The first stop on our tour is the Genealogical Indexes. The online description says this is an index to marriages, divorces, probates, wills, and citizenship records for 1826 to 1929. As with all Hawaiian collections, this is not a complete index.
There are two ways to access these indexes: Browse and Search.
Let’s look at the browse screen. Click on the browse link above.
What you see is all the indexes available divided into categories. They are:
Marriages – Hawaii Island – 1832-1910
Marriages – Hawaii Island – 1911-1929
Marriages – Kauai Island – 1826-1910
Marriages – Kauai Island – 1910-1929
Marriages – Maui Island – 1842-1910
Marriages – Maui Island – 1911-1929
Marriages – Molokai Island – 1850-1910
Marriages – Molokai Island – 1911-1929
Marriages – Oahu Island – 1832-1910 – Volume 1
Marriages – Oahu Island – 1832-1910 – Volume 2
Marriages – Oahu Island – 1911-1929 – Volume 1
Marriages – Oahu Island – 1911-1929 – Volume 2
Marriages – Niihau Island – 1849-1856
Divorces – First Circuit – 1851-1908
Divorces – Second Circuit – 1848-1900
Divorces – Third Circuit – 1854-1899
Divorces – Fourth Circuit – 1890-1899
Divorces – Fifth Circuit – 1852-1899
Deaths – Probates Index – First Circuit – 1845-1900
Deaths – Probates Index – Second Circuit – 1849-1917
Deaths – Probates Index – Third Circuit – 1854-1897
Deaths – Probates Minute Books – Third and Fourth Circuits – 1850-1915
Deaths – Probates Index – Fourth Circuit – 1881-1904
Deaths – Probates Index – Fifth Circuit – 1851-1914
Deaths – Probates Minute Books – Fifth Circuit – 1853-1910
Deaths – Wills – First Circuit – (no dates given)
Deaths – Wills – Other Circuits – 1852-1916
Citizenship – Naturalization 1844-1894
Citizenship – Denization – 1846-1898
Citizenship – Passports – September 1874-June 1900
The dates for most of these indexes are 1915 and earlier. So, if you have early ancestry in Hawaii, you might luck out.
You might recognize some of these indexes as Edgar Knowlton has incorporated them into his books. They have been microfilmed by the LDS Church Family History Library as well.
When you click on a category, you will get a list of files alphabetized by surname. Go ahead and click on any of the surnames. The page you requested is produced. You have the option of seeing the typed version or the scan of the actual page. Note that once you are in an index, you can click through it page by page.
The information that each index entry contains varies. All refer you to a source that should be available at the State Archives.
All indexes are searchable by using the search box in the top right hand corner of each page. Enter a surname into the box. You will see all occurences of that surname from every index in the collection.
It should be pointed out that this collection does not include all the records available for anyone category. For instance, the marriage index includes the records available through the State Archives but not entries from the registry books kept by the Department of Health. The Naturalization index gives those names recorded by the Minister of the Interior, but not the naturalization records recorded via the circuit courts once Hawaii became a territory or through the INS in later years.
While this index isn’t all conclusive, it’s a great start! The indexes will be especially helpful to those researches trying to find events that occured before 1910.