27 February 2014 Many of the "original" court records we consult at the city and county level are "record copies," rather than "true originals." Historically, attorneys presented the court with individual documents relevant to the case at hand. The court clerk then ...

26 February 2014 The term "natural child," in English and American law, has meant one born out of wedlock but acknowledged by the father. In civil law, which Louisiana has followed since its days as a colony of France and Spain, the term has been legally used to draw a contrast between

25 February 2014 It just happened again. Amid reading entries in a writing competition, we were totally mystified as to what, exactly, was the title of several of the sources cited by an author. They weren’t even complicated documents that were parts of even more complicated archival collections

24 February 2014
Salt Lake City's Family History Library holds a rich trove of microfilmed records from around the world. Identifying that material clearly, in a way that will avoid confusion when it is needed again, can be a challenge. Each roll of film ...

23 February 2014 We’ve all been cautioned against it—this great sin against good writing. “I ..., I ..., I ... .” So what’s the alternative? The one we most commonly see is another sin in the writer’s Bible: the passive voice . . .

22 February 2014 When we receive a photocopy of a document or page from a record book—whether it’s from an official or unofficial source—our citation needs to . . .

21 February 2013 When we research a major episode in history, it’s easy to fall into the habit of using “standard sources” that are easily available. We’re especially guilty of this when doing biographical research during one or another war. We rely so heavily upon compiled service records, pensions, and bounty-land applications to provide us the basic information on our person-of-interest. If you're wishing for a trove of NON-standard documents ...

20 February 2014 History researchers do not discover facts. We do not record facts. We do not prove facts. There is no way that we can determine the actual facts about past generations and centuries. ...

19 February 2014
We all know what a “fee” is. Well forget that definition. Where estates are concerned, the word “fee” comes from a totally different place. It actually springs from the same root as other two other quaint relics of the Middle Ages: the words fief and feudal. ...

25 February 2014
For years, you have searched U.S. military records for a man who is said to have served in a nineteenth-century war. He was a doctor, a wagoneer, a suttler, a gunsmith, or a practitioner of some other skilled trade or ...