Published: June 29, 2009 05:06 pm      

FINDING YOUR FAMILY: More courthouse work and sources

There were no adoptions in the U.S. until 1851, before which many children were placed by churches, local governments and families in the homes of others willing to at least see to their food and room in exchange for some measure of work. Massachusetts was the first to set standards concerning such legal devices, calling those adoptions. The balance of the country – state by state – followed their lead. There are myriad Web sites generally dedicated to adoption and attendant problems; Google [uoregon.edu adoption project] Or search for adoptions on a state-by-state basis, Google [adoption Indiana law history] or [adopting children in KY history].

The facts that in our nation there were no divorces as we know them until 1912 and no adoptions till 1851 illustrate again that "History is like a foreign country; they do things differently there." So, leave at home what you think is “common sense” and what you think you “know” about people. Your ancestors were very different from you in many ways and in rules of daily life.

Baptisms records in counties are many in numbers and usually will be found in alphabetical order in the names of the fathers, heads of households or adopting person(s). We know that genealogy, like politics, is local and is about “where.” In matters of adoptions and location of birth parents or adoptees, their “where” is even more critical than in some other searches.

Baptisms (christenings, etc.) usually are associated with churches, [child baptisms records "Corydon Indiana"], perhaps [Methodist religious baptisms Cincinnati Ohio] or [Early Catholic Baptism records Michigan]. Churches, even those disbanded, are not hard to find in local records, and virtually every local society has files or information as to where Christenings/Baptism records might be found. Google [Clinton County KY society baptisms] or generally Google [Norfolk county VA genealogy homepage].

Don’t forget to search both that state’s archives and those of religious disciplines, there seeking the same information you sought in the counties, e.g., Google, [Georgia State Archives adoptions history] or try [Evangelical congregations WV history]. Be inventive; try different words to find records of any city or state. Any city may have a place of the same name in another State. So, Google the name of city and State with quote marks, e.g., for common names of cities, such as Columbus, search for that name and the state together, in quotes. Google [“Madison county KY" birth records] and there you will find about 2,500 entries, but notice that if you leave off the quote marks and Google [Madison County KY birth records], you will find thousands of entries.

Your ancestors usually were buried in cemeteries, most with headstones. You need to find those. There are zillions of such records available; very few are on the pay-for sites. So, you must go to the “where” counties. Examine [FamilySearch.com] and [Cindy’s List] where many cemeteries are listed by state, county and area. After that, move to the where websites, e.g., Google [“Davidson County TN" cemeteries]; there are 82,400 entries! Then search the local society cemetery list, e.g., [“Davidson County TN" genealogy society cemeteries] where you will find another 528. Though some cemeteries will be on both lists, some will NOT, and those are important to you.

We suggest that you try to gain photos of cemeteries where some of your family rest; local societies often have or will take such photos for you. Then too, try to gain a short history of that cemetery. A very high percentage of folks were buried in a cemetery that once was near a church; many of those folks were members or attendants of those churches. So, again, examine the records of religious disciplines of that group.

Next time, we will consider charity organizations, facilities for children (“homes”), “poor houses,” “veteran’s homes,” “county farms," “foster homes,” etc., and examine still more important church records.