Research


New York State Court of Chancery Decrees and Papers Before 1800


Some content may contain outdated and offensive terminology. See: New York State Archives Statement on Language in Descriptive Resources


Overview of the Records

Repository:

New York State Archives
New York State Education Department
Cultural Education Center
Albany, NY 12230

Summary:
The series contains information on the particulars of cases, the results of court investigations, the content of testimony, and the determinations of the court. Records consist of decrees, bills of complaint, answers, testimonies, reports, and other documents filed in cases heard by the Chancellor. Files usually consist of one document or one type of document (e.g., testimonies of number of witnesses) and cannot be considered complete case files.
Creator:
Title:
New York State Court of Chancery decrees and papers before 1800
Quantity:

57 cubic feet

Inclusive Dates:
1684-1822
Bulk Dates:
1785-1799
Series Number:
J0065

Arrangement

Alphabetic by last name of complainant, then numeric by file number; enrolled decrees are filed at the beginning of each alphabetical section, followed by other filed documents. Larger documents are filed in cabinets, and there are cross references to those documents in the boxes containing the smaller documents.

Administrative History

Most records in this series are on parchment. A law of 1801 allowed the use of paper in place of parchment in court proceedings and changed the method by which decrees were enrolled. In the mid-nineteenth century the Court of Appeals compiled the present series from pre-1800 parchment and paper documents that the Court of Chancery had not incorporated into its filing system.

Scope and Content Note

The series contains information on the particulars of cases, the results of court investigations, the content of testimony, and the determinations of the court. The records consists of decrees, bills of complaint, answers, testimonies, reports, and other documents filed in cases heard by the Chancellor. Informational content varies from case to case depending on the documents filed. Filing units usually consist of one document or one type of document (e.g., testimonies of number of witnesses) and cannot be considered complete case files. Also included in this series are a very few post-1800 records.

Alternate Formats Available

Microform is available at the New York State Archives through interlibrary loan.

Related Material

J0090 Orders in Chancery, and

J0059 Chancery Minutes, contain additional information on cases in this series.

Other Finding Aids

Available at Repository

Series J0066, Index to Enrolled Decrees Before 1800, indexes decrees in this series. Series J1065, Defendant index to decrees and papers before 1800, also indexes this series.

An alphabetical index by last names of complainant and defendant was compiled by the Historical Documents Collection, Queens College.

Custodial History

The Court of Appeals placed these records on deposit at the Historical Documents Collection, Queens College, from 1973-1982.

A select group of documents was removed from the series for preservation because of their unique historical value.

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this material.

Access Terms

Corporate Name(s):
Geographic Name(s):
Subject(s):
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Detailed Description

Contents Box Roll

Accretion: J0065-82
A1 - A47 1
A48 - A79; B1 - B10A 2
B11 - B70 3
B71 - B159 4
B160 - B212 5
B213 - B275 6
B279 - B319; C1 - C62A 7
C63 - C138C 8
C139 - C237 9
D1 - D89 10
D90 - D178 11
D179 - F42 12
F43 - G35 13
G36 - G84 14
G85 - H40 15
H41 - H80 16
H81 - H156 17
H157 - H204 18
H205 - J45 19
J46 - J81; K1-31 (K20 and K30 are missing) 20
K32 - L62 21
L63 -L159 22
L160 - L262 23
L263 - M67 24
M68 - M140 25
M141 - M204 26
M205 - O14 27
O15 - P65A 28
P66 - P114 29
P115 - R30 30
R31 - R123 31
R124 - S70 32
S71 - S120 33
S121 - S219B 34
S220 - S284 35
T1 - T110 36
T111 - T151D 37
T162 - V44 38
V44A - V109 39
V110 - W62 40
W63 - W130 41
W131 - W190A 42
W191 - Z9B 43
A1 - A47 1
A48 - B13C 2
B13C - B75 3
B76 - B159 4
B160 - B213 5
B214 - B275 6
B276 - B306 7
B307 - C2 8
C3 - C78 9
C79 - C138C 10
C139 - C208 11
C208A - D42 12
D43 - D93 13
D94 - D173 14
E33E - F53 15
F53 - G18 16
G19 - G70 17
G70 - G110 18
G111 - H40A 19
H41 - H77 20
H78A - H138 21
H139 - H167 22
H168 - H217 23
H218A - J34 24
J35 - J75A 25
J76 - L4 26
L5 - L92A 27
L92B - L167A 28
L167B - L243 29
L244 - M8A 30
M8B - M88 31
M89 - M170 32
M171 - N11 33
N11 - N34B 34
O1 - P31 35
P32 - P85 36
P86 - P169 37
P170 - R30 38
R31 - R67 39
R68 - R144 40
R145 - R172 41
S1 - S77B 42
S79 - S162A 43
S163 - S284 44
T1 - T66 45
T66 - T121 46
T122 - T162A 47
T162B - V30 48
V31 - V85 49
V86 - V109 50
V110 - W32 51
W32A - W109 52
W110 - W181 53
W182 - Z9B 54