District Court (Third District) Territorial minute books, i 1858-1896.

The 1850 federal organic act in establishing Utah as a territory defined the role of the courts. There was to be a territorial supreme court, district courts, county probate courts, and precinct justice of the peace courts. The territory was divided into three judicial districts each presided over by one of the federally appointed justices of the territorial supreme court. These are the minutes of the Third District, recording the activities of that court in civil, criminal, chancery or equity matters, and appeals.

The boundaries of the district courts were initially defined by the governor and could then be altered by the legislature. Boundaries were redefined frequently. (See appendix A for a list of counties in the third district in various years.) Crimes and disputes originating in any of the counties in the table may appear as entries in the minutes; however, the county of origin is rarely specified. Minutes prior to 1858 are missing. There is also a gap from September 1871 toMarch 1873.

District courts had original jurisdiction in civil, criminal, and chancery or equity cases. Conflicts between the federally appointed courts and the local Mormon population resulted in the territorial legislature giving original jurisdiction in the same type cases to the county probate courts in addition to estate and guardianship cases, in 1852. Appeals from the lower probate, county and other courts could still be made to the district courts.

In 1874, with the Poland Act, the federal government pared away the authority of the probate courts, returning to the original intent of the Organic Act. From 1874 district courts had original jurisdiction in suits involving more than $300.00, all mining claims, and divorces. Probate courts were to deal with estate and guardianship cases, but no longer civil and criminal cases. Probate courts could share jurisdiction in statutory grounds divorce cases with the district courts. Appeal procedure was also clarified.

The minute booksdocument the daily proceedings of the third district court but are not transcripts of court cases. Business matters recorded include court site and officers present; names of jurors selected or dismissed; judicial appointments, oaths, and bonds; appeals of lawyers to be permitted to practice before the court; and claims for expenses.

A typical case will span multiple dates. A case will include an indictment for a charge or indication of a filed complaint; demurrers, in which a defendant does not dispute a charge but claims it is not important enough to justify legal action; dismissals; continuances; court orders or other motions; a statement that the case was presented, including names of witnesses for and against, but rarely alluding to the nature of their testimony; the verdict; and precise sentencing or settlement. The most information presented occurs in various forms of property disputes (e.g.. mining claims, foreclosure, receivership, deed issuance, estate settlement, waterclaims) where settlement details the property and its sale or distribution. Indices by plaintiff are available for several volumes.

Cases include those for murder, larceny, robbery, burglary, theft, embezzlement, assault, purchasing public property from soldiers, riot, polygamy, gambling, liquor law violations, prostitution, etc.. Also included are property claims, debt, repossession, foreclosure, receiverships, dissolutions of corporation, divorces, and commitments to reform school. Most are exercises of original jurisdiction but do include appeals from probate, county, and justice of the peace courts.

Notable cases include the divorce and alimony case between Ann Eliza Young and Brigham Young spanning several years in the mid-1870s, and several cases revolving around the settlement of Brigham Young's will from 1879 to 1883. Bigamy, polygamy, cohabitation, and illegal voting cases peak after 1874 and particularly in the mid to late 1880s. Mining claim disputes are common in the1870s and 1880s as are land disputes with the railroads to the end of the territorial period.

The district courts also had the power to grant citizenship (probate courts assumed the same power). This process included two witnesses testifying to the applicant's character, renouncing foreign allegiance, and taking an oath of allegiance to the United States Constitution. The applicant's name, the names of his witnesses, his native country and current county of residence are noted in the minutes. Applicants usually are, but need not be, residents of a county covered by the district. Naturalizations are one of the most frequent entries in the books and in fact, minute books were identified as naturalization books for many years.