Facts on Local Court Records

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   With court records, the researcher finds Connecticut's centralization welcome again, with many held at the Connecticut State Library. Despite this centralization, the array of courts whose records might include such things as debts, apprenticeships, warrants, and misdemeanors, presents a somewhat complicated research challenge.

Justices of the peace, having been appointed by the general assembly, represented the law closest to the people up to the early nineteenth century. What remains of many of these records are at the Connecticut State Library.

Before the creation of counties, the particular court was a court of first instance. "Records of the Particular Court of Connecticut, 1639-1663," Collections of The Connecticut Historical Society, vol. 22 (Hartford, Conn.: the Society, 1928) convey these proceedings before county courts took over. Most of the county court records are in the Connecticut State Library.

The next phase, between 1665-1711, found the addition of the court of assistants as the trial court, the precursor to the superior court that operates to the present. All criminal activities were its purview as well as appeals from lower courts regarding disputes, including divorces. Records of this court up to the twentieth century are generally available at the Connecticut State Library.

Superior court districts are defined by county designation. In the Town Resources, the county is listed, although in trying to determine jurisdiction for earlier records, listings of parent counties will be helpful. Records through the nineteenth century of superior courts operating in each county are generally available at the Conneticut State Library.

Those matters not in the realm of the superior court were heard by the county courts (initially called prerogative or common pleas). The county court, begun in 1666, was abolished in 1955, and its functions were divided between justice courts and superior courts. Most of the county records, to its abolition date, are at the Conneticut State Library.

Courts of common pleas were authorized in the late nineteenth century to assume work that could not be handled by either the justice or superior courts. In 1961 the court system reorganized, abolishing justice courts, creating district courts, and retaining the county superior court and the statewide supreme court

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Facts on Local Probate Records

   Connecticut can boast centralization of many research sources and clear jurisdiction on land and vital records. Probate records finding the correct jurisdiction for a particular time period is more complicated. For the 169 towns, there are about 130 probate districts. Jurisdictional lines have changed considerably over the three centuries, but their function has been consistent in probating wills, distributing estates, and appointing guardians.

Before 1698, probates were handled by the general court or the secretary of the colony and the particular courts. When the four counties were created, the probate jurisdiction paralleled that of the county, but by 1719 the four original districts started to divide. Each present probate district has a genealogy of its own. A Checklist of Probate Records in the Connecticut State Library delineates the lines of descent for each present district.

As with all probate records, not only the court record books themselves (clerk's transcripts of probate proceedings), but the estate papers or files (original wills, receipts, affidavits, etc.) contain essential genealogical information. The record books remain in the probate clerk's office with microfilm copies to about 1915 in the Connecticut State Library and the FHL. The exception is New Haven, whose original record books are at the Connecticut State Library instead of the probate clerk's office. Many of the district estate papers or files to 1900 (some later) have been deposited in the Connecticut State Library. Packets of these original documents have been microfilmed to 1880 and are available on microfilm at both the Connecticut State Library and the FHL. Photocopies of original files are no longer permitted because of their fragile condition. There is a state-wide index of these probate packets at the Connecticut State Library.

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Tips for General Court Records

Excerpts From the Book "Family History Made Easy"

   Even today, few people escape mention in court records at some time during their lives as witnesses, litigants, jurors, appointees to office, or as petition signatories. However, Americans of a few generations ago also expected to attend local court proceedings when they were in session.
Arlene H. Eakle, Ph.D. “Research in Court Records”
In The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy

   American court files mirror U.S. history. Buried away in courthouses and archives everywhere are the dreams and frustrations of millions of citizens. The chances are great that your ancestors have left a detailed record of at least some aspects of their lives in court records.

   Most of us don’t think of court records as the rich source of personal history that they are. But America’s English heritage established a tradition of court processes in which the people have a right to participate actively—and we always have. With relative freedom from royal supervision and with court enforcement of religious as well as civil laws, American courts tried many matters that were not subject to court action in other parts of the British empire and that are now considered too minor to warrant criminal action.

   When a person dies, every state has laws that provide for public supervision over the estate that is left, whether or not there is a will. The term “probate records” broadly covers all the records produced by these laws, although, strictly speaking, “probate” applies only when there is a will.

   Family historians use probate case files far more than any other kind of court record. Probate case files are logical sources because they tend to include so much personal data, and because Americans have depended on the courts to settle their estates since North America was colonized. According to Val Greenwood in his Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, “All records which relate to the disposition of an estate after its owner’s death are referred to as probate records. These are many and varied in both content and value, but basically, they fall into two main classes: testate and intestate” (page 255). Probate case files generally provide names, addresses, and biographical data for the deceased, but frequently provide the same information for other relatives named in the papers. Relationships, maiden names of wives, married names of daughters, past residences, and place of origin in a native country are just a few of the details that can be discovered in probate files. And probate files can be found in courthouses and archives across the United States.

   When requesting probate information from the county clerk, it is important not to limit yourself by asking for a person’s “will.” The clerk will usually take you at your word and not copy other papers in the probate file that may have equally important information if there is no will.

   Even if your ancestor is not mentioned in a probate case, consider all of the other procedures which might have resulted in him or her appearing in court records:

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