The Confederate Scrip Program: Land for Texas Veterans
The General Land Office has always played an important role in supporting veterans and their families. In the days of the Republic of Texas, soldiers received land grants as payment for their service.
Today, the Veterans Land Board and State Veterans Homes and Cemeteries provide benefits to those who served in the military from Texas. After the Civil War, the Confederate Scrip program benefitted Texas veterans who fought against the United States.
Following the Civil War, many Confederate veterans and widows of soldiers were rendered unable to provide for their families. Confederate veterans were ineligible to receive benefits from the United States government and had to rely on state programs for assistance.
Recognizing their ability and obligation to aid these people, the Texas Legislature passed an act on April 9, 1881, to grant:
“to persons who have been permanently disabled by reason of wounds received while in the service of this State, or of the Confederate States, a land certificate for twelve hundred and eighty acres of land.”[1]
This act came at a time when Texas was largely agrarian, and there was no general workforce for women to enter. Veterans with debilitating wounds who couldn’t perform physical labor, as well as women who lost their husbands, were left with no way to support their families. Confederate Scrip Vouchers provided relief to these individuals and families by allowing them to locate land or to sell their certificate.
To obtain land through the Confederate Scrip program, certain qualifications had to be met.[2]
- First, one had to be a resident of the state and enlisted in the service of Texas or the Confederate States.
- An applicant must have received wounds while in service that would impair his ability to perform manual labor or provide for his family through other means.
- Widows who never re-married could receive land only if they met the same residency requirements as soldiers, and if their husbands died or “were killed in actual service under such enlistment.”
- Additionally, all applicants had to prove that they did not have property valued at more than one thousand dollars.
- The applicant had to provide a description of the wounds they received in order to qualify for land. Some were very broad in their description, stating only that they were wounded in a general area of the body like the thigh or arm, while others went into excruciating detail when describing why they were qualified.
Milton Grayum’s description of his wound to the jaw is brief, yet graphic. He states that he received:
“a wound of the right superior maxiliary [sic] bone which necessitated the removal of a portion of said bone, which entirely destroyed the power of mastication, without artificial aid.”[3]
- Finally, an applicant required at least two credible persons stating that the applicant was indeed the person they claimed to be, they knew them to be a resident citizen of the state, and that all stated facts were true.
Recipients of Confederate Scrip Vouchers could locate their 1,280 acres anywhere on the vacant public domain. Just over 2,000 veterans and widows took advantage of this program. Some became landowners, while others sold their certificates and never settled the land that was awarded for their service.
The Confederate Scrip program also worked to the benefit of public education, as an equal amount of land was required to be located for the Permanent School Fund for each Confederate Scrip Voucher that was issued. Land allocated to the Permanent School Fund was then sold for the benefit of public education in Texas.
The Confederate Scrip program lasted only two years until it was repealed in 1883. During that brief time, 2,068 certificates were issued, with approximately 1/3 of the certificates being issued to widows of fallen Confederate veterans.
Though the program was short-lived, it is still important to researchers today. Genealogists can utilize these records as critical sources of information on their ancestors. They provide names and dates, as well as the company and regiment of which a soldier was a member. Some even state which battles they participated in when they received their injuries.
These records leave a significant legacy that shows how Texas cared for those who risked their lives through military duty. They connect the efforts of the early Republic to those of contemporary programs to aid veterans and their families and provide a unique look at the consequences of the Civil War for individuals who took up arms for Texas.
[1] “Chapter CVI.” In General Laws of the State of Texas, Passed at the Regular Session of the Sixteenth Legislature: Convened at the City of Austin, January 14th, 1879, and Adjourned April 24th, 1879, 214. Vol. 9. Galveston, Texas: A.H. Belo &, State Printers, 1879.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Confederate Scrip Voucher File #00008 for Milton Grayum, Confederate Scrip Vouchers, Archives and Records Program, Texas General Land Office, Austin, T
