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"Along Those Lines"
6/28/2002 - Archive
Jailbirds in the Family Tree
First, I'd like to thank the hundreds of readers who sent warm e-mail
messages of support and encouragement. The e-mails have come from the U.S.,
Canada, and all over the world, from as far as Australia, New Zealand, Sweden,
Belgium, France, Italy, South Africa, Asia, England, Scotland, and Ireland.
I am overwhelmed by your kindness and generosity, and while I cannot possible
answer each one, I want you to know how much I extend my heartfelt thanks for
your prayers and warm wishes. I'm healing now, but still face another 10-12
weeks in casts before embarking on physical therapy. However, my family, friends
and neighbors have rallied to my aid. I am humbled by this outpouring of love
and support, and I know I am truly blessed.
Since I broke my leg a month ago, I've spent a great deal of time stuck at home.
This 'confinement' has made me think about others in similar situations. I've
also been reading about one ancestral link I have to a man who avenged the murder
of his father by Confederate deserters in June of 1865. While he was never tried
for tracking down and killing the men, he remains a legend in the area in which
he lived. In the process of studying similar situations, I have given a great
deal of thought to those of us who have criminals in our family trees. I want
to discuss U.S. criminal records in this week's "Along Those Lines . . ." column
and how to locate them.
The Scene of the Crime
I've often said jokingly that I wished more of my ancestors had been criminals
-- because the records would be easy to find. That statement isn't necessarily
true, but it isn't false either. Before you can begin searching for the records,
you have to know something about the location and the crime itself. Why? Because
the jurisdiction and the type of court play an essential role in determining
where to look for the records.
Court records of most criminal cases are public records, open to examination
by anyone. There are, of course, exceptions. These include juvenile records
in which the identity of the minor is protected by the judge having sealed the
record. Then, there are court cases which ended in a financial settlement and
in which one or more parties petitioned the court for the sealing of the records.
Other exceptions certainly exist, however, most can be accessed in some form
or another, including transcripts of testimony, summaries, and court minutes.
The location in which the crime occurred is important to you in your research
because of the court structure. The type of crime also is key in determining
where to look for records. You will need to determine in which state the crime
was committed, and then what type of crime it was. Consider, for instance, whether
the crime was a felony or a misdemeanor. That makes a big difference in which
court the case would have been assigned for trial. Was it a county matter, a
state matter, or a Federal matter? Is there a municipal court involved for a
municipal crime of violation? If you search for court records for a kidnapping
in a county courthouse, you may find little or nothing because kidnapping is
considered a federal offense. A shoplifting charge might fall in the jurisdiction
of a municipal or county court, while a bank robbery might be the jurisdiction
of a state court.
The point here is that you need to do some preliminary research into both the
crime and the location in which it occurred so that you will be looking in the
right place.
What If You Don't Have Those Details?
If your family is typical, your questions about an ancestral criminal may yield
a strained silence, a worried look, and/or the old "Dear, we don't talk about
him [or her]" response. If, however, you are tenacious, you can probably at
least learn the state in which the person lived, and this is a great starting
point.
If the person served any prison time in a state, it is probable that the state's
department of corrections will have some record of the incarceration. That record
can point you back to the legal venue in which the case was tried and the date
of sentencing. That, in turn, can lead you to the appropriate state court records.
If the person was convicted of a Federal crime, he/she would have been imprisoned
in a Federal correctional facility. State correctional records may or may not
contain entries for the person, in which case you may need to check with the Criminal Division of the Federal Department of Justice in Washington, DC for guidance on where and how to obtain assistance in locating records. You
may be referred to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Don't be surprised if older records are stored off-premises, and you may need
to complete and submit paperwork to initiate a search for specific records,
especially the older ones. You may find that some criminal records have been
microfilmed, but this is probably the exception, again especially with the older
records.
What Information Might You Obtain?
As with other official documents, the contents will vary depending on the state,
and state records will be different from Federal records, and county and municipal
records different still. The time period also influenced content. For example,
Social Security numbers are included in most criminal records dating from the
late 1930s but are absent from records prior to the SSA's founding in the mid-1930s.
The informational common denominators, however, will include the person's name,
prisoner number, date and place of birth, last address, type of offense, date
of the offense, court in which the verdict was entered, date and term of sentence,
place of incarceration, date sentence started, transfer date and name of facility
if the prisoner was moved from one prison to another, date of parole, and date
and cause of death (if prisoner died in the facility). Some more modern records
contain reports on results of parole hearings, information concerning the prisoner's
behavior and any disciplinary actions taken, jobs assigned in prison, cellmates,
health record, and any notes concerning appeals. Records of visitors may also
be included in high- security cases. Next of kin and/or other family members'
names and contact information may be included too.
Remember that municipal and county jail records may be much less informative.
In some cases, the records may have been lost or destroyed after a proscribed
period of time, especially with misdemeanor infractions. And in the case of
juvenile records, records may have been purged or destroyed altogether when the
individual reached the age of majority.
Should You Publicize the Information?
A woman I once worked with in the Genealogy Forum on AOL always claimed to be
proud of her entrepreneur grandmother. Granny made a small fortune in the early
1900s which supported the family for decades. No one knew anything about the
grandfather, and neither did the grandmother -- because she worked for a famed
madam in a house of ill repute! While the woman I knew was proud to tell the
story about her grandmother, other family members might have been mortified
to have it broadcast.
As with other family information, you want to be careful about making the details
concerning a jailbird in the family tree public. The information may cause other
family members embarrassment, shame, or discomfort. You certainly want to make
sure everyone concerned is aware of and approves the release of such information.
If, however, someone in the family objects, be sensitive and maintain the criminal
history as a private record.
Sources You Should Not Overlook
In your quest for information about your ancestral black sheep criminal, don't
overlook a number of sources. Make sure you check newspapers, including the
public notices of court hearings. Use census records to help you locate the
ancestor before and after the term of incarceration; census records can help
you locate courts that had jurisdiction in that area at that time. If you know
the facility in which the prisoner was incarcerated, he or she may well have
been enumerated there in the census.
Check the local public library in the area where the crime occurred for local,
county, and state histories, including books on criminal cases in the vicinity.
Consult law libraries in the area, and visit college and university libraries,
which subscribe to legal case databases.
Don't overlook police journals and gazettes in the state or county that might
have included reports on specific cases. Your police force or state police headquarters
can direct you to the central repositories where archival collections of these
publications may be housed. A noteworthy case may also have been written up
in a law journal. And be sure to contact genealogical and historical societies
whose records may include unique materials about the crime and/or the individuals
involved.
The jailbird in your family tree may be an embarrassment to you or to other
family members. However, he or she also could provide a link to other information that just might get you past the brick wall that has been 'confining' your
research.
Happy Hunting!
George
George G. Morgan would like to hear from you at atl@ahaseminars.com
but, due to the volume of e-mail received, he is unable to answer every e-mail
message received. Please note that he cannot assist you with your individual
research. Visit George's website at http://ahaseminars.com/atl
for information about speaking engagements.
Copyright 2002, MyFamily.com. All rights reserved.
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