Historical Court System of New York State – Part 2: Courts of General Jurisdiction

Heirlines Professional Genealogy Resources:

Historical Court System of New York State – Part 2: Courts of General Jurisdiction

1. Court of Burgomaster & Schepen/renamed Mayor’s Courts/renamed County Courts of Common Pleas, General Session

a. Court of Burgomasters Established 1653

1. Jurisdiction: General Jurisdiction at law, civil cases over 50 guilders, non-capital crimes, Bastardy, Probate, Divorce, Admiralty
2. Jurisdiction Abolished: 1664
3. Appeals From: Justice Courts
4. Appeals To: Director General

b. Mayor’s Courts Established 1664

1. Jurisdiction: General Jurisdiction at law, civil cases, non-capital crimes, Bastardy, Probate, Divorce, Admiralty
2. Jurisdiction Abolished:
3. Appeals From: Justice Court
4. Appeals To: Director General

c. County Courts of Common Pleas/General Session Established 1691

1. Jurisdiction: General Jurisdiction at law, civil cases, non-capital crimes, Bastardy, Probate cases under 50 pounds, Divorce, Admiralty
2. Jurisdiction Abolished:
3. Appeals From: Justice Court
4. Appeals To: Supreme Court of Judicature, Prerogative

Submitted by Mary E. Petty, BA (History), BA (Genealogy)
Ancestors are the People of History.● Do you know who yours are? ● Let the Professionals at HEIRLINES FAMILY HISTORY & GENEALOGY find your ancestry! ●1-800-570-4049 ● www.heirlines.com ● PO Box 893 ● Salt Lake City, UT 84110

© 2008, Heirlines Family History & Genealogy, Inc. All rights reserved.

Historical Court System of New York State – Part 1: Courts of Appellate Jurisdiction

Heirlines Professional Genealogy Resources:

Historical Court System of New York State – Part 1: Courts of Appellate Jurisdiction

1. Director General/Council

a. DG Established 1623

1. Jurisdiction: All judicial cases, capital crimes,criminal appeals
2. Jurisdiction Abolished: 1653
3. Appeals From: Court of Burgomasters
4. Appeals To: Amsterdam Chamber of Dutch West India Co.

b. C Established 1653

1. Jurisdiction: All judicial cases, capital crimes, criminal appeals
2. Jurisdiction Abolished: 1664
3. Appeals From: Court of Burgomasters
4. Appeals To: Amsterdam Chamber of Dutch West India Co.

2. Court of Errors (Upper Chamber of Legislature)

a. C of E Established 1691

1. Jurisdiction: Impeachments, appeals on errors of law
2. Jurisdiction Abolished: 1846
3. Appeals From: Supreme Court of Judicature
4. Appeals To: King in Council

3. Supreme Court of Judicature

a. SC of J Established 1691

1. Jurisdiction: Same as English Courts of King’s Bench, Common Pleas,
Exchequer
2. Jurisdiction Abolished: 1846
3. Appeals From: County Courts, Mayor’s Court
4. Appeals To: Court of Errors

4. Court of Appeals

a. C of A Established 1846

1. Jurisdiction: Appeals only
2. Jurisdiction Abolished:
3. Appeals From: Supreme Court
4. Appeals To:

5. Supreme Court

a. SC Established 1846 (1895 established as only court of general
jurisdiction in New York.)

1. Jurisdiction: General Jurisdiction, criminal (Oyer & Terminer) Civil
(Circuit), Probate Appeals, Became only court of general jurisdiction
in New York in 1895
2. Jurisdiction Abolished: 1895 – Became only court of general
jurisdiction in New York in 1895
3. Appeals From: Inferior Courts, Surrogate’s Courts – same after became
only court of general jurisdiction in New York in 1895
4. Appeals To: Court of Appeals – same after became only court of general
jurisdiction in New York in 1895

6. General Term of Supreme Court/renamed Appellate Terms of Supreme Court in
1895

a. GT of SC Established 1869/ AT of SC Established 1895

1. Jurisdiction: Appeals only/same
2. Jurisdiction Abolished: 1895/GT of SC
3. Appeals From: Both – Circuit, Oyer & Terminer, County,
4. Appeals To: Both – Court of Appeals

7. Commission of Appeals

a. C of A Established 1869

1. Jurisdiction: Backlog of appellate cases before the Court of Appeals
2. Jurisdiction Abolished: 1872
3. Appeals From:
4. Appeals To:

Submitted by Mary E. Petty, BA (History), BA (Genealogy)

Ancestors are the People of History.● Do you know who yours are? ● Let the Professionals at HEIRLINES FAMILY HISTORY & GENEALOGY find your ancestry! ●1-800-570-4049 ● www.heirlines.com ● PO Box 893 ● Salt Lake City, UT 84110
© 2008, Heirlines Family History & Genealogy, Inc. All rights reserved.

What is a Survey and Analysis Family Tree project and why do one?

What is a Survey and Analysis Family Tree project and why do one?

Heirlines Professional Genealogy Tip:

A Survey and Analysis project is the initial phase of any Heirlines Professional Genealogy Custom Research Services Project that may be purchased separately from a complete block of research, analysis and reporting time, informing the client of the possibilities for research. It provides Heirlines with an overview of the types and extent of records available to us locally at the Family History Library and what must be ordered off site to help the client accomplish their research goal. It highlights the vast resources that are available to Heirlines to conduct research on the client’s family tree.

An example: Michael William Edward Doran of Wheeling, West Virginia – Irish immigration question prior to 1860.

The Family History Library here in Salt Lake City, Utah, has an extensive collection of records pertaining to Wheeling, and Ohio Co., West Virginia. We have microfilm and published histories, as well as published abstracts of many records including cemetery inscriptions, newspaper records, church records, and a number of other subjects. Our microfilm collection pertaining to this locality includes court minutes of various courts; probate files; birth, marriage, and death records; deeds, mortgages, land grants; immigration and naturalization records; military records, and many other sources. We also have the Iams Collection, an extensive genealogy datafile compiled in Washington Co., Pennsylvania that gathers records and information from around southwest Pennsylvania, including West Virginia, and Ohio counties. We also have passenger lists for all east coast ports, and federal court records relating to naturalizations.

In addition to records in Wheeling and Ohio Count, West Virginia, we have similar records for counties and states throughout the U.S., so we can search for other Doran families that might be related to Michael. The name Doran is not an uncommon name. There were twenty seven Michael Dorans in the Union Army during the Civil War. To learn about Michael’ brothers, we need to search records in Wheeling and neighboring communities near the time of their arrival in the 1830’s. Property records, marriages, court minutes, naturalizations, and church records should identify Doran individuals that were in the Wheeling area, and help Heirlines Professional Genealogy in locating those people in later years in different parts of the U.S.

It is important to locate as much informa6tion about Irish immigrants in American records as possible, because identifying them in Irish records requires knowing precisely which parish and county they were from. Irish records are extremely limited prior to 1860, both here and in Ireland as well. When Ireland rebelled and broke away from England in 1921, their Nation Record Office (Archives) was fire bombed, and most of the early records of Ireland, including many of the early church records, were destroyed and lost. Vital records in Ireland didn’t begin until 1863, and no census records exist prior to the 1901 census. Property records still exist, but prior to 1921, less than 5 percent of the Irish people owned any property. Property was owned by lords and manors. The Family History Library has microfilm of most of the existing record sources, including tax lists, manor records, and surviving church registers, and many other original documents.

One of the records we looked into we4re the series of volumes called THE SEARCH FOR MISSING FRIENDS – Irish Immigrant Advertisements Place in the Boston Pilot (newspaper) 1831-1878. Because we know there were 6 Doran brothers coming to America and scattering from there, suggests that Michael lost track of his family. These advertisements pertained to people all over the eastern U.S., often listing places of birth or origin and relationships. We search each volume, and while we found many Doran names, we didn’t find any reference to Michael or apparently any of his siblings, connected to a Michael.

In-depth research must be pursued on Michael Doran and his brothers to find the desired answers about his ancestry and ancestral home in Ireland. Please go to our website, www.heirlines.com and choose a Research and Analysis Package that best suits your needs. This is a challenging problem and the larger the project purchased, the greater the opportunity we will have to discover and investigate more records pertaining to the Doran lineage and to find answers about Michael Doran’s genealogy and family history.

Submitted by Mary E. Petty, BA (History), BA (Genealogy)
Ancestors are the People of History.● Do you know who yours are? ● Let the Professionals at HEIRLINES FAMILY HISTORY & GENEALOGY find your ancestry! ●1-800-570-4049 ● www.heirlines.com ● PO Box 893 ● Salt Lake City, UT 84110
Written originally by James W. Petty, AG, CG, February 21, 2003.
© 2008, James W. Petty, AG, CG. All rights reserved.

What does the Term "Free Blacks" mean? – The Day Family Example in North Carolina

What does the Term “Free Blacks” mean?

Heirlines Professional Genealogy Tip:

Free Blacks were an oddity in the slave-oriented society of the American South. In the Northern States, most Black people were freed from slavery by the 1820’s or 1830’s, but the South stayed firmly with that system of slave society and slave economy. Never the less, a certain portion of that society was made up of Black Families that lived in “freedom”, or rather were not in actual bondage. These were people who had been freed or whose parents or grandparents had been freed by former masters, for the most part, and they remained in that condition for several generations. Some free black families moved into North Carolina, but for the most part they didn’t because there were strict laws against transporting black people across State lines. One such case pertained to Thomas Day.

He was a free black of some note in history, because he was a successful Cabinetmaker, and he kept both black slaves, and white apprentices. In 1830 he traveled from his home in Milton, Caswell County, North Carolina, across the border into Virginia, and married Aquilla Wilson, a free black woman in Halifax County, Virginia. When he returned to North Carolina with his bride, she was denied entrance to the state because of laws prohibiting interstate travel by free blacks. Day had to petition the General Assembly to get special approval for his wife to join him in North Carolina.

Other ways that these black people became free may have been, because they were born to a white mother and a black father. The law allowed such offspring to live free outside of slavery, but the child of a black woman and a white man was considered to be his property. Some black people were freed at the death of their white owner, who provided them with some small property to get started. Other former owners freed their slaves because of religious convictions, such as with the Quakers, who during the late 1700’sand early 1800’s freed most of their slaves, and in the process gained a reputation in North Carolina as dissidents and trouble makers, because it so disrupted the cultural society there. Some slaves were freed because of good deeds or service that they performed. This may have been the case with Jesse and John Day. John fought in the American Revolution and Jesse may also have been involved.

There also was a movement in the Chapel Hill and Hillsborough area where the University of North Carolina became established, to encourage a free black society. I am sure this movement had its roots in the strong Quaker community that existed in that area. It was a contradiction too, because of the strong slave advocates in the area.

Anna Roberson, the wife of Ceby Day and possibly the family of Fanny, the mother of Ceby, and wife of Anderson Day were likely of Slave origins. The Roberson name doesn’t appear among the free black families of that area but prior to the Civil War, Anderson Day, Reuben Day, and his father, Jesse Day, intermarried with other Free Black families; families which had been free, in some cases from the very beginning of the settlement in Virginia and North Carolina., Their involvement in American History is one of incredible struggle, because as I mentioned, the whole nature of the Colonial and Federal White culture was opposed to them. Free Blacks were a part of the American Story that their descendants need to learn and be proud of.

Submitted by James W. Petty, AG, CG, BA (History), BA (Genealogy)
Originally written 02/11/1993
Ancestors are the People of History.● Do you know who yours are? ● Let the Professionals at HEIRLINES FAMILY HISTORY & GENEALOGY find your ancestry! ●1-800-570-4049 ● www.heirlines.com ● PO Box 893 ● Salt Lake City, UT 84110

© 2008, James W. Petty, AG, CG. All rights reserved.

Heirlines Professional Genealogy "Certified Family Tree (R)" Program

How do I get a real family tree that is credible that I can submit to https://new.familysearch.org?

Heirlines Professional Genealogy Tip:

Application of professional genealogy research, analysis, and reporting methodology, adherence to proper genealogical research principles and sourcing use of standardized citation format are key to successfully establishing your real roots according to Heirlines Professional Genealogy “Certified Family Tree (R)” Program.

Recently a client sent Heirlines a very extensive Gedcom file of their family pedigree going into the 1700′s. They want to have an accurate family tree so they can submit it to the new online world-wide family tree. This is found at https://new.familysearch.org that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is putting on the Internet for use by members and people of all faiths, cultures, nationalities, ethnic groups, and interests who want to help create a global family tree with sources.

This Gedcom came with no sources and no documentation which means that records will now have to be located that can be used to source and substantiate each name on the pedigree or establish the correct ancestry. This is the only way to create an accurate or authentic pedigree. It will involve collecting all the records that the client currently has on their genealogy and citing these documents on the family tree software program. The names that the client cannot document will require further research to substantiate the relationships or determine the correct ancestry.

This is a three-step program called Heirlines Professional Genealogy “Certified Family Tree (R)”. 1. Do Professional Genealogy Research and Analysis using the correct application of professional genealogy research methodology and principles to properly determine the right person in the client’s lineage. 2. Make a Report of Findings using professional genealogy standardized citation format for each ancestor’s records proving the family tree that is added into the family tree software program. 3. Submit the correct family tree with all of the sources to the LDS new.familysearch.org family tree.

This online family tree is a great effort by the Church to bring everyone together who share a common ancestry. It is the best way we know for people who do have sources to contribute their family history and be credible. We encourage everyone who is serious about having an authentic family tree to work with professional genealogy providers like Heirlines who are committed to ensuring that their consumer rights are respected and professional genealogy research services code of ethics and standards of performance are followed in producing a “Certified Family Tree (R)” that can be added to this valuable online family tree.

Submitted by Mary E. Petty, BA (History), BA (Genealogy)
Ancestors are the People of History. Do you know who yours are? ● Let the Professionals at HEIRLINES FAMILY HISTORY & GENEALOGY find your ancestry! ●1-800-570-4049 ● www.heirlines.com ● PO Box 893 ● Salt Lake City, UT 84110
© 2008, James W. Petty, AG, CG. All rights reserved.

Outside of the Box Heirlines Professional Genealogy Research – Sometimes Silver May be Genealogy Gold

How do I think outside of the box to discover my Colonial Maryland ancestry?

Heirlines Professional Genealogy Tip:

A recent Heirlines in-depth family tree research project involved a difficult to solve problem in Colonial Maryland. The ancestor, Philip Cazier, whose family had come to America from France and settled in New York City in the mid 1600’s, moved with his family to northern Cecil County, Maryland, where they settled and spread out. Tracing early immigrant ancestry can be very difficult, but clues can be found, sometimes in the most unusual places. If the client is willing, they can be pursued and may produce genealogy gold.

When he first moved to Maryland around 1730/1731, Philip Cazier was a merchant, and may not have needed a large property to farm. He was known as a “Gentleman” as late as 1745, a term which in that society indicated a person of esteem. [1. June D. Brown, Abstracts of Cecil County, Maryland Land Records 1634-1751. (Family Line Publications : Westminster, Md. 1998)44, 122, 143, 160, 207, 217, 223. (FHL#975.238, R28b) (Document 7)] After that time period, he was termed “farmer”. His son John was called a shoemaker in the 1740’s, [2. June D. Brown, Abstracts of Cecil County, Maryland Land Records 1734-1753. (Family Line Publications : Westminster, Md. 1999)217, 241, 242, 257. (FHL#975.238, R28ba) (Document 8)], and by 1753 John was known as a cordwainer, which was a shoemaker specializing in soft leathers. Philip’s son Philip Cazier Jr. was described as a saddler in 1746; but by 1753 was known as a “Joiner” or carpentry framer. Using these known family relationships gave us an opportunity for a most unusual genealogical search using a very interesting set of deeds that took place in 1746 and 1747.

In 1746, Philip Cazier Sr., sold to his son Philip Cazier Jr., four negro slaves, a silver tankard, 4 silver cans, 10 silver spoons, 1 silver tea pot, 6 silver tea spoons, a pair of tongs, and all of his other moveable goods. On May 12, 1747, these same items were again named in a bill of sale, indicating to us that Philip Cazier Sr., was moving, and was obtaining a loan from his son. While the loan was in place, the property served as collateral. This was not unusual in an age when banks did not exist, and barter was the commodity.

Of special interest was that the silver tankard was marked “HCC”, the 4 silver cans (or drinking cups) had the same mark; the ten silver spoons were marked “PHC”, 4 silver spoons were marked “DHM”, and the silver tea pot bore the initials “CC”. These items may have been family silver, possibly bearing marks of the Cazier family. Philip Cazier may have been the “PHC” identified on the spoons suggesting that his name might have been something like “Philip Henry Cazier”. “HCC” might have been a father or grandfather; and “CC” may have pertained to another relative. In each case the final initial “C” is consistent with the Cazier surname. Only the four spoons with the initials “DHM” are out of order. These may pertain to a maternal relative, or may have been silverware purchased to fill in a set.

Silver service was then as it is now, indicative of family wealth. Silver was much more valuable then, than it is now. Initials on silver were generally given for the male head of the household because it was part of the wealth of the head of the house, and was accounted for as such for taxes and inheritance. Therefore “PHC”, “HCC”, and “CC” may be important clues to identifying Cazier paternal ancestry. It may be a long shot, but we can contact specialists in antique silver, to see if there is any other silver of that area and time that carry these initials. If we can find any of these monogrammed pieces still existing in Maryland or among descendants of Marylanders, it might be possible to match the style and markings with other antique silver from New York, or from Europe. A long shot, Yes; but an interesting idea, No? We hope the client sees the potential for this very difficult Colonial Maryland ancestry research in this outside of the box possibility for genealogy gold.

Submitted by:

James W. Petty, AG, CG, BA (History), BA (Genealogy)

Ancestors are the People of History. Do you know who yours are? Let the Professionals at HEIRLINES FAMILY HISTORY & GENEALOGY find your ancestry! 1-800-570-4049 www.heirlines.com PO Box 893 Salt Lake City, UT 84110

© 2008, James W. Petty, AG, CG. All rights reserved.

Magazine of Virginia Genealogy – Use to find your Colonial Virginia Ancestor.

Heirlines Professional Genealogy Tip:

If you have Virginia-based ancestry, a great resource is the Magazine of Virginia Genealogy – published by the Virginia Genealogical Society (www.vgs.org). This scholarly publication composed of 4 issues per calendar year is worth purchasing for serious student of all aspects of Virginia Genealogy.

James W. Petty, CGRS, AG, BS(Genealogy) published “Thomas Savage, Headright of William Gany” in the May 2004 Issue of the Magazine of Virginia Genealogy, Vol. 42, no. 2. Due to Mr. Petty’s extensive work in early colonial Virginia records, he discovered that the headright system had been improperly interpreted by the genealogical community. He received the Donald Mosher Memorial Award in 2005 from the BCG Education Fund because of his revolutionary work. This article on Thomas Savage is a an application of his discovery that those early headrights were used as currency. Contact the Virginia Genealogical Society to learn how to get a copy of his article and learn this professional genealogy methodology for using headrights to find your Colonial Virginia ancestor.

Submitted by Mary E. Petty, BA (History), BA (Genealogy)

Ancestors are the People of History.● Do you know who yours are? ● Let the Professionals at HEIRLINES FAMILY HISTORY & GENEALOGY find your ancestry! ●1-800-570-4049 ● www.heirlines.com ● PO Box 893 ● Salt Lake City, UT 84110

© 2008, James W. Petty, AG, CG. All rights reserved.

SCRAPBOOKING FAMILY IN HISTORICAL EVENTS by Laura Best

Heirlines Professional Genealogy Resource:

SCRAPBOOKING FAMILY IN HISTORICAL EVENTS by Laura Best

Scrapbooking is a great way to incorporate your genealogy and family history stories into a treasured keepsake. Here you can celebrate the life of a special ancestor or your unique heritage by through this fun medium. Using a timeline and the historical events connected to your family will preserve the context of their lives and how the historical events of their day shaped their daily life and activities.

HEIRLINES recommends Laura Best’s excellent work SCRAPBOOKING FAMILY IN HISTORICAL EVENTS as the best book out there for helping you get started in this great craft using your family history and genealogy materials. She gives excellent instructions in this beautiful book on how to put your family into history through the records and documents that still exist about them.

Ancestors are the People of History. If you do not know who your ancestors are or you want to find those historical and genealogical records to accurately tell you your family’ place in history, contact Heirlines Professional Genealogy for in-depth custom family tree research. Qualified professional genealogists are ready to discover, determine and document your true heritage. Heirlines will help you have the accurate genealogy and family history material needed to make a treasured scrapbook of their lives using Laura Best’s great scrapbooking ideas found in SCRAPBOOKING FAMILY IN HISTORICAL EVENTS.

Contact Heirlines for further details: www.heirlines.com or toll free 800.570.4049

Submitted by Mary E. Petty, BA (History), BA (Genealogy)

Ancestors are the People of History.● Do you know who yours are? ● Let the Professionals at HEIRLINES FAMILY HISTORY & GENEALOGY find your ancestry! ●1-800-570-4049 ● www.heirlines.com ● PO Box 893 ● Salt Lake City, UT 84110
© 2008, James W. Petty, AG, CG. All rights reserved.

Update on GeneTree.com

Heirlines Professional Genealogy Tip:

Update on GeneTree (Url: http://www.genetree.com:
Genetree does not require a paid subscription to access the site.

It’s completely free to register an account. You can choose to purchase mtDNA or Y-DNA testing from them–but it’s not required and GeneTree allows for traditional genealogy (family trees and such) as well as family networking in addition to their DNA based tools.

Submitted by Mary E. Petty, BA (History), BA (Genealogy)

Ancestors are the People of History.● Do you know who yours are? ● Let the Professionals at HEIRLINES FAMILY HISTORY & GENEALOGY find your ancestry! ●1-800-570-4049 ● www.heirlines.com ● PO Box 893 ● Salt Lake City, UT 84110

October 19, 2008 (to Mom from São Leopoldo)

Note:  We received a lot of new photos from Elder Hill.  You can view them here.

Hi Mom!

One of the boxes got here! The problem is that I’m in a different city until tomorrow waiting for my new companion so I cant even get it. But Renan called me and told me it came. So that’s a relief. At least one has come. What’s in it?

That’s way sweet about Jacob’s call! Wow and February is long time away. I’m surprised they’re making him wait that long. That’s crazy.

This week was weird. Well, just yesterday.  Elder A’s parents came to get him and his mom reminds me SO much of you so I got pretty homesick. It wasn’t too bad though. His mom is a way nice lady. She kept giving me hugs.

I found out I can email video’s through gmail and its pretty fast so Ill email you some videos.

It has been really bad weather here actually. rainy rainy. Today is really hot though. The weather changes here really fast just like there.

We don’t eat that much other than lunch. WE don’t go hungry, we just don’t have time. Renan’s mom usually makes us bread and chocolate milk almost every night so that’s always nice. She’s a way nice lady too. She helps us SO much and she’s not even a member.

WE take pictures of food cause we almost always just eat rice, beans, and chicken. So when it’s different we celebrate. Hahaha

Who were the missionaries that taught you? Just curious. And who baptized you?

Yeah Sister A said she used to cry every night cause she missed him so much. Haha it was sad. I hope you don’t cry.

I love you!

Elder Hill

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