Julie Miller’s monthly column is in the 13 April 2008 edition of the Broomfield Enterprise. The topic for April is “Probate records more than a will.” The column discusses the genealogy information that can be found in wills and probate records.
Since our earlier post, Arphax Publishing has released more Colorado counties in their series of Family Maps books. This week’s releases include a Deluxe Edition* for Ouray County. Here is a list of all the Colorado counties currently available for sale:
Crowley County, Colorado: Homesteads Edition
Pueblo County, Colorado: Homesteads Edition
Custer County, Colorado: Homesteads Edition
Otero County Colorado, Deluxe Edition
Bent County, Colorado, Deluxe Edition
Logan County, Colorado, Deluxe Edition
Ouray County, Colorado, Deluxe Edition
* Deluxe editions “allow comprehensive research for the physical location of the underlying land, are quite a bit longer than Homesteads editions, but [are] a little more expensive.” For more information about the differences between the two editions see these FAQs at the publisher’s Web site: “What’s the difference …” and “Why do you have TWO …“
The September edition of Denver Public Library’s Manuscript Collection News is now available at the DPL Web site.
Some highlights from this issue are:
Past issues are also available. The July News, which includes a description of the Byers Family Collection (”Hidden Treasures”), is available here; the August News has a condensed description of the procedures the library uses to process donations, and is available here.
In May we reported that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Enviroment had removed marriage and divorce indexes from their Web site. This week there is good news for Colorado researchers who have been feeling the loss of that divorce index.
Because of the efforts of a Colorado State Archives volunteer, Gerald Sherard, a new divorce index is now becoming available on the Archives Web site as part of the Colorado Historical Records Index. The cases range from the 1870s to 1939. As of today, the database includes only the plaintiff entries, but the defendant entries will be added soon, making a total of 160,000 entries.
According to the Records Description, researchers will often be able to follow up by ordering or viewing original case files at the Archives:
The case files normally have the complaint, the decree, names of children and other documentation in them. The State Archives has a large portion of the divorce cases from throughout the state during the time span of the index. It is likely that we can find divorce court case files in Adams, Boulder, Chaffee, Clear Creek (to 1927), Conejos, Costilla, Custer, Denver, Dolores, Douglas, Eagle, Elbert, El Paso, Fremont, Garfield, Gilpin, Grand, Jefferson, Kit Carson (1904-1910 with many missing), Lake, LaPlata, Larimer, Lincoln, Mesa, Mineral, Moffat, Montezuma (to 1923), Montrose (to 1934), Morgan (to 1922), Otero, Ouray (to 1935), Pitkin, Pueblo, Rio Grande, Routt, Saguache, Summit, Teller, Weld, and Yuma counties.
Colorado Department of Public Health and Enviroment (CDPHE) has removed the marriage and divorce indexes from their Web site. An error is received starting this week on the site that formerly had the Divorce Index. The following statement is posted on the Marriage Index Web site:
Individuals needing verification of a Marriage or Dissolution need to apply to the State Vital Records office. An application may be obtained by visiting the state website: www.cdphe.state.co.us
The Marriage Index included the years 1975- present. The Divorce Index included the years 1859-1939 and 1968 to present. The issue of identity theft and privacy does not apply to the older records from 1859-1939. No reason was given for taking this index off line.
Thanks to Paul Daraghy for the tip about this story.