Plaintiffs' Names Beginning With . . .
[A] [B] [C] [D] [E] [F] [G] [H] [I] [J] [K] [L] [M] [N] [O] [P] [Q] [R] [S] [T] [U] [V] [W] X [Y] [Z] [Glitches]

This online index covers the suits filed in Parish Court from 1813 to 1835. An index to the general docket of the court covering October 11, 1835 to June 18, 1846 is available on microfilm. Also microfilmed is a fragment of the index to the general docket (plaintiffs' names beginning with "A" through "D" only) covering the years 1813-1832; the records indexed in this fragment should also be represented in the index provided here.

This index was built in stages, largely by volunteers. In the first stage, a handwritten, chronological list of the plaintiff, defendant, and docket number of each Parish Court suit record was produced by the Genealogical Society of Utah volunteers and staffers as they prepared the records for microfilming. In the second stage, Louisiana Division volunteers, as well as a summer youth worker and City Archives staff members, entered the handwritten list into a database. In the third stage, City Archives staff double checked the database, sorted it alphabetically, and coded it for entry into NUTRIAS.

All in all, the index has been a long time in the making, and it has passed through many hands along the way. As a result of all these hands, it is not a perfect instrument. Problems with the interpretation of the original handwriting of the court clerks, our volunteers' lack of familiarity with local names, inconsistency in the form the typists used to enter the sometimes complex parties to the suits, and a host other factors have all adversely affected the index's precision. Although we have attempted to correct obvious errors in typing or interpretation of handwriting and have tried to make the form of the entries consistent , we know that the index has some flaws, and we urge you to be creative and persistent in your searches. If you don't find an entry under the "proper" spelling, remember:

• search also for variant spellings of surnames, especially for English or Spanish versions of French names, French or English versions of Spanish names, or for possible truncations of the name.
• check names under prefixes such as "de," "du," "de la," "le," etc.; check the names also without the prefixes (ex., both "Pontalba" and "de Pontalba" are used); check the prefixes as a separate syllable and as a part of the surname (ex. both "Le Frebvre" and "Lefrebvre" are used)
• although plaintiffs should be filed by their surname, a few may be filed in error by their given name
• some suits are filed by the name of the executor of an estate, the name of the attorney representing the plaintiff, the name of the syndic(s) of the creditors of a business firm or individual, etc.
• married women and widows are almost always filed by their maiden names (e.g., Alexander, Margaret, wife of John Powers)
• in some cases, the abbreviation denoting "free people of color" was omitted by the typists
• suits involving the City of New Orleans as plaintiff are filed under both "Mayor ... " and "New Orleans ... "
• note that we have not attempted to standardize the form of entry used in the "defendant" category
• you may, as a last resort, want to scan all of the names in an alphabetical category