Any court records resulting from a case in federal court will be found at the National Archives in Washington D.C. or one of its branches. These kinds of cases can cover things from mail fraud, theft from a U.S. agency, a lawsuit against the United States, kidnapping across state lines, forgery, and others.
Just to give you an idea of how much material is stored at one branch of the Archives, here is a glimpse of just a fraction of their holdings.
The National Archives branch in Seattle, Washington has rows of shelves of federal records, and over 70,000 rolls of microfilm, some of which are not yet digitized or online. It is the record retention center for Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.
Just to give you an idea of how much material is stored at one branch of the Archives, here is a glimpse of just a fraction of their holdings.
The National Archives branch in Seattle, Washington has rows of shelves of federal records, and over 70,000 rolls of microfilm, some of which are not yet digitized or online. It is the record retention center for Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.
Bankruptcies are always filed in federal court, and generally include a list of the creditors the plaintiff is seeking relief from. Some of these bankruptcy cases can be quite large, resulting in a stack of paperwork that has been preserved.
There are many laws in the U.S. Code that can be (and have been) broken, causing people to be brought to trial. In 1878 Clara Newsom was accused in the Oregon District Court of making counterfeit gold two dollar coins. In 1896 Julius Hurel was subpoenaed to the Montana District Court and accused of selling a quart of alcohol to an Indian. In 1875 John Madlock was brought before the court on charges of cutting timber on federal land for his own use.
And in 1897 C.A. Wasson was accused of “depositing in the United States Mail for transportation and delivery a certain letter containing obscene, indecent, vulgar and filthy matter, in violation of Section 3.895 of the Revised Statutes of the United States.” In this particular file are depositions from various mail carriers who handled the letter, including one, who when the letter was handed to him, stated, “I remember this letter. I soiled this letter by carrying it in my pocket with a piece of buttered toast.”
Court records of every kind and at every level can be great sources of information about your ancestors – how they lived, how they treated their neighbors, and how they kept (or broke) the law. Court records are worth exploring for the information they contain!
And in 1897 C.A. Wasson was accused of “depositing in the United States Mail for transportation and delivery a certain letter containing obscene, indecent, vulgar and filthy matter, in violation of Section 3.895 of the Revised Statutes of the United States.” In this particular file are depositions from various mail carriers who handled the letter, including one, who when the letter was handed to him, stated, “I remember this letter. I soiled this letter by carrying it in my pocket with a piece of buttered toast.”
Court records of every kind and at every level can be great sources of information about your ancestors – how they lived, how they treated their neighbors, and how they kept (or broke) the law. Court records are worth exploring for the information they contain!
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