Court and Legal Records

In the course of research, many genealogists limit their searches to probate court records for wills, administrations, and guardianships, or turn to court records for naturalizations. However, there are other court records that should not be overlooked. Court records can establish family relationships and places of residence, and they often provide occupations, descriptions of individuals, and other excellent family history information.

Mention of ancestors can often be found in court records; they may appear as defendants, plaintiffs, witnesses, or jurors. Not only have our ancestors participated in cases involving probate or naturalization; they might also be noted in actions involving divorce, debt, adoption, guardianship, licenses, appointment to public offices, taxes, contract disputes, personal injuries, property disputes, crimes, or any of many other matters brought before a court.

Two main types of cases are found in court records:

• Civil. In civil cases, one or more individuals or legal entities, such as corporations, file suit against other individuals or entities to enforce private rights or to receive compensation for the violation of rights. Civil lawsuits can be filed for such matters as property damage, trespass, libel, divorce, personal injury, breach of contract, and wrongful death, whether real or imagined.
• Criminal. Criminal cases involve offenses alleged to have been committed against the state, in which the state prosecutes those persons who are accused of public wrongs. Society is or may be harmed by the violation of criminal laws, such as murder, theft, arson, and treason. Serious crimes are felonies; minor crimes are misdemeanors.

Most U.S. courts and their published records are discussed in this chapter. However, because of their great importance to family history research, court records related to probate and naturalization are discussed separately.

The United States has a dual court system that has existed since the effective date of the U.S. Constitution (1789). The various state courts that had functioned since the beginning of the colonial period were not abolished by the Constitution. Rather, provision was made for Federal (national) courts to handle cases that were deemed inappropriate for state courts (for example, cases involving the U.S. Constitution or Federal statutory laws). Even though Federal courts have been granted greater jurisdiction in recent years, most cases are still tried in state courts. Somewhat surprisingly, this complex dual system of Federal and state courts has, for the most part, worked smoothly.

State and Local Courts

Each state has two basic levels of courts. The higher level consists of the appellate courts. At this level is the state court of last resort, usually called the state supreme court. There are intermediate appellate courts in many states. The main function of these appellate courts is to review the decisions of the lower trial courts. The appellate courts and their decisions, most of which have been published, are discussed below under “Case Reporters: Published Court Decisions.”

The lower level of courts is made up of trial courts. Trial courts are generally divided into two major types: (1) courts of general jurisdiction, which are general trial courts that usually handle felony criminal trials and major civil cases; and (2) courts of limited or special jurisdiction, which typically have jurisdiction to try misdemeanor cases, conduct preliminary hearings for felony offenses, try traffic cases, adjudicate civil matters involving small amounts of money, and handle wills and estates.

Each court has jurisdiction over designated geographical areas and specific types of legal matters. The names and responsibilities of the courts in each state have changed over the years. Some examples of the types of local and state courts are:

• Chancery courts
• Circuit courts
• Common pleas courts
• County courts
• Courts of ordinary
• Courts of oyer and terminer
• Courts of quarter sessions
• General session courts
• Hustings courts
• Prerogative courts
• Probate courts
• District courts
• Orphans’ courts
• Superior courts
• Supreme courts
• Surrogate courts

State courts handle both criminal and civil cases involving a state’s constitution, laws, and statutes. Because state courts derive their authority from the individual states, there are great differences in their number, names, and relationships to courts in the other states.

Every controversy is presumed to be within the jurisdiction of the trial court of general jurisdiction unless the law has placed it within the exclusive cognizance of some other court. A trial court of limited jurisdiction is a court whose authority is confined to certain types of controversies.

Unfortunately, the large number of state courts with ever-changing names and jurisdictions is often confusing. Every state, however, has one supreme tribunal or “court of last resort” by which all questions of law may be finally determined, and one or more trial courts in which all cases not within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal courts may be heard and decided. There is no provision for appeal from state courts to the Federal courts, except in certain limited cases specified in the U.S. Constitution.

Many U.S. courts have been divided, according to the form of their proceedings and the nature of the remedies they can apply, into the following classes:

1. law courts, which are descendants of the ancient common law courts of England; they have jurisdiction over actions to recover money damages for past injuries and over other matters which, by custom or statute, have been placed under their control;
2. courts of chancery or equity, which were introduced in England after the Norman Conquest; they administer “equity” in the sense of finding a solution that is just and fair by providing a remedy in cases in which the common law courts historically did not provide an adequate remedy; and
3. probate courts, which were created to supervise the settlement of the estates of deceased persons and insolvents, and sometimes for the appointment and direction of guardians of infants and “incapables.”

The distinction between courts of law and courts of equity has varied greatly. Most of the original states continued their separate courts of chancery or equity, and they were imitated in this regard by a few of the newer states. Over the last two hundred years, chancery (equity) courts have been eliminated in all but a few states by the gradual fusion of law courts and equity courts. Now courts in most states routinely administer equity through the same judges who apply the common law. It should be noted, however, that many local courts, especially during the colonial and early post-revolutionary periods, handled probate matters in addition to criminal and civil actions.

Federal Courts

Federal courts derive their authority from the Constitution of the United States and the acts of Congress. These include

1. the supreme court, which has original jurisdiction over cases in which a state may be a party and appellate jurisdiction over certain classes of cases arising in the other Federal courts;
2. the circuit courts of appeals, which have appellate jurisdiction over all cases arising in the inferior Federal courts (except those which must be appealed to the supreme court);
3. the district courts, which have original jurisdiction over numerous civil and criminal cases arising under the laws of the United States, or to which citizens of different states are parties; and
4. the court of claims, which has jurisdiction of claims against the United States which are based on contracts or statutes.

The jurisdiction of the Federal courts is sometimes exclusive of, and sometimes concurrent with, that of the state courts. When concurrent, if an action is first instituted in a state court, it is completed there unless removed by proper legal methods to the Federal courts.