10
if your fam ily is hostile, expect to find
subjects about which they are justifi
ably unhappy. Look about your fam
ily as you know it and don’t be sur
prised if there w ere sim ilar individuals
in your fam ily’s past. If the fam ily
has been at all prom inent, its skeletons
m ay be common knowledge to all but
yourself.. The fam ily of W illiam H enry
H arrison sat on fam ily papers for years
because they showed th at “papa
d ran k ”, while all the world knew th at
his campaign for President was suc
cessful becausb of the lavish distribu
tion of tspirits, and th at it ended ab
ru p tly w ith his death following a
tum ultuous inauguration.
But w hat will these facts that you
have gathered do for you? Why did
you ask those questions? If you are
young enough, you
start verify
ing each detail at the Oregon State
Board of H ealth in Portland. Your
own b irth certificate should show
your parents’ names, w here and when
they w ere born, your father’s occu
pation, w here your m other lived, and
if there w ere older children. Of course
not all the questions are answered on
every certificate. Your parents’ birth
certificates, at thejj State Board of
Health, if they were born in Oregon
since 1903, or at the City Board of
H ealth in P ortland if they w ere born
in th at city since 1864, should furnish
the same inform ation relating to them
selves and their parents. If they were
born before the days of birth certifi
cates, they m ay have ^ M ^ g e d a de
layed certificate, and evidence filed
w ith the State Board of Health prion-
to 1947, and now in the State Archives,
or th e records of the City Board of
Health, may fill gaps. F ull copies of
certificates of vital records can be ob.r
tained from the State Board of Health,
or the P ortland Board of Health, for
$1.00, provided they know why you
w ant th e inform ation.
M arriage records since 1850 have
survived in most county court houses,
or are available at the State Board of
H ealth since 1908. They often show
the nam es of the couple,-of the bride’s
fa th er, th e ages of the bridal pair,
and the groom’s occupation. Since 1910
m arriag e dates lead to the society
page description of weddings, which
includes th e nam es of relations. Equal
in im portance to m arriage r e b d r ^ a r e
records of their dissolution, or of div
orces in w hich th e parties establish
the fact of m arriage and account for
children. Certificates at th e S tate
Board of H ealth since 1925 w ill lead
you to the proper court for verifica
tion of facts, and th ere m ay be evi
dence on file relating to relatives in-
volved. Rem em ber m aladjustm ents
resulting in. divorce are ages old, call
ing for s y m p a th e tic understanding.
They are im portant only to th e extent
that they reflect fam ily characteristics
undpr? strain.
Death records of th e S tate B oard of
Health since 1903 w ill give the date
of birth, tell w here the deceased w as.
born, and should include the nam es of
parents.;:! The death certificM Malso
shows w here the deceased wa.s buried,
and there is nothing like a fam ily cem
etery to helpEiou in your hunt. Once
the death date is established, an obit
uary in a local paper m ay be im port
ant, although most papers published
before 1900 w ere concerned, not w ith
the surviving fam ily, b u t w ith the
place of the deceased in the com m un
ity. Death not only produces a certif
icate, but there; m ay be an estate and
a will. T h e s e ^ H filed^sW p art of the
probate records at the County Court
House, and are most helpful in estab-
lishing the relationship of fa th e r^ o r
m other to their children, or grand
children, or of an uncle and aunt to
their nieces or nephews. A guardian-
ship will likewise reveal the nam es of
m inor children, while the tran sfer of
real property through an estate ^ i l l
positively prove the relationship. You
not only w ant to check;.the '& ill itself,
but you :H 8 i l « B l l o w through all the
court orders recorded in the docket
book or in the m inutes of the ternltp r-
ial county courts. If you seek Oregon
estates prior to 1845, they are rec
orded in a th in book in the B ^ e ^ o f
the Secretary of S tate in Salem.
Newspapers w hich contain obituar
i e s deWrip tiq ^ ^ S w eddings and birth
n o ti^ s m ay be at the Oregon H istor
ical Society in P ortland, th e U niver
sity °f Oregon L ib rary at,-Eugene, the
Oregon State L i l S w In Salem and
the L ibrary of Congress in W ashing-
ton, D.C. P rio r to 1880, fine files are
(Continued bn Page 20)