New York State Court of Chancery Depositions and Exhibits

Alphabetical by letter of the document code, then numerical by the assigned document number.

Either the complainant or defendant in a Chancery suit could apply to an officer of the court for an order directing an Examiner in Chancery or a special commissioner to take testimony from witnesses. The application was made to the Chancellor, Circuit Judge (1823-1829), Vice-Chancellor (1830-1847), Register, Assistant Register, or Clerk. A commissioner was appointed when the witness resided more than twenty miles from an Examiner in Chancery, or resided out-of-state. The depositions taken from witnesses and exhibits obtained by the Examiner or commissioner were returned to the Register, Assistant Register, or Clerk, as appropriate.

This series contains interrogatories, cross-interrogatories, and depositions of witnesses in proceedings in the Court of Chancery, the Court of Equity (1st Circuit), and the Court of Chancery (1st Circuit). Almost all the depositions were taken by an Examiner in Chancery; a few were taken by court-appointed commissioners.

Besides interrogatories and cross-interrogatories (questions to a witness) and the witnesses' depositions (answers to the questions), the files include documentary exhibits, instructions to Examiners, writs of commission, and other documents. A few of the depositions were taken conditionally (de bene esse) from a witness who was transient or ill.

A container list is available at the repository.

This series was extracted by staff of the Unified Court System from a much larger series called "Supreme Court Commissions and Depositions," which ends in 1910. That collection is held by the New York County Clerk's Office.

Most of the documents in this series are fragile. Use and reproduction of them may be restricted.