Federal census records are available at the Family History Library, the National Archives, and regional offices of the National Archives. The United States Research Outline provides more detailed information about these records.

The Family History Library has the U.S. federal censuses of Hawaii for 1900, 1910, and 1920. Soundex (phonetic) indexes are available for the 1900 and 1920 censuses. The 1910 Federal Census has been published (FHL book 996.9 X22h 1910).

In addition to the federal censuses, colonial censuses exist for some portions of Hawaii for 1866, 1878, 1890, and 1896. The 1878 census is for Hilo only, and the 1896 is for the island of Oahu only. The 1890 and 1896 censuses are the most complete. They give the name, age, sex, and birthplace of every person. The 1878, 1890, and 1896 censuses are available at the Hawaii State Archives and the Family History Library (FHL films 1010681-88).

The Hawaii State Archives also has two “census files,” 1840 to 1866 and 1847 to 1866, which contain miscellaneous records such as school census, population lists, and vital record summaries (FHL film 1009896 item 1-2 has records for 1840-1866).

Return to top of page


CHURCH RECORDS

Between 1820 and 1850, missionaries of many churches visited Hawaii. By 1900 the largest religious groups in the islands were The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), Congregational (United Church of Christ), Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic. Later, the Buddhists became a major group.

Histories of Buddhists and other religious groups are available. An excellent introduction to this subject is John F. Mulholland, Hawaii's Religions (Rutland, Vt.: Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1970; FHL book 996.9 K2m).

The Family History Library has extensive collections of mission and temple records for the LDS Church, including an index of memberships, 1850 to 1961, on 9 microfilms.

Buddhist records are kept at the individual Buddhist temples. Addresses of other major denominations include:

Congregational

Congregational Library
14 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02108
Telephone: 617-523-0470
Fax: 617-523-0470

Presbyterian

Presbyterian Historical Society
425 Lombard Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147-1516
Telephone: 215-627-1852
Fax: 215-627-0509

Roman Catholic

Diocese of Honolulu, Chancery Office
1184 Bishop Street
Honolulu, HI 96813
Telephone: 808-533-1791
Fax: 808-521-8428

Return to top of page


COURT RECORDS

---

Major Hawaii courts that kept records of genealogical value were established as follows:

1848-pres.	District courts have jurisdiction over minor civil and criminal cases.
1848-pres.	Circuit courts have jurisdiction over major civil and criminal cases, juvenile cases, probate cases, and divorces.
1800s-pres.	Supreme court is a statewide appellate court.

The Family History Library has circuit court divorce records from 1849 to 1915. Other circuit court records are available at the various county courthouses. The following records are available at the Hawaii State Archives:

Divorces	1848-1915
Equity files	1851-1914
Criminal cases	1848-1914
Minutes	1848-1960
Civil cases	1848-1916

Return to top of page

Previous Document   Next Document

©1998, 2001 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. No part of this document may be reprinted, posted on-line, or reproduced in any form for any purpose without the prior written permission of the copyright holder. FamilySearch is a trademark of Intellectual Reserve, Inc.
[FamilySearch^TM: Research Guidance
Version of Data: 6/8/2001]