This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list.
Surnames: Lawler, Lalor, Mendenhall, Bartlett, Sumner, Hatch, Gilman, Trow, Caldwell,
Badger, Charles, Ludiker
Classification: Query
Message Board URL:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/gh.2ADI/4858
Message Board Post:
Dear fellow researchers: First, this is not spam or advertising, honest, I will give
you
my home telephone number if you want to contact me. I am a genealogist just like you
are. I have figured out a way to get records that you can do from home that actually
will
get you somewhere! In my every day professional work I use the FOIA (Freedom of
Information Act) to acquire records from all areas. The FOIA is a tool that is available
to all Americans. The request is free. But you have to know where to send it, you
have to have the right request form, a properly worded letter, you have to know what
type of information they need to get you what you are looking for. While you cannot
just send in a generic "find this" request, using the proper request the proper
forms and
properly worded legal letter you will result in getting documentation you are seeking.
I
received 84 pages the first probate request and two weeks later received an additional
124 pages of documentation from the same request. Some of these records went back
to 1838. I will send you the form, the request letter, what you need to send them in
terms of specifics, if you have them, or if not, where and how to find them. I have
compiled a list of each State’s statutes that you will need to format the request form
for
your particular State. I have included some specific searching directions and examples
that may help you. Obtaining information and documentation is what the Freedom of
Information Act is for! But you have to know how and where to use it. What specific
State statute to request it under. And the records have to exist. The FOIA is
available
for use in any state for any public record. It does not, not replace the researcher, but
for those of us who have been unable to physically get to an out of town location or to
contact an active researcher it's great. As a result of my request I have my
gggrandfather's entire household inventory, his entire office contents down to the
list of
law books and furniture he owned, the guardianship papers for all of my ggrand uncles
and aunts, I have a (long) list of people that owed him money for mortgages he held,
how much, when they were due, how much of an allowance the Estate had my
gggrandmother on for the next 5 years! Again, this is just one tool. My email is
genealogyprincess1953(a)yahoo.com. I will be glad to help anyone with any
additional information or reformatting the forms for other states, other data requests,
etc. and will send a paper for that. I am requesting a $5.00 fee paper and copying
costs. I had no idea this would be responded to in such huge numbers and I can’t afford
that much copying. So, send me a self-addressed stamped envelope with $1.08
postage on it to Genealogy Princess, 20757 Camden Square, #210, Lathrup Village, MI
48076. I will send you the information (it’s 20 pages) the day I receive the envelope.
A 6X9 envelope works best, or a 5 X 7. I also have just signed up for Paypal. My
Paypal information is genealogyprincess2000(a)yahoo.com (checking account). The
amount is $6.08. I will send the information to you the instant I receive your address
in
the notification. Do me a favor and email me to the address above and let me know if
you’re going to be requesting the info so that I can have copies prepared. In the
meantime, start searching for as many specifics as you can get. This is not "send me
the death certificate of...." This is "I searched the probate database for
(county) and
found that my ggrandfather's estate is in your records. It is between the years XXXX
and XXXX." Then there is more legal lingo, etc. etc.. Anyway, I am sorry this
post is
so long. Also, please advise anyone else you think may be interested in this
information in other lists. Thanks! Kathy Lawler