Product Description

Finally--the only guidebook devoted exclusively to research in America's courthouses. Full of essentials starting with preparation, interacting with the clerks, using the indexes, and what to expect to find in each courthoiuse office. But it doesn't stop there. Evaluating the records and using them to solve genealogical problems are included. For those who can't travel to the courthouse personally, use of the Internet, microfilm, and published books of abstracts are discussed.

Tips galore from an author who has researched in more than 500 courthouses.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53966 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 237 pages

Review
... In this ... [are] tools for ... understanding all types of courthouse records ... This is an essential guide for courthouse research. -- Jerome C. Anderson II, Editor, The American Genealogist

...THE essential book for researching courthouses ... Rose has distilled her vast knowledge of courthouse records into a comprehensive guide ... -- Kay Germain Ingalls, CG, on cover, Courthouse Research

Christine Rose describes the multifarious resources available ... particularly useful are the specific case studies Rose introduces to illustrate essential lessons... -- John Philip Colletta, Ph.D., on cover, Courthouse Research

Genealogists will want ... this ... on every research trip ... one of the most useful books for American genealogy in years! -- New England Historic Genealogical Register

In American genealogy, the courthouse is where it's at! ... nobody has worked more of those courthouses than Christine Rose. -- Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL, FASG, on cover, Courthouse Research

The author is well-known ... the best book yet for unlocking the information found in documents recorded at the courthouse ... -- Mayflower Descendant

This is the one! ... Each chapter deals with a major type of record ... [it is] replete with examples ... -- Donna Valley Russell, CG, FASG, Detroit Soc. Gene. Research

[Researchers] will find benefits on every page ... one of the best treatments of courthouse research available. -- John Frederick Dorman, The Virginia Genealogist

About the Author
Christine Rose, Certified Genealogist, Certified Genealogical Lecturer, and Fellow, American Society of Genealogists, has spent years researching in more than 500 of America's courthouses. She is a national lecturer, author, and professional genealogist. She was the recipient of the prestigious Donald Lines Jacobus award for two published genealogies. Her specialities include onsite research, military records, and federal land records. Her guidebooks are widely used among genealogists and family historians.

Customer Reviews

Courthouse Treasure Hunt
Family historians often resist researching courthouse records because they either don't understand the records and their content or haven't read this instructive book by Ms. Rose. Case studies are used to illustrate how much information can be gleaned from exploring the courthouse where your ancestors lived or taking a look at the Family History Library films of the records if one can't visit the area of interest. This step by step guide will help the researcher glean every ounce of information from records, and then know how to intrepret and use that for furthering an understanding of his ancestors life. The helpful leads in the local courthouse no longer need to intimidate and confuse. Using this guide will help you enter into the treasure hunt for information with confidence and clarity.

Excellent how-to source, expecially for "relative novices" (heh, heh . . .)
Rose is a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists and a well-known speaker at national conferences. She's also an admitted courthouse junky. There are some 3,140 courthouses in the United States and she's poked around in more than 500 of them -- and she would be the first to tell you that every one is different, even in neighboring counties formed at the same time. (I've spent considerable time rummaging in courthouses myself, though not as many as Christine. . . .) Which county office has custody of which types of records varies from state to state, as do the names of the departments themselves. Big city courthouses are very different from small rural ones. Courthouses in poorer areas of a state do things differently, by necessity, than courthouses in comparatively wealthy counties. And that's not to mention the wide variation in personalities among county clerks and their minions, not only from place to place but even from year to year. (Every experienced researcher has run across courthouse workers who have no tolerance whatever for genealogists.) Rose approaches her topic methodically, from figuring out which county ought to have the records you're seeking (counties often have parents and offspring, too) and where to start when you arrive (with the indexes, the use of which may sometimes be arcane), to dealing with all sorts of records: Deeds, vital records, estates, civil and criminal court books, and all the rest. She goes on to discuss what's available on microfilm when your travel budget is tight, and the "strategies for success" that have worked for her. Courthouse research is a very difficult subject to generalize about, but this volume does an excellent job.

Excellent Reference
Everything a family historian needs to fully utilize records available at the courthouse. Excellent organization and packed with clear and complete explanations of how to find the many different resources hiding in the different departments. Anyone who has ever been intimidated by a courthouse will appreciate this book.