When the answer is right there…
For heaven’s sake, look at the law! Fair warning: The Legal Genealogist is on a rant. No matter how many times I make one key point, it seems that way too many genealogists just don’t get it. That point: if we want to understand the records, we have got to...Happy Constitution Day!
On 17 September 1787… They are words for the ages. They begin: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the...The 31st state
Recording California The Preamble was short and sweet: Whereas the people of California have presented a constitution and asked admission into the Union, which constitution was submitted to Congress by the President of the United States, by message dated February...Same not same
A isn’t always A The age of consent isn’t the same thing as the age of consent. Really. Yes, The Legal Genealogist knows that’s confusing. So let’s try to untangle it. The issue came up yesterday on Facebook where the question was the ages of...Telling the whole story
From 1861 to…? It’s a story that began 160 years ago today. It was the 15th of April 1861 when newly-inaugurated President Abraham Lincoln signed a proclamation: WHEREAS the laws of the United States have been, for some time past, and are now opposed, and...Patently fascinating
A patent war anniversary He was a journeyman machinist in poor health, whose wife was taking in sewing to help support the family. And he wanted to make things easier for her. So Elias Howe, Jr., of Cambridge, Massachusetts, came up with a design that was the first...More on dower
Some nuances this time In The Legal Genealogist’s experience, it never fails. Answer one reader question with basic information, and the “well, what about…” questions come rolling in. You’d think I’d have learned by now to add in some of the...Tarheel dower
Researching dower in North Carolina Reader Marcia is puzzled. “I have been doing family history in North Carolina and dealing with Dower and other goodies,” she writes. “When she got the land as a dower right did the widow own it outright?” Great question, because a...Doing as he was told
Thank you, Phoebe King Ensminger Burn It was 100 years ago today that Harry T. Burn did what he was told. He listened to his mama. And the result of doing that simple thing was historic in every sense of that word. It was precisely 100 years ago today that Harry T....Subscribe by Email
