Finding Aid Search

Title

Assignments of errors

Series Number

J2026

Summary

This series consists of assignments of errors made by plaintiffs in error in Supreme Court. The assignment of errors corresponds to the declaration in an original action. In it the plaintiff in error states the "manifest error" found in the record, proceedings, and judgment in a case heard and decided by a lower court, and asks that the higher court reverse and annul the judgment.

Creator

• New York (State). Supreme Court of Judicature (Geneva)

Access Restrictions

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

Title

Court for the Trial of Impeachments and Correction of Errors records of appeals and cases in error

Series Number

J0157

Summary

This series consists of records of equity and probate appeals and law cases in error. While very few case files contain all records related to the case, most however include the writ or petition and an assignment of error or answer to an appeal. Appeals also include proceeding transcripts. Post-1830 files usually contain a written opinion which includes the court's final decision.

Creator

• New York (State). Court for the Trial of Impeachments and Correction of Errors

Access Restrictions

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

Title

Committiturs and orders for exoneration of bail

Series Number

J0143

Summary

This series contains documents pertaining to the surrender of a defendant and exoneration of his bail from liability for damages and costs awarded in a judgment. Bail might choose to render over their principal (i.e. the defendant) either before or after judgment, but it had to be done before return of writ of capias ad satisfaciendum, which commanded a sheriff to arrest and imprison a judgment debtor until the judgment was satisfied.

Creator

• New York (State). Supreme Court of Judicature (Albany)

Access Restrictions

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

Title

New York City Mayor's Court minutes of proceedings in proof of wills

Series Number

J2032

Summary

The Mayor's Court of New York City functioned as the court of common pleas for New York City and County. Between 1786 and 1829 courts of common pleas could prove and record wills transferring real property, and also wills whose witnesses were unable to appear in court to testify. This volume contains minutes of proceedings in proof of wills. Each entry provides the name and address of the decedent in the case title and then summarizes the proceedings.

Access Restrictions

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

Title

Supreme Court of Judicature (New York) pleadings and other civil and criminal court documents

Series Number

JN522

Summary

This series contains documents relating to civil litigation in the Supreme Court of Judicature, filed by the court clerk whose office was in New York City, or in other locations between the years 1778-1783. Most of the documents are pleadings by plaintiffs and defendants, bonds, draft rules, and affidavits. Criminal case documents include indictments, informations, etc., almost entirely for the period 1753-1795.

Creator

• New York (State). Supreme Court of Judicature (New York)

Access Restrictions

Use of fragile original documents, especially those in the group identified for conservation, is restricted. Microfilm copies are to be used for reference and reproduction.

Title

Orders transferring Court of Chancery papers to county clerks

Series Number

J1063

Summary

The newly-established Court of Appeals assumed custody of the records and papers of the former Court of Chancery, including many files relating to cases pending at the time the Court of Chancery was abolished in 1847. The documents in this series consist of the order by a Supreme Court justice for transfer of papers in a Chancery case from the Court of Appeals to the county clerk in a particular county.

Creator

• New York (State). Court of Appeals

Access Restrictions

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

Title

Depositions and exhibits

Series Number

JN324

Summary

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.

Creator

• New York (State). Court of Chancery

Access Restrictions

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

Title

Judith S. Kaye speeches and articles

Series Number

B2593

Summary

This series contains speeches and articles by Judith S. Kaye during her time as an associate judge and later Chief Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals. It also contains speeches and articles from after her retirement.

Creator

• Kaye, Judith S., 1938-2016

Access Restrictions

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

Title

Court of Chancery (1st Circuit) clerk's rough minutes books

Series Number

JN318

Summary

These volumes contain a chronological record of proceedings before the Vice-Chancellor and Assistant Vice-Chancellor in the Court of Chancery, 1st Circuit, in New York City. The rough minutes contain brief notes of proceedings, such as filing of papers and issuance of preliminary orders and a final order or decree, in cases involving a complainant and defendant. Not included in the registers are 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

Register's and Assistant Register's minute books

Series Number

JN319

Summary

The minute books in this series are a chronological record of proceedings in the Court of Chancery, including cases initiated by complaint or by petition. The minutes contain summaries or full texts of motions, preliminary and final orders, and final decrees, as well as entries for other actions by the court.

Creator

• New York (State). Court of Chancery

Access Restrictions

Use and reproduction of fragile documents may be restricted.

Title

Clerk's semi-annual report of accounts

Series Number

J1076

Summary

This series consists of semi-annual reports on monies paid to the Clerk that were still in the custody of the court at the end of the reporting period. Each entry in the report was required to contain the title of the cause in or an account for which money was paid, the date the money was paid, for what purpose the money was paid, and bank in which the money was deposited.

Creator

• New York (State). Court of Chancery. Chancery Fund

Access Restrictions

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

Title

Estate inventories

Series Number

J1301

Summary

This series consists of microfilm copies of original inventories of estates. These original inventories of estates were filed in New York City but relate to estates in many parts of the province.

Creator

• New York (Colony). Prerogative Court

Access Restrictions

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

Title

Copies of pleadings furnished to Circuit Courts

Series Number

J0023

Summary

This series contains records of the pleas, issue, trial, and verdict in civil causes in Circuit Courts. Each record has the following parts: the placita, which gives the names of the parties; the memorandum; the subsequent pleadings by both defendant and plaintiff; the imparlance, or allowance to the defendant of time to plead; the award of jury process in Circuit Court; and the continuances, or postponements, if any in the cause.

Creator

• New York (State). Supreme Court of Judicature (Utica)

Access Restrictions

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

Title

Supreme Court of Judicature (Utica) naturalization papers

Series Number

J9013

Summary

This series consists of documents relating to the naturalization of aliens by the Supreme Court of Judicature or by justices presiding at Circuit Courts. The documents, mostly from Oneida County, include the declaration of intention, in which an alien states his intention to renounce allegiance to a foreign state and to become a citizen of the United States; and the petition for naturalization, stating the country of origin and length of residence, and requesting to be admitted to citizenship.

Creator

• New York (State). Supreme Court of Judicature (Utica)

Access Restrictions

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

Title

Declarations

Series Number

J0015

Summary

This series contains plaintiffs' declarations, which were the initial pleadings in common law actions. The declaration was made out by the plaintiff's attorney after the defendant had been arrested by a writ of capias ad respondendum. The declaration contains caption (name of the court and the term in which the writ of capias was to be returned); venue; commencement (names of the plaintiff and defendant and of the plaintiff's attorney); and statement of cause of action.

Creator

• New York (State). Supreme Court of Judicature (Albany)

Access Restrictions

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

Title

Miscellaneous motions

Series Number

J0001

Summary

This series consists of fragments from other series originally filed in the Albany, Geneva, and perhaps Utica offices of the Supreme Court of Judicature. Most of the documents are motions, cognovits, writs of execution (usually fi. fa.), briefs, and affidavits of service of declarations. There are also a few returns to writs of certiorari, depositions de bene esse, returns to writs of commission, etc.

Creator

• New York (State). Supreme Court of Judicature (Albany and Geneva)

Access Restrictions

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

Title

Index to Chancery decrees filed in New York City

Series Number

JN303

Summary

Volumes in this series index the enrolled decrees of the Court of Chancery that were filed with the Chancery clerks in New York City. The volumes do not index decrees filed in Albany, or decrees of the Vice Chancellors in the eight Chancery Circuits. The four volumes contain essentially the same data, but they were prepared at different times after 1847. Each entry states the last name of the indebted party (usually defendant) and the prevailing party (usually complainant), and the year of the decree. There are many annotations, corrections, and additions in each volume. The first three volumes are manuscript; the fourth is a typescript prepared in 1923.

Creator

• New York (Colony). Prerogative Court

Access Restrictions

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

Title

Chancery Fund journal of payments to and from the Manhattan Company

Series Number

JN317

Summary

Volume records court-ordered payments of cash and transfer of other financial assets by parties in Chancery proceedings, and their deposit with the Manhattan Company, a bank in New York City. Volume also contains signed receipts for money disbursed by the Manhattan Company and paid by the clerk of the 1st Circuit to beneficiaries in Chancery proceedings.

Creator

• New York (State). Court of Chancery

Access Restrictions

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

Title

Oversized enrolled decrees

Series Number

JN302

Summary

This series contains oversized enrolled decrees in bound volumes and folders. Each decree was signed by the Vice-Chancellor in the 1st Circuit or by the Chancellor. One case was commenced in 1839 and finally determined by the Supreme Court in Equity (New York County) in 1893.

Creator

• New York (State). Court of Chancery

Access Restrictions

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

Title

Special bail books

Series Number

J2202

Summary

These volumes are dockets of undertaking of bail. Each entry gives the names of defendant and plaintiff, names of the bail (sometimes with their residences and occupations or ranks), name of defendant's attorney, and date of filing. Usually one of the bail is a fictitious person, i.e., "John Doe" or "Richard Roe."

Creator

• New York (State). Supreme Court of Judicature (Utica)

Access Restrictions

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