Research


Scope and Content Note

This series consists of copies of common orders (orders to which a party was entitled without having to show special cause) issued by the Vice Chancellors of the 2nd through 8th circuits. A court rule required the clerks of the circuits to enter common orders in separate bound volumes.

Included in this series are orders to appear; for subpoena; for answer; to produce witnesses; for confirmation of report; for injunction; to amend bill; and other orders of a routine nature. The headings for each order in this series contain the names of the parties involved, the date the order was issued, and, in some volumes, the name of the complainant's solicitor. The information contained in the main body of each order varies according to its subject. Some note court actions leading up to issuing the order and the particulars of the case. Others are limited to the substance of the order. Common orders issued by the Judges of the Court of Equity circuits before 1830 were entered in Minutes of Courts of Equity, 1823-1829.