RECORD GROUP 18: SUPERIOR COURT OF LAW AND EQUITY RECORDS GUIDE
Date Span: 1784-1835 and undated
15 linear feet (27 boxes and 14 volumes)
Historical Note:
The first court established for Washington County at the time of its creation was the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions. This court held original and appellate jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases but not in equity cases. At that time, North Carolina (of which Washington County was a part) was divided
judicially into six districts, each with a Superior Court of Law and Equity, which, as the name implies, did have jurisdiction in equity cases. Washington County was initially included in the court that met at Salisbury, North Carolina from 1777-1782 and then from 1782-1784 under the court that met at Morganton, North Carolina. In 1784, the North Carolina counties west of the Appalachians were given their own Superior Court of Law and Equity as the Washington District, which met at Jonesborough. Thus, cases will be found in the records that relate not only to Washington County but to other upper East Tennessee counties. Researchers should also be aware that some early Washington County cases (1777-1784) might be found in the records of those earlier North Carolina courts. The two-court system inherited from North Carolina was continued in Tennessee under the first state constitution of 1796. A state-level Court of Equity was established with three traveling judges hearing cases in five judicial districts established for Tennessee. That for the Washington District was held in Jonesborough. The additional districts were Hamilton District (held at Knoxville), Mero District (held at Nashville), Winchester District (held at Carthage), and Robertson District (held at Clarksville). By the early 1800s, the court system was becoming overworked. In 1809, a new Circuit Court system
was established in each county, and the old Superior Court of Law and Equity was replaced by a new state- level court named the Supreme Court of Errors and Appeals. The clerk charged with the custody of Superior Court records was titled Clerk and Master. The following are the individuals who held this office until it was discontinued in 1810: David Allison (1788-1891); Andrew Russell, 1791 1792; Archibald Roane, 1792-1793; Landon Carter, (1793-1794); John Carter (1796 1806); James V. Anderson (1806-1810)
Note: Some records found in this record group were transferred to East Tennessee State University for preservation in 1958. Beginning in the late 1970s, the Archives of Appalachia there processed some of these records. In August 2016, the records were returned to the Washington County Archives. Some boxes and folders may still be labeled “W.C.C.R.” (Washington County Court Records) or acc. 18 (accession collection number). Any boxes or volumes part of this processing at ETSU are cross-referenced in the “Note” column of this guide in case a researcher needs to make a connection to records used when housed at the Archives of Appalachia. This will be indicated in the notefield by “A of A” and the specific box or volume number assigned by that archive at the time of processing. Materials may no longer be in the order found at the Archives of Appalachia.
Scope and Content:
As a court of equity, the Superior Court of Law and Equity heard cases involving property disputes, estate settlements, debts, damages, divorces, among other cases. It also heard appeals of cases from inferior courts such as the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions. The court had sole jurisdiction over cases punishable by the loss of limb or life and cases of greater dollar value than $50.
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