Finding Information on Your Neshoba County Confederate Ancestor

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.

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