Cocke County TNGenWeb
Civil War Claims Index 1871 - 1873

Information provided by the Tennessee State Library and Archives

SOUTHERN CLAIMS COMMISSION - TENNESSEE

This index lists people from Cocke County who filed claims with the Southern Claims Commission from 1871 to 1873. These Tennesseans claimed their property had been taken by United States military personnel for use in the Civil War.

The claim files include interesting detail about people and about the Civil War period in Tennessee. Each claimant was required to describe his losses in detail, and to prove his loyalty to the Union. Witnesses gave testimony in support of his allegations. The paperwork in the files is often extensive.

All of the Southern Claims Commission files are located at the National Archives, but the disallowed and barred claim files have been microfilmed and are also available at the Tennessee State Library and Archives. Allowed claim files are available only by consulting the National Archives, Legislative Records Division, 8th & Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C. 20408.

This index is based on volume 55 of Record Group No. 56, General Records of the Department of the Treasury, at the National Archives. It is duplicated on National Archives microcopy M-87, reel 13. The indication of whether the claim was allowed, disallowed, or barred is based on the book Southern Loyalists in the Civil War : the Southern Claims Commission by Gary B. Mills (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1994).

If you wish to order a copy of a barred or disallowed claim file, e-mail the Tennessee State Library and Archives and request a price quote. The cost will depend on the length of the file.

UPDATE: THE NAMES BELOW ARE NOW LINKED TO RELEVANT FILE INFORMATION (at the end of this page) ABSTRACTED BY BRUCE PRICE. THANK YOU, BRUCE, FOR THIS VALUABLE ADDITION.

Denied Claims

#16790 - Henry H. Baer - of Newport - 10/15/1872

• 10/02/1872 - Names H.H. Baer, James M Hale, M.A. Roadman and Laura C Hale.
• Deposition of H.H. Baer: age 52; occupation attorney; took oath as Postmaster under Confederacy; elected Circuit Court Clerk in 1860; sympathized with Union
• Deposition of James M. Hale: age 31; occupation mechanic; was a soldier in the Federal army
• Deposition of M.A. Roadman: age 45; farmer, adherent to Union cause
• Deposition of Laura C. Hale: age 26; housekeeper; daughter of the claimant (H.H. Baer); bacon taken by soldiers camped on John Rorex's farm in the Irish Bottoms

#7039 - James C. Larue - resident of Parrottsville - 9/18/1871

• 9/15/1874; Clerk of the County Court
• Union man throughout the war
• Deposition of J.C. LaRue: age 51; occupation farmer and merchant; born in Knox County TN; names James H. Randolph, S.H. Inman, H. Baer, E. Eisenhour, Samuel Parrot and others; the two latter died since the close of the war

#17235 - Joseph K.Gorrell - of Newport - 10/28/1872

• James Swaggerty and William Swaggerty made oath that Gorrell's property was taken on or about 2/01/1865
• Alfred Hall and Mark Southerland made oath that Gorrell is loyal
• Deposition of Joseph K. Gorrell: age 36; farmer; resides one mile east of Newport; lived on his father's land and was a mechanic and farmer; took amnesty oath about 5/01/1864; was a soldier in the Confederate army; went to Indiana 12/06/1864 to avoid being forced into the rebel army; James, William, Elbert, Benjamin and George Gorrell his brothers; was at Vicksburg
• Deposition of H.H. Baer: age 52; attorney
• Deposition of C.D. Fairfield: age 47; physician; a Union man
• Deposition of James Swaggerty: age 72; farmer; claimant is his son-in-law

#11920 - Joshua F. Case - of Cosby - 2/27/1872

• Was a resident of Transylvania Co NC
• Deposition of William Case: age 67; father of claimant
• Claimant is 25 and a farmer; had six brothers in the Rebel army; two killed and four went into the Union army; claimant went into Rebel lines to recruit for Union and served from 1863 to close

#16969 - M.A. Roadman - of Newport - 10/15/1872

• Age 41
• On 2/../1865, suffered damage to property
• Deposition of M.A. Roadman: age 45; farmer; lives near Gorman's Depot; had nephews in Confederate army - William, Augustus, Melville Smith; sympathized with Union
• Deposition of H.H. Baer: age 52; attorney; claimant is a cousin by marriage
• Deposition of Newton Gray: age 32; farmer

#16971 - Thomas W. Davis - of Newport - 10/15/1872

• Deposition of Stephen H. Poe: resides near Newport; farmer; went into Union army 1863; claimant fed him and his brother when they were hiding from the conscripts; claimant helped his mother; John Jones and William Bird were claimant's neighbors; William Philips, Bradford Taylor, Alfred Ball, John Jones and William Bird; Poe "was a soldier in the 9th Tenn Cavalry
• Deposition of Thomas W. Davis: age 42; lives 2.5 miles west of Newport; farmer; lives in the Dutch Bottoms; conscripted; had two half-brothers, Andrew and Miles Davis, in the rebel army; sympathized with Union
• Deposition of H.H. Baer: age 52; attorney
• Deposition of D.O. Bibee: age 42; lives in Newport; farmer
• Deposition of W.C.H. Poe: age 42; gunsmith; lives nine miles west of Newport in Jefferson Co.

#16973 - William R. Swaggerty - of Newport - 10/02/1872

• Appears on the muster roll of Captain Edwin Allen's Co C, 26th Regiment, Tenn Infantry; enlisted 6/26/1861
• Deposition of William R. Swaggerty: age 30; resides about 1.5 miles southeast of Newport; farmer; lived on his father's land at time of mule being taken; took amnesty oath and was pardoned; in Confederate Army; had three brothers (served in CSA?)- Alexander (dead), G.C. and J.S; one lives here, the other in Texas; mentions "James Swaggerty, my father, and my mother and my sisters"
• James Swaggerty and Joseph K. Gorrell swore they saw the mule taken
• Alfred Hall and Grigsby Wood swore they believe Swaggerty to be loyal; 6/05/1865
• Deposition of C.D. Fairfield: age 47; resident of Newport; physician
• Deposition of P.W. Anderson: age 33; Newport; lawyer; a Union man
• Deposition of James Swaggerty: age 72; about one mile east of Newport; farmer; claimant is his son

#14697 - Wylie Kelly - of Parrottsville

• Age 63; mill wright and house carpenter
• Had three sons in the Union army; A.J. Kelly, J.M. Kelly and James H. Kelly
• Sympathized with Union
• His son, O.M. Kelly, was at his house when his vouchers were lost
• Blue eyes, light hair, fair complexion, 5'9", 56 years old

Approved Claims

#16972 - Newton Gray - of Newport - 10/15/1872

• Deposition of Newton Gray: age 32; lives about one mile south of Newport; farmer; lived on his father's land; went in the saltpeter business to keep out of the Confederate army; went to Kentucky, Camp Nelson, to join 8th Tenn Cavalry; soldiers who took mule were camped at John Rorex's farm in Irish Bottoms
• Deposition of M.A. Roadman: age 45; about 1.5 miles north of Newport; farmer
• Deposition of H.H. Baer: age 52; Newport; attorney
• Deposition of Lewis H. Gray: age 31; south of Newport; farmer; a brother to Newton Gray
• On 6/08/1868, Cicero A. Henry and Lewis H. Gray swore oath they saw the mule taken
• On 6/08/1868, Marshall Wilson and David F. Gorman swore oath that Newton Gray was an unconditional Union man
• On 6/08/1868, Newton Gray gave age as 27 when he filed the claim

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