One of the primary sources of information in any genealogical search must be legal documents. Elsewhere in this web site we address legal documents such as death certificates, marriage certificates, and military registrations. All of these are official or legal documents in some form and often come in great quantities. But the question always arises "What about all the others?"

This section is here to organize all the "others." Land transfers, estate filings, law suits, and court filings all need a home, and this is the area within this web site for all those items.

We might think the accuracy of legal documents is unquestionable and that these are always points of clarification, but this is often incorrect. As we all know, literacy, transcribing errors, and truthfulness all play into this discussion.

Within the mentioned limitations, legal documents probably offer a more accurate picture of events than others, especially when coupled with other verification sources. For those of us doing research in the South, finding legal documents prior to the Civil War is often a treat, since many documents were destroyed during the conflict.