District Court (First District : Cache County) Probate minute/record books, 1860-1966.

This series is made up of minute/record books in which are recorded the official acts and proceedings of the Cache County Probate Court (which was eliminated at statehood in 1896) and its successor, the First District Court, while sitting in Logan, Cache County, Utah. These records were created and maintained by the court clerk, who was required by state statute to keep a minute book (Utah Code Annotated, 1953, 17-20-2).

Originated by the Cache County Probate Court during the territorial period, entries in the minute/record books begin in January 1860. Copies of court orders and decrees, discharges, petitions, and notices are typical. Due to the unusual jurisdiction of the Probate Court, the body was not limited to probate and guardianship matters. Although principally a record of estates, early volumes in this series also include minutes/records of criminal and civil cases tried in probate court between May 1860 and September 1873. Recorded information encompasses petitions,applications, various writs, judgments, complaints, appointments, decrees and court orders, indictments, verdicts, pleas, warrants, and summonses. Cases involving commitment to the state mental hospital and adoption are included throughout the entire series.

Elements of both minute books and record books are incorporated in these volumes, which are a daily record of documents filed and actions taken with regard to every matter brought before each session of the court. Through 1904 the clerk began each day's record with the word "Minutes," followed by the name of the presiding judge. However, these early volumes and subsequent tomes more closely follow the style of record books. Administrative details (a brief description of the hearing, including the case number, names of attorneys, date of each development in the case, record of witnesses and evidence introduced, what pleadings, petitions, or motions were made and by whom, and summaries of injunctions, rules, orders, verdicts, andjudgments) and meeting logistics (such as the court site, officers present, the selection and dismissal of jurors, and scheduling and assigning cases) are omitted. A typical case spans multiple dates. Entries in volumes A-Q are handwritten while those in subsequent volumes are typewritten. Minute/record books are no longer produced.

According to statute, the district court has jurisdiction in all matters not excepted by the state constitution and not prohibited by law. During each calendar year the court is required to hold at least three terms at the county seat of each county within the district. The county clerk in each county serves as ex-officio clerk to the court and is responsible for maintaining the minute book for actions arising in that county.