Why Should You Look for Private Laws?

One final point I took away from the Law School for Genealogists class at GRIP:

One topic that came up at GRIP that was new to me was the notion of "private laws". These are just like the "public laws" passed by Congress, except their purpose is to address the grievance of an individual citizen. "Widow Jones does not qualify for a War of 1812 pension under the statues, but she really deserves it because ...". "Mr Smith mistakenly let his patent expire, but I'm sure you can override that and grant him an exclusive patent extension". "The Wilson family is owed damages due to the behavior of the Continental Army with regard to the Wilson’s cow". It just goes on and on. It seems that 90% of the laws passed by the 1905 congress were private laws. It was so bad that until 1946, Congress had a standing Claims Committee to deal with these claims.

Another point is that people would not stop just because they were denied their claim. They would often come back again and again with just minor "adjustments" to their claim. And often they would prevail if they kept coming back. Of course, there were possible downsides to trying too hard. We saw the story of one woman who testified that she got married in 1829. She was denied her request because the statue said she needed to be married in 1830 or later. She then reapplied, saying she was really married in 1830. She withdrew her claim when it pointed out that, if she REALLY wanted the second statement to be admitted into the record, Congress now had proof of her lying under oath.

The private laws are there just mixed in with the other Congressional statues searchable under the Century of Law Making section on Library of Congress' website. And if you are lucky enough to find a private law for an ancestor, there is probable a tray of wonderful support documentation at NARA. What might you find? Maybe a wedding record, a document signed by your ancestor, etc. Makes me wish I had some American ancestors to research!