Court of Chancery in the United States

New York Court of Chancery

“Between 1830 and 1847 the Court of Chancery shared with the Surrogate’s Court the power to take proof of wills when the testator or the witnesses resided out of state. After probate in chancery, a Surrogate’s Court supervised the administration and disposition of the estate.

Until 1802 the Court of Chancery had the exclusive power to appoint legal guardians for minor heirs, and shared this power with the Surrogate’s Court between 1802 and 1847. Information on guardianships has been abstracted by Kenneth Scott, Records of the Chancery Court, Province and State of New York, 1691-1815 (New York: 1971). (Scott abstracted data from Chancery orders and minutes in custody of the New York County Clerk’s Office and the New York State Archives, series J0090 Orders in Chancery, and J0059 Chancery Minutes.)

Chancery minute books and filed decrees and papers contain much information on guardianships and on appeals from the Surrogate’s Courts, through 1847.” ((Probate Records, New York State Archives).

See Also

• Prerogative Court
• Court of Probates
• Surrogate’s Court
• Supreme Court of Judicature
• Court of Chancery
• Secretary of State’s Office
• Department of Taxation and Finance
• Probate

Further Reading

• John Arneson, “The Legal Angle in the Surrogate’s Office,” Tree Talks, 3 (1963), 7-9, 74-76.
• Rosalie F. Bailey, Guide to Genealogical and Biographical Sources for New York City (Manhattan), 1783-1898 (New York: 1954).
• Arlene H. Eakle and L. Ray Gunn, Descriptive Inventory of the New York Collection (Finding Aids to the Microfilmed Manuscript Collection of the Genealogical Society of Utah, Number 4) (Salt Lake City: 1980).
• Estelle M. Guzik, ed., Genealogical Resources in New York, rev. ed. (New York: 2003).
• Leo Hershkowitz, ed., Wills of Early New York Jews (1704-1799) (New York: 1967).
• Herbert A. Johnson, “The Prerogative Court of New York, 1686-1776,” American Journal of Legal History, 17 (1973), 95-144.
• Roger D. Joslyn, “New York [Probate Records],” Ancestry’s Red Book: American State, County & Town Sources, ed. Alice Eichholz, rev. ed. (Salt Lake City: 1992), pp. 526-27.
• Harry Macy, Jr., “New York Probate Records before 1787,” The NYG&B Newsletter, 2:2 (Spring 1991), 11-15; “Library Resources for Research in New York Probate Records since 1787,” same, 3:1 (Spring 1992) , 3-7.
• David E. Narrett, Inheritance and Family Life in Colonial New York City (Ithaca: 1992).
• Franklin C. Setaro, “The Surrogate’s Court of New York: Its Historical Antecedents,” New York Law Forum, 2 (1956), 283-304.
• Royden W. Vosburgh, “Surrogates’ Courts and Records in the Colony and State of New York, 1664-1847,” Quarterly Journal of the New York State Historical Association, 3 (1922), 105-116.