General Resources - Criminal Ancestor Research
See general resources below. Click on Resources Home for full list.
Discover resources for researching your criminal ancestor!
Prison Records
- Federal Prison Records - https://www.usa.gov/prisoner-records
- Includes NARA – multiple records; some indexes online as well as prison files: https://www.archives.gov/research/prisons
- https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/129.html
- Ordering Copies of Records - https://www.archives.gov/research/order#other
- BOP Recent federal inmates (1982-present) - https://www.bop.gov/inmateloc/
- Ancestry - https://www.ancestry.com/search/categories/uspen/ and https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/catalog/?category=141_36&location=2
- Cyndi’s List - https://www.cyndislist.com/prisons/us/
- FamilySearch – Catalog search, Place: United States, State, County, City
- Start broad, narrow down to find records related to criminal activities
- Black Sheep Ancestors - https://www.blacksheepancestors.com/united-states/
- COSA – the Council of State Archives maintains a directory of state libraries, archives, and records programs.
- National Institute of Corrections - https://nicic.gov/resources/nic-library/hot-topics/history-corrections-america
- Red Book – American State, County, and Town Sources
- Provides sources by state, not just potential criminal records
Court Records
- Ancestry – Court and Criminal Records (USA) - https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/catalog/?limitToCountry=0&category=141_36&location=2&
- FamilySearch - https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/United_States_Court_Records
Legal Glossary & Older Legal Jargon Sites
- Black’s Law Dictionary – https://thelawdictionary.org/ (look online for Black’s edition prior to the 5th edition to get older legal terms)
- LAW.com - https://dictionary.law.com/
- Cornell Law School - https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/category/criminal_law_and_procedure
- The Free Dictionary - https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/
- Merriam-Webster Legal Dictionary - https://www.merriam-webster.com/legal
- FindLaw - https://dictionary.findlaw.com/
- Nolo - https://www.nolo.com/dictionary
- Old Bailey - https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/static/Glossary.jsp
- Colonial Virginia - http://www.milaminvirginia.com/glossary.html
- Latin Legal Terms:
- The Legal Genealogist - https://www.legalgenealogist.com/
Other Websites of Interest
- Death Warrants File (PA) 1874-1899, https://ingest-digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/psa/islandora/object/psa%3Adwfpa
- Department of Justice (PA) – variety of records, https://powerlibrary.org/category/psa-department/justice-department-of-psa-departments/#.ZDsAiXbMK5f
- U.S., Album of Criminals, 1906 - https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3038/
- Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Overall: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/458
- Newspaper Collection: https://about.jstor.org/revealdigital/american-prison-newspapers/
- Library of Congress – Newspaper Project: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/
The Criminal Genealogist
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