I have a criminal Genealogy Group on Facebook and this is a very common question. )If you join my group please make sure to answer all the questions and read the rules or you will not be accepted into the group). We only help with Dead Ancestors.
The first step in researching your criminal ancestor is to locate newspaper articles, below are several links for some we use. Newspaper article will tell you the crime committed, where it was committed and the circumstances. Then you can start by calling/writing for the court records, and prison records. If the records are fairly old you may try the local or state archives. Most of these records are not online and you will need to call or write for them.
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/
https://www.newspapers.com/
There are others as well you can Google them.
Ancestry has the largest collection of criminal records there are online, there are some on Familysearch and some on Genealogybank.
The hardest state to get records from is New York.
If your ancestor had an FBI # then you will need to contact the FBI Bureau in that area. You can email them but you will need an Freedom of Information Act filed with your request. They can be found if you Google them and there is a link for the FBI and what they need.
There are many different crimes and some older crimes are not on the books anymore or not prosecuted. If you find your ancestor committed a 466 PC, this would be a Penal Code and you can Google them, for instance this one is California and means.
Definition and Elements of the Crime
Under California Penal Code Section 466 PC, it is a crime to possess certain tools associated with the crime of burglary if those items are possessed with criminal intent.
Remember Google is our friend learn to use it and the more you do the better you will get at it.
Cite your sources, I nag on this a lot in my group, most members are new to genealogy and haven't really learned the proper way of doing it. I am old school, I read every book the library had on how to do genealogy. Citing your sources is very important, this way you will know where they came from, rather it was a family member, a web site or a letter or email. None of us live forever and when we are gone someone else is going through our treasure trove of stuff this will be important. PLus none of us can remember everything and may need to go back to that source to find something more.
If you have a tree on Ancestry as I do, do not merge someone else's tree with yours. Write down the information and do your own research. This way you wont have as much to delete or correct and it's your own research.
I am a Criminal Genealogist, I am the only one. I have been doing this for a very long time. I love to help others, guide them, mold them. So have fun hunting for your criminal ancestor, and always remember family stories are just that until you can prove them to be real. Embrace your naughty ancestor as this was his life in his time, no matter what crime he committed has no bearing on you and your life, no judgements passed upon them as they have already been judged when they died.
The first step in researching your criminal ancestor is to locate newspaper articles, below are several links for some we use. Newspaper article will tell you the crime committed, where it was committed and the circumstances. Then you can start by calling/writing for the court records, and prison records. If the records are fairly old you may try the local or state archives. Most of these records are not online and you will need to call or write for them.
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/
https://www.newspapers.com/
There are others as well you can Google them.
Ancestry has the largest collection of criminal records there are online, there are some on Familysearch and some on Genealogybank.
The hardest state to get records from is New York.
If your ancestor had an FBI # then you will need to contact the FBI Bureau in that area. You can email them but you will need an Freedom of Information Act filed with your request. They can be found if you Google them and there is a link for the FBI and what they need.
There are many different crimes and some older crimes are not on the books anymore or not prosecuted. If you find your ancestor committed a 466 PC, this would be a Penal Code and you can Google them, for instance this one is California and means.
Definition and Elements of the Crime
Under California Penal Code Section 466 PC, it is a crime to possess certain tools associated with the crime of burglary if those items are possessed with criminal intent.
Remember Google is our friend learn to use it and the more you do the better you will get at it.
Cite your sources, I nag on this a lot in my group, most members are new to genealogy and haven't really learned the proper way of doing it. I am old school, I read every book the library had on how to do genealogy. Citing your sources is very important, this way you will know where they came from, rather it was a family member, a web site or a letter or email. None of us live forever and when we are gone someone else is going through our treasure trove of stuff this will be important. PLus none of us can remember everything and may need to go back to that source to find something more.
If you have a tree on Ancestry as I do, do not merge someone else's tree with yours. Write down the information and do your own research. This way you wont have as much to delete or correct and it's your own research.
I am a Criminal Genealogist, I am the only one. I have been doing this for a very long time. I love to help others, guide them, mold them. So have fun hunting for your criminal ancestor, and always remember family stories are just that until you can prove them to be real. Embrace your naughty ancestor as this was his life in his time, no matter what crime he committed has no bearing on you and your life, no judgements passed upon them as they have already been judged when they died.
This is a difficult job because the private investigators would certainly not have accessibility to the documents polk county inmates mugshots in every court in the nation neither have accessibility to the FBI documents.
ReplyDeleteI agree, you need to know your history as well, look at when the FBI & CIA ect were formed before requesting records from them. The Pinkertons were the first organized crime fighters.
ReplyDeleteThose are more recent living peoples Mugshots I only blog dead people
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