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Bristol County, Massachusetts Court Records

The Bristol County Court Records are an accumulation of single-sheet file documents issued by (or directed to) the judiciary of Bristol County in southeastern Massachusetts, mostly during the colonial period. Seventy-eight of the 96 records date from the Second Charter period in Massachusetts legal history (1692-1760); 56 predate 1730; five date from the seventeenth century. The earliest document is a 1696/7 writ of attachment issued by Bristol County justice John Saffin; the latest is an 1816 recognizance issued by Zebedee Macomber. The Bristol County collection includes documents deriving from every tier of the county court system. More than 60 per cent of the documents in the collection relate to cases referred to or heard by the Court of General Sessions, including most of the items predating 1725. Around 25 per cent relate to cases before Common Pleas; most of the remainder document cases heard by individual county justices. The collection includes examples of at least 15 specific document types, representing various stages of judicial procedure. Among those more frequently encountered are: complaints and petitions directed by plaintiffs (and others) to the several courts; summonses, writs of attachment, and arrest warrants (instruments used by the courts to initiate legal proceedings, served by a sheriff or constable); bonds of recognizance (whereby the courts sought compliance by threatening the forfeiture of pledged monies); writs relating to jury duty; jury presentments; and memoranda of judgment and writs of execution. Most of the Court of Common Pleas documents pertain to actions between private individuals for the collection of debts. The General Sessions documents typically indicate either minor criminal offenses against order (sabbath violations, vagrancy, drunkenness, and so on) or sexual misconduct (especially fornication and bastardy). Also represented are cases against public officials, usually selectmen (failure to hire a minister or elect a constable; over- or under-taxation). Only occasionally do two or more documents within the collection pertain to the same specific case. Many of the documents—especially warrants—bear endorsements.

Metadata

Date
1696/7-1816
Material Type
Mixed Materials
Genre/Physical Characteristic
Writs
Dimensions
96 folders
Language
English
Identifier
/repositories/3/resources/1411
Campus Location
Rare Books & Special Collections, Hesburgh Libraries
Conditions Governing Access
There are no access restrictions on this collection
Conditions Governing Use

Copyright status for collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user

Subject
Bristol County (Mass.) -- History -- Sources
Massachusetts -- Politics and governent -- To 1775
Law -- Massachusetts -- History
Courts -- Massachusetts -- History
Link to Finding Aid
https://archivesspace.library.nd.edu/repositories/3/resources/1411
This digital collection may not include all items or all of the information available about the source collection. See the finding aid for more information.
Contact Us

Our collection information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. If you have spotted an error, please contact Rare Books & Special Collections, Hesburgh Libraries at rarebook@nd.edu.

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Related Items

John Saffin, "Writ of attachment against Edward Hammon and Esther Andrews"

John Saffin, "Writ of attachment against Edward Hammon and Esther Andrews"

John Saffin, "Ephraim Burt testimony memorandum"

John Saffin, "Ephraim Burt testimony memorandum"

John Cary, "Ephraim Burt and Samuel Waldron bill of costs"

John Cary, "Ephraim Burt and Samuel Waldron bill of costs"

John Cary, "Writ of execution against John Graves"

John Cary, "Writ of execution against John Graves"

John Saffin, "John Read, et al., recognizance"

John Saffin, "John Read, et al., recognizance"

John Cary, "Writ of attachment against Sarah White"

John Cary, "Writ of attachment against Sarah White"

John Cary, "Little Compton jury summons and summons to the town selectmen"

John Cary, "Little Compton jury summons and summons to the town selectmen"

John Cary, "Thomas Hathaway, et al. summons"

John Cary, "Thomas Hathaway, et al. summons"

John Cary, "Writ of execution against Nathaniel Smith"

John Cary, "Writ of execution against Nathaniel Smith"

John Cary, "Freetown selectmen summons"

John Cary, "Freetown selectmen summons"

John Cary, "Freetown selectmen court order"

John Cary, "Freetown selectmen court order"

John Cary, "Tax assessors of Bristol summons"

John Cary, "Tax assessors of Bristol summons"

John Cary, "Dartmouth court order"

John Cary, "Dartmouth court order"

John Cary, "George Berstow recognizance"

John Cary, "George Berstow recognizance"

John Cary, "George Berstow recognizance"

John Cary, "George Berstow recognizance"

John Cary, "Seth Pope recognizance"

John Cary, "Seth Pope recognizance"

John Cary, "David Freeman recognizance"

John Cary, "David Freeman recognizance"

John Cary, "Samuel Humphreys recognizance"

John Cary, "Samuel Humphreys recognizance"

John Cary, "Selectmen of Bristol summons"

John Cary, "Selectmen of Bristol summons"

John Cary, "Presentment against Philip Tabor"

John Cary, "Presentment against Philip Tabor"

"Presentment against William Wood"

"Presentment against William Wood"

Ebenezer and Mary Bishop, "Ebenezer and Mary Bishop petition"

Ebenezer and Mary Bishop, "Ebenezer and Mary Bishop petition"

John Cary, "Elizabeth Smith summons"

John Cary, "Elizabeth Smith summons"

Thomas Church, "Frank Towning recognizance"

Thomas Church, "Frank Towning recognizance"

William Almy, "William Almy petition"

William Almy, "William Almy petition"

Timothy Fales, Elnathan Pope, "Mary Adams Summons"

Timothy Fales, Elnathan Pope, "Mary Adams Summons"

William Throope, "William Throope complaint"

William Throope, "William Throope complaint"

Lemuel Pope, "Lemuel Pope petition"

Lemuel Pope, "Lemuel Pope petition"

Ebenezer Brenton, John Barney, Jonathan Thayer, "Warrant of contempt against John Rosher"

Ebenezer Brenton, John Barney, Jonathan Thayer, "Warrant of contempt against John Rosher"

Thomas Church, "Judgement against Thomas Brownell"

Thomas Church, "Judgement against Thomas Brownell"

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