Series 373
Salt Lake County (Utah). Probate Court Civil and criminal case files, 1852-1887.
39 microfilm reels
These records are housed in the Utah State Archives' permanent storage room.
Historical Note
See history of the records' creator.
Summary of Records
Scope and Content
In 1852, the Utah Territorial Legislature provided that the Probate Court should have jurisdiction not only in estate and guardianship matters, but original jurisdiction in civil, criminal, and chancery cases. The Probate Court could act as an appellant court to the Justice of the Peace Courts in the County, and decisions made in the Probate Court could be appealed to the District Court. This series includes those cases handled by the Probate Court which are not probate or estate cases. Civil cases include primarily divorce, debt, replevin, damages, delinquent tax collections, contract and property disputes, evictions, and other case types. Criminal cases include murder, larceny, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, and contempt of court charges, as well as others. Other case types include appeals, habeas corpus hearings, and inquests into deaths. In 1874, the federal Poland Act revoked the jurisdiction
Research Note
For cases prior to 1872, the numbers written in ink on the top right corner of most documents were case numbers assigned to the files sometime after creation and prior to processing. These case numbers are not supported by the minute books, minute book indexes, or by the case documents themselves which frequently include different case numbers on documents belonging to only one case file, or one case number on documents belonging to several different cases. These numbers should be ignored as they do not reflect the original order of the case files. For the most part, case files are not complete pictures of the case. Many motions and judgments that today would be represented by a separate document were only recorded in the minutes. In many instances, the disposition of the case was not kept as a distinct document and so cannot be found in these files. Some of the documents filed may not have survived, so the user is advised to consult series 3944, CIVIL AND CRIMINAL CASE DOCKET BOOKS
for additional information. Cases involving the same individuals in close time frames may have documents relevant to both cases in only one file, that usually being the first one.
Arrangement
Chronological.
Case files are arranged chronologically based on the filing date of the initiating petition prior to 1872. Starting in 1872, case files are arranged numerically by case number, with case numbers being assigned roughly chronologically based on the filing date of the initiating petition. For civil case files filed prior to 1872, case dates are based on the clerk's or judge's filing date written on the complaint. If that is not available, the filing date of the initiating petition as recorded in the minutes is used. If neither of those dates are available, the date used is either the date the complaint was signed, or the date of the first surviving document filed with the court. For criminal cases filed prior to 1872, dates are based on when the indictment was presented to the court, if that date can be determined. If the date of the indictment is not apparent, or if no indictment was filed, the date of the initiating complaint is used or the date of the first surviving document filed
with the Probate Court.
Additional Forms
This series is available on microfilm.
Copies of these records are located at Ancestry.com (index only) View Online.
Copies of these records are located at FamilySearch View Online.
Access Restrictions
This series is classified as Public.
Use Restrictions
These records are available for reproduction and use.
Preferred Citation
Cite the Utah State Archives and Records Service, the creating agency name, the series title, and the series number.
Custody History
These records were transferred to the State Archives by the county before the creation of a county archives. The original files were returned to the Salt Lake County Archives 15 August 2001; the State Archives retained a microfilm copy.
Acquisition Information
These records were acquired from the creating agency through established retention schedules.
Processing Information
Archival processing of this series was completed by Arlene Schmuland in May 2000. Documents were moved into appropriate case files, and an electronic index to the case files was created during this procedure. The documents had been microfilmed prior to processing, and with the amount of reorganization of records necessitated by processing, the filming was deaccessioned. The series was refilmed in July 2001 and the container list updated at that time. After filming the hard copy was transferred to the Salt Lake County Archives.
Other Finding Aids
Indexes: An electronic index to the parties in each case has been created by the Archives, covering from 1852 thru 1887. View index.
Related Material
Civil and criminal case minute books from Salt Lake County (Utah). Probate Court, Series 3939, documents the daily proceedings of the Court in these matters for the years 1860 through 1884.
Civil and criminal case docket books from Salt Lake County (Utah). Probate Court, Series 3944, acts as records of actions to most cases between the years of 1852 and 1887. The earliest volumes in this series constitute a record of the proceedings in the cases and are more detailed.
Miscellaneous case files from Salt Lake County (Utah). Probate Court, Series 27372, contains other case files created by the court.