The Mad Genealogist

I know many times I have found myself trying to figure out one of my ancestors birth date, especially before 1850 when census records only listed age ranges for everyone. Well I have a list here to help find out at least when someone was born before.

For example, I am looking for a birth date for John Doe. The earliest record I show for him is in 1780 as a witness on a court document. Well I use my little chart here and see that males needed to be 14 to legally witness a document. So I can at least determine that John Doe was born before 1766 (1780 – 14 = 1766).

So, you go to the courthouse to get a copy of a simple marriage record….. and you are hit with the fact that the courthouse was destroyed at some point in the past. What are you to do?

Well old Newspapers are a good option but unless you are in a major city, actual copies can be spotty at best. Well here is a great option that is often overlooked…. DIVORCE RECORDS!

In the 18th or 19th century, if a man died and left a young widow, that widow probobly would have asked that her father of brother to be named administator of the estate. This was a common practice, and for the regular  genealogist, this appointment is a wonderful clue to the young widows maiden name.

Case in point is my ancestor Christopher Brooks. Christopher Brooks married a Susanna Williams shortly before 1780 in North Carolina or Virginia. Thier marraige records did not show up in Caswell County, NC so at the time I did not know Susanna maiden name. I looked and found administration papers for Christopher Brooks and is stated Susann’s father, Henry Williams, was administrator of the estate.

This burns me up that some idiot would do something like this. I hope this guy resist arrest so the police can subdue him… WELL!

Here is a link to the Lancaster County Courthouse (Built 1828), Lancaster, South Carolina (http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/Population/Photos/ShowCH.asp?FIPS=45057). I have ancestors from this county so this breaks my heart for such a beautiful building to be destroyed for nothing.

Thanks God most if not all records were saved that was stored there. Hats off the the Fire Department for saving these valuable records. Below is the story of the fire then a response to from the people there on the recovery of the records:

This is something very useful that I discovered that will help me in those old records before the 1790 census. The below chart describes the min age a person had to be to perform certain actions. So if your ancestor performed a certain action then you at least know a min age and can determine a fairly close birth date. I am finding it most useful. I have also posted this on my website at http://www.familyhistory101.com/research-probate/index.html#8