Beginning Genealogy Lesson #31
Courthouse Research
DearREADERS,
You don't need to be a lawyer to benefit from searching the records at the courthouse near the ancestral home of your progenitors. Your
progenitor didn't have to be a criminal or even a wealthy merchant for records
of his activities to show up in courthouse files. Whether your research takes you to Arkansas, Virginia or England, states and civilized countries
usually maintain court records which prove useful to genealogists.
|
Remember, courthouse records
were originally created to document legal actions,
not to chronicle family history. |
The types of courthouse records will vary according to the mandates of
the particular governmental jurisdiction and your ancestor's point in time. This means as researchers we must acquaint ourselves with the name of the local courts and their assigned responsibilities. For instance, a will might be found in the probate court in a state in the US, but the Prerogative Court of Canterbury is a source of
many wills in England. Notice that although the responsibility to probate estates is the same, the name of the
court is different from locality to locality. There are also differing
laws which govern the right of inheritance, etc. You're going to become an
expert in these matters if you are to decipher the clues where heirs received
1/3 of a quarter portion of the estate.
How can you best orient yourself to the local court system?
Check basic genealogy reference works books such as:
FBentley,
Elizabeth. County Courthouse Book. County Courthouse Book. 2nd Edition.
405 pp., (1995), 1996. ISBN 0806314850.
www.GenealogyBookShop.com
From the publisher: "This is
a complete overhaul of the 1990 classic, featuring updated coverage of 3,125
county jurisdictions and 1,577 New England towns and independent Virginia
cities, details of the 18 Vermont probate districts, 9 Massachusetts
districts, and 12 Connecticut judicial districts, plus informative state
profiles and cross-references to name changes and extinct towns and counties.
Based on her written survey of county courthouses and other
jurisdictions, Mrs. Bentley here presents the names, addresses, phone numbers,
and dates of organization of all county courthouses, and for those that
responded (65 percent), a concise summary of record holdings, personnel, and
services. Besides its obvious genealogical uses, the County
Courthouse Book can also be used for land title searches, legal
investigations, questions of property rights and inheritance, and indeed for
personal searches and investigations of all kinds. But it is the genealogist
who stands to benefit most from the book because it offers a concise guide to
the county courthouses and courthouse records which are the main focus of his
research. Just the book he's always needed!"
FLDS Family History
Library. SourceGuide. See http://www.familysearch.org/sg
These
online printable research outlines
are designed to help you find records about your ancestors. For
instance, in the research outline for the state of Louisiana we locate an
informative chart which explains the various courts from 1679 through the
present including:
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Conseil Superieur, or the French
Superior Council
-
Spanish cabild
-
District Courts
-
Parish Courts
-
The Supreme Court - described as
"The Supreme court is a statewide court located in New Orleans,
which has records of appeals from inferior courts. It was originally
created in 1804 as the Superior Court. Supreme Court records are at the
Division of Archives, Records Management, and History."
To find out more about these SourceGuide
research outlines, see DearMYRTLE's Step-By-Step Lesson #1 "Become
Aware of Available Records" located at: http://www.dearmyrtle.com/00/sbs1.htm
Using the LDS Family History Library Catalog
From a practical point of view, perhaps the easiest way to quickly orient yourself to what's available, use the LDS Family History Library Catalog (FHLC) available on CD-ROM and fiche at local LDS Family History
Centers, and searchable online at: http://www.familysearch.org/Search/searchcatalog.asp
When you look in the locality section of the FHLC and then look at the topics available at the township, county or country level, you'll run across the topic COURT RECORDS. The available microfilm will be listed, with descriptions and listings for the time period covered on each roll. Viewing court records on microfilm can save you time and money you would have to spend traveling to all the little courthouses throughout the country tracing your ancestry.
Don't get me wrong -- the LDS Family History Library doesn't have it all by
any means. I'm simply saying that you can save research dollars by
viewing the microfilm wherever possible. Reserve your letters or visits to
court clerks for those areas and time periods not yet available on microfilm.
These more commonly used court records include:
wills & probate records
guardianships
land records
oaths of allegiance
naturalization
claims and equity cases
Less commonly used court records include:
criminal proceedings
name changes
adoption records
military court martial
Admiralty court records
court minutes, dockets
Indexes May Be Available
Often in the FHLC you'll find a printed index to the court records, usually available in book format. Though the main FHLibrary does not circulate books to local FHCenters, you can perhaps find the book in a nearby public library or through inter-library loan.
There may be an online searchable index for court records in the locality where your ancestor once lived. This area of the internet is expanding rapidly. The following resources might provide clues:
Ancestry.com's Searchable Databases
http://www.ancestry.com/search.htm
Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites
http://www.cyndislist.com
US GenWeb Project
http://www.usgenweb.com
Indexes in Progress
Many early courthouse record collections were "indexed in progress." This is my little name for the loosely alphabetical cross-reference index pages created at the time the case was processed. Here's how it works:
1. The local clerk receives a new empty book to record all wills.
2. The clerk creates index pages by labeling each of the first 26 pages of the book with a letter of the alphabet.
3. As the clerk enters the first will on page 25 of the book, perhaps for John Smith, he also enters the name of the testator on the "S" page of the index, indicating page 25 as the location of the actual will.
4. In this manner a chronological listing of all wills filed by people whose last names begin with the letter "S" will develop on this index page, etc.
5. Note that since the letter "S" is popular, any overflow might be carried to a less popular index page, such as the one designated "Q." Genealogists are wise to search the entire set of "index in progress" pages to ensure they will find listings for their ancestors.
Why use courthouse records?
In researching my step-mother's line, I found the will of her grandfather. At least I hoped it was her grandfather! We were most fortunate, because the gentleman did as was customary by listing his heirs by
name, but went even step further. In the case of his son, who eventually became the father of my step-mother, the will mentioned
"my son Edward Bethel Jackson, who moved to Seattle..." Indeed, we knew Edward had broken the mold and moved from the eastern seaboard to the Seattle area where my step-mother was born. The will of her grandfather
confirmed the father-son relationship.
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Proof of relationships is what we hope to gain by reviewing courthouse records.
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For Further
Reading:
Baxter,
Angus. In Search of Your British & Irish Roots. 320 pp.,
Indexed. (1994), 1999. ISBN080631611X. www.genealogybookshop.com
_______. In Search of Your
European Roots. 304 pp., (1994), 1999. ISBN 080631446X.
www.genealogybookshop.com
_______.
In Search of Your Canadian Roots.
(3rd Edition) 400 pp., Indexed. (1994), 2000. ISBN 0806316268. www.genealogybookshop.com
Colletta,
John Philip . Finding Italian Roots:
The Complete Guide for Americans.
(1993) ISBN: 0806313935 www.genealogybookshop.com
Cerny, Johni & Elliot, Wendy, The Library: A Guide to the LDS Family History Library. 1988, Ancestry Publishing.
www.ancestry.com
Eichholz,
Alice. Ancestry's Red Book: American
State, County, and Town Sources.
858 pps. Rev edition (1992) ISBN: 0916489477. www.ancestry.com
Everton, Lee, editor.
Everton’s Handybook for Genealogists.
9th Edition. 619 pp. (1999) ISBN: 1890895032. www.everton.com
Filby,
P. William. Bibliography
of American County Histories.
449 pp., (1985), 1987. ISBN 0806311266. www.genealogybookshop.com
Greenwood,
Val D. The Researcher's Guide to
American Genealogy.
3rd ed. 676 pp. (2000) ISBN 0806316217. www.genealogybookshop.com
Meyerink,
Kory, editor.
Printed Sources : A Guide to
Published Genealogical Records.
800 pp., (1998) ISBN: 0916489701 www.ancestry.com
Ryan,
James G. Irish Records : Sources for Family and Local History.
860 pp. ISBN: 0916489760 www.ancestry.com
Schaefer,
Christina K. Genealogical Encyclopedia
of the Colonial Americas.
830 pp., Indexed. Illus. 1998. ISBN 0806315768. www.genealogybookshop.com
Szucs, Loretto & Luebking,
Sandra, The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy, Revised Edition, 1996, Ancestry Publishing.
www.ancestry.com
Myrt :)
DearMYRTLE,
Daily Genealogy Columnist
AOL Keyword: gf, roots or myrtle
www.DearMYRTLE.com
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