The Mad Genealogist

It is a common misconception that admiralty Court records are limited to cases pertaining to seamen and the vessels that traveled the high seas. While a court with admiralty powers regularly oversaw such matters as seamen’s wages, smuggling, piracy, prize (the confiscation of enemy ships and their cargo during wartime),shipwrecks, salvage, insurance, freight and passenger contracts, bottomry (using a ship as collateral), and contracts between merchants and mariners, they also had civil and criminal jurisdiction over all persons having any relation to maritime transactions, including shipbuilders and dockworkers.

Here is a tip that works great for me. When visiting a Court house, I always take my Digital Camera.  I can photograph the old books then go home and look at them on the computer any time I want.

Your ancestor may have had a wooden marker that has long since deteriorated. So too, his gravestone may have been destroyed or moved. Probably the bestplace to start would be with the local genealogists in Onondaga County. It may be that his stone has toppled or was vandalized, but that it was read and recorded at some earlier point in history. If this is the case, then the row location may have also been documented and you are well on your way to identifying his grave site.

Below, you will find a chart containing the approximate birth years for age listings on the census. Please remember, that before 1850 the census information on age was vague.

I received a email on my facebook page and decided to re-post it here in hopes that someone with more experience in African American research can help.

The NC State Archives announced today that the newspaper digitization project is now available online – http://www.archives.ncdcr.gov/newspaper/index.html

They have digitized many papers — from their site, “These materials
include papers dating from 1752-1890s from cities like Edenton
(1787-1801), Fayetteville (1798-1795), Hillsboro (1786), New Bern
(1751-1804), Salisbury (1799-1898), and Wilmington (1765-1816) – a total
of 23,483 digital images that are keyword searchable.”

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.

Researchers also need to keep in mind that Sr and Jr designations did not always indicate a father/son relationship. Sometimes it indicated two generations with men having the same name but they could have been uncle, nephew or some other relationship.