Archive Record
Metadata
Catalog Number |
HRHS-201 |
Collection |
Unionists and the Civil War Experience Collection |
Scope & Content |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: Six years after the end of the Civil War, on March 3, 1871, the U. S. Congress established the Southern Claims Commission. This organization provided the means through which southerners could apply for reimbursement for property taken during the war. To successfully make such an application, southerners had to file a formal petition which established their loyalty to the Union during the war. That petition was then reviewed by the commission, which considered additional testimony from neighbors before issuing a judgement on the application. Mennonites and Brethren were against secession and therefore considered unionists, however they make up two-thirds of the claimants. Federal occupying forces did not discriminate between Unionists and Confederates in the Shenandoah Valley. Soldiers invaded their farms, destroying their barns and sometimes their homes. They also took their horses, shot their livestock and carried away their food supplies, leaving them virtually destitute, helpless and totally vulnerable to the approaching winter. The six volumes of Unionists and the Civil War Experience in the Shenandoah Valley were compiled by David Rodes and Norman Wenger and edited by Emmert Bittinger. This is a collection of legal claims for damages and losses made by residents of Rockingham County after the Civil War. Volume 1 covers Mt. Crawford and Cross Keys. Volume 2 covers Greenmount, Edom, and Linville. Volume 3 covers Bridgewater, Dayton and surrounding areas. Volume 4 covers Broadway, Cherry Grove, Singers Glen, Timberville and surrounding areas. Volume 5 covers Goods Mill, Leroy, McGaheysville, Port Republic, Roadside and Harrisonburg area. Volume 6 covers Harrisonburg, Lacey Spring, Melrose, and Tenth Legion. SCOPE AND CONTENT: This collection consists of the research files of Emmert Bittinger used for the six volumes of the book titled Unionists and the Civil War Experience in the Shenandoah Valley. Dr. Bittinger is a Professor Emeritus of Bridgewater College. COLLECTION INVENTORY: Folder 1: -Southern Claims Commission alphabetical lists for Rockingham County -Detail for claims by: Joseph Beery, Solomon Beery, Frank M. Chapman, Samuel Cline, Josiah H. Diehl, Mathias Diehl, Thomas Dovel, John Evers, Daniel Flory, Noah Flory, John Gangwer, Abraham Garber, David J. Garber, Joseph "Joel" Garber, Jacob Harshbarger, John Harshbarger, Elijah Huffman, Adam R. Gladden, Abraham D. Heatwole, John R. Keagy, Noah Landes, Abraham Shank, Samuel Whitmore, Philip Nichter, Samuel Ruebush, William Rodehafer, Peter Showalter, Harrison C. Spangler, Samuel H. Wampler, Martin Whitmer -Summary Reports of the Commissioners of Claims listing cases disallowed under the act of March 3, 1871 Folder 2: Copies of partial publications used for research: -Civil War Claims in the South, and index of Civil War damage claims for all southern states, by Gary B. Mills, 1980 -Cumberland County, TN claims list Folder 3: Copies of partial publications used for research: -Regulations for Taking Testimony in Support of Claims, March 8, 1871 -The War of the Rebellion: A compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1885, prepared by Lt. Col. Robert N. Scott, Third U. S. Artillery -Records of the United States General Accounting Office, Selected Southern Claims Commission Case Files, 1892 -The Confiscation of Property During the Civil War, a dissertation by James Garfield Randall, 1913 -Southern Loyalists in the Civil War, The Southern Claims Commission, by Gary B. Mills -The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, September, 1945, article titled The Southern Claims Commission: A Postwar Agency in Operation, by Frank Wysor Klingberg Folder 4: Copies of partial publications used for research: -Anabaptist Disaster Response in the Civil War, by Emmert F. Bittinger, 2002 -Shenandoah Valley Anabaptists: Flight and Imprisonment During the Civil War, by Emmert Bittinger -Exemption, Hiring Substitutes, and Payment of Fines, by Emmert Bittinger, 2002 -Brethren & Mennonites in the Shenandoah Valley During & After the Civil War, presentation given by Rev. Robert E. Alley, 2005 Era of the Oath, by Harold Melvin Hyman, 1954 -Documentary History of Reconstruction, by Walter L Fleming, Ph.D., 1960 -Chronology of the Civil War in Shenandoah Valley, Source: John W. Wayland, Twenty-Five Chapters on the Shenandoah Valley -Slaves' Descendants Give Voice to a Silent History, by Randall B. Jones Folder 5: -Court order relating to Military Service, excerpt from a Rockingham County minute book dated May-June, 1864 -Trial and conviction of W. E. Coffman by a military court, from the Confederate States of America War Department, 1864 -A South Branch Valley Civil War Episode concerning the Leatherman family, possibly in Mill Creek or Patterson Creek Valley -Article titled Jacob Kyger, Unionist & Abolitionist -Transforming History into Legacy: What is the Valley Brethren-Mennonite Story, an article by Phillip C. Stone -Article titled The Escape of John J. Rodes, by Emmert Bittinger -Article on The Escape and Tragedy of the Henry G. Brunk Family -Article titled The Murder of Davy Getz -Article titled Samuel H. Myers, A Suicide -Article titled Death of E. J. Sullivan, from Old Commonwealth, February 13, 1879 -Copy of pages from a Civil War diary written by William A. Bible, April 3, 1863 Folder 6: -List of persons recommended to be discharged. This is a list of Anabaptist war resisters who were arrested and then discharged during the Civil War. Signed by S. S. Baxter, March 31, 1862, Richmond, VA -Conscripts Discharged by Surgeon Shelby, August, 1863 -Exemptions: Tunkers and Mennonites, Roll of Exempts for Rockingham Co. as of October 1, 1863 -List of Military Exemptions Powers of Attorney. A. S Gray is Power of Attorney for listed Tunkers or Mennonites trying to get their fines back, December 26, 1862 -Copy of an act to refund money received for exemption from military duty, 1863 -Copy of Civil War discharge for Gabriel D. Heatwole -Copy of Amnesty oath for Gabriel D. Heatwole, 1865 Folder 7: -Copies of photographs of graveyards, individuals, homes, maps, etc. pertaining to claimants during the Civil War Folder 8: Miscellaneous Articles and Genealogy on the following families: Beery, Abraham Breneman, Jacob Brunk, Burkholder, Byerly, Henry Cool, Evers, Flory/Keagy, Frantz Folder 9: Miscellaneous Articles and Genealogy on the following families: David Heatwole, Lewis Hooke, Huffman, Huber/Hooper, Minich/Minick, Parrott/Parret/Parrett, Pence, Rodeffer, David Ruebush, Showalter, Suter, Ludwig Trieber,Wenger Folder 10: Sellers Genealogy: Publication titled Sellers Letters: October 1982, March 1983, June 1983, October, 1983, February, 1984, June 1984, October, 1984 Folder 11: -Sellers Genealogy: Publication titled Sellers Letters: February, 1985, June 1985, October 1985, February 1986, June 1986 Folder 12: -Whitmore/Witmer genealogy Folder 13: -Civil War tour booklets compiled by David S. Rodes and Norman R. Wenger, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 Folder 14: -Articles pertaining to the Mennonites and Brethren in Maryland during the Revolutionary War Folder 15: -Daily News Record article concerning the publication of Volume 1 of Unionists and the Civil War Experience, 2003 -Various issues of the newsletter titled Chronicles from the Valley Brethren-Mennonite Heritage Center, 2003 -Various publications by the Valley Brethren-Mennonite Heritage Center, Cross Roads |
Donor |
Dr. Emmert F. Bittinger |
Object Name |
Collection |