New York Colony Court of Assizes Minutes

Chronological.

These records document the settlement of civil and criminal cases by the governor and council sitting as the Court of Assizes. The court tried appeals of lower court decisions and served as an equity court to try cases to which no specific legal provisions applied.

The records concern cases such as: disputes over land titles; unpaid debts; disputes over inheritances; illegal sale of liquor; and attempted murder.

The series contains 1. Warrants: name of plaintiff and defendant(s), nature of complaint or cause, and order for specified person(s) to appear at Court on a specified date; 2. Lists of petitions, appeals, and other causes to be heard at Court sessions for each year; 3. Summaries of trial proceedings: name of plaintiff, defendant(s), attorneys, jurors, and witnesses, summary of testimony, brief description of documents cited as evidence, jury's verdict, and court's orders upon hearing verdict (e.g. heirs to receive specified compensation, debts to be paid, etc.).

These records sustained severe burn damage in the 1911 State Capitol fire.

Microfilm is available at the New York State Archives through interlibrary loan.

Mostly published in: Peter R. Christoph and Florence A. Christoph, eds. New York Historical Manuscripts: English. Records of the Court of Assizes for the Colony of New York, 1665-1682 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1983).

Partly published in: Peter R. Christoph and Florence A. Christoph, eds. New York Historical Manuscripts: English. Books of General Entries of the Colony of New York, 1664-1673. Orders, Warrants, Letters, Commissions, Passes and Licenses Issued by Governors Richard Nicolls and Francis Lovelace (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1982).

Minutes of the Court of Assizes for the period Oct. 6, 1680 to Oct. 6, 1682, are published in Collections of the New-York Historical Society for the Year 1912 (New York: 1913), pp. 3-38.

Microfilm 1 microfilm reel; 35 mm.

B2310Series B2310, Calendar of the Proceedings of the Court of Assizes, contains related records

A3169Series A3169, New York Colony Council General Entries includes an index to records from 1665-1671, which also indexes Series A0271.

The index to records from 1665-1671 in series A3169, General Entries, also indexes this series.

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