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Get to the Courthouse: Three Southern Records You Should Be Searching

April 9, 2015 by Legacy Tree Genealogists 6 Comments

If you’ve hit a brick wall in extending your Southern family history, try searching these three types of Southern genealogy records.

Southern RecordsDoing research in the United States pre-1850 can be challenging anywhere, since the colonial and early federal period across the nation generally affords genealogists fewer record types with much less biographical information and variety than later eras, but the South is notoriously even harder to research than other parts of the country.

Common Obstacles with Southern U.S. Genealogy Research

What makes Southern U.S. genealogy research notoriously difficult? First, the South has always been far more agrarian, isolated, and independent in nature than its northern counterpart. Thus, there were few cities and almost none of the vital record-keeping that occurred in New England, for example. With such great distance between communities, it could also be expensive and time-consuming to travel just for the purpose of recording an event like a marriage. In some cases, young couples simply relied on the circuit-riding minister to come around and didn’t bother to register their wedding with the civil authorities. In some areas within Catholic French Louisiana, parish priests were so sparse that they would only get a visit from their religious leader every decade or so!

The second – and perhaps most impactful – reason for the dearth of Southern records is the high rate of disaster and destruction, both natural and man-made. Floods, fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, humidity, and insects could erase a courthouse or church’s collection in no time. Then there’s the Civil War and other frontier conflicts. The South sustained a much higher rate of devastation as a result of the war than the North did, and its records often paid the price.

These are important facts to keep in mind when researching Southern ancestors. However, though these things make it more difficult, it doesn’t have to be impossible. Most people who have performed any substantial Southern research are aware that you must rely heavily on records such as land, tax, and probate. Additionally, mysteries are most likely to be solved by stacking pieces of indirect evidence. Seldom is there a “smoking gun” answering that brick wall question.

Although most are not yet fully online and are rarely indexed, those land, tax, and other records are usually accessible on microfilm at the Family History Library, or they can be searched onsite at the location where they are housed. But what do you do when even those hours at the microfilm reader poring over land transactions in Georgia still doesn’t yield the answer?

Consider that you may not have actually searched everything! In many cases, the answer lies within the court system.

There are three particular key court-created records that are not yet as easily available for most Southern areas. They are not online, and sometimes not even held in the Family History Library’s vast collections. In fact, they tend to be still gathering dust on a courthouse shelf in the county of your ancestors, requiring an old-school phone call to the local clerk – or perhaps hiring an onsite genealogist to perform a lookup (which is something Legacy Tree can help you with, in case you were wondering).

1. Civil and Criminal Case Records

These records can be quite beneficial should your ancestor ever have had his day in court – and many did. Property disputes, lawsuits, guardianship, appointments to government office, and licenses for various activities are just some of the varied types of legal documents to be found. Learn more about court records and how to use them here.

2. Certain Probate Documents

True, sometimes administrations, inventories, and partitions of property can be found online or in the FHL, but not always. The biggest focus is typically on wills, but many of our ancestors did not leave one of those fortunate documents. What is not always commonly known is that just because there isn’t a will doesn’t mean that there is no record of the division of a person’s estate. These probate documents can name relatives, neighbors, minor children, and creditors; they’ll allow you to narrow down the date of death for the ancestor, and to gain insight into his or her financial affairs and socioeconomic status.

3. Divorce Records

Divorce was rare in early U.S. history, particularly in the South, but that doesn’t mean that it never happened, and we must always be careful to exercise caution in assuming that the end of a marriage was always caused by death. Though marriage records are easily accessible in most places, divorce proceedings have not followed suit. But in a region and era with so few opportunities for finding exact dates and whole family units, divorce records can be a goldmine. Their level of specificity can vary from place to place, but most will at least give the original date of marriage, name of the parties involved, and any children or property to be decided upon.

Good genealogists do their best to perform reasonably exhaustive searches. In the case of Southern brick wall problems, don’t be afraid to dig deeper and expend a little more effort in less-accessible records. It usually won’t be quick or easy, but let the potential reward of solving the seemingly unsolvable puzzle serve as motivation!

If you are interested in searching for your ancestors in hard-to-reach court documents, consider allowing Legacy Tree Genealogists’ staff of experienced researchers help you. Get started by requesting your free quote!

 

If you've hit a brick wall in extending your Southern family history, try searching these three types of Southern genealogy records.
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Legacy Tree Genealogists

Legacy Tree Genealogists

The team at Legacy Tree Genealogists has been helping clients worldwide discover their roots for over a decade. We're based near the world's largest Family History Library and connected with genealogists and archives around the world, and we love doing what we do! We also love sharing our genealogy tips with our readers.
Legacy Tree Genealogists

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Filed Under: Court Records, Land Records, United States Tagged With: court records, family history, genealogy, genealogy brick walls, land records, Southern U.S. research, United States

Previous article: Poisoned Pies and the Civil War
Next article: Where Do I Come From? The Joys of Genealogy

Comments

  1. Allison McCord says

    April 13, 2015 at 8:07 am

    Those are three excellent sources to consider when researching a case in the South. Adding these to a reasonably exhaustive search for records would certainly be a challenge, but well worth it in the end when more facts are discovered. Thanks for a great article.

    Reply
  2. Duane Reynolds says

    April 13, 2015 at 4:55 pm

    And then there is always the “somebody borrowed that book from the courthouse and never brought it back! Said they were going down the road to find a working copier’ . Oops sometimes the people watching over it just don’t realize how valuable it is.

    Reply
    • Jessica - Legacy Tree Genealogists President says

      April 13, 2015 at 8:23 pm

      Yes, truly a tragedy when that happens.

      Reply
    • Beatrice Barton says

      April 15, 2015 at 2:26 pm

      Then there’s my ancestors problem: The county courthouse burned down to the ground in 1900. I’ve visited that courthouse, Franklin County, Alabama, and there are no records before that time. A total loss.
      All I have are census records. Boo Hoo

      Reply
      • Jessica - Legacy Tree Genealogists President says

        April 15, 2015 at 2:45 pm

        Such a tragedy. It can be possible to extend ancestry in spite of this but it’s much more difficult. You may have already checked, but there are some complementary resources listed at https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Franklin_County,_Alabama_Genealogy.

        Reply
        • Barry Sheldon says

          March 22, 2016 at 5:14 am

          Nice call Jessica

          Reply

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