Key Historical Documents Relevant to this Website
The following is a selective sampling of historical
documents that are relevant to the family history presented on this website.
From the decrees of the Council of Trent, 24th Session, Chapter I, 11 November 1563
"...The parish priest shall have a book, which he shall keep carefully by him,
in which he shall register the names of the persons married, and of the
witnesses, and the day on which, and the place where, the marriage was
contracted..."
This decree mandated the recording in church of marriages for both nobility and peasantry alike.
Source: Canons and
Decrees of the Council of Trent, edited by J. Waterworth (Chicago, 1848)
From the decrees of the Council of Trent, 24th Session, Chapter II, 11 November 1563
"...The parish priest, before he proceeds to confer baptism, shall carefully
inquire of those whom it may concern, what person or persons they have
chosen to receive from the sacred font the individual baptized, and he
shall allow him or them only to receive the baptized; shall register their
names in the book, and teach them what relationship they have contracted,
that they may not have any excuse on the score of ignorance..."
This decree led to the recording in church of baptisms. In Poland, Kielce began to keep these
records as early as 1565; Poznan, in 1577. The Papal Roman Ritual of 1614
formalized the keeping of baptism, marriage, and death registers. Preserved registers are
immensely helpful in family history research.
Source: Canons and
Decrees of the Council of Trent, edited by J. Waterworth (Chicago, 1848)
The West Prussian Land Register of 1772/73
Ordered by Frederick the Great after the first partition of Poland in 1772, this land
survey aimed to facilitate the establishment of the Prussian taxation system in the new territory.
It was a head of household registration. More than half of the surnames listed are Polish.
Source: The Marburger
Auszüge of the West Prussian Land Register from 1772/73, West Prussia No. 28,
Herder Institut (Marburg, Germany)
From the United States Constitution, Article I, Section 2, 17 September 1787
"...Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States
which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers...The actual
Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the
United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by
Law direct..."
This article established the decennial census in the United States, starting in 1790.
Census records are important sources for tracing family roots in the U.S.
Source: National Constitution Center (Philadelphia, 1995)
