Facts on Local Court Records

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   The western district of Arkansas at Ft. Smith covered present-day Oklahoma as early as 1844. U.S. Federal District Courts served as the official criminal and civil courts for non-Native Americans until land was opened in 1889. Congress established federal courts at Muskogee in 1889 for crimes except those punishable by death or imprisonment. Cases for felonies were tried at either Ft. Smith, Arkansas; Paris, Texas; or Ft. Scott, Kansas. For nonnatives, the laws of Arkansas were applicable.

Between 1890–95, federal law divided Indian Territory into the three judicial districts of South McAlester (Choctaw Nation), Ardmore (Chickasaw and Seminole nations), and Muskogee (Cherokee and Creek nations and the Quapaw Agency). Judges from these three jurisdictions heard all appellate cases including those from Ft. Smith, Paris, and Ft. Scott. Until 1898, tribal courts continued hearing cases in which both parties were Native Americans. Thereafter, all persons, no matter their race, in Indian Territory were subject to federal laws and the laws of Arkansas.

Find Oklahoma Court Record Books at Amazon.com

In 1883 Congress changed the jurisdiction for the northern half of the western section of Indian Territory to that of the U.S. District Court of Kansas. The U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas, was authorized to extend its jurisdiction to the southern half of the western part of Indian Territory.

During the first few years, a district court in Oklahoma Territory frequently served more than one county.

Most original, pre-statehood, district court records are in the National Archives-Southwest Region. Some are on microfilm at the Oklahoma Historical Society, Archives and Manuscripts Division.

Civil and criminal court records after statehood are available from the clerk of the court for the respective county. They maintain records such as proceedings, dockets, cases, and indexes to civil court matters. Jurisdiction may include probate, felony, civil, divorce, adoption, naturalization, small claims, licenses, juvenile, notary, minister's credentials, traffic, and misdemeanor cases. The appellate courts for Oklahoma are the state supreme court, court of appeals, and the court of criminal appeals.

Some early court records may include non-court related records. A volume stored in the basement of the Logan County courthouse contains the first court minutes, but the frontispiece lists a few marriages that occurred during that period.

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Facts on Local Probate Records

   Probate records filed with the various tribal governments and Indian Agencies for the Five Civilized Tribes and some other Native American tribes in Oklahoma are maintained by the Oklahoma Historical Society. Other tribes' records are in the National Archives-Southwest Region.

Territorial probate records were processed and filed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. district court. Most original federal district court probate records are also in the National Archives-Southwest Region, although the Oklahoma Historical Society has some federal district court probate records on microfilm.

Find Oklahoma Probate Record Books at Amazon.com

Some probate packets for the northern section of Cherokee Territory were filed in the U.S. district court. These are indexed and identified in the following volume:

• Wever, Orpha Jewell. Probate Records, 1892–1908, Northern District Cherokee Nation. 2 vols. Vinita, Okla.: Northeast Oklahoma Genealogical Society, 1982–83.

Since statehood, the respective county clerk of the court has maintained probate records. County probate records may include some wills recorded during the territorial period.

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Tips for General Court Records

Excerpts From the Book "Family History Made Easy"

   Even today, few people escape mention in court records at some time during their lives as witnesses, litigants, jurors, appointees to office, or as petition signatories. However, Americans of a few generations ago also expected to attend local court proceedings when they were in session.
Arlene H. Eakle, Ph.D. “Research in Court Records”
In The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy

   American court files mirror U.S. history. Buried away in courthouses and archives everywhere are the dreams and frustrations of millions of citizens. The chances are great that your ancestors have left a detailed record of at least some aspects of their lives in court records.

   Most of us don’t think of court records as the rich source of personal history that they are. But America’s English heritage established a tradition of court processes in which the people have a right to participate actively—and we always have. With relative freedom from royal supervision and with court enforcement of religious as well as civil laws, American courts tried many matters that were not subject to court action in other parts of the British empire and that are now considered too minor to warrant criminal action.

   When a person dies, every state has laws that provide for public supervision over the estate that is left, whether or not there is a will. The term “probate records” broadly covers all the records produced by these laws, although, strictly speaking, “probate” applies only when there is a will.

   Family historians use probate case files far more than any other kind of court record. Probate case files are logical sources because they tend to include so much personal data, and because Americans have depended on the courts to settle their estates since North America was colonized. According to Val Greenwood in his Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, “All records which relate to the disposition of an estate after its owner’s death are referred to as probate records. These are many and varied in both content and value, but basically, they fall into two main classes: testate and intestate” (page 255). Probate case files generally provide names, addresses, and biographical data for the deceased, but frequently provide the same information for other relatives named in the papers. Relationships, maiden names of wives, married names of daughters, past residences, and place of origin in a native country are just a few of the details that can be discovered in probate files. And probate files can be found in courthouses and archives across the United States.

   When requesting probate information from the county clerk, it is important not to limit yourself by asking for a person’s “will.” The clerk will usually take you at your word and not copy other papers in the probate file that may have equally important information if there is no will.

   Even if your ancestor is not mentioned in a probate case, consider all of the other procedures which might have resulted in him or her appearing in court records:

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