Washington County (Utah). Probate Court Civil and criminal record books, 1856-1886.

The Washington County Probate Court originally held jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases, as well as estate distribution. Record Books A, B, and D contain primarily criminal cases and divorce and naturalization records, but also a few guardianships, estate settlements, and land claims adjudication. In the beginning, the probate clerk recorded details of civil and criminal cases, but in 1865 the clerk changed the format to that of court minutes. In 1873, the court ceased to handle civil and criminal cases with the exception of divorce, so from that date Record Book D is exclusively divorce records.

Most civil cases in Book A were divorces or declarations of intention to become a citizen. Most criminal cases involved theft. Beginning in 1856, with the case of Enos an Indian, sentenced to be "punished by wearing a heavy chain on his leg and hard labor for three months," for stealing some flour and running off sheep, the early records are filled with details of the cases heard. From1865, when the court was moved to the newly established county seat in Saint George, until 1873, the clerk kept only minutes in Record Books A, B, and D. These minutes reported which cases were heard, which witnesses testified, who was on the jury, and what verdicts were pronounced, but no longer provided details of the cases presented. The majority of cases involved debt collection, but also included divorce, larceny, a rape case, a murder case, and other cases relating to disputes over property ownership. Within the minutes the clerk recorded a few estate settlements after 1865. And in 1871-1872, when the court's attention focused primarily on adjudicating claims for city lots in Saint George, the clerk recorded more than a hundred individual claims in the minutes of Book B. Since the court ceased to handle criminal and civil cases with the exception of divorce in 1874, most of Book D is exclusively divorce records. The clerk once more provided details.