“The first thing we do…”
Licensing the lawyers Here’s a true or false question for you: In 1646, if your ancestor was involved in a lawsuit in Virginia, he could hire a lawyer to represent him in court. True or false? This isn’t a trick question based on the fact that there...Copyright and the republished work
Republishing and the public domain Reader Tim Campbell, a Canadian, is struggling to understand what the copyright implications are when an older work is incorporated into a newer work. The scenario he’s specifically looking at is this: • A Canadian author wrote...The transported child
Forced removals to America Reader Nonna Good came across a reference and just couldn’t believe it. So she asked for clarification. “Could a child aged 6 be sent as an unaccompanied child in bondage in the 1700s from England?” she asked. “And that’s exactly...Beating the Irish odds
A win for the Irish tenant farmer Reader Robert Kirk is closing in on Samuel Kirk of County Cavan, Ireland, as a possible second great grandfather. And in gathering information about the man, he came across a news report of a lawsuit in which Samuel Kirk was involved,...One man and the Mann Act
An interstate crime of love It was a horrible crime, addressed by a strict statute. The crime: white slavery. The statute: the Mann Act. Passed by Congress in 1910, it outlawed the interstate and international transportation of “any woman or girl for the purpose of...How white was white enough?
Race and the naturalization law If your family is anything like that of The Legal Genealogist, you have ancestors who traveled here in the 19th or even 20th centuries. They were escaping a wide range of conditions in their native lands: oppression; war; poverty; even...The pernicious habit
An habitual inebriate She’d been a belle of the Confederacy, without any doubt. She was the child of southern privilege, who continued a life of relative ease even during and after the Civil War. It’s that combination that most likely killed her. And...Christmas and the law
The holiday under the law The Legal Genealogist hopes you enjoyed your day off yesterday. And if you didn’t have yesterday off — you folks of the fire, police, rescue, medical and other essential services — that you enjoyed a little extra pay in your...Public places
Noticing the law The place was Lee County, in northwestern Illinois. Formed in 1839 from Ogle County1 and named for Lighthorse Harry Lee of the Revolutionary War.2 Population between 1910 and 1920, just about 28,000 people. And the county seat of Dixon was the boyhood...Subscribe by Email
