Supreme Court of Judicature in the United States

New York Supreme Court of Judicature

“Between 1786 and 1829 the Supreme Court and the county courts of common pleas shared with the Surrogate’s Courts the power to prove and record wills devising real property, and also wills whose witnesses were unable to appear in court. In addition, between 1801 and 1829 the Supreme Court had the exclusive power to prove and record wills devising real property located in several counties. (Wills proved in the courts of common pleas were recorded by the county clerks. The record of wills proved in the Supreme Court at New York City, 1787- 1829, is in custody of the New York County Clerk’s Office.) After a will was proved and recorded in the Supreme Court or a court of common pleas, the Surrogate’s Court supervised the administration and disposition of the estate.” (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.