Genealogical and Biographical Research Part 4
Genealogical And Biographical Research:
A Select Catalog Of
National Archives Microfilm Publications (Part 4)
Southern Civilians (Cont.)
Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780's-1917 (Record Group 94)
Case Files of Investigations by Levi C. Turner and Lafayette C. Baker, 1861-1866. M797. 137 rolls. DP.
This microfilm publication reproduces an index volume and unbound case files of investigations by Army Judge Advocate Levi C. Turner, 1862-66, and by Provost Marshal and Special Agent Lafayette C. Baker, 1861-65. The records relate to investigations of subversive activities in the Civil War. The index and case files are part of the series of records known as the "Turner-Baker papers," and they are in Record Group 94, Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780's-1917.
The Turner case files reproduced in this microfilm publication relate to the arrest, parole, and release of civilians and soldiers suspected of engaging in treasonable or disloyal activities. Included in the case files is correspondence with provost marshals, U.S. marshals and detectives, chiefs of police, governors of states, and military commanders.
The Baker case files, containing fewer papers, include reports submitted by private persons and government officials relating to suspicious persons and alleged subversive activity, and correspondence.
The files have been arranged separately, first for Turner, and then for Baker, and thereunder in numerical order. All documents in a case file have been annotated with the number assigned for that specific file. The Turner files bear only a number; the Baker files carry a number and the symbol "B." Thus the file citation "1" refers to the first case file in the Turner papers and the citation "1-B," to the first case file in the Baker papers.
The index, which was compiled by the Bureau of Military Justice, contains information for each entry as follows: case file number, name of individual concerned, occupation, and remarks. The remarks column was used to indicate the reason for the investigation. Only names of individuals who were investigated were indexed.
Records of the District Courts of the United States (Record Group 21)
Case Papers of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, 1863-1865, Relating to the Confiscation of Property. M435. 1 roll.
This microfilm publication reproduces selected case files of the U.S. district court, seated at Alexandria, which prosecuted cases to confiscate property of citizens of Alexandria, Fairfax, and Loudoun counties who were adherents of the Confederacy. The earliest case file in this series is dated 1863.
Confederate Papers of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, 1861-1865. M436. 1 roll.
This microfilm publication reproduces Confederate court records from the Cape Fear District and one volume of minutes from the Pamlico district. Most of the cases relate to property seized from Union sympathizers.
During the Civil War, the Confederate courts continued to create the same types of records as those used by the U.S. courts, often using the same record books. The records of the Confederate States District Court for North Carolina, 1861-65, are thus interfiled with the records of the Raleigh division of the U.S. district court.
General Records of the Department of the Treasury (Record Group 56)
Records of the Commissioners of Claims (Southern Claims Commission), 1871-1880. M87. 14 rolls. DP.
An act of Congress, approved March 3, 1871, provided that the President nominate three commissioners of claims (to be confirmed by the Senate) to receive, examine, and consider the claims of "those citizens who remained loyal adherents to the cause and the Government of the United States during the war, for stores or supplies taken or furnished during the rebellion for the use of the Army of the United States in States proclaimed as in insurrection against the United States." By an act approved May 11, 1872, this clause was extended to include property used by the Navy. The commissioners were to satisfy themselves of the loyalty of each claimant; certify the amount, nature, and value of the property taken or furnished; report their judgment on each claim in writing to the House of Representatives at the beginning of each session of Congress, hold their sessions in Washington; and keep a journal of their proceedings and a register of all claims brought before them. The act provided further that of the claims within its provisions only those presented to the commissioners could be prosecuted, and that all others were to be barred.
This microfilm publication reproduces records of the Commissioner of Claims (otherwise known as the Southern Claims Commission) dated between March 10, 1871, and June 29, 1880, and also a few papers dated as early as March 29, 1864, and as late as April 17, 1900.
Among the records that may contain information about individuals are the miscellaneous letters, March 10,1871-June 29, 1880, on rolls 2 through 9. Correspondents included claimants, attorneys for claimants, informers submitting information about the loyalty of claimants, federal officials and other persons giving evidence on specific claims, special commissions, and writers of letters in favor of or in opposition to applicants for appointment as special commissioners. Although the letters are arranged chronologically, they are not indexed.
The letters of the special agents (rolls 10 through 12) consist chiefly of letters of acceptance and weekly reports. Those about the agents are chiefly recommendations and complaints. The agents were not officially authorized to act before May 11, 1872, when Congress provided for the appointment of special agents. The letters are arranged alphabetically by the names of the 14 special agents.
The geographical list of claims (roll 13) is a printed but unpublished geographical list of claimants, arranged alphabetically by state, and thereunder by the name of the claimant, with the series number and amount of each claim.
Roll 14 contains the consolidated index of claims. The "Consolidated Index of Claims Reported by the Commissioners of Claims to the House of Representatives from 1871 to 1880," compiled under the Supervision of J. B. Holloway, Clerk, to Prepare Digest of Claims, and Walter H. French, File Clerk, House of Representatives (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1892) is filed with the records of the Commissioners. It is filmed as an index to the action taken on the 22,298 claims. The entries are arranged alphabetically by name of claimant. For each claim the following information is given: name of claimant, state, Commission number (serial number of claim), office number, report number (number of the report in which the claim was reported by the Commissioners to the House of Representatives); year in which the claim was reported; the amount claimed and the amount allowed; the amount disallowed, barred, withdrawn, or dismissed; and the nature of the claim (commodities or other item for which compensation was claimed).
Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General (Record Group 92)
A general breakdown in prisoner exchanges late in the Civil War contributed to the deaths of many Confederate soldiers, sailors, and citizens in federal prisons or military hospitals. According to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, more than 26,000 deaths had occurred among Confederate prisoners of war by 1866. Although federal legislation passed between 1867 and 1873 provided for the burial of Union soldiers in national cemeteries and for the marking of their graves with durable headstones, no specific provisions were made for Confederate dead. Initially, little care was exercised in marking the graves of Confederate soldiers and sailors buried in cemeteries at or near the Union prisons or hospitals where they died. Their graves were sometimes marked like those of civilians--with a thin headstone containing the number of the grave and the name of the occupant. Many of the non-Union graves, however, were marked with wooden headboards that ultimately disintegrated, although the names of the interred were often preserved in the burial registers.
Register of Confederate Soldiers, Sailors, and Citizens Who Died in Federal Prisons and Military Hospitals in the North, 1861-1865. M918. 1 roll. DP.
This microfilm publication reproduces a 665-page register of Confederate soldiers, sailors, and citizens who died in federal prisons and military hospitals in the North, 1861-65. The register was compiled in 1912 in the Office of the Commissioner for Marking the Graves of Confederate Dead.
The burial lists are generally arranged alphabetically by name of prison camp or other location where the death occurred. The table of contents at the beginning of the volume is similarly arranged, although a few cemetery names are also listed; appropriate page numbers are cited in each instance. The individual burial lists are arranged alphabetically by name of deceased and generally give the name, rank, company, regiment, date of death, and number and location of grave for each individual interred. However, this information in its entirety is not available for all cases. Some cemeteries, for example, did not bury the dead in numbered graves and, in some instances, regimental and company designations or dates of death are not entered in the register. A few entries are for private Confederate citizens interred in the various cemeteries, and some are for unknown graves.
Other entries are for bodies no longer interred in the particular cemetery under which they are listed, and these entries contain such notations as "removed," "sent home," and "body taken home by friends." All the pages for the Green Lawn Cemetery in Indianapolis, IN, have been lined through and a notation added that "Remains of above removed to lot 285, Sec. 32, Crown Hill Cemetery, Indianapolis, Ind., and reinterred as unknowns on Oct. 27, 1931." Some of the entries contain references to explanatory notes that are at the beginning or end of the burial list.
District of Columbia Residents
The District of Columbia was created by acts of July 16, 1790, and March 3, 1791, from lands ceded by Virginia and Maryland. In 1846 Congress returned to Virginia its part. The Constitution of the United States gave the Congress power to legislate for the capital of the United States.
The records available on microfilm contain information about individuals in the records of the city of Georgetown. The records include court records of the District of Columbia, records of the United States General Accounting Office, and tax records for Georgetown.
Records of the Government of the District of Columbia (Record Group 351)
Records of the City of Georgetown (D.C.), 1800-1879. M605. 49 rolls. DP.
This microfilm publication reproduces 49 volumes of records of the local government of the city of Georgetown, 1800-79.
Georgetown, which was founded in Maryland in 1751, was governed by its own mayor and council until 1871, when Congress revoked its charter. Georgetown retained its name as a topographical designation, however, until 1895, when Congress abolished its title and existence as a separate city, consolidating it with Washington, DC.
The volumes reproduced consist mainly of tax assessment records and include journals, ledgers, and related volumes of various Georgetown municipal offices. The volumes are arranged by type of record and thereunder in chronological order. There are gaps in the dates for all of the series.
Internal Revenue Assessment Lists for District of Columbia, 1865-1866. M760. 8 rolls. DP.
This publication is described with other tax records in the Internal Revenue assessment lists, 1862-1864, which are located in part 2.
Records of the District Courts of the United States (Record Group 21)
Habeas Corpus Case Records, 1820-1863, of the United States Circuit Court for the District of Columbia. M434. 2 rolls.
This microfilm publication reproduces habeas corpus case files for the period 1820-63, most of which concern persons alleged to be runaway slaves. The records include writs of habeas corpus (orders to produce a prisoner and show cause for his capture and detention), petitions for writs, return of writs, orders of the court, and other papers filed in habeas corpus proceedings. The case records are arranged chronologically.
Records of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia Relating to Slaves, 1851-1863. M433. 3 rolls.
This microfilm publication reproduces all the records relating to slavery in the District of Columbia that were kept by the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia. These records include emancipation papers, 1857-63, manumission papers, 1851-63, and case papers relating to fugitive slaves, 1851-63.
An act of April 16, 1862, which abolished slavery in the District of Columbia, required loyal owners of freed slaves to file schedules of their slaves by July 15, 1862, in order to claim compensation. A supplementary act of July 12, 1862, permitted schedules to be filed by slaves whose former owners had neglected to file. The act also granted freedom to slaves whose owners lived outside the District of Columbia and who, with the owners' consent, were employed within the District after April 16, 1862.
The emancipation papers consist of these schedules, usually with notes giving dates when certificates of freedom were issued to former slaves. The manumission papers, 1851-63, record the voluntary freeing of slaves by their owners and in general they consist of schedules similar to those in the emancipation papers.
Included in the court's records are a series of papers relating to fugitive slaves, 1851-63. Many of these cases contain only the warrants for arrest; others contain papers relating to proof of ownership.
Records of the Accounting Officers of the Department of the Treasury (Record Group 217)
Records of the Board of Commissioners for the Emancipation of Slaves in the District of Columbia, 1862-1863. M520. 6 rolls. DP.
This microfilm publication reproduces three bound volumes and a number of unbound records of the Board of Commissioners for the Emancipation of Slaves in the District of Columbia, 1862-63. An act of April 16, 1862 (12 Stat. 376), abolished slavery in the District of Columbia. Under section 3 of the act, the President was authorized to appoint a board of three commissioners, who were residents of the District, to examine petitions for compensation from former owners of freed slaves in the District. Pursuant to this act, Daniel R. Goodloe, Horatio King, and Samuel F. Vinton were appointed. In June 1862 John M. Broadhead was appointed to replace Vinton. A clerk of the circuit court served as clerk of the board.
An act of July 12, 1862 (12 Stat. 538), provided that petitions could be received from slaves whose owners had not presented petitions for compensation. The petitions received under this act were filed separately from those received under the act of April 16 and are reproduced on roll 6.
Because the accounting papers relating to the activities of the board provide no additional information of value, they have not been included.
Other Governments
The National Archives has some records of foreign governments that were either seized by American troops or ceded to the United States as a result of wars.
Records of the Spanish Governors of Puerto Rico (Record Group 186)
By the Treaty of Paris of December 10, 1898, Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the United States. The cession included Spanish rights to the official archives and records on the islands, which the United States agreed to preserve and make available for use.
The fragmentary correspondence and related executive records received or created by the Spanish governors of Puerto Rico were transferred to the National Archives in 1943. A joint resolution of August 21, 1957, authorized the return of the Puerto Rican archives in the National Archives to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Extranjeros (Foreigners in Puerto Rico), ca. 1815-1845. T1170. 19 rolls.
This publication consists of requests by foreigners for permission to reside in Puerto Rico (cartas de domicilio), correspondence, lists of foreigners residing in various towns in the island, and occasionally copies of the final naturalization papers (carta de naturalizacion). Immigrants were given free land and paid no taxes for a period of 5 years, after which they could either become Spanish subjects or return to their homelands. An approved request to reside in the island usually contains the following information: name of immigrant, names of members of his immediate family, country and town of origin, proof of his being of good moral character and a Catholic, amount of capital he was bringing into the country, name of town he planned to live in, and his trade or profession.
Most of this material is dated after 1815, when foreign immigration was permitted in Puerto Rico for the first time. Records earlier than 1815 consist mostly of letters from local authorities informing the central government of the arrival of foreigners. The records are in Spanish.
Registro Central de Esclavos, 1872 (Slave Schedules). T1121. 8 rolls.
This microfilm publication reproduces the 1872 Puerto Rican Registro Central de Esclavos. On June 4, 1870, a law known as the ley Moret was approved, granting freedom to certain categories of slaves, including those over age 60, those belonging to the state, and children of slaves born after September 17, 1868. The law also resulted in the preparation of a central register of slaves. There are now eight volumes of this register, which cover geographical departments 1, 2, and 4 through 6. Slaves are listed under the department and thereunder the municipality in which they resided. The following information is usually given for each slave: name, country of origin, present residence, name of parents, sex, marital status, trade, age, physical description, and master's name. The schedules are in Spanish.
Amnesties And Pardons
Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780's-1917 (Record Group 94)
Case Files of Applications from Former Confederates for Presidential Pardons ("Amnesty Papers"), 1865-1867. M1003. 73 rolls. 16 mm. DP.
This microfilm publication reproduces applications for pardon, 1865-67, submitted to President Andrew Johnson by former Confederates excluded from the provisions of his amnesty proclamation of May 29, 1865, together with affidavits, oaths of allegiance, recommendations for executive clemency, and other accompanying papers. Included on roll 1 is an alphabetical name index to the pardon application files.
The pardon application files are divided into three groups: (I) applications submitted by persons from the South (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia); (II) pardon applications submitted by persons from the North and West (California, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico Territory, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island); and (III) applications submitted by persons who designated no state or territory. Group I, by far the most voluminous, is filmed on rolls 1-72; groups II and III are filmed on roll 73. Each of the first two groups is arranged alphabetically by state, territory, or district and thereunder alphabetically by surname of petitioner; the third group is arranged alphabetically by surname of petitioner.
General Records of the Department of State (Record Group 59)
Presidential Pardons and Remission, 1794-1893. T967. 7 rolls.
This microfilm publication reproduces copies of Presidential pardons and remissions and of some warrants for arrest and extradition. The records are arranged chronologically, with each volume separately indexed. The pardons contain little biographical information.
Naturalizations
Records of the District Courts of the United States (Record Group 21)
Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution provides that "Congress shall have the Power . . . To establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization . . . . " On March 26, 1790, Congress passed an act (1 Stat. 103) that allowed any individual who wanted to become a citizen to apply to any common law court of record in a state where he or she had lived for 1 year. Over the years, the residency requirement was changed several times. A second step-- filing a declaration of intention--was added later.
Records of naturalization proceedings in federal courts are usually among the records of the district court for the district in which the proceedings took place. A federal naturalization record may consist of a declaration of intention, petitions, depositions, and a record of naturalization.
From 1790 until 1906, except for the swearing-in ceremony, the clerk of the court administered the naturalization laws and kept the accompanying records. An alien with 2 years of residence presented himself or herself to the clerk, who provided the assistance needed to fill out the "Declaration of Intention." The clerk then filed a copy with the court, recorded the action in the court register, and compiled the index to the register. Later, the clerk of the court assisted the applicant in completing the "Petition for Naturalization," by which the alien renounced allegiance to his country of origin and swore allegiance to the United States. The clerk filed the petition with the court, after having it signed by the applicant and two witnesses (no copy of this was made). Next, the clerk attested to the fact of citizenship (no copy was made of this either). The entries in the appropriate register and index were also completed by the clerk.
Indexes to Naturalization Petitions to the U.S. Circuit and District Courts for Maryland, 1797-1951. M1168. 25 rolls. DP.
Indexes to naturalization petitions to the U.S. circuit and district courts for Maryland, 1797-1951, are reproduced in this microfilm publication. These indexes do not contain the names of all those naturalized in the state of Maryland, but only those naturalized in the federal courts. An alien could seek citizenship through any court of record.
The clerk of the U.S. district court for the District of Maryland established six different alphabetical indexes to naturalization petitions covering 1797-1951. The first index, for 1797-1906, is an alphabetical name index on cards to chronological entries in bound registers for both circuit and district court naturalization petitions. On each card is the name of the alien, the country of birth, the date of the declaration of intention or petition for naturalization, the court (circuit or district) to which the alien applied, and the volume and page number of the register in which the alien's name and the other information indicated above is recorded. The Maryland courts have no surviving individual declarations of intention or petitions for naturalization for either the circuit or district courts for this period. Therefore, the information on the index cards, which is the same as that in the bound registers, constitutes the entire record for the years 1797-1906.
The second (October 1906-April 1915), third (April 1915- April 1920), and fourth (April 1920-October 1925) indexes record only the name of the alien and his or her naturalization petition number.
The fifth index covers November 1925 through December 1951. Arranged by strict alphabetical order on cards, the index shows the name, residence, age, date of order of admission, date of certificate of naturalization, petition number, and certificate number. Some of the cards also contain the signature, date, and court where the declaration of intention was filed; registration number; and any name change by the petitioner.
The sixth and final index is to the records of aliens who joined the Armed Forces of the United States and filed for naturalization while in the service between May 1918 and April 1923. This alphabetical index shows only the name of the soldier, the petition number, and the volume in which the petition is recorded. In some instances, the military unit to which he was assigned and the camp at which he was stationed are also shown.
Indexes to Registers and Registers of Declarations of Intentions and Petitions for Naturalization of the U.S. District and Circuit Courts for Western District of Pennsylvania, 1820-1906. M1208. 3 rolls. DP.
This microfilm publication reproduces the indexes and registers of declarations of intention and petitions for naturalization of the U.S. district and circuit courts for the Western District of Pennsylvania, 1820-1906. The records are in the custody of the Federal Records Center in Philadelphia, PA.
The Western District of Pennsylvania was established by Congress in 1820, with its seat at Pittsburgh. The U.S. circuit and district courts that met there from 1820 to 1906 processed the declarations of intention and petitions for naturalization. These records are filed chronologically by either the date of the declaration or, if the naturalization action was completed by the same court, by the date of the petition.
Records of Admissions to Citizenship, District of South Carolina, 1790-1906. M1183. 1 roll. DP.
This microfilm publication reproduces four volumes of annotated lists of names of persons admitted to U.S. citizenship by the federal courts in South Carolina from 1790 through 1906. The volumes are in the custody of the Federal Records Center in Atlanta, GA.
Each of the four volumes is arranged alphabetically by the initial letter of the surname of the applicant and thereunder chronologically by the date of the order of admission to citizenship. The first volume, 1790-1860, contains the name of the alien, age, nation of birth, place of residence in the United States, occupation, and date of the order of admission. Not all entries are complete. The second volume, 1866-86, contains the name of the citizen, occupation, place of birth, place and date of arrival in the United States, age, and date of the order of admission. A few entries give the date of notice of intention rather than the date of admission. The third volume, 1876-1906, and the fourth volume, 1886-1906, contain the same information as the second volume, with the addition of the date of notice of intention. The names listed in volume 3 are different from those listed in volume 4.
Selected Indexes to Naturalization Records in the U.S. Circuit and District Courts, Northern District of California, 1852-1928. T1220.
This microfilm publication reproduces the indexes to naturalization records in the United States circuit and district courts for the Northern District of California, 1852-1928. The applications for naturalization, 1879-1903, contain the date; the name, place of residence, and nativity of the applicant; and the names and residences of the witnesses. The index to certificates of citizenship for the U.S. circuit court of San Francisco, 1855-1912, gives the date, name, and nativity of the applicant and a citation to the book and page number where it is recorded. The lists are alphabetical. The index to declarations of intent, 1851-1904, gives the name of the applicant, the date, and a citation to the book and page where it is recorded. The names are listed alphabetically.
The index to naturalizations, 1853-1867, shows the applicant's name and nativity, the date of naturalization and the court. The index also has a space for remarks. The index to certificates of naturalization, 1854-1905, has recorded minutes, the record number, and the book and page number where it can be found. These are listed alphabetically. There is also an alphabetical index to declarations of intent and petitions of naturalization, 1906-1919. The applicant's surname and given name, and the volumes and page numbers for both the declaration and petition, are given. The index to declarations of intent and petitions for naturalization, 1920-1928, are listed alphabetically.
Aliens Residing In The United States
General Records of the Department of State (Record Group 59)
"An Act Respecting Alien Enemies" of July 6, 1798 (1 Stat. 577), one of the Alien and Sedition Acts, was the basis for restrictions on aliens during the War of 1812. That law defined all male citizens, age 14 or older, of a nation formally at war with the United States as alien enemies; it was extended to apply to the War of 1812 by an act of 1812 (2 Stat 781). Under provisions of these laws, the Department of State, on July 7, 1812, issued a public notice requiring all British subjects to report the following information to U.S. marshals in their state or territory: name, age, length of residence in the United States, names of members of their families, place of residence, occupation, and whether they had applied for naturalization. The marshals were instructed to make returns of these reports to the Department.
"War of 1812 Papers" of the Department of State, 1789-1815. M588. 7 rolls. DP.
This microfilm publication reproduces on rolls 1 through 4 some of the letters and marshals' returns described above.
Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (Record Group 85)
Case Files of Chinese Immigrants, 1900-1923, From District No. 4 (Philadelphia) of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. M1144. 51 rolls. DP.
On the 51 rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced the case files of Chinese immigrants from the Immigration and Naturalization Service's District No. 4 Regional Office (Philadelphia), dating from 1900 to 1923. These case files were prepared by the staff of the regional office to enforce the various Chinese exclusion acts passed by Congress during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The files are part of the records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and are housed in the Federal Records Center in Philadelphia, PA.
Basically, under the exclusion acts, Chinese laborers could not emigrate to, live in, or become citizens of the United States. After 1882, the enforcement of laws centered on illegal entrants and on those who had entered legally before 1882 and their descendants. Section 6 of the 1882 law also provided for important entry exemptions for certified nonlaboring classes such as diplomatic personnel, government officials, businessmen, cultural personnel, and others, all of whom had to be scrutinized by the Bureau. These laws necessitated the keeping of copious segregated files at least until 1923, when new records began to be merged with the general records of the Bureau.
The Chinese cases were regarded as presenting special problems. Inspectors were specially detailed for the examination of Chinese applicants, and methods applied to them were different from those applied to other applicants. In a great many cases, the applicant based his claim for admission on American citizenship. Sometimes the applicant claimed that he was a citizen because he was born in this country or because he, though born in China, was a son of a native-born Chinese-American citizen. Usually, the only witnesses were those submitted by the applicant. However, where the fact of birth in this country was at issue, the allegation sometimes warranted investigation by the immigration officers themselves. In the case of a child alleged to have been born to an American citizen in China, the facts were ascertained by sustained interrogation. In many cases, the citizenship of the alleged father was admitted, and the question at issue was whether the applicant was in fact his son.
The exclusion laws divided all resident Chinese in the United States into two categories: merchants and laborers. Much effort was spent trying to define these terms, and lengthy investigations had to be conducted to ascertain the correct category for each individual. A Chinese laborer who was a former resident was allowed to reenter if he had a wife, a child, or a parent in the United States or property worth $1,000 or $1,000 in savings. Again, investigations were required in order to verify the allegation. To prove possession of $1,000 or being owed this amount required much testimony from individuals.
The registered Chinese laborer who wished to travel back to China for a visit also faced difficulties. He had to prove--first before he went, then again 3 months before he returned, and finally again on arrival--that he had the necessary family, relatives, or property in the United States.
The Federal Records Center in Philadelphia prepared a name and subject index to the case files that is reproduced on the first roll of microfilm and in the descriptive pamphlet for this publication.
Attorneys
Records of the Supreme Court of the United States (Record Group 267)
Attorney Rolls of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1790- 1951. M217. 4 rolls. DP.
This microfilm publication reproduces the rolls of attorneys and counselors admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States from February 5, 1790, through 1951. These records, which are in the custody of the Court, contain the signatures of the attorneys and counselors in chronological order by date of their admission to the bar of the Court. An alphabetical name index to the lawyers admitted to practice from 1790 to 1887 is reproduced in the first roll of microfilm.
After February 16, 1826, the state and sometimes the city of the lawyer's residence are given, and beginning on November 11, 1869, the name of his sponsor (faintly discernible on a few earlier rolls) appears in legible form. A few of the entries are annotated as "Disbarred (with the date)," "Hold," "Cancelled," and "Void."
The two earliest rolls of attorneys and counselors reproduced in this publication are on parchment; the others are in bound volumes. One of the parchment rolls contains the signatures of counselors admitted to practice from February 5, 1790, to February 20, 1807, and the other, signatures of attorneys admitted from February 8, 1790, to February 11, 1805. Some of the signatures and the dates of admission on the parchment rolls are not legible.
Each microfilm roll has been reproduced four times, with varying exposures, to give the reader every possible opportunity to decipher the writing.
National Archives Trust Fund Board
National Archives and Records Administration
Washington, DC
1983, electronic rev. 1995