TIP OF THE WEEK –
COURT RECORDS IN COLONIAL CONNECTICUT
If you have Connecticut ancestors, you are fortunate because there are plenty of early records available.
The Particular Court, sometimes called the Quarter Court because it was required to meet once every quarter, was an early court in Connecticut. A book, “Records of the Particular court of Connecticut, 1639-1663”, published by the Connecticut Historical Society is viewable and searchable at Hathi Trust Digital Library. Go to :
https://catalog.hathitrust.
Click on the Full View. There’s a box for your search criteria and a FIND button right next to it, toward the top right corner. If you search for John Carrington or Mary Johnson, two unfortunates that were hung for witchcraft, you will find that wasn’t their only run-in with the law. They were also convicted of “bartering a gun to an Indian” and thievery, respectively.
Another resource, “Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, 1636-1776” is a 15 volume digital set you can access online via the UConn website.
Click on the volume you are interested in; they are in chronological order. Once the viewable and searchable PDF opens up, use the magnifying glass icon closest to the image of the book to “search inside” the book. Using John Carrington again, I found that he was ordered to pay someone for his share of corn, and he was paid for building someone else a coffin.
Much of the proceedings have to do with property and money matters so there is a good chance you will find something in here that involves your ancestor. Happy hunting.