Legislation of 1887 required the county judge in each county to appoint three persons to administer the county indigent soldiers' fund and to be known as the soldiers' relief commission. The assistance granted was similar to poor relief. The 1887 law provided that the soldiers' relief fund was to be used for the benefit of indigent Union soldiers, sailors, and marines who had served in the Civil War and their indigent wives, widows, and minor children. In 1891, indigent parents were granted aid under certain circumstances. A law of 1903 made Union army nurses eligible. Since 1911 aid was expanded to any veteran who rendered military service in time of war and their families.
The Commission's function of providing aid is documented in the cancellation books which list the date of the certificate for aid, under whose name the aid was granted, his/her town or city, name of person paid, and amount. The claims provide more information about what the certificate was used for and sometimes letters from those detailing their circumstances and requesting aid. Annual reports consist of a narrative summarizing the year's activity and summary financial information. Although created to comply with state statutes regarding each town's financial expenditure to maintain soldier's graves, the soldiers' graves reports serve as a survey of veterans buried in county cemeteries as of 1972. These soldiers fought in conflicts from the Mexican War to the Vietnam War.
