Well, you know, in my case there is a possibilbity that my gr grandfather was actually fathered by a " paternal wierd uncle ". We know quite a bit about that wierd uncle, who later married again and fathered one child, has descendents who put me on to all kinds of things like a messy divorce, abandonment of the second family several times to take trips to the Carribean?and other erratic behaviors etc. This descendent family also told me of an early marriage when he was in college ( he was a smart wierd uncle ! ) where there was ' no apparent child or children produced"... Another 'normal uncle' and his family presumably adopted my gr grandfather , so the surname would be the same as mine. So reading Jerry's account , I might have a bit easier time of it under the same research conditions. -----Original Message----- From: iowagob1@juno.com <iowagob1@juno.com> To: kennewickman4@aol.com Sent: Mon, 8 Dec 2008 11:03 pm Subject: Re: [IOWA] Adoption records question Iowa adoption records were sealed July 1, 1941. When I was looking for my Grandfather in Story Co. they had pasted cardboard strips over the birth records in the ledger. I was told the blocking was for out of wedlock and for adopted children. After looking for my Grandfather for 10 years and getting nowhere I ran into a woman at the IGS Library in Des Moines. She had a newspaper clipping where the person in charge of vital records said when "adoptions" started in Iowa. I forget the exact date but my Grandfather was adopted in 1892, before that procedure started. Before a certain date children were passed on an Indenture. Indentures were recorded in the Registrar's office and are supposed to be public records. I went to the Registrar of Story County, IA and said I wanted to see the record for my Grandfather. She asked his name and went to find the record then came back and asked whether that was his birth name or his adopted name. She said it was all filed under birth name. I did not know his birth name but took a guess on a rumor and said "Shearer" She went back in to another room then came out and said that yes, she had found John Fredrick Shearer and the Hales were involved but she could not give me the record without a court order. Although that was against the policy stated in the news article I decided not to contest the point. I went to the Clerk who had me write out a request which she took in to the Judge. He signed it, I went back to the Registrar and she then made a Xerox copy of the ledger page. Even though 100 years had past and all parties were long dead it was still necessary to go through all of that. If you don't have the birth name I suspect there would be no way to find the record. Before I knew about indentures and thought he had been adopted I had consulted several lawyers with an eye to filing a suit demanding the information. Two lawyers told me it wasn't possible and a third said he would take the case but didn't have much hope of prevailing. The best info is here: http://www.dhs.state.ia.us/Consumers/Child_Welfare/Adoption/AdoptionRecords.html "Effective July 1, 1999, Iowa law enables adoptees, their "birth parents," and their blood-related brothers and sisters to find each other if the birth is registered with the State of Iowa. The "Mutual Consent Voluntary Adoption Registry" was established in order to match those persons requesting that their identity be revealed to registrants "matching" information concerning an adult adoptee." You can check out Iowa adoption laws at http://laws.adoption.com/statutes/iowa-laws.html There is an Iowa Adoption Registry that might help http://www.adopteeconnect.com/p/a/1016/ My mother's family got back together after one signed up for such a registry and another happened along looking for siblings. Good luck Jerry "Still looking for Grandpa Hale" ____________________________________________________________ Free information on becoming a Graphic Designer. Click Now! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/PnY6rw3huH09pOkzdtK1z9vj1PzmGPTcGkXqaDvr2Hp1aj9UMiHI0/