All Tuckered out with Virginia law
Getting it on with the common law He was, the Colonial Williamsburg website says, “a man of parts.” That’s a pretty good description of a man who was, in his lifetime, a “lawyer, trader, inventor, scholar, professor, judge, essayist, poet, gardener, (and)...Order in Virginia courts
Doubling down on the records Reader Steven Morrison worked hard to find an answer — but didn’t come up with a good explanation for a perplexing question: What in the world was meant by the use of the term “order books” for some early Virginia court...Meanwhile in Lancaster County
A resource for Pennsylvania’s fourth county It was formed in 1729 from Chester County, Pennsylvania, the fourth county ever created in Pennsylvania, because of concerns of residents that “thieves, vagabonds, and ill people” had infested the rural areas —...A New York State of laws
Kudos to The Advancing Genealogist Once upon a time there was a terrific website called Manhattan Past that had collected links to many of the New York State (and colonial) laws that genealogists might need to use. Alas, as of last fall, that website had apparently...International legal rabbit holes
Private laws elsewhere It rarely fails. The Legal Genealogist hardly finishes a blog post without the inevitable inquiry… the question that should have been anticipated. Yesterday’s blog about private laws1 was no exception. Almost immediately, a friend...Down the legal rabbit holes
Go ahead… read those laws So… The Legal Genealogist is poking around some late 18th century and early 19th century Massachusetts statutes to try to get an answer to a reader question. The answer is taking more time than expected… and it isn’t...The business of genealogy
Looking at corporate history It was 167 years ago today that two men joined forces in New York City to start a new business designed to serve the needs of a growing nation in the wake of the California Gold Rush. Their names: Henry Wells. William G. Fargo. Yes, that...Drawing the lines
When county borders get fuzzy As genealogists we all know how counties are created, right? The legislature of the appropriate jurisdiction — colony, territory or state — passes a law creating the new county and setting out its borders. Kind of like what...Linking the Alabama Constitutions
The woes of web writers Years ago, The Legal Genealogist carefully researched and wrote up a long piece on the six — count ’em — six constitutions that Alabama has had in its closing-in-on-200 years of history. Yep. Alabama celebrates its...Subscribe by Email
