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Louisiana. Second District Court (Orleans Parish).
Acquisition: Deposited by Civil District Court, 1974
NOTE: The successions, suit records, extant docket books and manuscript indices for the Second District Court have been digitized and are available FamilySearch.org. See below for more information.
The Louisiana Constitution of 1845 allowed the legislature to establish "as many district courts as the public interest may require" (Title IV, Article 75). These district courts were to have original jurisdiction in all civil cases, when the amount in dispute exceeded $50, exclusive of interest. Act 43 of 1846 further detailed the organization of the district courts in the parish and city of New Orleans. The Act provided for five District Courts: the First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth District Courts of New Orleans. The Second District Court was to keep two dockets, a "Preference Docket" and an "Ordinary Docket." All cases relating to successions were to be placed on the Preference Docket and were to be tried by preference over all cases found on the Ordinary Docket. Cases pending before the Judge of the Probate Court were to be transferred to Second District Court. Act 229 of 1853 further organized the Orleans Parish courts, giving exclusive jurisdiction to the Second District Court over all probate matters. It also added a Sixth District Court. The Consitution of 1868 retained and reinstituted the numbered district courts in Orleans Parish and added a seventh court. It reiterated the exclusive jurisdiction of several of the courts (First District Court, exclusive criminal jurisdiction; Second District Court, exclusive probate jurisdiction; Third District Court, exclusive jurisdiction of appeals from justices of the peace). Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh District Courts were given exclusive jurisdiction in all civil cases, except probate, when the sum in contest was above one hundred dollars, exclusive of interest. The consititution of 1879 consolidated all of the civil ourts into a single court, Civil District Court, still in existence today. Cases pending in Second District Court were transferred to this new court under new docket numbers. The court ceased operation at the end of August, 1880, when all of the district courts were consolidated into a single court, Orleans Parish Civil District Court.
The records are arranged in series as follows, all of which are records of the regular business of the court:
Suit Records
VSB290 Suit Records, 1846-1880 Manuscript records of the proceedings in the successions and suits filed before the Second District Court. While the great majority of cases are successions, also included are lawsuits brought against successions, emancipations of minors, interdictions and, occasionally, other matters related to the administration of estates. Inventories of estates are included within the succession, if such an inventory was ordered by the court. Access to these records is through the published General Index of all Successions, Opened in the Parish of Orleans, From the Year 1846, to the Month of August, 1880, compiled by A.J. Villere in 1881 and transcribed online here. Access can also be had through the general docket books and the indexes thereto. (See below) The great majority of the successions and suit records in Second District Court were microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah. Microfilm is available in the Louisiana Division/City Archives; it can also be ordered from any Mormon Family History Center. A small portion of records were missed in the initial microfilming. These unmicrofilmed records are available for in-house use only in the Louisiana Division/City Archives. NOTE: The Second District Court suits and successions have also been digitized by FamilySearch.org and are (partially) available online here. Additional records will be added to the online site in the future. (Note that FamilySearch erroneously identifies the court as Second Judicial District Court.)
VSB300 1846-1880
Minute Books, 1846-1880 Bound manuscript volumes in which the daily minutes of the court's proceedings were entered by the clerk. These volumes were microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah. (Volumes marked with a asterisk [*] include an index of the naturalization records contained therein. For a description of the Second District Court naturalization records, see our Guide to Genealogical Materials.)
* v. 1 6/20/1846 - 2/24/1847
Manuscript volumes divided into subseries as follows: general dockets (and indexes) and "special" dockets. The general dockets are arranged in numerical order by docket number. Each page is divided into rectangular sections so that one docket entry appears in each section. At the head of each entry is the docket number, names of the deceased whose succession is being settled, or the names of the plaintiff(s) and defendant(s) in the suit, date of initial filing, the name(s) of the attorney(s) representing the heirs or the parties to the suit and in some instances a brief note as to the type of suit. Beneath the heading is a dated list of the actions taken (e.g., petitions, answers, orders, documents filed, copies made, record withdrawn, judgments, etc.), along with the court costs incurred for each action. NOTE: The extant general docket books and the plaintiffs' and defendants' indices for the Second District Court have been digitized and are available FamilySearch.org. You must create an account with FamilySearch in order to view the images, but the account is free. LINK HERE to access the images. (Click on "Browse through xxx images" and then choose the "Second District Court" link.) The plaintiffs' and defendants' indexes were also microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah and are available for in-house use; the microfilm can also be ordered from any Mormon Family History Center. The special dockets include the following:
Execution Docket, 1856 - 1858 (VSB352) 3 v. These fragmentary special dockets have limited research value and were created for the convenience of the court. Any matters before the court should be recorded in the general docket.
VSC350
General Docket, 1846-1880
v. 1 1/22/1846 - 11/7/1849 (#1 - 2421)
VSB350it
Index to General Docket, 1864-1880
v. 1 7/28/1864 - 2/27/1865 (#20617 - 24703)
VSB350id
Defendants' Index to the General Docket, 1846-1880
v. 1 6/22/1846 - 11/7/1849 (#1 - 2421)
VSB350ip
Plaintiffs' Index to the General Docket, 1846-1880
v. 1 6/22/1846 - 11/7/1849 (#1 - 2421)
VSB352
Execution Docket, 1856-1880
v. 1 6/10/1856 - 3/5/1858
VSB353i
Index to Judgment Docket, n.d. v. 1 n.d.
VSB354c
Call Docket, n.d. v.1 n.d.
VSB354ex v. 1 11/7/1857 - 1/26/1867
VSB354o Docket of Ordinary Cases, 1858-ca. 1861 1 v. v. 1 12/7/1858 - ca. 1861
VSB354op
Opposition Docket, 1857-1871
v. 1 11/21/1857 - 1/25/1861 VSB354p Preference Docket and Cases Not Appealable 1 v. v. 1 n.d.
VSB354r
Rules Docket, 1869-1880
4 v.
v. 1 6/14/1869 - 10/31/1870
VSB345sh Sheriff's Docket, 1846-1857
v. 1 8/8/1846 - 11/16/1849 (#94-2441)
VSB354sub
Subpoena Docket, 1849-1879
v. 1 3/27/1849 - 12/23/1851
VSB354suc
Docket of Succession Cases, 1860-1872 v. 1 1/24/1860 - 11/1872
VSB354t
Tiral Docket, 1848-1866
v. 1 missing
Bound manuscript volumes containing, for certain suits before the court, copies of various salient documents filed in the suit, including the plaintiff's petition, defendant's answer(s), affidavits, orders, jury verdict (in jury cases), the court's judgment, and the decree of the Supreme Court (if the case went up on appeal) for each suit decided, in the order in which the case became final. Thus, the judicial record books show the essentials of suit filed and decided in the Third District Court. These books are particularly useful if the original suit record is no longer extant.
VSB410
Judicial Record Books, 1846-1858
v. 1 7/10/1846 - 7/3/1847
Manuscript volumes recording deeds for real property sold by the Sheriff under order of the judge of Third District Court. Each entry is headed by the nane of the purchaser of the property. The parties to the suit are given in the text. The remainder of each entry amounts to the Sheriff's proces verbal of the individual sale, including a legal description of the property, the name of the parties to the suit effecting the sale, the terms of the sale. A reference to the Conveyance Office Book and folio where the deed is formally recorded is also included. The deed books were microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah and are available for in-house use. The microfilm can also be ordered from any Mormon Family History Center.
VSB690
Deed Books, 1846-1880
v. 1 9/26/1846 - 9/24/1847 (Indexed)
VSB650m
Recordation of Marriages from May 12, 1879 to April 12, 1880 Marriage certificates for marriages performed by the Judge of Second District Court (Aristee L. Tissot) from May 1870 - April 1880 (a total of 42 marriages). The volume is microfilmed, and a transcription of the information recorded in the volume can be found here.
VSB670m
Marriage Licenses and Certificates, 1857-1880 This volume contains printed forms granting licenses for marriage from the judge of Second District Court. In instances where the judge also performed the marriage ceremony, a handwritten statement by the judge certifying the marriage is inserted (later replaced by a printed marriage certificate filled in by the judge or his clerk). The majority of the records are for couples married by the judge.
Like the special dockets above, these miscellaneous volumes were created for the convenience of the court and have little, if any, research value. There should be no information recorded in these volumes that can not be found in the suit record, the general docket, and/or the minute books.
VSB370t
Judgments Rendered in City Tax Suits, 1866-1868
v. 1 2/27/1866 - 3/15/1866 (#25833 - 26758)
VSB401
Blotter, 1861 - 1864
v. 1 4/9/1861 - 9/10/1861
VSB440
Journal of Court Fees, 1846-187
v. 1 6/20/1846 - 6/21/1847 (Indexed)
VSB520
Letters Testamentary, 1857 v. 1 3/5/1857 - 11/10/1857
VSB250
Oaths of Executors, Appraisers, Tutors, Etc., 1846-1879
v. 1 6/22/1846 - 8/27/1847
VSB520
Curators' Bonds, 1866-1877 v. 1 11/28/1866 - 1/20/1877
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iw 6/15/2013 |
