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Displaying 76 Finding Aids
Title
- Supreme Court of Judicature (New York) registers of writs sealed and issued
Series Number
- JN545
Summary
- Registers contain lists of writs sealed and issued by the clerk of the Supreme Court of Judicature at New York City. Each entry in a register includes the date of issuance, names of plaintiff and defendant, and type of writ. County is mentioned if a writ was directed to a sheriff outside of New York City and County. Most of the entries are for writs of capias ad respondendum, capias ad satisfaciendum, and fieri facias, but many other types of writs are represented.
Creator
- New York (State). Supreme Court of Judicature (New York)
Access Restrictions
- There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this material.
Title
- Writs of commission
Series Number
- JN548
Summary
- This series contains writs of commission, court orders to obtain written testimony for a proceeding in the Supreme Court of Judicature. The writ appointed commissioners to depose a witness residing out of state or out of country. Accompanying the writ are interrogatories (questions to the witness) and, occasionally, the witness's deposition (answer to the questions).
Creator
- New York (State). Supreme Court of Judicature (New York)
Access Restrictions
- Use and reproduction of fragile documents may be restricted.
Title
- Writs of procedendo
Series Number
- JN552
Summary
- Writs of procedendo are orders from the Supreme Court of Judicature directing the sheriff of New York City and County to deliver a defendant in a proceeding before the Court of Common Pleas for the City and County of New York (known as the Mayor's Court) into the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. The writ transferred the defendant and the case to the latter court. A writ of procedendo was issued after a previous writ of habeos corpus had been issued and disregarded.
Creator
- New York (State). Supreme Court of Judicature (New York)
Access Restrictions
- There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this material.
Title
- New York State Supreme Court of Judicature (New York) pleadings and other civil court documents
Series Number
- JN535
Summary
- Series contains documents relating to litigation in the Supreme Court of Judicature, filed by the court clerk in New York City, and in that court's successor the Supreme Court (New York County), filed by the New York County Clerk. Most of the documents are pleadings by plaintiffs and defendants. There are also numerous affidavits of service, bonds for court costs, clerk's reports of damages, writs of inquiry and inquisitions, and circuit rolls (including minutes of trials). There are many declarations by the district attorney of New York County seeking recovery of debt and damages from individuals who had been arrested and gave bond for appearance in the Court of General Sessions of the Peace and failed to appear. Some documents are missing (particularly for codes 1842 M and 1844 H), and there are very few documents for 1845 and 1846.
Creator
- New York (State). Supreme Court of Judicature (New York)
Access Restrictions
- Use and reproduction of fragile documents may be restricted.
Title
- New York Colony Court of Oyer and Terminer minute books
Series Number
- JN521
Summary
- Minute books contain a record of proceedings in the Court of Oyer and Terminer in each county outside of New York City and County. Minutes for each court session include a list of grand jurors, entries of indictments returned and defendants arraigned, and minutes of trials and sentences.
Creator
- New York (Colony). Court of Oyer and Terminer
Access Restrictions
- JN521-17: Use and reproduction of fragile documents may be restricted.
Title
- Registers of bonds from the Supreme Court of Judicature (New York) and Supreme Court (New York County)
Series Number
- JN509
Summary
- Seven registers contain summary information about bonds filed in the New York County Clerk's Office, by parties to cases in the Supreme Court of Judicature, prior to July 1, 1847, and after that date in the Supreme Court (New York County). Entries in the earlier registers include the date of filing, surnames of the plaintiff and defendant or the petitioner, and the type of bond filed. Later registers include the full names of the parties, purpose of bond, by whom acknowledged, and the last name of the justice or other officer approving the bond. Bonds were filed by guardians, receivers, trustees, and other agents of the court, and to secure payment of court costs, obtain an injunction or an order of attachment, etc. Bonds were filed by the appellant who obtained a writ of error (before July 1, 1847) or appealed a judgment (after July 1, 1847); if the defendant appealed, his name appears first.
Creator
- New York County (N.Y.). Clerk's Office
Access Restrictions
- Use of fragile microfilm may be restricted.
Title
- Writs of capias ad respondendum and other sheriff's writs
Series Number
- JN543
Summary
- Collection contains writs of arrest and a small number of other writs, issued out of the Supreme Court of Judicature. Over ninety percent of the documents are writs of capias ad respondendum, ordering a sheriff to arrest a civil defendant, thereby bringing him into the court's custody to answer the plaintiff's declaration of claim. Also present are writs of fieri facias and writs of capias ad satisfaciendum, ordering a sheriff to execute a civil judgment, and other writs for special purposes. At the end of the series are a few writs issued by the Court of Chancery, 1810-1813.
Creator
- New York (State). Supreme Court of Judicature (New York)
Access Restrictions
- Use and reproduction of fragile documents may be restricted.
Title
- Writs of venire facias juratores
Series Number
- JN554
Summary
- This series contains writs summoning jurors for trials at which a justice of the Supreme Court of Judicature presided. The writ of venire facias juratores commands the sheriff to summon individuals qualified to serve as jurors in the trial of a particular case. Almost all the writs were returned to the court by the sheriff of New York County. A very small number of the earliest writs are for trials in other counties. Starting in spring 1823, all the writs are for jury trials in the Circuit Court sitting in New York City and County. A few writs have an attached panel of jurors stating their names, residences, and sometimes occupations.
Creator
- New York (State). Supreme Court of Judicature (New York)
Access Restrictions
- Use and reproduction of fragile documents may be restricted.
Title
- Supreme Court of Judicature (New York) rolls of attorneys and counsellors and of solicitors in Chancery
Series Number
- JN541
Summary
- These rolls post-date the Revolutionary War. They include names of a few attorneys and counsellors who were admitted to practice before the war and who took the oath of allegiance to the State of New York after the war. Rolls contain names of attorneys and counsellors admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Judicature and solicitors admitted to practice in the Court of Chancery. Each roll contains the signatures, or names of individuals written by a clerk, each with date of admission.
Creator
- New York (State). Court for the Trial of Impeachments and Correction of Errors
Access Restrictions
- Use and reproduction of fragile documents may be restricted.
Title
- Minute book
Series Number
- JN596
Summary
- This transcription contains minutes of jury trials and related proceedings in Circuit Court in each county outside of New York City and County. Most cases concerned complex real property disputes. At the end of the transcription is a "Catalogue of Books," a list of short titles of published English law reports, digests, treatises, and statutes, as well as a few American titles. Date of the catalog appears to be circa 1790s.
Creator
- New York (Colony). Circuit Court
Access Restrictions
- There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.
Title
- Clerk's calendars and case notes
Series Number
- JN397
Summary
- Calendars contain lists of cases and brief notes of proceedings before the Vice-Chancellor or Assistant Vice-Chancellor in the First Circuit (New York City). Some entries include lists of papers read or submitted. Calendars include both adversarial cases, commenced by bill of complaint, and non-adversarial cases, commenced by petition.
Creator
- New York (State). Court of Chancery
Access Restrictions
- Use and reproduction of fragile documents may be restricted.
Title
- Notices of equity suits affecting title to real property
Series Number
- JN396
Summary
- Notices of pending equity suits ("lis pendens") affecting title to real property were filed in the New York County Clerk's Office. Suits were brought in the Court of Chancery, Court of Equity (1st Circuit) (1823-1829), and Court of Chancery (1st Circuit) (1830-1847). Most notices concern foreclosure of a mortgage and typically include names of parties to the suit, purpose of the suit, an abstract of the terms and conditions of the mortgage, a description of the mortgaged property, and the names of any defendants owning equity of redemption in the mortgage.
Creator
- New York (State). Court of Chancery
Access Restrictions
- Most documents are very fragile and must be used with care under supervision of an archivist.
Title
- Writs of scire facias
Series Number
- JN553
Summary
- This series consists of writs of scire facias. These writs were issued by the Supreme Court of Judicature to compel a judgment debtor or his heirs to satisfy the judgment against him.
Creator
- New York (State). Supreme Court of Judicature (New York)
Access Restrictions
- There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this material.
Title
- Writs of certiorari
Series Number
- JN547
Summary
- This small series consists of writs of certiorari. Writs were directed to the Court of Common Pleas (Mayor's Court) in New York City and County and in several other counties in eastern New York. Most of the writs have attached to them the return of proceedings in the Court of Common Pleas.
Creator
- New York (State). Supreme Court of Judicature (New York)
Access Restrictions
- There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this material.
Title
- Writs of error
Series Number
- JN549
Summary
- This collection contains writs of error filed by the clerk of the Supreme Court of Judicature in New York City. The writ required the judge of a trial court to return a transcript of a judgment and related proceedings to the Supreme Court for review and determination. The writ alleges that "manifest error" occurred during pleading or trial. About two-thirds of this series consists of writs of error unaccompanied by transcripts, while the remainder of the series includes both the writ and the transcript of the judgment and proceedings in the trial court.
Creator
- New York (State). Supreme Court of Judicature (New York)
Access Restrictions
- Use and reproduction of fragile documents may be restricted.
Title
- Assistant Register's docket of Chancery and Vice-Chancery decrees
Series Number
- JN304
Summary
- Volumes index those decrees in the Court of Chancery and the Chancery Circuits throughout the state that were docketed in the office of the Assistant Register in New York City, if the decree required a money payment by the losing party.
Creator
- New York (State). Court of Chancery
Access Restrictions
- There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this material.
Title
- Court of Chancery (1st Circuit) Clerk's minute books
Series Number
- JN310
Summary
- This series is a chronological record of court proceedings maintained by the Clerk of the Court of Equity (1st Circuit) during the period 1823-1829 and the Clerk of the Court of Chancery (1st Circuit) during the period 1830-1847. The minutes contain summaries or texts of motions, orders, and final decrees. Entries relate to cases commenced by complaint or petition.
Creator
- New York (State). Court of Chancery
Access Restrictions
- Use and reproduction of fragile documents may be restricted.
Title
- New York State Recorder's Court (New York) assignments and discharges of insolvent debtors
Series Number
- JN503
Summary
- An insolvent debtor could with consent of creditors assign his property to an assignee (trustee), who sold it to pay the creditors. The assignment consists of two parts: first, a summary of the insolvent debtor's petition for relief, the notice to creditors of the pending assignment, and the judge's direction that an assignment be made; second, the debtor's assignment of his real and personal property to an assignee. Accompanying the assignment is the judge's order discharging the debtor from debts contracted prior to the date of the assignment.
Creator
- New York (State). Supreme Court of Judicature
Access Restrictions
- Use of fragile microfilm may be restricted.
Title
- Trial calendars
Series Number
- JN517
Summary
- The calendars in this series contain lists of civil cases commenced in the Supreme Court of Judicature and announced for trial in regular Circuit Court terms and in additional "sittings" in the city and county of New York.
Creator
- New York (State). Circuit Court (1st Circuit)
Access Restrictions
- Use and reproduction of fragile documents may be restricted.
Title
- Parchment rolls
Series Number
- JN320
Summary
- Series contains oversized parchment rolls that were filed in twenty-one Chancery cases. Document types include bill of complaint, answer, replication, Master's report, return of inquest, order, and decree. There are no complete case files.
Creator
- New York (State). Court of Chancery
Access Restrictions
- Series is closed to research. All documents are tightly rolled, and many are seriously damaged by exposure to water, mold, vermin, and dirt. Several documents are partly or wholly illegible.