Family History Tips—Part 33

The Genealogical Road Trip Continues: Researching Courthouse Records

by Brenna Corbit, Technical Services Librarian

On today’s road trip, I am going to introduce you to a treasure trove of information within county courthouses. While some of these records are available on courthouse or family history databases, most records have yet to be digitized for internet research. Instead, these records reside in the vast recesses of courthouses in the forms of behemothian ledgers, miles of microfilms, and endless rows of filing cabinets. 

Rows of large ledgers in courthouse storage area

I am not an expert on information available in courthouses, nor the complex legalese of its records, but I do know a few things to get around. The scope of this article is brief. So I highly recommend Courthouse Research for Family Historians: Your Guide to Genealogical Treasures by Christine Rose available in our Yocum Library genealogy section. Each courthouse is a bit different, but the usual departments and their holdings are as follows: 

Register of Wills AKA Orphans’ Court

• Wills, probate and administration records—Many online digital images may include only wills, but the entire packet of probate records (the legal processing of an estate) and administration records (an estate left without a will) will be there. These are far more informative than a copy of a will and can consist of a mere few items to hundreds of pages. This is where you can really delve into some of the stories of your ancestors, including the good, the bad, and the ugly. 
• Vital records—Before individual states overtook the keeping of births and deaths around 1905, courthouses kept track of these in the mid-1800s and again from the later 1800s to about 1905. 
• Marriage records—While some online sources have only marriage certificates, which give just the names of the bride and groom and time and place of marriage, the applications are so much better. These include age, place of birth, parents, residence, occupation, and previous marriages. So be sure to request the applications. 
• Adoptions—Most of these records are private, but some limited earlier records are available. My great grandmother’s adoption papers from the 1890s were available in the Dauphin County, Pennsylvania courthouse, but the names of her parents were not included. Nonetheless, the papers were quite informative. Good luck on this one, though. 

Register of Deeds

• Deeds and land records—Deeds often include information from wills when a will is not available or is lost. Also, besides telling who purchased what and where, they include purchasers’ residences, and their occupations. For example, the beginning of a typical deed would read, “John Schumaker of the Borough Reading Berks County and the State of Pennsylvania and Ann his wife of the one part and William Porr of the Borough of Reading Berks County and State aforesaid Taylor of the other part. . ..” I have often seen deeds of a Berks County land purchase, for example, where one party was from another county and/or state. Occupations, spouses, and residences are often good clues for identifying and locating a person. 

Prothonotary

• Non-criminal court transactions—These would include divorces, business dealings, name changes and more—good juicy information to add to your family history! 
• Immigration and naturalizations—Like vital records, earlier records were kept in courthouses before state and regional U. S. offices took over. These are not as detailed as the later records, but still worth viewing. 

A few tips about exploring records in courthouses:

• Be sure the records you are seeking are there. Sometimes older records are housed in county and state archives or historical societies. More on that later. A clerk in the courthouse or the county website will be able to direct you to what is available. 
• Call ahead to be sure the records room will be opened. Some are opened on a limited schedule. 
• Ask about copying fees. You may have to take a lot of change. 
• Before going, see if the courthouse has an online index. A few do, which is a time-saver in the courthouse. Otherwise, you will have to use the index books available onsite. 
• As for indexing, county courts are notorious for using some of the most bizarre indexing systems, so do not hesitate to ask for assistance. If you care to delve into that world FamilySearch has a guide. 
• Some ledgers are quite heavy. I am not kidding when I said they are behemoth volumes. If you have a bad back like me, ask someone to help you carry them to a table. 
• If you carry a weapon, leave it at home. It is such a problem, and you will have to fill out a form and leave it in a drawer at the security station. I carry a penknife and leave it in the car. I once had a screwdriver and a tin whistle held. I asked why they held my flute and they said it could be used as a weapon. I promised I would not play it—they didn’t laugh. Well, I thought it was funny. 
• Take a notebook and pencil, not a pen, since the latter is usually not permitted in archival areas. 
• Ask permission before taking photos of records. Some places charge for photos. 
• While many places do not require archival gloves, I suggest taking a pair. The records are often quite fragile, so help preserve them even if the office does not seem concerned. 
• Some clerks are not too fond of you always asking for records. No matter how unpleasant they are, they control the records, so always be courteous. 

Next week we will continue this road trip as we explore the records housed in historical/genealogical societies and archival centers.