Historians and genealogists now have digitized Confederate Army Pension Applications to comb through to aid their research. The Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives have them all available online. . State archivist Barbara Teague says the pension program was open to indigent veterans and their widows.
“They had to prove that they had less than $300 income per year and own less than $2,500 worth of property. So you had to prove that you really didn’t have any money and you needed this pension, which may have been $15 to $25 a month.”
Kentucky passed the Confederate Pension Act in 1912. Other southern states approved similar legislation in the 1880’s. The pension applications include information like when and where a soldier served, statements from witnesses, and whether or not he took the oath of allegiance to the United States Government. Click here to see the Confederate Pension Database.