During the 1920s and early 1930s, a jug of illegal whiskey could change a family’s fortune—or tear it apart. Whether your ancestors ran stills deep in the woods or simply served homemade brew at a...
Category - When Ancestors Broke the Law
Courthouse Clues: Civil Cases That Tell Family Stories
When most people think about court records in genealogy, they imagine criminal charges, jail time, or dramatic trials. But there’s a quieter, more common type of legal record that can be just as...
The Family Felon: Finding Criminal Records in Your Tree
Not every ancestor was a pillar of virtue. Some were drunks, swindlers, thieves—or worse. You may have been told stories about them, or maybe you found hints in old letters or whispered rumors passed...