As I said before, the language of the notarial act depends on the language spoken by the parties involved. English-speaking people would go to an English-speaking notary and of course the act would be written in English. But the people I'm working on were all Francophones, so they would go to one of the French-speaking notaries. I knew that the notarial acts had been microfilmed by the State of Louisiana (the Notarial Archives is a state agency), but I was not aware that the films were available through the Mormon Family History Libraries. I've never used the FHLs because there isn't one accessible by public transportation in Washington DC, where I live. I don't drive. The NOPL has microfilms of the Conveyance Office Index to Purchasers and Vendors, although it's awfully hard to read, especially for the early years. Maybe the FHLs have that as well, but without going to the Conveyance Office Book cited in the index, you aren't going to get the name of the notary and you won't have the citation to the notarial act. The indexes to the notarial books just posted on the NARC website are such a fabulous research tool that will give out-of-town people access to citations. If you write to the archivist, Ann Wakefield (awakefield@notarialarchives.org) they will send you a scanned copy of the notarial act. It's rather expensive, and sometimes harder to read than the original if the paper is stained or the ink is bleeding through, but better than nothing if you can't get to New Orleans. > [Original Message] > From: Gene Hullinghorst <ghullinghorst@ameritech.net> > To: <LAORLEAN@rootsweb.com> > Date: 04/10/2008 8:52:40 AM > Subject: [LAORLEAN] Notarial Archives > > The early records in the Notarial Archives are probably mostly in French or Spanish. However, I have worked with some in the 1860s and 1870s and the majority are in English. One in French is occasionally there - depending on the notary. I've used the FHL microfilms. > > Also on the web site for the Notarial Archives, they have a list of the notaries and the dates they acted. That might narrow down your search. > > Gene H. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to LAORLEAN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG. > Version: 7.5.519 / Virus Database: 269.22.10/1367 - Release Date: 04/09/2008 7:10 AM