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Hit 1,000 pages of court records from the 1800s last month. Never thought I'd find my ancestor's signature in a debt lawsuit.
I was digging through county archives online for a family history project. My 3x great-grandfather was listed as a defendant in a case about unpaid lumber from 1872. The handwritten ledger had his actual mark where he signed with an X. It was wild seeing something that real from that far back. I wasn't expecting any personal connection after scrolling through hundreds of pages of old property disputes and probate files. Now I'm wondering if anyone else has stumbled across a direct link to their family in old court docs or if that's just a fluke. Has anyone else found a relative in a lawsuit or arrest record?
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kai_webb911mo ago
Used to think old court records were boring but now I'm hooked.
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jamie8041mo ago
Man, really? I gotta be honest with you @kai_webb91, I tried getting into old court records once and it just felt like reading someone else's boring homework. Like, how many times can you read about someone fighting over a fence line before your brain checks out? I mean, maybe there's some hidden gems in there if you dig deep enough, but your mileage may vary on that one. Most of it just seems like regular people having regular problems that got written down in a stuffy old book. Not trying to rain on your parade or anything, but I'd rather watch paint dry, honestly.
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king.eric1mo ago
Fair point, but the fence line fights are usually just setup for the good stuff like who threw a punch or stole a horse.
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