Colonial Courts and Their Records

Courts played prominent roles in the lives of our colonial ancestors. Because church and state were inseparable in many colonies, court proceedings involved controversies not encountered in modern court hearings. Civil and criminal actions concerning church attendance, proper sabbath observance, disputes with ministers and church officials, witchcraft, fornication, adultery, and other moral improprieties are commonplace in court minutes.

When the American colonies were first established, judicial power was exercised by colonial governors who were appointed by the king. During the earliest years, a few courts were established to serve in an advisory capacity to the governors. The judges of these courts served at the pleasure of the governor and had limited authority to resolve matters.

As time passed and the population of the colonies grew, it became necessary to establish some county and town courts to provide local authorities for settling conflicts. Similar county and town courts had been established earlier in England and were adopted by the colonies. In England, the office of justice of the peace, an appointed official, had developed to handle local judicial needs. Justices of the peace were usually landowners or merchants who had no formal legal training. This system of local justices who had authority to resolve petty civil disputes and minor criminal matters was transported essentially unchanged to the colonies. Decisions of these local and county courts could be appealed to the governor and the assembly and, ultimately, to the courts of England. However, such appeals were rare. The matters before these courts were such that the time and expense of appeals normally were not justified.

With the continued growth of the colonies, additional courts were established to respond to increased litigation. As commerce increased, so did the need for courts to resolve differences. Some colonies began to divide cases between courts and to create specialized jurisdictions. In addition, new courts were established to handle certain kinds of cases. Higher courts of appeals began to appear as well.

Many of the early court records of the original colonies and some later states have been published in various series called archives, such as the Pennsylvania Archives. Such series are often called documentary collections; they typically include early court records, along with many other sources. Most of the published colonial court records are from the county court level. They are very helpful to genealogists because these records concern a larger percentage of the population of the time than do later court records. In many areas where vital and church records are lacking, a court record might be the only source containing a description of an ancestor. It was not uncommon for individuals’ ages to be included as part of colonial court record proceeding; in many cases such records might be the only ones in existence from which an estimated birth year can be deduced.