Mary Buie's Southern Claims Case

Southern Claims of Mary Lemons Buie ~ Widow of Daniel Buie
Caseyville, Lincoln County, Mississippi
by Linda Durr Rudd

Invading armies required food and supplies to keep the men in good fighting condition. As the armies moved, they took what they needed from the local people. The usual items taken were weapons, horses, pigs, cows, mules, wagons, and crops. The losing side was never compensated for its losses. The United States Congress created the Southern Claims Commission on March 03, 1871, so, Southerns who had remained loyal to the Union and had lost property to invading Union armies could request compensation. Mary Lemons Buie originally applied to the Southern Claims Commission for compensation of the items taken from her plantation during Grierson's Raid on April 28, 1863. Mary died in 1871 and her son John Mercer Buie, the Administrator of his father's estate, continued the claim.

In order to receive compensation, claimants had to satisfy four general requirements.

  • Claimant hold United States citizenship
  • Claimant resided in a state that had seceded.
  • Claimant could prove his or her loyalty to the United States throughout the Civil War.
  • United States troops had taken the claimant's goods for offical army purposes.

    • From The Valley of the Shadow: Southern Claims Commission Papers

    MARY LEMONS BUIE was the widow of Daniel Buie. DANIEL BUIE was born July 15, 1797 in Moore Co., NC, and died September 17, 1862 in MS. He married MARY LEMONS. She was born January 1810 in NC, and died September 12, 1871 in MS. Daniel Buie is buried at Wright's Cemetery, North of McCalls Creek, Franklin Co., MS. Daniel settled on the Homochitto River and owned much land there. At the time of Daniel's death, the Buie family owned over 80 slaves.

    Children of DANIEL BUIE and MARY LEMONS are:
    ELIZABETH BUIE, b. June 12, 1833
    JOHN MERCER BUIE, b. May 08, 1835
    NEILL HENRY BUIE, b. January 02, 1838
    DOROTHY ANN BUIE, b. November 20, 1840
    DANIEL BUIE, JR., b. August 13, 1843
    ZACHARIAH T. BUIE, b. July 1847
    MARY C. BUIE, b. July 1847.
    Genealogy information from Buie Homepage.

    The Buie family had difficulty proving their loyalty to the Union. Two of Mary's four sons served in the Confederate army, and one son John Mercer hired a subsititute. Daniel and Neil Henry enlisted April 28, 1862 with Company A, 1st Regiment, Mississippi Light Artillery. Neil Henry died at Sniders Bluff near Vicksburg May 02, 1863 in Regimental Hospital. Neil died of marasmus - progressive wasting away of the body, like malnutrition. Daniel was captured at Vicksburg, pardoned and he later transferred to Braford's Battery, Company F of the 1st Mississippi Light Artillery.
    Compiled Service Records of 1st Mississippi Light Artillery
    Microfilm Number: 4520
    Microfilm found at Mississippi Department of Archives and History
    Old Time Disease Terminology

    Listed below are the items taken from the Buie Plantation during Grierson's Raid.

    1863 Property Taken by the United States ArmyValue
    April 28thOne Sorrel Mule 16 1/2 Hands High
    Eight Years Old    		$225
    April 28thTwo Black Mare Mules 16 Hands High
    Six Years Old, Worth $200 Each    		$400
    April 28thOne Sorrel Mule 16 Hands High
    Five Years Old    		$175
    April 28thOne Sorrel Mule 15 1/2 Hands High
    Four Years Old    		$185
    April 28thOne Black Mare Mule 15 1/2 Hands High
    About Five Years Old    		$185
    April 28thOne Black Horse Mule - 16 Hands High
    Six Years Old    		$190
    April 28thOne Rone Horse 16 Hands High
    Six Years Old - A Fine Saddle Horse    		$250
    April 28thOne Saddle$35
    April 28thTwo Saddles at $25 Each$50
    Balance$1685

    DEPOSITIONS OF THOSE WHO TESTIFIED IN MARY BUIE'S CASE
    Benjamin Franklin Anding (Neighbor) ~ Calvin Blue (Neighbor) ~ Luther Blue (Neighbor)
    Daniel Buie, Jr. (Mary's Son) ~ John M. Buie (Mary's Son) ~ Pleasant Hemphill (Former Overseer)
    James P. McMillan (Neighbor) ~ Alex Roundtree (Former Slave) ~ Charles Roundtree (Former Slave)

    SUMMARIES OF CASE
    United States' Brief of Loyalty
    The Buie's Reply to United States' Brief of Loyalty

    Sources

    NARA - Record Group 123 - United States Court of Claims - Congressional Jurisdiction - Southern Claim File of Mary Buie - Case # 2568

    1862 Inventory and Appraisement of Daniel Buie's Slaves

    Slave Narrative of Joe Bouy, a Slave of Daniel Buie

    1860 Copiah County Slave Schedule

    Remembering Their Names