Research


Scope and Content Note

This series consists of minute books which serve as a chronological record of the proceedings in the Court of Chancery, including cases initiated by complaint or by petition. The minutes contain summaries or full texts of motions, orders, decretal orders, and final decrees, as well as entries of other actions by the court. Series includes, for various time ranges, rough minutes, final minutes, engrossed minutes, and some loose sheets of minutes. The minutes were created and maintained by the Register.

The date, location, and name of the Chancellor are given for each session of the court. The names of the parties and their attorneys, summaries of motions and arguments and documents read or submitted, and actions taken by the court are recorded for cases heard at the session. The minutes include the texts or summaries of Chancellor's orders in matters before the court, including procedural orders and final determinations. Also included are the minutes of proceedings in which court officials were appointed, attorneys admitted to practice, court rules adopted, court terms scheduled, and other court business not related to cases was conducted. These minutes give a fairly detailed account of business transacted in court.

The minutes for 1781-1783 record the proceedings of Court of Chancery held in New York City with the Royal Governor acting as Chancellor. After 1779 that court co-existed with the State Court of Chancery established by the Constitution of 1777. The minutes were transferred to the Register of the State Court of Chancery in 1789 and were maintained with the later minutes of that court. There are no minutes for the state Court of Chancery for the years 1778-1783.

Series consists of loose sheets (1784-1786) and thereafter volumes. The minute books contain rough minutes, with many insertions and strikeouts (1787-1799, 1806-1808), final texts of minutes in uniform handwriting (1799-1829), and engrossed minutes (1802-1812). State Archives staff have disbound most of the bound volumes for the purpose of microfilming.

J0059-82: Volumes contain guardianship proceedings. Those found in volumes 1 (1781-1783), 1A (1784), 13 (1796), and 19 (Sept. 1806-Jan. 1808) are abstracted and indexed in Kenneth Scott, "Records of the Chancery Court Province and State of New York: Guardianships 1691-1815" (New York: 1971).