Finding Aid for the Colonial Court Records Group, 1665-1787, SR.401
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Colonial Court Records Group
- Call Number
- SR.401
- Creator
- Colonial Courts
- Date
- 1665-1787
- Extent
- 35.400 cubic feet
- Language
- English
- Repository
- State Archives of North Carolina
Quick Links
- Court Minutes and Dockets, 1680-1770
- Civil and Criminal Action Papers, 1680-1759
- Civil and Criminal Action Papers, General Court, 1720-1754
- Civil and Criminal Action Papers, Supreme Courts, 1755-1759
- Civil and Criminal Action Papers, Other Courts, 1669-1775
- Subject Files, 1680-1769
- Miscellaneous Court Records, 1677-1764
- Estate Papers, 1665-1767
- Land Papers and Wills, 1665-1753
- Taxes and Accounts, 1679-1759
- Jury Papers and Correspondence, 1676-1760
Restrictions on Access & Use
Access Restrictions
This record group is open for research.
Use Restrictions
Material in this record group is in the public domain.
Collection Overview
The Colonial Court Records contain information regarding the court records of North
Carolina during the colonial period (late 1600s through the 1700s) when the colony
was controlled by the proprietors and later the crown. Researchers will find materials
that would have passed through the court system or is related to court proceedings
including civil and criminal cases from the General Court and later the Supreme Court,
and other various court documents such as administrative materials including appointments,
oaths, commissions, and other noncriminal court proceedings. Cases from the Admiralty
Court, Court of Chancery, General Court of Oyer and Terminer and General Gaol Delivery,
Supreme Court, Court of Assize and Palatine Court, estate and land records, wills,
court minutes and dockets, tax and account information and various correspondence
and receipts are also part of this collection. There are additionally papers regarding
specific subjects, such as enslaved persons and slavery, indenture servitude, apprentice
papers, and American Indians, as well as documents relating to maritime activity,
infrastructure construction and repair, marriages and custody, and business and trade.
There are 45 bound books and pamphlets of court minutes and dockets for the General
Court, General Court of Oyer and Terminer, and Gaol Delivery, Vice Admiralty Court,
Court of Assize, and Supreme Court. The bulk dates of this collection are from 1720
to 1746, and the inclusive dates are from 1665 to 1787.
The finding aid and catalog entries for this material have been edited to remove offensive,
harmful, or dehumanizing language as part of the State Archives of North Carolina's
ongoing project to address problematic descriptions of archival materials, creators,
and subjects, and to better contextualize material its historical collections related
to marginalized and underrepresented populations. Please note that older folder labels
have not been replaced and may reproduce such language. To learn more about this work,
contact archives@ncdcr.gov.
Arrangement Note
The Colonial Court Records are arranged into 11 series. The General Court and Supreme Court series have been further arranged into two subseries each. See the Arrangement Note for each series for more information.
Biographical/Historical
Records relating to any of the higher courts in early North Carolina represented in
the series CCR are extremely scarce until 1683 and are almost non-existent for several
higher courts well after that date. Records of the General Court, the most important
of these courts in terms of powers and amount of business transacted, do not begin
to be abundant until 1694. It is therefore necessary in many instances to draw only
tentative conclusions about the structure and work of the courts during the colony's
early years.
The court system of colonial North Carolina began to function some time shortly after
the grant of Carolina to the Lords Proprietors in 1663, and the first court to open
in the colony probably was composed of the governor and Council, the governor's advisory
body. Extant records do not reveal its name or functions, or the year of its organization,
but evidence suggests either 1664 or 1665. The governor and Council apparently sat
as the highest court of law in the colony until 1698, during most of this time bearing
the name "General Court" and hearing civil and criminal cases in both an original
and an appellate capacity. During the early decades of the proprietary period, which
lasted from 1663 to 1729, courts held by the governor and Council included the General
Court, Court of Chancery, Palatine's Court, Council of State, Court of Grand Council,
and Grand Court--the latter two possibly being variant names for the General Court.
Several of the courts had executive as well as judicial powers, and all of them had
jurisdiction over the entire colony. Functions as well as terminology were far from
being firmly set during this period, and likely the courts had overlapping responsibilities.
At different times until the 1690s, the governor and proprietors'; deputies convened
as the "Palatine's Court," which appears from sparse records to have sat as both a
judicial and executive body. For a brief period in the late 1670s, the term "Council
of State" was used for the governor and Council sitting to perform various functions
relating to the administration of estates. In addition, from an early date courts
apparently were held by governors and councilors individually, although nothing is
known about them aside from a reference in an act of 1670 empowering them to try persons
accused of illegally trading with Indians.
A court intermediate between these higher courts and the lower, or precinct courts
existed during much of the 1680s and early 1690s. Termed the "County Court of Albemarle,"
it was a court of first instance, employed a jury, and seems to have assumed most
of the original jurisdiction of the higher courts, with the governor and Council sitting
mainly as a court of appeal. In 1694 the governor and Council again were sitting as
a lawcourt and a court of equity. The former court employed a jury in actions brought
in original jurisdiction, the latter did not, and each had both original and appellate
jurisdiction. The lawcourt was termed the General Court, and the court of equity was
styled Court of Chancery.
Until 1754 the General Court was the highest court of law in the colony and ceased
to be composed of the governor and Council after 1697. Except for the chief justice,
the governor and Council appointed the court's members. The position of chief justice
was created by the Lords Proprietors in 1712, and the appointment was reserved to
the proprietors, later to the crown. The other members of the bench were usually during
the proprietary era styled "assistants", occasionally "associates," and had to have
the chief justice present in order to constitute a court. In the royal period down
to 1746 they were called "assistants," and "associates;" thereafter--the latter term
implying a role less subordinate to the chief justice than did the former.
The General Court had original jurisdiction over civil actions of a more consequential
nature, as determined by the value of the matter at issue, and over crimes such as
murder and counterfeiting, punishable by loss of life or member. The General Court
also functioned as a court of appeals from judgments of precinct ("county" after 1739)
courts, which had original jurisdiction over lesser civil actions and crimes. During
the proprietary era the size of the bench varied from three to nine justices, with
six or seven being the usual number. The bench enlarged when the court convened as
a court of "oyer and terminer and general gaol [jail] delivery" for trying criminal
actions, when it added to its number the Council and principal officials of the colony.
After royalization, the number of assistant justices was four, and for a time there
was a similar addition to its membership when it sat to try criminal cases.
The General Court normally convened three times a year to deal with both civil and
criminal cases during the proprietary era, and three times a year for civil and twice
for criminal proceedings during the royal period. A provost marshal served as executive
officer of the General Court, summoning juries, serving writs, enforcing judgments,
and the like. The clerk of the court kept the records, prepared the documents necessary
for causes to be initiated and completed, and took minutes of the proceedings. An
attorney general prosecuted criminal actions and brought civil suits on behalf of
the Lords Proprietors and the crown. Grand juries brought indictments in criminal
cases and petit juries determined facts in both criminal and civil actions. Attorneys
pleading in the General Court had to be licensed by the governor. Litigations and
prosecutions in the General Court generally followed English practice in form of action,
principles of adjudication, and courtroom procedure. The court also employed in its
deliberations the statute law of the colony, and to a lesser extent that of the mother
country as well. The court shared with the lower courts such administrative functions
as probate of wills, deeds, and landrights; appointment of guardians for orphans;
and the like. With few exceptions, the courts in North Carolina were free of interference
from authorities in London. Judgments in civil actions could, if of sufficient importance,
be appealed to the Privy Council, and the crown could disallow legislation relating
to the operation of courts, as it did on several occasions.
A major change in the General Court system came with the creation of circuits. The
court had sat mainly in Perquimans County until 1716, when the town later incorporated
as Edenton became its home. Three circuits (Bath, New Bern, and Wilmington), sitting
twice a year, were created by the General Assembly in 1738. Civil actions were commenced
and pleaded in the court in Edenton, and tried in the circuit courts. In 1746 the
court's central office moved to New Bern, Edenton was added to the circuit, and Edgecombe
Courthouse replaced Bath. Other changes, mostly minor, occurred from time to time.
The term "provost marshal," for example, gave way to "sheriff,"and the offices of
chief justice and attorney general were crown appointments after 1729. In broad outline,
however, the court's organization, functions, and procedures remained much the same
from 1698 until the General Court system came to an end in 1754.
In 1754 the General Court was abolished by statute and in its place five independent
district courts were erected, seated in Edenton, Wilmington, Enfield, Salisbury, and
New Bern. These courts, sitting twice yearly and termed the Supreme Courts of Justice,
Oyer and Terminer and General Gaol Delivery, existed from 1755 through 1759. The chief
justice and three other justices composed the bench of each court. The Supreme Courts
were by act of assembly replaced in 1760 by District Superior Courts. These latter
were essentially identical to the Supreme Courts, with the same jurisdiction and being
seated in Edenton, Wilmington, Halifax, New Bern, and Salisbury, and from 1768, Hillsborough.
The Superior Court system collapsed in 1772, when the royal government refused to
permit a new court act to be passed replacing the one having recently expired, and
superior courts were not revived until 1778.
The governor and Council sat as a Court of Chancery throughout the colonial period.
The court adjudicated according to principles of equity, a relief that might be sought
by a litigant when justice could not be obtained according to the principles of law.
The volume of litigation handled by the court was much less than that of the General
Court and its successors, although it exercised both original and at times appellate
jurisdiction in noncriminal actions. Another court composed of the governor and Council
was the Court of Claims, erected during the royal era to grant land and adjudicate
disputes relating to land. A higher court undertaking little if any activity was the
Court of Exchequer. Theoretically organized in the early 1730s to deal with questions
relating to crown revenue, the court apparently sat no more than a few times. A Court
of Vice Admiralty was constituted in the province in the late 1690s. The court dealt
with maritime matters of all kinds, including mercantile and other noncriminal litigation,
as well as crimes and the taking of prizes in wartime. The Court of Vice Admiralty
dispensed justice according to principles of civil law, based on Roman codes rather
than the precepts of the common law. The single judge, appointed by the governor and
Council (as were the court's other officials), sat without a jury, and his judgments
could be appealed to the High Court of Admiralty in London. Relatively few actions
are known to have come before the Court of Vice Admiralty.
The authority by which proprietary higher courts were established in North Carolina
was based on the royal charters granting Carolina to the Lords Proprietors. The proprietors
then, through their series of Fundamental Constitutions devised from 1669 to 1698,
attempted to determine the form and function of such courts. However, the cumbersome
scheme set forth in the constitutions, with each of the eight proprietors'; deputies
maintaining his own court, proved unworkable except for the partial implementation
of the Palatine's Court. Much more important in determining the nature of the court
system were the proprietors'; commissions and instructions to successive governors,
which often included orders to establish, with the consent of the Council, such courts
as they thought necessary. In a few instances the proprietors specified rules of procedure
to be followed in the conduct of trials, but this was rare. Usually such details were
left to be worked out in the province, as were the type and number of courts.
Little changed with the implementation of royal government. By the governor's commission,
he and the Council were empowered to erect "such and so many Courts of Judicature
and Public Justice" as they saw fit, and to appoint judges and other court officials.
And with the exception of a small number of directives from the crown concerning such
fundamental considerations as speedy trials, appeals, appointment and removal of judges,
and habeas corpus, procedural matters were not addressed by the authorities in London.
A series of provincial statutes enacted during both the proprietary and royal periods
prescribed much of the jurisdiction and procedure in the lawcourts. (Very little such
legislation related to the Court of Chancery, and the Court of Exchequer and Court
of Vice Admiralty operated entirely outside the purview of colonial laws.) A number
of such acts related to specific procedural points, such as the act "concerning Appeals
and Writs of Error" of 1715, and the act "directing the Method of appointing Jurymen"
of 1762. Other acts in 1738, 1746, 1754, 1760, 1762, 1767, and 1773 (several of which
were disallowed by the Privy Council in London), went much further, erecting courts,
setting their jurisdiction, and prescribing their procedure in detail.
See Archives and Records Section, Guide to Research Materials in the North Carolina State Archives: State Agency Records (Raleigh: Department of Cultural Resources, 1995), pp. 716-17, for reference list.
Contents of the Collection
1. Court Minutes and Dockets, 1680-1770
Scope and Content:
This series contains bound volumes and pamphlets as well as 2 boxes of unbound materials.
Bound volumes and pamphlets include court minutes and dockets of the General Court,
Perquimans Precinct Court, General Court of Oyer and Terminer & Gaol Delivery, General
Sessions, Court of Chancery, Supreme Court, Superior Court of Pleas and Grand Sessions,
Court of Exchequer, Court of Assizes and Vice Admiralty. Also included are commissions,
lists of deeds, references, council minutes, and various jury lists. Counties in which
the courts took place include, but not limited to, are Craven, Carteret, Johnston,
Beaufort, Hyde, Chowan, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Currituck, Bertie, Tyrrell, Shaftsbury,
Albemarle, District of New Bern, and District of Edenton. Some documents are fragments
and unidentifiable.
The unbound documents contain court minutes and dockets of the General Court, Oyer
and Terminer, Goal Delivery, Vice Admiralty, Court of Assize, and Court of Chancery
and General Court of Sessions. Also included are minutes of the council, and minutes
of commissioners to examine the public treasury. There is additionally a crown docket
from the Supreme Court which is bound. Dockets include docket references and attachments,
writs, and references continuances dockets.
Arrangement:
Volumes are arranged by date and Court.
Unbound materials are arranged by date and/or court.
2. Civil and Criminal Action Papers, 1680-1759
Scope and Content:
This series contains documents pertaining to civil and criminal court cases taking place in the Albemarle County General Court and precinct courts including Rowan, Pasquotank, Currituck, Perquimans, and Chowan Precincts as well as the later Bath County Court and a few pieces from the Norfolk County Court in Virginia. Materials include case narratives, depositions, summonses and attachments, arrest warrants, bonds, petitions, custody claims, debt bills and acquittals. Case subject include debt, plea of trespass, plea of the case, merchandise and goods appropriation, defamation, land sales, theft and burglary, witch accusations, murder, property (including enslaved persons), insubordination within the militia, unlawful cohabitation and a case regarding roads.
Arrangement:
This series is arranged chronologically by year and may contain documents from the
same case from previous and following years. Folders with no date (n.d.) are arranged
according to year by best estimation and/or by the signature of the active clerk or
justice.
3. Civil and Criminal Action Papers, General Court, 1720-1754
Scope and Content:
This series contains documents relating to civil and criminal suits tried in the North
Carolina court system. Cases take place at the general court, precinct courts, Bath
County Court, Edenton courthouse, and in other various counties. Materials for both
subseries include narratives of the cases by the plaintiffs and defendants, pleas,
depositions, arrest warrants and attachments, summonses, debt bills, bonds, recognizances,
and petitions.
Civil Action Papers, 1720-1754, nd
Scope and Content:
This subseries contains civil cases tried in the North Carolina colonial courts. Case subjects for the Civil Action Papers subseries include debt, merchandise and goods misappropriation, goods owed, plea of trespass, plea of the case, land disputes, and custody.
Arrangement:
This subseries is arranged chronologically by year and may contain documents belonging
to the same case from previous and following years.
Criminal Action Papers, 1720-1754, nd
Scope and Content:
This subseries contains documents regarding criminal actions in the North Carolina colonial courts. Criminal Action Papers include cases involving assault, murder, robbery and theft, debt owed to the crown and treason against the crown and local government.
Arrangement:
This subseries is arranged chronologically by year and may contain documents belonging
to the same case from different years. The years 1738-1754 will also include documents
from the Court of Assizes.
4. Civil and Criminal Action Papers, Supreme Courts, 1755-1759
Scope and Content:
This series contains documents relating to civil and criminal suits tried in the Supreme
Courts of Justice within the five districts of Edenton, Edgecombe, New Bern, Salisbury,
and Wilmington as well as the Courts of Oyer and Terminer and General Goal for criminal
cases. Materials for both subseries include narratives of the cases by the plaintiffs
and defendants, pleas, depositions, arrest warrants and attachments, summonses, debt
bills, recognizances, and petitions.
Civil Action Papers, 1755-1759
Scope and Content:
This subseries contains documents relating to civil suits tried in the Supreme Courts of Justice within the five districts of Edenton, Edgecombe, New Bern, Salisbury, and Wilmington. Case subjects for the Civil Action Papers subseries include debt, merchandise and goods misappropriation, goods owed, plea of trespass, plea of the case, land disputes and custody.
Arrangement:
This subseries is arranged chronologically by year and may contain documents belonging
to the same case from previous and following years.
Criminal Action Papers, 1755-1759
Scope and Content:
This subseries contains documents relating to criminal suits tried in the Supreme Courts of Justice within the five districts of Edenton, Edgecombe, New Bern, Salisbury, and Wilmington as well as the Courts of Oyer and Terminer and General Goal. Criminal Action Papers include cases involving assault, murder, robbery and theft, debt owed to the crown and treason against the crown and local government.
Arrangement:
This subseries is arranged chronologically by year and may contain documents belonging
to the same case from different years.
5. Civil and Criminal Action Papers, Other Courts, 1669-1775
Scope and Content:
This series consists of documents from the other various courts of colonial North Carolina. Included are the Palatine Court, Court of Chancery and the Vice Admiralty Court. Materials include bills in Chancery (complaints), bonds, depositions, petitions, summonses and arrest warrants, examinations, narratives and judges' fees for the Vice Admiralty Court. Also included are documents from the General Court that pertain to cases being tried in the other courts.
Arrangement:
This series is arranged by type of court.
6. Subject Files, 1680-1769
Scope and Content:
This series contains various documents pertaining to specific subjects associated with the courts. Themes include cases relating to maritime, slavery, servants and apprenticeships, Native Americans, infrastructure, business and trade, marriage, and bills of sale for chattels. Materials include petitions for the construction of ferries, road and building repair, shipwrecks, shipping bonds, pardons, indictments, treaties, court cases, agreements, and petitions.
Arrangement:
This series is arranged alphabetically by subject.
7. Miscellaneous Court Records, 1677-1764
Scope and Content:
This series contains court documents that fall under the administrative side of the
court and other miscellaneous court activities and proceedings. Materials include
pardons, licensing, appointments, commissions, bills of exchange, Inquests, law, and
documents regarding the House of Burgess.
Arrangement:
This series is arranged alphabetically by subject.
8. Estate Papers, 1665-1767
Scope and Content:
This series contains documents relating to individuals' estates. Materials include cases of debt settlements, writs, bonds, depositions, petitions, pleas, probates, appointments of executors, lawyer and office fees, narratives, attachments, declarations, agreements, and summonses.
Arrangement:
This series is arranged alphabetically by last name. Dates refer to the date range
as seen on the documents in each file.
9. Land Papers and Wills, 1665-1753
Scope and Content:
This series contains documents relating to land. Land papers include bills of sale, deed records including part of a Deed Book, wills, bills of sale relating to Roanoke Island (1676- 1727), leases and land grants, civil actions concerning land, lists of headrights', good titles and ejectments, inventory and receipts from Brompton, Gabriel Johnston's plantation, individual wills, and one guardian record.
Arrangement:
The series is arranged by subject. Wills are arranged alphabetically by last name.
10. Taxes and Accounts, 1679-1759
Scope and Content:
This series contains documents pertaining to county taxes and accounts. Materials include claims, tithables, quite rents, corn lists, tax lists and personal and public accounts. Tithables and tax lists pertain to the counties of Currituck, Craven, Chowan, Granville, Northhampton, Beaufort, Pasquotank, Perquimans, and Bertie.
Arrangement:
This series is arranged by subject and tax lists are arranged by year and/or county.
11. Jury Papers and Correspondence, 1676-1760
Scope and Content:
This series contains documents relating to the jury as well as correspondence. Included are jury lists, jury papers, grand jury presentments, jury lists, jury tickets, correspondence, and notes and receipts.
Arrangement:
This series is arranged by subject and date.
Subject Headings
Acquisitions Information
The first set of Colonial Court Records to have been accessioned to the archives appear to have been the General Court Minutes and Perquimans Court Minutes,* which were acquired between 1914 and 1916. The legacy finding aid of the Colonial Court Records cited The Sixth Biennial Report of the North Carolina Historical Commission, December 1, 1914, to November 30, 1916 (p. 14-15) as its source when it stated that Miscellaneous Court Papers, 1693-1778, were brought to Raleigh from Chowan County, and that Court Records, 1688-1793, were brought from Perquimans County sometime during this biennial. Over the next several years after the records had been acquired, the court minutes were mounted into several volumes.In 1961-62, court dockets and jury lists were received from the Chowan County Courthouse by the Clerk of the Superior Court in Edenton. These may or may not have come as bound volumes. In 1963, General Court materials totaling approximately 45 fiberdex boxes of loose papers were brought to the Archives from the Chowan County Courthouse by the Clerk of the Superior Court in Edenton. It is noted in the legacy finding aid to the Colonial Court Records that some my have come from Perquimans County.*Minutes of the Perquimans Precinct Court are found in Perquimans County Records and in Colonial Court Records.
Processing Information
The original Miscellaneous Court Papers boxes were labeled CCR 188, 190-192, and 198. These documents are now arranged in Series 5: Other Courts (CCR 193), Series 6: Subject Files (CCR 194), Series 7: Miscellaneous Court Records (CCR 195), Series 10: Taxes and Accounts (CCR 190), and Series 11: Jury Papers and Correspondence (CCR 212-213).
The original Vice Admiralty Court Papers series, consisting of 4 dockets, and the original Court of Oyer and Terminer and General Gaol Delivery Papers series, consisting of 1 docket, have been interfiled into Series 1: Court Minutes and Dockets.