Sharon, I noticed that some of the names you listed were from an asylum. Is there any way of getting records from an asylum from the 1860's or so? mcarmody@osage.net > 1893 Mt. Pleasant City Directory > Coogerin Simon, lab at Asylum > http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ia/henry/history/dir.txt > > 1880 1st Ward, Mt. Pleasant, Henry, Iowa > Maroney [sic], Mary 53 Ire > Cohran, Simon 32 Ire son, single laborer at assylum [sic] > Clancy, Patrick 51 Ire brother, single laborer on RR > >

Michael, That's a very legitimate question, but of course the answer could be a various as all the counties which ever had an asylum. Every decade more recent than the 1860s increases the chances that the records survived. However, if the state permits access at all, it is likely limited to those who need to know, especially as one nears the boundary of denied access for records as a whole, such as 80 years back from the present. A direct descendant would likely fit into those recognized as having a need to know, but the effort to establish your relationship may not be worth it if little new information can be gleaned from the record. The person being admitted may well not have been lucid, and the younger generation assisting in the admission may not have known or have heard correctly info on prior generations, the same issue arising with death certificates. However, a book likely dealing with access to institutional records of this type is: Szucs, Loretto Dennis The source : a guidebook of American genealogy Rev. ed. 1996 I read an earlier version of this book when it was compiled by Arlene Eakle, and the breadth of coverage of record types is impressive and very helpful. You can also try consulting the reference librarian at your local library or the nearest university's library reference department. Sharon Carberry ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Carmody" <mcarmody@osage.net> To: <irl-clare@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 1:37 PM Subject: Re: [IRL-CLARE] Cugeron, Clare ? to IA, related to Maloney, Clancy > Sharon, > I noticed that some of the names you listed were from an asylum. Is there any way of getting records from an asylum from the 1860's or so? > mcarmody@osage.net > > 1893 Mt. Pleasant City Directory > > Coogerin Simon, lab at Asylum > > http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ia/henry/history/dir.txt > > > > 1880 1st Ward, Mt. Pleasant, Henry, Iowa > > Maroney [sic], Mary 53 Ire > > Cohran, Simon 32 Ire son, single laborer at assylum ...