Life in the past, the life your ancestors lived, was different from our own. They still had to meet their basic requirements of work, food, shelter, family, and religion. People were born, they were christened, they married and had families, they worked and they died. They lived their lives. Some ran businesses or worked for others. Some lived in cities and other in the country. These things don’t change. However, the means in which people conducted their daily lives, and the records that document those lives vary from place to place and by cultural and religion. Some vital records are kept by churches, many by governments. No matter where a person lived, one thing is for sure, they lived under the laws that governed their homelands.
As a unique textbook, Genealogy and the Law guides readers through the variety of legal sources that genealogists need in order to explain many of the events that occurred in their ancestors’ lives. Land ownership, estate administration, and taxation are a few of the many aspects of life that cannot be fully understood without knowledge of the law in effect at the time.
The authors, Kay Haviland Freilich and William B. Freilich, an award-winning genealogist and an attorney, both with long service in their professions, bring the perspectives of genealogy and the law together in a book that covers the language of the law, how to find pertinent laws, the kinds of sources available, where they can be found, citation of legal works, and how to apply legal research to genealogical problems.
Contents
Preface
Chapter 1 — Understanding the Law
- Creating a Law
- Government Checks and Balances
- The Changing Law
- Law and the Courts
- The Importance of time and Place
- Quiz – Chapter 1: Understanding the Law
Chapter 2 — Understanding the Terminology
- Origin of Terms
- Dictionaries – Black and Bouvier; Legal Dictionaries, Print and Online; Genealogical Dictionaries
- Quiz 2 – Chapter 2: Understanding the Terminology
Chapter 3 — Types of Law
- Jurisprudence
- Historical Background
- Origin of Laws – Stautory Law – Case Law
- Public and Private Laws
- Laws of Time and Place
- Subjects and Actions – Civil Actions – Criminal Actions
- Equity
- Bankruptcy
Chapter 4 — Finding the Pertinent Law
- Legislative History
- Genealogy of a Law – with Examples of a 1783 Division of Real Estate and an 1847 Naturalization Requirements law.
- Quiz – Chapter 4: Finding the Pertinent Law
Chapter 5 — Sources to Use
- Codes
- Session Laws
- Case Reporters and Digests
- Law Review Articles
- Treatises
- Legal Databases
- State “Blue Books”
- Biographical Materials
- Directories
- Quiz – Chapter 5: Sources to Use
Chapter 6 — Where to Research
- Law Libraries
- Law Library of Congress
- State Law Libraries
- County Law Libraries
- Law Schools Libraries
- Other Libraries
- Genealogical Libraries
- Online Sources
- Quiz – Chapter 6 – Where to Research
Chapter 7 — Citing Legal Sources
- Codes
- Reporters and Digests
- Unpublished Cases
- Statutes
- Law Review Articles
- Treatises
- Citation Guides
- Quiz – Chapter 7: Citing Legal Sources
Chapter 8 — Applying the Law to Ancestral Events
- Laws and Everyday Life
- Case Studies
- Quiz – Chapter 8: Applying the Law to Ancestral Events
Appendix 1 — Vocabulary of the Law
Appendix 2 — Selected Bibliography
Appendix 3 — Answers to Quizzes
Purchase Genealogy and the Law at the FRPC website for less than $20. Click here to order.
