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Ancestors Hidden in the Statutes:
Easy Ways to Find Ancestors By Name and
Laws Affecting the Records They Leave

Tips on using local, state and Federal statutes (laws) and where to find the information. Case studies demonstrate use of all three levels of statutes or codes and the information they may provide about your ancestors.


The information below is from the handout for this lecture and is periodically updated as new links to historical statutes are found. The links were last tested in April 2009. If broken links are found (probably due to a Web site being moved or reorganized) the new URLs may be found by going to Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute and checking for updated links. An online search for the name of a state followed by the word statutes will find most sites.

If you know of links not shown here please let us know and we will update the table.

Useful links for statutes and historical legal information:

• http://www.law.cornell.edu/statutes.html - Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute links to Constitutions, Statutes and Codes
  1. Primarily geared to current legislative acts but may find historical info on some state sites also
  2. Links to law and state university libraries often have historical research guides and links to other pages
  3. State pages often have links to county and city or town pages
• http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon.htm - The Avalon Project at Yale Law School; Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy (122BC to present, World wide docs)
  1. Code of Hammurabi
  2. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
  3. Capitulary of Charlemagne Issued in the Year 802
  4. Charters for New World Colonies
• http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lawhome.html - U.S. Library of Congress, American Memory Project: A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation (1774- 1875)
• http://www.findlaw.com/ - Findlaw - 1893-present archive of Supreme Court cases
• http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/rare/index.html - Tarlton Law Library Rare Books and Special Collections - Excellent guide to online legal history sources on the Internet and archival collections.
• Check Check Google Books for books on laws, statutes, and legislation

Cautions and Notes

Some of the historical statutes were scanned then Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software was used to translate the images back to text to be used in the search engines. OCR often misinterprets characters, especially from old printed or typed documents. So often a search will NOT find a word that you can clearly see in an image of the document. If a search engine allows wildcards use them freely and you will have a better chance of finding desired items.

URLs shown below are split across multiple lines but must be entered without spaces or breaks when typed directly. Clicking on the links should work if the site is accessible and has not moved.

STATE	MODERN STATUTES (URLs valid as of April 2009)	HISTORICAL STATUTES, PRINT REFERENCES, and CD/DVD REFERENCES
The American State Papers - Records for Multiple States		http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ amlaw/lwsp.html American State Papers, Documents, Legislative, and Executive of the Congress of the United States. 38 vols. Washington: Gales & Seaton, 1832-1861. 1994; rpt., Greenville, SC: Southern Historical Press. McMullen, Phillip W. Grassroots of America: A Computerized Index to the American State Papers: Land Grants and Claims 1789-1837 with Other Aids to Research. Salt Lake City, Utah: Gendex Corp., 1972.
The Territorial Papers of the United States - Records for Multiple States		http://www.censustrail.com/ has started an extraction of names in the papers prior to 1825 U.S. Dept. of State, Clarence Edwin Carter, compiler and editor. The Territorial Papers of the United States. Washington: Gov. Printing Office, 1934-1962. 26 vols. NARA microfilm M721.
Confederate State of America Statutes		http://docsouth.unc.edu/ imls/19conf/menu.html
Alabama (1975)	http://www.legislature.state.al.us/ CodeofAlabama/1975/coatoc.htm	Alabama Legislative Acts and Journals (1818-1828) - http://www.legislature.state.al.us/ misc/history/timeline.html Documenting the American South , scroll to Law or Legislation
Alaska (1981-2006)	http://www.legis.state.ak.us/ folhome.htm
Arizona (1995-2006)	http://www.azleg.state.az.us/ ArizonaRevisedStatutes.asp
Arkansas	http://www.arkansas.gov/fdemb/statutes.html
California (1993-2003)	http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.html
Colorado	http://www.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir/ olls/colorado_revised_statutes.htm
Connecticut (2006)	http://www.cga.ct.gov/lco/ Statute_Web_Site_LCO.htm	http://www.jud.ct.gov/historicalsociety/pub.htm
Delaware (2006)	http://www.delcode.state.de.us/	http://www.delcode.state.de.us/ (current code but with reference numbers to historical codes)
D.C. (2006)	http://government.westlaw.com/ linkedslice/default.asp?SP=DCC-1000 (requires pop-ups)
Florida (1997-2005)	http://www.leg.state.fl.us/ statutes/index.cfm ?Mode=ViewStatutes&Submenu=1	Florida (1822-1845) - http://palmm.fcla.edu/law/ Documenting the American South , scroll to Law or Legislation
Georgia	http://www.legis.ga.gov/en-US/default.aspx	Georgia - http://neptune3.galib.uga.edu/ ssp/cgi-bin/ftaccess.cgi ?_id=7f000001&dbs=ZLGL Watkins, Robert and George Watkins. A Digest of the laws of the state of Georgia: from Its Establishment as a British Province Down to the Year 1798, Inclusive, and the Principal Acts of 1799; Also the Constitution of 1798; Together with the Titles of All the Obsolete and Other Cts. Philadelphia: R. Aitken, 1800. Documenting the American South , scroll to Law or Legislation
Hawaii (2000-2005)	http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/ site1/docs/docs.asp?press1=docs
Idaho	http://www3.state.id.us/ idstat/TOC/idstTOC.html
Illinois	http://www.ilga.gov/ legislation/ilcs/ilcs.asp	Laws of Illinois [Historical]
Indiana (1997-2005)	http://www.state.in.us/ legislative/ic/code/	Bodenhamer, David J. and Randall T. Shepard, eds. The History of Indiana Law. Athens: Ohio Univ. Press, 2006.
Iowa (1995-2005)	http://www2.legis.state.ia.us/ IowaLaw.html
Kansas	http://www.kslegislature.org/ legsrv-statutes/index.do
Kentucky (1986-2006)	http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/ statrev/frontpg.htm
Louisiana	http://www.legis.state.la.us/ lss/search.htm	http://www.loc.gov/law/help/guide/states/us-la.php LOC Laws of Louisiana http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/ Key to French Law - click on UK flag to see English version Daninow, Joseph, ed. Compiled Edition of the Civil Codes of Louisiana. 2 vols. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing, 1973
Maine	http://janus.state.me.us/ legis/statutes/
Maryland	http://mlis.state.md.us/	Maryland, Archives of, Legislative Records (1634-2005 but recent years link to General Assembly Web site)- http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/ then click "Archives of Maryland Online" then click "Legislative Records" Researching Maryland laws by Michael Hait
Massachusetts	http://www.mass.gov/ legis/laws/mgl/index.htm	http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ arc/arccol/colmac.htm - Massachusetts Archives Collection: records, 1629-1799
Michigan (1995-2000)	http://www.legislature.mi.gov/ (11cd1v553dvaph55320u5n45)/ mileg.aspx?page=chapterindex http://archive.legislature.mi.gov/	NW Territory and Mich. Constitutions of 1835, 1850, 1908 http://www.legislature.mi.gov/ (11cd1v553dvaph55320u5n45)/ mileg.aspx?page=historicaldocuments
Minnesota (1945-2004)	http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/stats/	http://www.leg.state.mn.us/ leg/statutes.asp http://www.minnesotalegalhistoryproject.org/index.cfm
Mississippi (1997-2006)	http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us// http://www.mscode.com/ free/statutes/toc.htm (1972-2006) http://library.law.olemiss.edu/ library/state/ms.shtml(links from Ole Miss Law School) Documenting the American South , scroll to Law or Legislation	http://library.mssc.state.ms.us/ MSCodes1799-1839.htm (broken link 4-2009)
Missouri	http://www.moga.mo.gov/ statutesearch/	Missouri Territorial Legislature. Memorial and Resolutions of the Legislature of the Missouri Territory (1815-1819), 2 vols. Washington: n.p., 1819. David Wagner, compiler. The Statutes of the State of Missouri: To Which are Prefixed the Constitutions of the United States and the State of Missouri: with Notes, References and an Index. St. Louis: W. J. Gilbert, 1872.
Montana	http://data.opi.state.mt.us/ bills/mca_toc/index.htm	http://www.umt.edu/ law/library/ then click on "Montana Territorial Laws Digitized" (1864-1869 Territorial Laws, 1995-2003 codes, more)
Nebraska	http://uniweb.legislature.ne.gov/laws/laws.php	Gless, Alan G. The History of Nebraska Law. Law, Society, and Politics in the Midwest Series. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 2008.
Nevada (1999-2005)	http://www.leg.state.nv.us/ NRS/index.cfm http://www.leg.state.nv.us/ law1.cfm
New Hampshire	http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/ rsa/html/indexes/default.html
New Jersey	http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/
New Mexico	http://www.conwaygreene.com/ NewMexico.htm - click Databases then NM Statutes
New York	http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/ menugetf.cgi?COMMONQUERY=LAWS
North Carolina	http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/ gascripts/Statutes/Statutes.asp	http://docsouth.unc.edu/csr/ Colonial and State Records Documenting the American South , scroll to Law or Legislation
North Dakota (1997-2005)	http://www.legis.nd.gov/ information/statutes/cent-code.html
Ohio	http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/laws.cfm
Oklahoma (1997-1999)	http://oklegal.onenet.net/ statutes.basic.html
Oregon	http://www.leg.state.or.us/ors/	http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/exhibits/1857/index.htm
Pennsylvania	http://government.westlaw.com/linkedslice/ default.asp?SP=pac-1000	PA Session Laws Cushing, John D. The First Laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 1782; rpt., Wilmington, DE: Michael Glazier, Inc., 1984. Purdon's Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Annotated. Laws of the General Assembly of the State of Pennsylvania Passed at the Session of [YEAR]. (Publishers vary with years.)
Rhode Island	http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/ Statutes/Statutes.html
South Carolina (1976-2005)	http://www.scstatehouse.net/ coderegs/statmast.htm	Documenting the American South , scroll to Law or Legislation
South Dakota	http://legis.state.sd.us/ statutes/index.aspx
Tennessee	http://www.michie.com/tennessee/ lpext.dll?f=templates &anp;fn=main-h.htm&cp=tncode	http://www.tngenweb.org/law/ Caruthers, R.L. and A.O.P. Nicholson. A Compilation of the Statutes of Tennessee of a General and Permanent Nature From the Commencement of the Government to the Present Time.... Nashville: James Smith, 1836. Vertrees, John J., William Alfred Milliken, Robert Thomas Shannon, compilers. The Code of Tennessee: Being a Compilation of the Statute Laws of the State of Tennessee, of a General Nature, in Force June 1, 1884. Nashville: Marshall & Bruce, 1893.
Texas	http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/	Texas, Gammel's Laws of - http://texinfo.library.unt.edu/ lawsoftexas/default.htm Texas Reports, Supreme Court Decisions, 1846-__ Search on Portal to Texas History Documenting the American South , scroll to Law or Legislation
Utah	http://www.le.state.ut.us/ ~code/code.htm	Utah (1847-1888) - http://www.lib.utah.edu/ digital/UtahHistoricalStatutes/
Vermont	http://www.leg.state.vt.us/statutes/ chapters.cfm?amp;Title=16
Virginia	http://leg1.state.va.us/ 000/src.htm	Virginia, Laws regarding tithables - http://www.lva.lib.va.us/ whatwehave/tax/index.htm (links to research notes) Hening, William Waller. The Statutes at Large, Being a Collection of all the Laws of Virginia From the First Session of the Legislature in the year 1619: Published Pursuant to an act of the General Assembly passed on the fifth day of February, [1808]. 1810-1823; rpt, Charlottesveille: Univ. of Virginia Press, 1969. [Also available on CD from Heritage Books.] Henings Statutes at Large online - http://vagenweb.org/hening/ Phillips, John T., II. The Historian's Guide to Loudon County, Virginia, vol. 1, Colonial Laws of Virginia and County Court Orders, 1757-1766. Leesburg, VA: Goose Creek Productions, 1996. [Useful for all Virginia areas.] Documenting the American South , scroll to Law or Legislation
Washington	http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/
Wisconsin (1969-2004)	http://www.legis.state.wi.us/ rsb/stats.html Wisconsin Lawyer	http://www.legis.state.wi.us/ rsb/wislawarc.htm
West Virginia	http://www.legis.state.wv.us/ WVCODE/Code.cfm
Wyoming	http://legisweb.state.wy.us/ TITLES/STATUTES.HTM

http://198.187.128.12/ - is the LexisNexis Web site that many states use to make their current statutes available.

http://www.commonlaw.com/ - is a Web site with information on law and philosophy - it includes the Laws of the Cherokee Nation among its eclectic mix



General References:

Blackstone, Sir William. Commentaries on the Laws of England. 4 vols. Also a 5 vol. edition with notes on American law. 1803; rpt. South Hackensack, NJ: Rothman Reprints, Inc, 1969.

Friedman, Lawrence M. A History of American Law. 3d ed. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005.

Garner, Bryan A. Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed. St Paul, MN: Thompson/West, 2004. [4th ed. recommended as best for genealogists when can find used version. Earlier editions now available on CD from Archive CD Books.]
Digitized version of 1910 Black's Law Dictionary at http://www.constitution.org/dict/blacks_2nd.pdf.


Other Interesting Legal History Books

Carroll, Mark M. Homesteads Ungovernable: Families, Sex, Race, and the Law in Frontier Texas, 1823-1860. Austin: Univ. of Texas Press, 2001.

Grossberg, Michael. Governing the Hearth: Law and the Family in Nineteenth-Century America. Chapel Hill: Univ. of North Carolina Press, 1985.

Hall, Kermit L. and Peter Karsten. The Magic Mirror: Law in American History. 2d ed. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2008.

Hartog, Hendrik. Man & Wife in America: A History. Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press, 2000.

Hoffer, Peter Charles. Law and People in Colonial America. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 1992.

Miller, William G. Faith, Reason, and Consent: Legislating Morality in Early American States. El Paso, Texas: LFB Scholarly Publishing, 2008.

Morris, Richard B. Studies in the History of America Law With Special References to the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. 2d ed. New York: Octagon Books, 1974.

Nelson, William E. The Common Law in Colonial America, Volume I, The Chesapeake and New England, 1607-1660. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2008.

North, S. N. D., compiler. Marriage Laws in the United State 1887-1906. Conway, Arkansas: Arkansas Research, 1993.

Salmon, Marylynn. Women and the Law of Property in Early America. Chapel Hill: Univ. of North Carolina Press, 1986.

Schnell, Christopher A. In Tender Consideration: Women, Families, and the Law in Abraham Lincoln's Illinois. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2002.

Shammas, Carole, Marylynn Salmon and Michel Dahlin. Inheritance in America: From Colonial Times to the Present. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers Univ. Press, 1987.

Stuntz, Jean A. Hers, His, & Theirs: Community Property Laws in Spain & Early Texas. Lubbock: Texas Tech. Univ. Press, 2005.