Washington D.C. Genealogy Records

Washington D.C. Genealogy Records Online

Washington D.C. genealogy records are easily accessible through online resources. The District of Columbia Genealogy website provides access to cemetery records and census reports currently. The site is in development and will soon offer details on genealogical societies in the area, court records, directories and a number of other useful links that can help anyone conducting genealogical studies within this area.

You may be interested in looking up long lost family members in Washington D.C. genealogy records that came generations before you. Perhaps your predecessors had criminal records. If they did, many court records from criminal cases have been archived and have become a matter of public record. While not all records are made public, particularly juvenile records, there is plenty of information that you may be able to gather that can be interesting for you to investigate. Even though some records are sealed at the request of those involved in the cases, you can sometimes still access summaries or court minutes.

Having basic information about the criminal case that your relatives were involved in will prove to be useful in your search for the records. It is, of course, important to know the approximate year that the crime was committed, but narrowing your search might take a bit more information. Different courts handle different types of crimes, so you will need to know what category of crime (misdemeanor, felony, etc.) was committed and then you can approach the proper court for the case related documents. Be sure that you have an understanding of what level the crime was, meaning was it a local county matter, state or federal crime.

Other court records might also be helpful to your search for Washington D.C. genealogy records. There is a lot of other information found on court documents that don't necessarily have to do with criminal cases. Information about assess, birthdates, deaths, adoption, naturalization, and taxes can all be of use to genealogical research.

Vital records are great primary source documents that provide the first and last names (and maiden names) as well as the names of the mothers and fathers. Important dates like of birth and death are on birth certificates and death certificates, and marriage licenses show family connections as well. The place of birth of not only the individual but both parents are often on these records, which opens up the path to tracing back the family line even further on both the maternal and paternal sides of the family.

Adoption records are also particularly helpful. It is important to consider that even if you were not adopted, there could be one or more of your ancestors in your family line who was adopted. These records are typically available to the general public, so you should be able to trace who adopted whom. Searching back to the biological parents can lead to an entirely different genealogical path that can be quite interesting to pursue. It is probably a good idea to trace both the adopted line and the biological line. Maybe the two families have other things in common.

In order to obtain genealogy records in Washington D.C., you'll either need to contact the Department of Health or the Superior Court. Birth and death records are available from the Department of Health. Marriage and divorce records are available through the Superior Court. Birth and death records, unless they're more than 100 years old, have limited access. You must be the registrant, an immediate family member, a legal guardian, or a legal representative to gain access to those files.

Anyone can obtain copies of marriage or divorce records as part of their search for Washington D.C. genealogy records. You'll have to provide both the names and dates involved, and pay the fee, however, you should quickly get the records you need. A written or in person request is applicable when trying to obtain this type of genealogy records in Washington D.C.