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Homesteading, Peach State style
The pony homesteads Tucked away in the records of Elbert County, Georgia, are some of the neatest genealogical records imaginable. In them, you can find that, in January 1874, Garnett Adams was the...
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A Michigan mystery
Primary School Lands In June of 1883, the administrator of the estate of George Arlt, deceased, reported to the Probate Court for the County of Presque Isle, Michigan, that he had been successful in...
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Thanks, but no thanks
The election When Alexander J. Taylor died in Kent County, Delaware, in September 1881, he left everything — everything — to his widow, Wilhelmina W. Taylor. He left her in charge of his estate. He...
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The “I’ll show YOU” State!
Missouri’s bad boys statute So the genealogical world — or at least the United States contingent — descends in force on St. Charles, Missouri, this week for the 2015 conference of the National...
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Let the river run
Missouri law and the rivers Let the river run Let all the dreamers Wake the nation – Carly Simon – Let The River Run. It seems like the whole genealogical world has converged on St. Charles, Missouri,...
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A double win
Military naturalizations It’s a single volume in the records of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Volume 122, it is, of the naturalization records of the court.1...
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Unsettled and unsettling laws
South Carolina’s Vagrant Act So… the South lost the Civil War, the Union marched its troops in, the slaves were freed, the freedmen and women were given equal treatment under the law, and everything...
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Keeping the Sabbath Day
Thou shalt not It was a perfectly ordinary business deal, in Vermont in October of 1830. A man named Lyons bought a horse from a man named Strong. Lyons had ridden and tried the mare out, and Strong...
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The foul story
Or fowl, really There it is, in black and white. Set out in the Texas statutes of 1879. So The Legal Genealogist is off today on another road trip… starting off in the Lone Star State of Texas…...
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“Liable for training”
Draft ages in World War II Reader Sarah is struggling to track some key dates that may well be important for folks who want to research the young men of their families in the World War II era. She...
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Liars, laws and divorce
The Show Me State and divorce Yeah, actually, The Legal Genealogist really was poking around in old statute books again last night. Today is the official kickoff of the 2015 Annual Conference of the...
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Washington’s session laws
NWGC bound So it’s going to be Washington State for The Legal Genealogist later this week, at the Northwest Genealogy Conference 2015 in Arlington. Today, Tuesday the 11th of August, is the last day to...
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The exceptional elector
One unexpected exception We all know what it took for an ancestor to be eligible to vote. It doesn’t matter if it’s The Legal Genealogist‘s southern ancestors, or the ancestors of folks who are here in...
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Alaska’s Oregonian law
The laws of Alaska As The Legal Genealogist prepares for the Federation of Genealogical Society cruise to Alaska starting later this week, it’s clear that folks with roots in Alaska sometimes think...
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Law in the Empire State
Finding New York statutes Tomorrow will see the start of three days of genealogy in upstate New York — Syracuse, to be precise. It’s the 2015 New York State Family History Conference, co-sponsored by...
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Reprise: reversion of dower
Dower and reversion and merger, oh my! Because The Legal Genealogist is headed off to Detroit later this week for the amazing free Family History Festival at the Detroit Public Library, Michigan is...
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Laws of the Great Lakes State
Michigan’s historic laws In case you hadn’t noticed, The Legal Genealogist looooooooves HathiTrust. It’s “a partnership of major research institutions and libraries working to ensure that the cultural...
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Records lost and found
What really was lost in 1897 Given The Legal Genealogist‘s deep German roots (my father was born in Germany and emigrated as a child), it’s always a pleasure to speak to the German Genealogy Group in...
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Idle talk in Tennessee
The Police Blotter In the first week of October 1858, some 48 men and women were arrested in the City of Memphis, Tennessee, and their names and their alleged offenses carefully inscribed into the...
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Turf protection, 19th century style
Oh, no, you don’t! There is a concept in licensing law called reciprocity. In the law generally, it means “mutuality. The term is used in international law to denote the relation existing between two...
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