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The district
court system of the United States was established by the Judiciary
Act of 1789, pursuant to Article I, section 8, of the Constitution, which
granted to Congress power “to constitute Tribunals inferior to the Supreme
Court,” and Article III, section 1, which vested judicial power in the
Supreme Court “and such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to
time ordain and establish.” Individual district courts, minimally one for
each state, were established by specific legislation. Federal district
courts serve as the trial courts of general federal jurisdiction.
U.S. circuit
courts were established concurrently with U.S. district courts by the
Judiciary Act of 1789. They shared with U.S. district courts original
jurisdiction over criminal cases, tort suits by aliens, and all common law
suits involving the United States. They held exclusive original
jurisdiction over suits involving aliens, suits between citizens of
different states, and suits in common law and equity where the disputed
amount exceeded $500. They had appellate jurisdiction over cases heard in
U.S. district courts comprising each circuit, except those cases that by law
were heard immediately by the U.S. Supreme Court. Appellate jurisdiction
was transferred to U.S. circuit courts of appeals by the Judiciary Act of
1891 and U.S. circuit courts were abolished effective January 1, 1912, by
the Judicial Act of 1911, with their records and pending cases transferred
to U.S. district courts.1
The
National Archives facility in Waltham,
Massachusetts, is responsible for preserving and making available records of
Federal courts in the New England states. The
Pittsfield
office holds microfilm copies of some
naturalization records for the U.S. District and Circuit Courts in
Boston (records 1906-1929 and indexes 1906-1966), as well as the microfilmed
index to naturalizations in all New England courts from 1790-1906.
Microfilmed copies of naturalization indexes for the Federal District Courts
of New York Eastern District (Kings County), 1865-1957; Southern District
(New York County), 1824-1941; and Western District (Buffalo), 1907-1966, are
available in Pittsfield and NARA’s office in Manhattan. Microfilmed
registers of declarations of intention, petitions for naturalization and
naturalization records from U.S. District and Circuit Courts for the Western
District of Pennsylvania (Pittsburg), 1820-1906, and indexes to
naturalization petitions from the U.S. Circuit and District Court for the
Eastern District of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), 1795-1951, are also in
Pittsfield and in NARA’s facility in Philadelphia.2
Connecticut
has four Federal District Courts –
Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, and Waterbury and had two Federal Circuit
courts – Hartford and New Haven. Records from the Federal District courts
in Connecticut held at the Waltham facility include minute books
(1855-1955); dockets (1789-1973); Civil, admiralty, general, law, equity,
and criminal case files (1790-1977); bankruptcy records (1800-1958); final
record books (1789-1917); and naturalizations (1842-1973)3.
Bankruptcy
records include case files, oaths, orders, record books, proceedings,
certificates of discharge, index to petitioners, and dockets. Bankruptcy
case files, from
1800-1807, contain petitions of
bankruptcy filed by creditors against debtors, creditors’ bonds and proofs
of publication of bankruptcy notices; appointments and oaths of bankruptcy
commissioners, memorandums and transcriptions of commissioners’ meetings;
notices to debtors to submit themselves for examination of estate;
“surrenders” and disclosures of debtors and memorandums concerning such
examinations; inventories and appraisals of debtors’ property; lists of
creditors together with bills, account statements, promissory notes, and
other proofs of debt; choices of assignees by creditors; declarations of
bankruptcy by the commissioners; warrants for seizure of bankrupts’ property
and assignments thereof; and certificates of discharge. Also included are
depositions, affidavits, powers of attorney, correspondence, and other
related papers.4 Bankruptcy
files are arranged numerically by case number. Name indexes to cases are
available.
Execution books
from 1800-1831 are arranged
chronologically by date of return. The books contain copies of executions
issued by the court in actions of debt to the United States, along with U.S.
Marshals’ returns thereon. They direct the marshal to recover the amount
due by levying the personal property of the debtor and, for the want of
same, to incarcerate him until he should pay. Each writ shows the name and
residence of the defendant, the date of judgment against him, the amount
due, including costs, and the date issued. The marshal’s return indicates
proceeding in service of the writ, in the appraisal and seizure of land to
satisfy the debt, and his fees. These are duplicates of documents in the
case files.5
An example of a record book of
U.S. Marshals’ bonds, 1809-1869,
includes a name index, and entries are arranged chronologically. The book
contains copies of obligations undertaken by U.S. Marshals as a condition of
their appointments to cover liabilities during their term of office.
Information includes the marshal’s name, usually the date of his appointment
and its duration, the names and residences of the principal and sureties,
the amount and terms of the bond, names of witnesses, and date. Each bond
also includes the approval of the District Judge and, from 1844-53, the U.S.
Attorney. Appointment and loyalty oaths of marshals are also recorded from
1864-69.6
Records of the
U.S. Circuit Courts in Connecticut include minute books (1855-1911),
dockets (1790-1911), case files (1790-1911), final record books (1790-1911),
and records relating to naturalizations (1893-1911).7
Waltham also holds some records of Connecticut courts including
naturalizations filed with the city courts of Ansonia (1893-1906), Hartford
(1875-1876), Meriden (1903-1940), and New Haven (1843-1923).8
Maine has
two Federal District Courts, one in
Bangor (Northern District) and the other in Portland (Southern District).
The District Court records held in Waltham include dockets (1789-1916),
indexes (1790-1886), case files (1790-1906), bankruptcy records (1800-1878),
naturalizations (1790-1906), and clerk of the court records (1819-1912).
Civil case files
are arranged chronologically by case number. The 1907-1949 series of
civil cases contain mostly admiralty and law cases and some equity cases
before 1912. The admiralty cases deal mostly with collisions and insurance
claims, salvage rights, seamen’s wages, contract violations and debt, and
personal injury or assault aboard ship. Documents include plaintiffs’
libels, with answers and exceptions, appearances of attorneys, briefs,
affidavits and depositions, petitions to intervene, claims, stipulations,
orders and agreements, motions, warrants and citations, bonds, appraisal
reports, opinions and decrees, bills of costs, and miscellaneous exhibits
and correspondence relating to the case.
Law cases
relate primarily to torts based on damages or personal injury because of
alleged negligence or non-compliance with the law;
habeas corpus actions, violations of
agreements and contracts, recovery of debts on bonds and promissory notes,
and proceedings by bankruptcy assignees and receivers. Documents include
plaintiffs’ writs and petitions with answers, appearances of attorneys,
briefs, stipulations and agreements, depositions and transcripts of
testimony, bonds, orders and judgments of the court, executions, and
miscellaneous correspondence and exhibits.9
The clerk of the
court records include letters received, procedural manuals, as well
as lists of persons admitted as attorneys and counselors of the court. One
volume, 1854-1882, lists names chronologically by date of admission and each
entry shows his place of residence with a copy of the “oath of office and
allegiance” affirming loyalty to the Constitution and government of the
United States.10
Records of
Maine’s Federal Circuit Court include dockets (1820-1911), case files
(1820-1911), and records relating to naturalizations (1850-1911).
U.S. District
Court records for Massachusetts held in Waltham include dockets
(1790-1977), case files (1790-1978), final record books (1789-1918), indexes
(1806-1979), bankruptcy records (1801-1973), admiralty, equity and criminal
cases (1812-1965), naturalizations (1790-1971), customs and internal revenue
records (1803-1880), seamen (1872-1956), and records of the clerk of the
court (1803-1954).11
Massachusetts has one Federal District Court in Boston and had one
Federal Circuit Court in Boston.
Law records
held in Waltham include dockets (1874-1938) and case files
(1907-1943). The term law is used in opposition to “fact.” Questions of
law are decided by courts rather than juries.12
Law dockets are arranged chronologically by the date of filing of the
plaintiff’s writ of petition, receipt of a mandate from the Circuit Court of
Appeals, or receipt of the record from a state court and numbered
sequentially. Each volume has a name index. The dockets record papers
filed and proceedings held during the conduct of law cases, showing the case
number and title, names of attorneys, basis or nature of the suit (beginning
in December 1919), dates of actions, clerk’s fees and other court costs,
receipts and disbursements for plaintiff’s and defendant’s accounts, monies
reported in the clerk’s emolument returns, miscellaneous remarks pertaining
to each case, and the term of court during which the case was settled.
“Non-entry writs” are also listed, beginning in the December term, 1927.
Law cases relate primarily to torts based on damages, injury, or deaths
because of negligence or non-compliance with the law, violations of
agreements and contracts, payment or refund of taxes, recovery of money owed
or collection of promissory notes, and War Risk Insurance claims against the
government.13
Waltham’s
admiralty records include War of 1812
Prize Case records, trial and hearing notes of Judge John Davis
(1831-1832), dockets (1927-1966) and case files (1927-1966). The War of
1812 Prize cases (1812-1816) include dockets, subject index to prize record
books, “Prize Records,” case files, transcripts, miscellaneous papers, and
calendars. These records document the adjudication of disputes over
captures made at sea during the War of 1812. A “prize” during war is
defined by Black as “a vessel or cargo, belonging to one of two belligerent
powers, apprehended or forcibly captured at sea by a war-vessel or privateer
of the other belligerent, and claimed as enemy’s property and therefore
liable to appropriation and condemnation under the laws of war.”14
The dockets are arranged by session of prize court and then numerically by
case number and chronologically by date of action.
The docket records proceedings held during the
conduct of prize cases and show the case titles, names of masters of prize
vessels, papers issued and files, value of property seized, and fees
received. “Prize records” are arranged in rough chronological order and
each volume is arranged by date of initial session of prize court and then
chronologically. There is an alphabetical index to ships seized in some of
the volumes. The records include the initial libel filed by the master of
the prize ship with details of the capture, the order issuing a warrant to
the U.S. Marshal directing him to take custody of the prize and its cargo;
the marshal’s return certifying that he had done so; advertisements of the
libel and forthcoming trial; affidavit by the ship’s captain or prize master
accompanying the captured ship’s papers (license, shipping papers,
clearances, manifests, bills of lading and correspondence), responses of the
master or crew members of the captured ship to “standard interrogatories”,
and other papers. Miscellaneous papers include ships’ inventories for
American privateers and captured prize vessels, commissions, crew lists,
shipping papers, reports and correspondence.15
Pittsfield and Waltham also hold
M162, Revolutionary War Prize Cases,
records of the Court of Appeal in cases of capture, 1776-1787. These cases
were heard on appeal from Colonial and State courts by committee of the
Continental Congress (1776-1780) and by the Court of Appeals in cases of
capture (1780-1786). These records are in the custody of the U.S. Supreme
Court, where they were deposited by act of Congress approved May 8, 1792.
Shortly after the Revolution entered its military phase, armed vessels
serving under the individual colonies began preying on British commerce. In
addition, the Continental Congress caused ships to be outfitted to intercept
vessels bringing provisions to the besieged British garrison in Boston.
There was need for a speedy and regular condemnation of the prizes taken by
all these ships. Failure could have caused conflict between the colonies.
The vice-admiralty courts that had existed under British rule had mostly
disappeared so it was necessary to create new courts or broaden the
jurisdiction of existing ones. These records document the exploits of some
of the United States’ early naval heroes such as John Barry, John Manley,
Daniel Bucklin, and Stephen Dall.16
Among the most unusual records in Waltham’s
court holdings are women’s applications for
repatriation, 1936-1969. These applications were submitted under
provisions of the Immigration and Naturalization Act of June 25, 1936.
Native-born American women who married alien men prior to September 22,
1922, lost their American citizenship and had to apply to the court to get
it back. Each application shows the individual’s name and address, maiden
name, place and date of birth, place and date of marriage, name and
nationality of husband, and, if appropriate, reason for termination of
marital status, citing dates and/or supporting documents. It also contains
the oath of renunciation and allegiance and the order of repatriation signed
by the presiding judge. Age, occupation, present marital status, and a
physical description of the applicant, along with the date and place of
birth of her husband were added in September 1941.17
Massachusetts’
Federal Circuit Court records include minute books (1853-59), dockets
(1800-1911), case files (1790-1911), final record books (1790-1911), indexes
(1790-1847), records relating to equity and criminal cases (1834-1911),
naturalization records (1845-1911), and records of the clerk of the court
(1832-1911).18
New Hampshire had Federal Circuit Courts in
Concord, Exeter, Littleton, Nashua and Portsmouth and has Federal District
Courts in Concord, Littleton, Manchester and Portsmouth. Waltham’s
New Hampshire Federal District Court records
include journals or minute books (1892-1977), dockets (1795-1972),
case files (1802-1969), final record books (1789-1946), bankruptcy records
(1842-1968), naturalization records (1884-1977), clerk of the court records
(1791-1958), and miscellaneous records filed with the court (1789-1960).19
U.S. Circuit
Court records for New Hampshire include journals or minute books
(1892-1911, dockets (1790-1911), case files (1790-1911), final record books
(1790-1911), naturalization records (1849-1911), and miscellaneous records
filed with the court (1790-1911).20
Equity records
for New Hampshire, 1790-1938, include dockets, case files, journals,
rule books, and final record books. Equity dockets are arranged
chronologically by the date of filing of the plaintiff’s bill of complaint
or petition and numbered consecutively. There is a name index to litigants
in each volume. The dockets are a record of papers filed and proceedings
held during the conduct of equity cases. Information includes case number
and name, names and addresses of attorneys, dates of actions, receipts and
disbursements of plaintiff and defendants’ accounts, clerk’s fees, and
amounts reported in the clerk’s emolument returns.21
Rhode Island’s
Federal District Court is in Providence and its only
Federal Circuit Court was also in
Providence. Waltham’s holdings of Rhode Island’s Federal District Court
includes minute books (1790-1969), dockets (1800-1972), case files
(1790-1978), final record books (1791-1922), indexes (1791-1888), bankruptcy
records (1800-1972), naturalization records (1835-1991), clerk of the court
records (1790-1928), and miscellaneous records filed with the court
(1790-1959)22.
In Rhode
Island’s records of the clerk are copyright materials including
printed copies of title pages and related materials submitted for copyright,
1790-1814. The records are arranged chronologically and were deposited in
the clerk’s office by authors residing in the Rhode Island district as
required by acts of Congress of May 31, 1790, and April 29, 1802. This was
a preliminary step to public notice in newspapers and submission of a copy
to the Department of State. There is also a name and subject index to these
records up to 1865, including copyright transfers and records of transfers
of copyright, 1842-1865. The transfers are also arranged chronologically by
date of transfer. The volume contains fair copies of notarized documents by
which a copyright, title, and interest for an item such as a book, map, or
patent medicine, was transferred (sold or otherwise assigned).23
Rhode Island’s
Circuit Court records in Waltham include minute books (1790-1911),
dockets (1790-1911), case files (1790-1911), final record books (1790-1911),
indexes (1790-1890), naturalization records (1842-1911), and miscellaneous
records filed with the court (1791-1911).24
Waltham’s
Circuit Court holdings include Revolutionary
War Pension Records. Those for Rhode Island include a record book of
proceedings on petitions for pensions, June 1792-November 1792 and applicant
case files, 1792. The record book is arranged chronologically by date of
petition. By an act of Congress, March 23, 1792, the judges of the Circuit
were empowered to review and rule on the legitimacy of petitions by
officers, non-commissioned officers, soldiers, and seamen who had been
disabled while in American service during the Revolutionary War, to be
placed on the pension list. The proceedings show the names of the invalid
petitioners, their rank and service, the decision of the court in each case,
including the amount of the pension and payment in arrears, and the
supporting papers transmitted to the Secretary of War.25
The pension applicant case files, 1792, are
arranged alphabetically by name of petitioner and contain papers submitted
in support of petitions by disabled Revolutionary War veterans to be placed
on the pension list. The papers consist of the individual’s petition, a
certification from his former commanding officer, or from two other
“credible witnesses” or fellow veterans, testifying to the service performed
and the disability received, affidavits from three townspeople (freeholders)
concerning the applicant’s character and means of support in the community,
and statements from doctors relating to the individual’s disability or
general health. The series contains records of six individuals: Esek
Aldridge, James Bliven, Burton Briggs, Daniel Eldridge, Christopher Moors,
and Joseph Taylor.26
Vermont’s
Federal District Court is in Burlington and its
Federal Circuit Court was also in
Burlington. Waltham’s Federal District Court holdings for Vermont include
dockets (1798-1974) including a microfilm copy of civil dockets (1906-1956),
case files (1791-1967), indexes including a microfilm copy (1906-1983),
journals (1894-1954), bankruptcy records (1802-1963), naturalization records
(1801-1983) including a microfilm copy of naturalization index and petitions
(1801-1972), records of District Judge Hoyt H. Wheeler (1877-1905), and
Vermont population census schedules for 1830 and 1840.27
Criminal case files are arranged numerically by
case number and according to notations in the dockets, many files between
numbers 400 and 1250 were destroyed. The files contain information and
indictments, warrants, recognizances, and other preliminary papers filed by
U.S. Commissioners; bonds and appearances, answers, pleas, and demurrers,
summonses, subpoenas, and praecipes, motions, petitions, and orders;
affidavits, depositions, and transcripts of testimony; judgments and jury
verdicts, capiases, mittimuses, commitments, and executions;
nolle prosequis; reports of
probation officers, bills of cost; and related correspondence. Many files,
however, contain only the indictment or information.
The cases deal with offenses including fraud and
conspiracy; forgery and uttering; bank robbery and embezzlement; smuggling
and other violations of customs, tariff, and revenue law; illegal entry of
aliens and other violations of passport and immigration laws; violations of
bankruptcy, postal, food and drug, and narcotic laws; contempt of court;
violations of the Volstead Act (national prohibition), interstate commerce,
motor vehicle theft, migratory bird treaty, and white slave traffic (Mann)
acts; and violations of the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 and
other wartime legislation including rationing regulations.28
The Circuit
Court records for Vermont held in Waltham include dockets (1792-1911)
including a microfilm copy of a civil docket (1907-1911), case files
(1792-1911), and records relating to chancery, civil, law and criminal cases
(1809-1911).29
As previously stated, Federal District Court and
Circuit Court records are very similar for all states, not just New
England. So whether you are looking for Revolutionary War prize cases in
Massachusetts or Virginia, the records should be similar. Visit
www.archives.gov.research_room/arc/-index.html, the National Archives’
on-line listing of holdings, including court records, for all the regional
facilities.
__________
1.
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA),
Guide to Federal Records in the National
Archives of the United States, Volume 1 (Washington, DC: US
Government Printing Office, 1995), series 21.1 and 21.2.
2.
See Archival Anecdotes, volume 4,
number 4, Dec 1999, for information on using naturalization records.
3.
NARA, Guide to Federal Records,
series 21.8.1 and NARA Northeast Region, Location Register for NRABA Court
Records, dates vary depending on type of case.
4.
NARA, Northeast Region, Waltham, RG21, Bankruptcy Records Finding Aid 09-10,
Case Files, 1800-1807.
5.
NRABA Court Records, RG 21, finding aid 09-7.
6.
NRABA Court Records, RG 21, finding aid 09-48.
7.
NARA, Guide to Federal Records,
series 21.8.2.
8.
NARA, Guide to Federal Records,
series 21.8.3.
9.
NRABA Court Records, RG 21, finding aid 23-52.
10.
NRABA Court Records, RG 21, finding aid 23-23.
11.
NARA, Guide to Federal Records,
series 21.23.1 and NRABA Location Register for Court Records, dates vary
depending on type of case.
12.
Henry Campbell Black, Black’s Law
Dictionary: Definitions of the Terms and Phrases of American and English
Jurisprudence, Ancient and Modern., 6th
edition (St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Co., 1990), p. 884.
13.
NRABA Court Records, RG 21, finding aid 25-41 and 25-42.
14.
Black’s Law Dictionary, p. 1200.
15.
NRABA Court Records, RG 21, finding aid 25-17, 25-19, and 25-21.
16.
NARA, M162 Descriptive Pamphlet. (Washington, DC: NARA, 1973), pp. 1-5.
17.
NRABA Court Records, RG 21, finding aid 21-25-64C.
18.
NARA, Guide to Federal Records,
series 21.23.2.
19.
NARA, Guide to Federal Records,
series 21.31.1.
20.
NARA, Guide to Federal Records,
series 21.31.2.
21.
NRABA Court Records, RG 21, finding aid 31-27.
22.
NARA, Guide to Federal Records,
series 21.42.1.
23.
NRABA Court Records, RG 21, finding aid 44-43, 44-44, and 44-45.
24.
NARA, Guide to Federal Records,
series 21.42.2.
25.
NRABA Court Records, RG 21, finding aid 44-72.
26.
NRABA Court Records, RG 21, finding aid 44-73.
27.
NARA, Guide to Federal Records,
series 21.48.1.
28.
NRABA Court Records, RG 21, finding aid 50-28.
29.
NARA, Guide to Federal Records, series 21.48.2. |
