Rockingham County, Virginia VAGenWeb Project

Records of the Commissioners of Claims Southern Claims Commission Reports of Disallowed Claims

 

For additional information on the Southern Claims Commission, and locating records, see:

http://www.slcl.org/branches/hq/sc/scc/scc-main.htm

 

 

 

Records of the U.S. House of Representatives;

Southern Claims Commission, 1871 - 1880

National Archives & Records Administration Microfilm P2257

 

Summary Reports of the Commissioners of Claims in all Cases Reported to Congress as Disallowed Under the Act of March 3, 1871

 

[First Report 1871 - Individuals Reported as being from Rockingham County, Virginia]

 

Page 45

 

No. 2522 – Claim of Joseph Click, of Bridgewater, Rockingham County, State of  Virginia

 

1 dark bay horse	$200 00
1 roan horse	200 00
1 iron-gray horse	175 00
1 light bay horse	125 00
Total	700 00

 

Remarks. – 1. Mr. Click always resided in Rockingham County, Virginia. He never did anything or contributed anything to either side. The claimant voted for secession, for two of his neighbors “threatened him with a ducking and to drive him from his house.” He says he always sympathized with the Union cause. He says he piloted Union soldiers through the mountains, and fed them. C.C. Wine and A. L. Lindsey, his neighbors, testify to his loyalty. We are not satisfied very well as to his loyalty; but, 2. We are not able to find the fact that the horses claimed in the petition were taken for the use of the Army. No one saw them taken. The whole proof of their being taken and used by the Army is the testimony of C.M. Garber. He did not see them taken. What he professes to tell of their being taken is obviously hearsay. There is no allusion to any one who knew or spoke of the alleged facts of taking. Garber says he saw them in the camp at General Custer’s headquarters, and saw them branded; it was in June, 1864. The petition says they were taken on the 29^th day of September, 1864, on Sheridan’s retreat – three months after Garber saw them branded. Garber says he was gone to Ohio for eleven months before the close of the war. How could he be at Custer’s headquarters in Virginia in June? He does not tell how he knew the horses, or his means of identification. We reject the claim.

 

 

Page 46

 

No. 2533. – Claim of John A. Cline, of Broadway, Rockingham County, State of Virginia.

 

1 horse	$140 00
1 horse	135 00
1 horse	125 00
Total	400 00

 

Remarks. – The claim in this case is for three horses taken from claimant, who was a farmer, residing in Augusta County, Virginia, alleged in the petition to have been taken in October, 1864. The claimant is now thirty-seven years of age. He says he took the oath of allegiance to the confederate government in Augusta County, Virginia, in 1862; took it under compulsion; did not regard it as binding and did not then intend to keep it; was in no service, civil or military, or other employment under the confederacy; did nothing for the confederacy; attempted to leave, was captured and brought back; then paid his fine, and was allowed to remain at home unmolested; attempted to leave in February, 1863; was arrested at Stanton, in 1864, by provost guard and kept under arrest several hours and took no oath to get released. He says from the beginning to the end of the rebellion he was loyal to the United States and his sympathies were always with the Union cause; was threatened in common with other Union men. John H. Baker and John Wine, both Union men, testify to claimant’s loyalty. The former says he harbored him as a refugee and urged him to have nothing to do with the rebellion, and it was by claimant’s means that an engineer officer made his escape from the rebels. There is something about this testimony that is not satisfactory. If he harbored refugees and advised against aiding the confederacy and assisted Union officers to escape from the rebels, it would seem to indicate a very strong Union sentiment, unless it was done for a consideration. But the claimant does not show us how he kept out of the army, how he avoided the conscription, not does he tell what kind of compulsion he was under when he took the oath of allegiance to the confederacy. It may have been moral suasion, which some witnesses we find call compulsion; and for what did he pay his fine for which he was allowed to remain at home? We cannot resist the conviction that something in this case has been suppressed; at any rate, the important circumstances are not all fully explained. It does not appear clearly how or for what purpose the horses were taken. In the petition it is alleged the Army was on the retreat. The proof shows the Army encamped there a day or two. No voucher was given or asked for; it does not appear that any officer was present. The belief of a witness as to the purpose of the taking when he was not present is not a very high grade of evidence. The taking may have been wholly unauthorized and not for the use of the Army. The proof on both points is unsatisfactory, and we cannot recommend payment of the claim.

 

 

No. 2523. - Claim of Samuel Cline, of Cross Key, Rockingham County, State of Virginia.

 

1 bay mare	$150 00
1 bay horse	150 00
1 bay horse	130 00
1 sorrel mare	75 00
1 dun mare	125 00
1 colt	80 00
1 sorrel mare	30 00
5 cows	165 00
2 heifers	60 00
3 cattle	50 00
15 sheep	52 50
2 pairs gears	20 00
Bridles	7 00
1 hog	8 00
40 bushels oats	20 00
Total	1,122 50

 

Remarks. - This claimant voted for the ordinance of secession, as he says, under the influence of others. Otherwise than this Mr. Cline seems to have been a devoted Union man. Voting for the ordinance of secession, unless by compulsion, we hold to be an act of positive disloyalty. The claim for that reason must be rejected.

 

 

Page 47

 

No. 8198. - Claim of Jonas Early, of Timberville, Rockingham County, State of Virginia.

 

33 bushels corn	$24 75
12 bushels corn	9 00
Total	33 75

 

Remarks. - Claimant admits he furnished a substitute for the ranks of the rebel army. This act we regard as inconsistent with loyal adherence to the cause of the Union and the Government of the United States, and therefore reject the claim.

 

 

Page 48

 

No. 2575. - Claim of Noah Flory, of Cross Keys, Rockingham County, State of Virginia.

 

1 bay horse	$75 00
3 cattle	75 00
6 barrels flour	36 00
500 pounds bacon	75 00
75 bushels corn	56 25
5 bed-blankets	25 00
4 bed-coverlets	20 00
3 bed-quilts	25 00
100 pounds bacon	15 00
1 gray horse	140 00
1 sorrel mare	135 00
1 roan horse	145 00
1 sorrel horse	80 00
3 milch-cows	90 00
2 heifers	36 00
2 sheep	8 00
100 bushels corn	80 00
5 bushels oats	3 00
½ ton hay	5 00
Total	1,124 25

 

Remarks. - Claimant says: “I furnished a substitute for the militia six months, in 1861. I am a member of the German Baptist church and so I did not want to go into the army and could not leave home. We have held universally that service in the ranks of the rebellion against the flag and the Government of the United States, whether in the organization of State militia or regular confederate army, was inconsistent with loyalty to the United States.” The substitution of another for pecuniary consideration to stand or march or fight in his stead in the ranks of the rebellion does not relieve the claimant from the operation of this principle. We can make no distinction which would imply that a man of means might hire a substitute to fight against the country and still be accounted loyal, while the poor man who had to do his own fighting from lack of means to hire a substitute must be accounted a rebel. We reject the claim.

 

No. 2554. - Claim of Henry Frank, of Singer’s Glenn, Rockingham County, State of Virginia

 

1 bay horse	$150 00
1 roan mare	100 00
1 bay mare	125 00
3 bridles	3 00
Total	378 00

 

Remarks. - Claimant voted for the ordinance of secession from fear of being driven off after its adoption. The act of voting for the dissolution of the Union and the establishment of an independent and hostile government within its limits simply from fear of future inconvenience of a personal character is, in our judgment, inconsistent with loyal adherence to the Union and the Government of the United States. We therefore reject the claim.

 

 

No. 9307. - Claim of Jacob Good, of Coote’s Store, Rockingham County, State of Virginia.

 

1 sorrel horse	$70 00
1 bay mare	125 00
8 sheep	28 00
30 pounds butter	6 00
6 gallons brandy	9 00
1 keg	1 00
2 tin buckets, &c	5 00
Total	244 00

 

Remarks.- Claimant voted for secession and had a son in the rebel army, but swears to his loyalty and produces one witness, Noah Good, who lived with him, but whose relationship does not appear in evidence, who swears that he gave him money to escape to the Union lines to avoid going into the rebel army. But claimant voted for the dissolution of the Union and the destruction of the Government of the United States, which he now professes to have loved and adhered to, and excused the act on the general remark that he was scared into it. We regard the act as inconsistent with the claim to loyalty and cannot accept his excuse as a justification of it; we therefore reject the claim.

 

 

Page 49

 

No. 2567. – Claim of Jacob John Harshbarger, of Cross Keys, Rockingham County, State of Virginia

 

1 black stallion	$200 00
1 brown stallion	140 00
1 sorrel mare	100 00
1 gray horse	125 00
1 bull	15 00
200 pounds bacon	30 00
1 bay stallion	180 00
1 roan horse	125 00
1 gray mare	140 00
25 bushels corn	18 75
25 bushels oats	12 50
1 bay mare	150 00
1 gray horse	160 00
1 gray mare	130 00
1 black mare	110 00
6 sheep	24 00
1 steer	20 00
1 yearling	10 00
Total	1,690 25

 

Remarks. – This is the joint claim of Jacob and John Harshbarger for property alleged to have been taken from them for the use of the Army. Jacob Harshbarger was examined under oath as to his loyalty, and admits that he furnished a substitute for the militia on occasion of being drafted into that service. John Harshbarger was examined as to property but not as to loyalty, and the presumption is that he could make no better showing. The usual proof of loyalty of persons in that region, and of the quiet, peaceable character of the German Baptists is furnished in this case, but our rule is invariable that service by self or substitute in the ranks of the traitors in arms to destroy the Union and overthrow the Government of the United States was inconsistent with loyal adherence to the Government of the United States during the war. We reject the claim.

 

 

Page 50

 

No. 2550. – Claim of Joseph F. Kline of Broadway, Rockingham County, State of Virginia.

 

50 pounds butter	$8 33
1 jack-screw	5 00
3 milch cows	90 00
4 cattle	72 00
6 sheep	21 00
2 bed-blankets	10 00
Total	206 33

 

Remarks. – Claimant furnished a substitute to fight, bleed, and die in his stead in the great war of the rebellion, concocted and carried on by wicked traitors to overthrow the Government of the United States. This act was inconsistent with the character of a loyal adherent to the Union and the Government of the United States. We hold that personal service in the ranks of the rebel army was an act of disloyalty, and furnishing a substitute to the service was of precisely the same nature and character, and we must so hold; else the rich man who is able to furnish a substitute for the rebel ranks may be regarded as loyal, while the poor man who is not able to pay for a substitute, but goes himself, is held to be disloyal. We reject the claim.

 

 

No 8414. – Claim of Noah Landes, of Mount Crawford, Rockingham County, State of Virginia

 

1 two-horse wagon	$100 00
1 dark-bay horse	150 00
1 bay mare	150 00
Harness for two horses	18 00
1 one-horse wagon	70 00
Harness for one horse	5 00
39 panels plank-fence	29 25
Total	522 25

 

Remarks. – Claimant resided during the war in Rockingham County, Virginia. In his own sworn statement he says, “I was drafted, and in order to avoid going into the rebel army I obtained a detail to work in the niter mines. I was also detailed to purchase horses for the confederate government; I only took these details to keep out of the confederate army.” This was rendering material aid to the confederacy, and there is no evidence to show that such force was used as to excuse it. The claim is rejected.

 

 

Page 51

 

No. 2552. – Claim of John D. Miller, of Linville, Rockingham County, State of Virginia.

 

4 cattle	$210 00
1 iron gray horse	125 00
1 saddle and bridle	15 00
½ ton hay	4 00
6 bushels corn	4 50
1 bay mare	100 00
1 bay horse	125 00
3 young cattle	60 00
Total	643 50

 

Remarks. – Claimant was so utterly neutral and distressingly quiet that we are unable to perceive the faintest indications of loyalty manifested by him during the war. Notwithstanding he brings two witnesses to say he was a loyal Union man, neither he nor they testify to anything that he did, said, or suffered for the Union; nevertheless they regarded him as a loyal Union man. We are not satisfied with this evidence of loyalty, and therefore reject the claim.

 

 

Page 53

 

No. 9305. – Claim of Jackson Showalter, of Rockingham County, State of Virginia.

 

1 bay mare

$100 00

 

Remarks. – Claimant furnished a substitute to do his fighting in the ranks of the rebels and traitors who sought to destroy the Union and overthrow the Government by force of arms. The act was inconsistent with the character of a loyal adherent to the Union and the Government of the United States. We reject the claim.

 

 

Page 54

 

No. 2558. – Claim of Joseph Wampler, of Broadway, Rockingham County, State of Virginia.

 

20 bushels corn	$10 00
20 bushels oats	8 00
1 man’s saddle	15 00
1 bay horse	150 00
1 pair new fore-gears and traces	10 00
1 blind-bridle and collar	5 00
1 black stallion	200 00
Total	398 00

 

Remarks. – Claimant is a German Baptist preacher. He voted for secession, and says he was frightened into it. He insists, nevertheless, that he adhered to the Union, and a witness, Daniel Flory, confirms him. We hold that the act of voting for the dissolution of the Union and the overthrow of the Government of the United States is just as inconsistent with adherence to the Union and the Government as bearing arms against it, and that neither one nor the other can be justified or excused on the mere assertion that claimant was afraid. He must show such circumstances of imminent peril to person or to life or such exercise of actual force as shall indicate that he had no choice left him. We reject the claim.

 

 

Page 55

 

No. 2564. – Claim of Samuel Zigler, of Lacy Springs, Rockingham County, State of Virginia.

 

1 brown horse	$150 00
5 loads hay	20 00
1 mouse-colored horse	125 00
4 milch cows	120 00
Total	415 00

 

Remarks. – Claimant voted for the ordinance of secession and put a substitute in the confederate army for his son. There is no proof in the case that will overcome these acts of positive disloyalty. Claim must be rejected.

 

 

[Second Report 1872 - Individuals Reported as being from Rockingham County, Virginia]

 

 

Page 181

 

No. 7659. – Claim of William K. Abbott, of Timberville, Rockingham County, State of Virginia.

 

310 bushels corn	340 00
16 tons fodder	96 00
Total	436 00

 

Remarks. – The claimant is fifty-one years of age; a merchant, and has resided in Rockingham County for fifteen years. Says that from the beginning of hostilities against the United States to the end thereof he constantly sympathized with the Union cause; did nothing for the confederacy; was forced into the militia; staid nine days and was sent back; was arrested for being a Union man and was threatened for the same reason. He voted for the ordinance of secession, as he says, under compulsion and to save live and property; has been a registrar since the war and too the “iron-clad oath.” Two witnesses are called to prove his loyalty. One of them thinks “he was too loyal to the United States Government to have made a loyal citizen of the Confederate States.” The other says, “My idea is that if the South had succeeded he would have made a pretty good southern man.” As the witnesses are all of the claimant’s selection and called by him, this is not the kind of testimony to satisfy us of his loyalty. We reject the claim.