Courthouse Research For Family Historians

The Glenview Public Library owns this valuiable book.  You can use it in the Genealogy room:

Courthouse Research for Family Historians: Your Guide to Genealogical Treasures by Christine Rose
R929.1 ROS GENEALOGY

 This is a step by step handbook for researching court records. Rose brings her experience in researching at over 500 courthouses to bear in one complete guidebook of instructions. This book will prepare you to visit a courthouse in person as well as accessing court records from a distance.
It examines different record types and the information each contains, and explains unfamiliar terminology. Step by step the reader is instructed in the process of preparing, accessing, reading, and understanding courthouse records.

The book covers: how to prepare for a visit to a courthouse...how to know in which county the records you need are located; for which years; and whether the county still exists...when it is open....what to bring...how to read old handwriting...the importance of faithfully transcribing what you see...should you bring your laptop computer...understanding different indexing systems, and how to use them...what was considered legal age in different times and places...which courthouses burned and what to do about it...other records on the shelves...land ownership...state-land and federal-land...surveying...deeds...types of documents...terminology...property records...plat books and maps...powers of attorney...mortgage books...photocopying...estates...probates...wills...primogeniture...intestate division...in-laws...bonds...petitions...accounts of sale...renunciation...administrations--guardianship...next friend...entails...kinds of courts...legal system...civil records...indebtedness...judgments...changes of name...tax records...road records and commissioners...coroner's records...voter registration...naturalization...divorces...criminal matters...gaols...bail bonds...juries...vital records...Delayed or Corrected Birth Records...documents that can substitute for missing documents...customs...Marriages Banns, Bonds, certificates, registers, contracts...Deaths...The Internet, Microfilm, and Libraries...Unusual Sites...Strategies that Work...and much more.