New Orleans, Louisiana Genealogy

See also Orleans Parish, Louisiana.

History
The city was incorporated in 1805 and became the State capital in 1812. In 1815, at the close of the War of 1812, the city was attacked by a British force. General Andrew Jackson commanded an American army that decisively defeated the invaders in the Battle of New Orleans, on January 8, 1815.

During the following four decades New Orleans enjoyed great prosperity. Trade was tremendously increased by the advent of the steamboat and railroads, and by 1852 the city was the third largest in the United States.

During the Civil War, New Orleans, as the chief Confederate port and a military center, was a focal objective of Union troops. Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, commanding a Union fleet, captured the city in April 1862, and the port was held by the Union until the end of the war.

From 1865 5o 1877 the history of New Orleans was characterized by racial and political strife incited by so-called carpetbaggers, who encouraged the freed slaves to persecute their former masters. Riots became so frequent that the Federal government declared maritial law in 1874. The government forces were withdrawn in 1877.

During the period of Reconstruction the city slowly recovered. The capital was transferred to Baton Rouge in 1880, and civic enterprise devoted itself to commercial development and public works.

African American

 * Slave and Free People of Color Baptismal Records in the Archives 1777-1801, available online, courtesy: Office of Archives: Archdiocese of New Orleans.

Church

 * The Sacramental Records of the Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, edited by Earl C. Woods and Charles E. Nolan are invaluable. there contain birth, baptism, marriage, and death information. Currently there are 19 volumes covering 1718 to 1831.

Laws and Legislation

 * The following site nutrias.org/~nopl/inv/neh/nehab.htm#ab22[1] contains short descriptions of various city government charters for the City of New Orleans and provides an inventory of minutes, ordinances, and resolutions.

Local Histories

 * A good online history of New Orleans is located at www.madere.com/history.html. The authors are Donald McNabb and Louis E. Madere.  The timeframe covered is founding of New Orleans to the Civil War.

Vital Records

 * Indexes to birth, marriage, and death records for New Orleans are online at The USGenWeb Archives Project for Orleans Parish, Louisiana. The indexes provide the volume and page numbers from which the FHL Catalog can be used to locate the microfilm containing the vital record of interest. Indexes for Orleans parish birth records 1790-1907 can be found online at http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/Home/Archives/ResearchLibrary/VitalRecords/OrleansParishBirths/tabid/641/Default.aspx and marriages at http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/Home/Archives/ResearchLibrary/VitalRecords/OrleansParishMarriages/tabid/633/Default.aspx Actual certificates are not available for many of these older records.

Libraries

 * The Public Library of New Orleans has a wealth of online information at nutrias.org/~nopl/spec/speclist.htm including
 * Louisiana Biography/Obituary Index
 * Guide to Genealogical Materials
 * Digging Up Roots in the Mud Files
 * NOVA Transcriptions of City Archives Records
 * Index to Deaths in the Daily Picayune, 1837-1857
 * Index to the Justices of the Peace Marriage Records, 1846-1880
 * New Orleans Newspaper Marriage Index, 1837-1857
 * Passenger Arrivals at the Port of New Orleans
 * Naturalization Records in New Orleans
 * Birth Records for New Orleans
 * Hints on Using the 1850 Census
 * Hints on Using the 1860-1920 Censuses
 * New Orleans City Directories
 * African-American Genealogical Sources