Amelia County (Va.) Military and Pension Records, 1741-1913

Access and use

Location of collection:
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Archives Reference Services
Phone: (804) 692-3888
Restrictions:

Amelia County (Va.) Militia Enrollment Records and Unidentified Cash Account Ledger, 1816-1817, 1864, use microfilm copy, Amelia County (Va.) Reel 102.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Amelia County (Va.) Military and Pension Records, 1741-1913 [site specific volume or series]. Local Government Records Collection, Amelia County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Summary

Creator:
Amelia County (Va.) Circuit Court
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Amelia County (Va.) Military and Pension Records, 1741-1913 [site specific volume or series]. Local Government Records Collection, Amelia County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

Amelia County (Va.) Military and Pension Records, 1741-1913, consists of records concerning military service. These records are currently at various stages of processing, mean some records are fully identified and description while other records are not processed at all. Records include:

Amelia County Militia Enrollment Records and Unidentified Cash Account Ledger, 1816-1817, 1864 Minimally processed Military and Pension Records, 1780-1908, consist of

  • List of Pensioners, 1792-1796, 1798
  • Letter from Surgeon General, 1862
  • Militia Bonds, 1861
  • Muster Fines (Tickets), 1803-1804, 1807-1808, 1810-1822
  • Muster Fines (Lists), 1804, 1806, 1809-1814; 1815-1822
  • Public Service Claims (Not Allowed), 1782, 1784
  • Public Service Claims (Revolutionary War), undated, 1781-1782
  • Maps

Unprocessed Military and Pension Records, 1741-1913, consists of boxes examined and determine to contain military and pension records but have not been further identified.

The first ten pages of the volume contain cash account entries for a business perhaps owned by Benjamin Bragg in 1816-1817. It records the cash on hand and cash received on the debit side and cash paid out on the credit side. The majority of the volume was used as a militia enrollment ledger in 1864. Ledger is 84 pages.

The enrollment entries list of people eligible for militia service between ages 18-45 and 45-50. Examples of enrollment lists include people who applied for exemption from militia duty, people applied to be detailed, people exempt from militia duty on the basis of number of slaves owned or occupation, and list of conscripts in Amelia County.

With the enrollment information, there includes a list recording "Enrollment of free negroes in Amelia Co." the list includes seven names: Charles B. Jackson; Claiborn Johnson; James M. Carsen; Green Allen; Mack Delany; Alfred Bailey; George Anderson; and Hollin Allen.

The enrollment lists generally include the following descriptive information - date of enrollment, name, age, occupation, birthplace, height, eye color, hair color, skin complexion, and how disposed [whether exemption was approved or disapproved, reason for exemption, whether detailed or not].

Also recorded was a list of deserters and absentees in Amelia County containing the following information - date, name, company, regiment and how disposed. There is additionally a list of people forwarded to Camp Lee in Petersburg that includes name, age and occupation for each person.

Also found in ledger were monthly reports that list the total number of conscripts, total number of persons exempt between 18-45 and 45-50, total number of deserters, and total number of persons exempt based on occupation [such as physicians, ministers, government officials, etc.].

Loose papers found in volume include a circular sent to district enrolling officers in September 1864 requesting a full account of all male "free negroes" and a separate full account of all enslaved individual who had been impressed in Amelia County. There is also a note dated September 1864, urging a lieutenant to post notices, perhaps enrollment notices, as soon as possible. There is lastly a list of individuals living in Amelia County and beside each name [surname, first and middle initial], there is a number believed to be the number of individuals each person enslaved. This document appears to be created for tac purposes.

Material in this series had been identified to include military and pension records. These records are not fully processed but are generally grouped by record type.

Boxes in this series contain records identified as military and pension records, but these records remain unprocessed and are housed with various other record types. These records may be isolated within the box or maybe interfiled with other records. Date ranges are for the box and not necessarily the specific Military and Pension Records.

Biographical / historical:

Context for Record Type: Keeping large bodies of militia in the field required an elaborate system of support based on the purchase of goods and services from civilians, in addition to the usual pay and allowances to officers and soldiers. The result was the creation of a large number of records concerning the state's disbursements to both soldiers and civilians. Many claims for payment went unsatisfied until 1821. Locality military and pension records consist largely of pay and muster rolls, accounts and vouchers concerning supplies, claims for reimbursement for services rendered, and military pension applications. Pension applications summarize the applicant's service record and may include medical evaluations; information about income and property; and, in the case of widows, the date and place of marriages.

During the Revolutionary War, commissioners were appointed in each county to impress supplies and non-military services (such as driving cattle or wagons) for the war effort. Officials provided certificates or receipts so that individual suppliers could be reimbursed by the state government. Beginning in 1782, claims for reimbursement could be submitted to county courts. These "publick claims," known as court booklets and lists, exist for almost all Virginia counties. Between 1777 and 1785, the Virginia General Assembly passed several laws authorizing pensions for disabled soldiers and for widows of soldiers who died while on active duty.

Throughout the Civil War, the principal responsibility for Virginia's indigent soldiers' families lay with the locality. The Virginia State Convention in 1861 gave the responsibility entirely to counties and incorporated towns and authorized whatever actions had already been taken. Acts of Assembly in 1862 and 1863 expanded the localities' powers to provide for their needy, and in 1863 some minimal state assistance was added in. The Virginia General Assembly passed several Confederate pension acts beginning in 1888. The initial act provided pensions to Confederate soldiers, sailors, and marines disabled in action and to the widows of those killed in action. A 1900 act broadened the coverage to include veterans disabled by "infirmities of age" and widows whose husbands died after the war. African Americans who had served "faithfully" as servants, cooks, laborers, hostlers, or teamsters for the Confederate army were eligible for pensions beginning in 1924. District of Columbia residents became eligible in 1926; previously, all pension applicants were required to be residents of Virginia.

Locality History: Amelia County was named for Amelia Sophia Eleanora, daughter of King George II. It was formed from Prince George and Brunswick Counties by an act passed in 1734 to take effect on 25 March 1735.

Acquisition information:

Amelia County (Va.) Militia Enrollment Records and Unidentified Cash Account Ledger, 1816-1817, 1864 and other military pension records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court records from Amelia County under an undated accession.

Minimally processed miliary and pension records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court records from Amelia County in 2003 under accession 40724.

Unprocessed military and pension records came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court records from Amelia County in 2004 under accession 4150.

Processing information:

Microfilm reel was generated by OCLC through the Library of Virginia's Circuit Court Records Preservation Program.

Encoded by G. Crawford, 2003; Updated by M. Mason, July 2025

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged

  • Series I: Military and Pension Records: Volumes, 1816-1817, 1864
  • Series II: Minimally processed Military and Pension Records, 1780-1908
  • Series III: Unprocessed Military and Pension Records, 1741-1913

Physical location:
The Library of Virginia; State Records Center
Physical description:
1 volume; 24 boxes (22.35 cubic feet)