Finding Information on Your Kemper County Confederate Ancestor ...

Finding Information on Your Kemper County Confederate Ancestor ...

Kemper County is fortunate to have Tom Neely as a look up person for our  Confederate Ancestors. Listed below is the information he will try to find for you and the addresses to get the records. 

Tom can:
*  Verify or determine the unit of most Mississippi soldiers if they entered Confederate service. 
*Determine the numbered regiment or battalion and letter company--that's the key to getting the other records.  

Because these look-ups are time consuming (there is no one book that has all of the information), please do not request more than one a day. Also, please  request ONLY Kemper County Servicemen. If you are unsure, it is fine to request the information. He will look the information up in the Mississippi records. To request a look up, email Tom Neely with your ancestor's complete name and date of birth (use an approximate date, if you are unsure as to the correct date).

To obtain copies of  service records and pension records, follow the instructions below. 

You may order them from:
Mississippi Dept of Archives and History
P. O. Box 571
Jackson, MS 39205-0571
tel. (601) 359-6850
Administration fax (601) 359-6975
Archives and Library Division fax (601) 359-6964
Historic Preservation Division fax (601) 359-6955.

It is now nearly as cheap, and much, much faster than the National Archives. Also nicer folks. Helpful, courteous, interested and dedicated people--which does make a difference.

Confederate Pension Records
Confederate Pension Records are held by the state where the pensioner lived when the application was filed. The State Libraries or Archives are the usual depositories for these records. Most Confederate state pensions were means tested--the applicant had to be near destitute to qualify. As a result, many Confederate soldiers never applied for such pensions. To determine whether your ancestor applied for a pension write the state archives where he lived after the war. A complete list of addresses and telephone numbers, as well as links to some states, is available online at:

http://www.nara.gov/genealogy/confed.html

There is a three volume index to the  applications for pensions that may be available in many Mississippi libraries. Pension records can be ordered from the Mississippi State Archives in Jackson.

 If your ancestors moved to Texas after the war there is an index online which includes a search engine and a procedure for ordering the file by email. The address is:

http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/lobby/cpi/cpindex.htm

When you write to determine if your ancestor or his beneficiary applied for a pension it is again helpful to have the letter company and numbered regiment in which he served, as well as his wife's name.

CivilWarDocs.com was created to allow researchers of all types the opportunity to purchase civil war documents at a reasonable price. These are the identical documents you would receive from the National Archives in Washington D.C.

As you receive your information, if your ancestor served in a Kemper regiment, please let me know. I will post your serviceman's name with your email address attached.