After decades of research, I finally know how Giles Holt acquired my ancestor Malinda. This is thanks to the transformative power of FamilySearch’s Full-Text Search. I hope you are using it. Using FamilySearch Full-Text Search There’s no doubt that most genealogists have heard about this new tool, but I know that not everyone has tried […]
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Category: Court Records
The Value of Court Records
Court records can expand our family research in unexpected ways. We often spend decades of our lives researching our roots and only pension records come close to the amazing finds I’ve had in the many records of the court. Here’s a great example of how doing reasonably exhaustive research (which includes relevant court records at […]
Supreme Court Records
Court Records have been a favorite source of mine for many years. Several of my earliest lectures focused on using this source, and recently I created a Beginner’s Guide to Court Records to introduce new researchers to their use. Many of the richest records that mention our ancestors are found in the records of the […]
Free Blacks and Re-Enslavement
Free blacks, those freed before 1865 in the United States, lived under great suspicion and often under onerous state restrictions. Especially in the places where their numbers were relatively large (i.e., Upper South states of Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and North Carolina), slaveholders properly viewed them as a threat to the ideology of white supremacy. A […]
Slaves in Pre-Marital Agreements
In our search for ancestors who were once slaves, let’s not forget that they were often named in pre-marital agreements. This is one record that is often neglected in our research. I have mentioned before the need to research the slaveholder’s wife, since we know that this was often how men gained ownership of slaves. […]
Who’s Your Daddy? Bastardy Records
One of the hidden gems inside court records are the aptly named “Bastardy Bonds.” These records, like much in genealogy, are another reminder that human behavior hasn’t changed much. Anything that happens now also happened in the past. Children born out of wedlock, like today, was a common occurrence. People also had kids with other people while […]
A Walk Through County Court Minutes
Have you ventured into the waters of county court records yet? I am a big fan of court records. Today, I’d like to show you what you can find in these records. As I’ve mentioned before, court records are an intermediate/advanced resource. I wouldn’t recommend them for beginners because of their complexity. It’s better […]
Finding the Garrard Slaveholder
Finding the Garrard slaveowner for my great-grandmother Mary Garrett is a fascinating case for study. She married John Wesley Holt and they settled in Hardin County, TN and raised a large family. Mary was from neighboring Decatur County. Her mother’s death certificate (also named Mary) identified her parents as Mason and Rachel Garrett. The 1870/1880 […]
Criminals In The Family
Every family tree has its share of criminals, vagabonds, shysters, thieves, polygamists, deserters, roughnecks, liars and cheats. While lots of things change, human behavior doesn’t. Joseph Harbour One of my shadier ancestors was Joseph Harbour, my 4th great grandfather. He was born in September 1852 in Hardin County, Tennessee. In the early years of my research, […]
Alabama Convict Records
Recently, an interesting set of records appeared on Ancestry: “Alabama Convict Records, 1886-1952.” I lecture on court records, so these types of records always get my attention. If you watched “Slavery By Another Name” which aired on PBS in February, these records will be familiar. You can watch the whole episode online. I highly also […]