Eve of War
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Aftermath
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The Aftermath

Spring 1865–Fall 1870

Letters & Diaries

Read letters and diaries from after the war. Both sections contain a page that gives a brief description of each collection of personal papers, so you may scan through the collections for what looks most interesting or useful. You may also search the letters and diaries, to find a particular word, phrase, or name.
Newspapers

View transcriptions and images of the newspapers from Augusta and Franklin, providing access to how news was reported in the counties. Browse the individual newspapers by date, read articles grouped by relevant topics, or search the newspapers for particular words or phrases. In most cases, you may also view scanned images of the original newspaper pages.
1870 Census and Summaries

Browse statistics from Augusta and Franklin counties after the war, including general population breakdowns and figures on agriculture, churches, education, manufacturing, and property values.
Freedmen’s Bureau

The Bureau of Freedmen, Refugees, and Abandoned Lands, commonly known as the Freedmen's Bureau, was created by an act of Congress on March 3, 1865, just a few weeks before Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Browse these records from Augusta County.
Southern Claims Commission Papers

After the end of the war, the United States allowed Southerners who had remained loyal to the Union to petition to be reimbursed for losses they had sustained during the war while supporting the Union. From 1871 to 1879, 137 people from Augusta County, VA, submitted applications for reimbursement, most of which were denied. Browse all the surviving petitions and files.
Chambersburg Claims

After the war Pennsylvania established a claims commission to review petitions for reimbursement for damages sustained during the war by communities along the border. A great majority of the claims came from Franklin County, largely because of the burning of Chambersburg. This database is a searchable set of the 594 Chambersburg claims..
Veterans’ Census

The 1890 U.S. Veterans Census Database allows users to search for information about veterans and widows from Augusta County, Virginia, and Franklin County, Pennsylvania, who were living in the two counties in 1890. Users may search by name, residence, rank during the war, regiment, and other criterion..
Memory of War

Browse memoirs, essays, articles, and newspapers from Augusta and Franklin Counties, sharing how residents remembered the war, often through personal, first-hand accounts.

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