New York State Court of Chancery Filed Papers and Mortgage Foreclosure Decrees

Statement on Language

Some content in this finding aid may contain offensive terminology. For more information on why this language is occasionally retained, see: New York State Archives Statement on Harmful Language in Descriptive Resources.

Overview of the Records

Repository
New York State Archives
222 Madison Avenue
Albany, NY 12230
Summary
The first sub-series contains filed documents in cases that generally did not result in an enrolled decree, the final determination in a Chancery case involving a complainant and defendant. The second sub-series, including corporation cases, includes some decrees or draft decrees, mostly in mortgage foreclosure cases, as well as papers in cases that did not result in decrees. Most of the case papers in this series were filed by the Register (before 1802), Assistant Register (starting 1802), and Clerk of the First Circuit in New York City (1823-1847). Some of the cases were commenced in the Supreme Court, in Equity (New York County), and the papers were filed by the New York County Clerk (1847-1899).
Title
Court of Chancery filed papers and mortgage foreclosure decrees
Quantity
323 cubic feet
Inclusive Dates
Bulk Dates
Series Number
JN315
Creator
Arrangement

Series contains two sub-series: 1. Individuals; 2. Corporations. Case files are arranged alphabetically by first letter of the name of the complainant, then numerical by a consecutive case number.

Scope and Content Note

Chancery cases did not result in a final decree if the complainant did not pursue the lawsuit to its completion, or the parties settled their dispute out of court. The case files may contain any of the following documents: bill of complaint, answer by the defendant, affidavits, orders, bonds, notices, Master's report, written evidence, etc. A few files include an order dismissing the complaint. A non-judicial case settlement is rarely documented in the file.

Most cases concerned disputes or matters arising in New York City (all periods) and in other counties comprising the First Circuit (1823-1847), but a few cases involved parties residing in other parts of New York State. Most of the cases in the second sub-series (incorporated entity a party to the case) are mortgage foreclosures.

A few case files concern non-adversarial matters commenced by petition, such as appointment of guardian for a minor, or committee for a lunatic; admission of solicitors to practice in the Court of Chancery; and permission to churches to sell real property.

J0059 Register's Minute Books

J0063 Enrolled Decrees After 1800

J0090 Register's Order and Minute Books

JN306 Transcriptions of Enrolled Decrees into Libers

JN307 Enrolled Decrees Transcribed into Libers

JN310 Clerk's Minute Books

JN312 Enrolled Decrees

JN319 Register's and Assistant Register's Minute Books

Other Finding Aids

Indexes containing references to file codes are: JN103 Card index to Court of Chancery enrolled decrees and filed papers; JN109 Spreadsheet index to Supreme Court judgment rolls and other documents on parchment, Court of Chancery and Vice-Chancery filed and transcribed documents, and New York City Court of Common Pleas and New York City Superior Court filed documents; JN303 Index to Chancellor's decrees filed in New York City; and JN313 Indexes to Vice-Chancery decrees filed in New York City.

Indexes lacking references to file codes are JN111 Consolidated index of court judgments docketed in New York County and City; JN112 Indexes to notices of equity suits in Court of Chancery (1st Circuit) and Supreme Court (New York County).

Acquisition Information

These records were transferred by the New York State Unified Court System, Office of Court Administration in 2017.

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this material.

Navigation