Law Day – Family History Day

Celebrating Law Day Family History-Style

It’s May 1, officially declared as Law Day in the United States,¹ and for this self-proclaimed law geek it’s definitely my kind of holiday.

Law Day as a day to celebrate the rule of law and its role in creating and protecting American freedoms was first recognized in 1957 with a proclamation by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1961, a joint resolution of Congress called for an annual proclamation of Law Day, and each year the American Bar Association chooses a different theme. For 2012, it’s No Courts, No Justice, No Freedom.²

But hey… this ought to be celebrated throughout the genealogical community. We should call it Family History Day, because — without laws and the records created because of laws — there sure as heck wouldn’t be much family history for any of us to find. Our theme can be No Laws, No Courts, No Records.

Think about it for a minute. Think of all the bits and pieces and clues we use to piece together the stories of our ancestors. So very many of the records we rely on were created because of some legal requirement.

I know that my very distant ancestor Nicholas Gentry was a colonial militiaman in York County, Virginia, in 1680 because he got into a tussle with a creditor who got a court order garnisheeing his pay.³

I have a marriage bond for Boston Shew and Elizabeth Brewer in 1816 in Wilkes County, North Carolina.⁴ It exists because the law required it.

I have the 1895 Chicago birth certificate reflecting when and where my father’s aunt gave birth to her first and only child, in Chicago, in 1895.⁵ Why? Because the law required it.

I have death records for two great grandfathers, both born in 19th century Texas⁶ because the law required the deaths be recorded.

I have the passenger list for S.S. George Washington, the ship that carried my father and his parents from their home in Germany to their new home in America in 1925⁷ because the law required it. I have my grandmother’s birth certificate from Germany — attached to the visa application the law required her to fill out to come to America.⁸ I know where they lived in 1930⁹ and, as of 2 April when the 1940 census was released, I know where they lived in 1935 and 1940¹⁰ — because the law required those censuses to be taken.

And I have that affidavit filed by my fourth great grandfather David Baker outlining his service in the 3rd Virginia in the Revolutionary War where he mentioned the death of his brother Richard at the Battle of Trenton¹¹ that I wrote about this past Sunday.¹² Why? Because, if David was to qualify for a pension, the law required it.

Just about everything our ancestors did that ended up being recorded on paper got there because some law required it. Without even trying, I came up with 20 different types of records that wouldn’t exist at all or in anything near the volume we have if it were not for the law:

     • Burial permits;
     • Census records (both state and federal);
     • Civil and criminal court records;
     • Copyrights;
     • Divorce records;
     • Estate records (probate and will records);
     • Immigration (visas, entry records);
     • Jury lists;
     • Land records;
     • Military draft, enlistment, pension and service records;
     • Naturalization records;
     • Passports;
     • Patents;
     • Prison records;
     • School records;
     • Social Security records;
     • Tax records;
     • Trademarks;
     • Vital records; and
     • Voting records.

I can’t imagine doing family history research without the records required by law. It’d be a nightmare. It probably wouldn’t even be possible.

So let’s hear it for Law Day. For a genealogist, it’s the best holiday there is.

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