Category: Courthouse

Holes in History: Courthouse Catastrophes Premium

Major, record-destroying fires have likely impacted your ancestry search. We’ll help you raise your family tree from the ashes of these disasters. In this section of our 4 part series, we're discussing courthouse fires.

Little-Known Courthouse Records: My Ancestor’s Mechanic’s Lien

Genealogists researching old court records generally expect to find records like deeds, probate files and trial proceedings. In our Courthouse Research Made Easy Family Tree University course (running May 23-June 27), you'll learn about these and other, lesser-known, ancestor records you can find at the courthouse. I was lucky to...

Genealogy Research at the Courthouse: When Your Ancestor’s Old Record is Missing

So you send a request for your ancestor's divorce or deed or criminal trial or other old record to the courthouse that should have it—or you go to that courthouse—and the record isn't there. This happened to me when I requested case records of my great-grandfather's 1913 trial for...

33 Types of Old County Court Records to Search for Your Ancestors

County courthouses are full of obscure and informative old records about long-ago residents of an area, and sometimes it takes a lot of digging to find them. Family Tree University's upcoming Court Records 101 course can help you dig in the right places to find the genealogy records you...

10 Tips for Researching Genealogy in Court Records

I'm pretty excited about our new Mastering Genealogy Research in Court Records course from Family Tree University. I've found this to be one of the most intimidating areas of genealogy research, but also one of the most rewarding—my court records finds have included an ancestral divorce filing in Texas and...

How to Get the Most Out of Your Ancestor’s Court Records Premium

Every detail in your ancestor's court records can provide a lead to another genealogy resource. Our example shows you how this can work.

Free 10 Essential Genealogy Research Forms

A Guide to Genealogy Research in Courthouse Records Premium

The county courthouse can be both a fortress of confusion and a gold mine of genealogy. Arm yourself with knowledge—and a plan of attack—to win your research battles.