Example Information in Circuit Court Records
Circuit
Court Records contain a wealth
of information including:
- summons issued to compel appearance before the court (and stating where
that person resides if outside Bedford County)
- lists of minor orphans of deceased persons (in cases regarding
guardianship bonds);
- lists of all devisees of estates (in disputes over the performance of
executors and administrators) (e.g., ",,,The governor of the state of Tennessee for the time being sues for the use of Elizabeth Stewart, James M. Johnson, David Johnson, Powell Kimbro and Rebecca his wife, Robert Patton and Elizabeth his wife and Willis, William, Susanna, John B., and Elvira Johnson minor heirs of James Johnson deceased who sue by their guardian James M. Johnson
Jordan C. Holt and John Barrett
had been appointed administrators of all and singular the goods, chattels, rights, and credits of Daniel Johnson deceased...");
- dates of death, names of executors, and other information regarding
estates;
- owners of businesses (e.g., "... Thomas Wilson and John Dougherty
trading under the firm and style Wilson and Dougherty...");
- more complete names of individuals who often used initials only (e.g.,
"...Jesse M. Yowell by the name J. M. Yowell...");
- venires of jurors (that list the civil district in which each juror
resided);
- admission of attorneys to the practice of law;
- exparte petitions for the division of property among joint owners (often
the devisees of estates) (e.g.. "...it is therefore decreed by the
court that all right, title, and interest of all the heirs of Moses A.
Morgan be divested out of them and be vested in the widow, Elizabeth
Morgan...");
- records of criminal cases (e.g., Curtis Snell who was indicted by the
grand jury for assault and battery pleaded guilty and was fined $5; Bartley
Sotherland was charged with "selling spiritous liquors by the
swallow", pleaded guilty, and was fined $10);
- divorce decrees, typically including details such as the date of marriage
(e.g. "...it appearing to the satisfaction of the court that the
defendant and plaintiff intermarried in Bedford County, Tennessee about six
years before the filing of said bill...", the time of separation (e.g.,
"...that they lived together in said county until about one year before
the filing of said bill..."), the number and ages of children (e.g.,
"...that the complainant is the mother of several small children of
tender years..."), decisions on the custody of children, and the
division of property between the parties;
- case records of disputes over payments of promissory notes, failure to
comply with the terms of contracts;
- implied marriages and maiden names (e.g., "Elizabeth M. Cunningham,
formerly Elizabeth M. Williams" and "...it appearing to the
satisfaction of the Court that since the last term of this Court that Emily
Earnhart, one of the petitioners, has intermarried with Thomas
Baxter...");
- reports of the deaths of parties to suits (e.g., "...the death of the
plaintiff [John A. Gant] was suggested in the August term of the Court in
the year 1853...");
- the names and positions of various officials (e.g., "Honorable Hugh
L. Davidson, Judge, Fifth Judicial Circuit", "James M. Johnson,
high Sheriff of Bedford County", and "James L. Turner, a constable
for the 9th District");
- records of grand jury indictments, bonds, judgments, petitions, warrants,
affidavits etc.; and
- considerable detail concerning the
property owned by individuals, including the names of slaves (e.g.
"...certain negro slaves to wit: Edmund, Frank, Stephen, John, and
Henry belonging to said plaintiff [Sallie Elkins]...")
You can view an example page image of Circuit Court court records here.
GSC Associates publishes the early Circuit
Court Records of Bedford County, Tennessee on CD-ROM.
Home page of GSC Associates Historical
Record Products
Home page of GSC Associates
