission

Claim Summary Henry Harris, formerly enslaved by James Winn, made a claim to the U.S. Southern Claims Commission in 1873 saying that Sherman’s Army took $387.50 worth of provisions, hogs, and cattle from him. The commission denied his claim, not believing that he could have owned the property. It condemned his white lawyer, Raymond Cay […]

Joseph James – Southern Claims Commission

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 […]

Madison Smith – Southern Claims Commission

Claim transcribed by Cathy Dillon.Scroll down to see the full transcript. 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, […]

John Spencer – Southern Claims Commission

Claim transcribed by Cathy Tarpley DillonScroll down to see full transcript 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, […]

Hagar Stevens – Southern Claims Commission

Claim transcribed by Stacy Ashmore ColeScroll down to see the full transcription 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 […]

John (Jack) Wilson – Southern Claims Commission

Claim transcribed by Cathy Tarpley DillonScroll down to see the full transcription 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 […]

Booby Houston – Southern Claims Commission

Claim transcribed by Cathy Tarpley DillonScroll down to see full transcriptFor more about Booby Houston, see the research on his brother Abram Houston. Click HERE. 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. […]

Saul Jones – Southern Claims Commission

Boson Johnson – Southern Claims Commission

Claim transcribed by Stacy Ashmore ColeScroll down to see full transcript 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, […]

William McIver – Southern Claims Commission

Scroll down to see full transcript 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 […]

Prince Maxwell – Southern Claims Commission

Scroll down to see the full transcript. 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 […]

Rachael Wing – Southern Claims Commission

Claim transcribed by Stacy Ashmore Cole & Claude AI 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 […]

William Cooper – Southern Claims Commission

Claim transcribed by Stacy Ashmore Cole with significant help from ChatGPT.For research about William Cooper and other people named in this claim, click HERE. 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 […]

Silva Walthour – Southern Claims Commission

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 […]

Abram Walthour – Southern Claims Commission

Claim transcribed by Stacy Ashmore Cole and ChatGPTSee below for full transcript 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 […]

Cyrus and Isaac Coleman – Southern Claims Commission

Moses Quarterman – Southern Claims Commission

Claim Summary Moses Quarterman SCC Claim 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 […]

Toney Elliott – Southern Claims Commission

Claim Summary Toney Eliott SCC Claim 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 […]