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Only twenty states had made provision for formal, legal adoption between about 1851 and 1903. Before then and in states without adoption laws, orphaned and abandoned children were assigned guardians, placed in orphanages, or bound out as indentured servants or apprentices. In many cases, relatives, friends, neighbors, or childless couples adopted children "informally," which means they raised them voluntarily and without court intervention. |
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The following states passed civil statutes to provide for the
legal adoption of children:
State - Year - Court
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Legal adoption proceedings became a civil court action, but you will not find documents attesting to informal adoptions in court records. |
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Although modern adoption records have been sealed by the court to protect the privacy of the individuals involved, those created around the turn of the century are more accessible in some places. |
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The example above is typical of an early adoption record. It names the child, her adoptive parents, and states that the names of her natural parents are unknown. When known, the names of a child's father and mother are recorded. |
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Before attempting to locate court records for an adopted relative, collect as much information as possible about the circumstances surrounding the adoption from family members who knew the child, the adoptive parents, and natural parents. |
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Adopted children became the legal heirs of the adoptive parents, except in states where the right to inherit certain types of property was restricted to "heirs of the body." Maine, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Vermont, Utah, and West Virginia. |
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Suggested reading: Arlene H. Eakle, "American Court Records."
The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy. Loretto
Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, eds., Salt
Lake City: Ancestry, 1997: 173-240.
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