GDG- Civilians after the battle

[Bob Velke]

Dennis said:

>Were the  civilians of Gettysburg able to make claims to the government to
>pay for the  damages done to their land as a result of the 
>battle?  If they were
>  rewaded for the damage how long did it take to receive it?

"Digested Summary and Alphabetical List of Private Claims Which Have 
Been Presented to the House of Representatives" v3 (1854-1873) and v4 
(1874-1882) are good sources for this info but the claims are 
identified by the name of the claimant and the nature of the 
claim.  This index/summary rarely makes any reference to the 
geographic area in question so you have to be looking for a specific 
claimant.  (The only reference to Gettysburg is a 1873-75 House 
relief bill for the National Orphan's Homestead, )

For Bruce's example of William Bliss, for instance, the Digested 
Summary lists six petitions ranging from the 38th (1863-65) to the 
45th (1877-79) Congress.  It provides the journal page for each 
petition which you can use to look up the full paperwork in the 
records of the House of Representatives' Claims Committees, NARA 
Record Group 233.

Bob Velke