This document provides an overview of using federal court records to research family history. It discusses the history and organization of the US federal court system from its origins in 1789 through reforms in the late 19th century. Key points include how the system expanded with new states and territories, the creation of circuit courts to handle caseloads, and the 1891 Evarts Act that established the current structure of district and appellate courts. The document also describes the types of cases heard, locations of records, and examples of individuals like George Remus who were prosecuted in federal court.
3. What We Will Cover
• History & Organization of the Federal
Courts
• The Courthouse
• The Archives
• Online Resources
• Legal Citation
• Remus v United States
4. Constitutional Origins
of the Federal Judiciary
• The Constitutional Convention of 1787
• Ratification Debates
• The Judiciary Act of 1789
7. Westward Expansion and the Courts
• Number of States Increased
• U.S. Territorial Possessions Grew
• Travel Burden to Justices
• New Circuits Created
• Size of Supreme Court Increased
12. Reorganizing the Federal Courts
• Debate over proper role of federal
judiciary in national life
• Growing backlog of cases
• Issues of power between states and
federal government
• Further tinkering
15. 1891 Evarts Act
• Shifted appellate caseload burden from
Supreme Court to new courts of appeals
• Made the federal district courts the
primary trial courts
• Created a new court – the Circuit Court
of Appeals – one for each of the 9
Circuits
• Provided a right of direct Supreme Court
review
16. From the Evarts Act to Today
• 1929 ~ New 10th Circuit created out of 8th
Circuit’s western states
• 1948 ~ DC Circuit created
• 1980 ~ 5th Circuit divided and 11th Circuit
created
• 1982 ~ Federal Circuit formed from the
Court of Customs and Patent Appeals
and Court of Claims
21. Inside the Federal Courthouse
An Unknown Realm
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United States District Court Clerk
United States Court of Appeals Clerk
Judges’ Chambers
Courtrooms
Jury Assembly Room
U.S. Probation and Pretrial
Mediation Office
Library
22. Records
in U.S. District Court Clerk’s Office
• Court records
– Accession #
– Location #
– Box #
– Date it was shipped to Archives
• Naturalization records
– Back to the 1950’s
– Card catalog index back to 1800’s
Call (513) 564-7500
27. Record Group 21
Most of the historical records of the U.S.
district courts and U.S. circuit courts have
been accessioned by NARA and are deposited
in regional archives as part of Record Group
21.
Unaccessioned historical records are located
in the clerk’s office of the respective district
court, or, in rare cases, at regional libraries and
historical societies.
28. Types of Cases ~ Recap
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Law and Equity (Civil)
Criminal
Habeas Corpus
Bankruptcy
Naturalization
Admiralty
Fugitive Slave
29. Cases Contain:
• Original papers submitted by the parties
• Transcripts of testimony
• Exhibits introduced at trial
37. Cite That Case!
1. The name of the case
2. The volume number in the
reporter series
3. The name of the reporter
series (usually abbreviated)
4. The page on which the
case starts
5. A parenthetical with year
the case was decided
38. Legal Citation
U.S. v. Remus, 12 F. 2d 239 (1926)
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5.
Cornell Law School’s Online Guide to Legal Citation
http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/
39. The Genealogist’s Way
The Federal Reporter, Second Series, Cases Argued and
Determined in the Circuit Courts of Appeals and District Courts of the
United States and the Court of Appeals of the District of
Columbia, with key-number annotations, with table of cases in which
rehearings have been granted or denied, Vol. 12 (St. Paul, Minnesota
: West Publishing Co., 1926), 239, United States vs. Remus;
hereinafter cited as U.S. v. Remus, U.S. F. 2d. 230 (1926).
Elizabeth Shown Mills, Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources
from Artifacts to Cyberspace, 2d edition (Baltimore, Maryland:
Genealogical Publishing Co., 2009), 740-742.
40. George Remus in Federal Court
• Apr. 15, 1922 ~ Federal Grand Jury
indicts Remus and 13 co-defendants
• May 5 ~ Trial #1 begins before U.S.
District Judge John W. Peck
• May 16 ~ Verdict of guilty in conspiracy to
violate the Volstead Act. Internal
Revenue counts dropped
• Remus sentenced to 2 years in federal
penitentiary and fined $10,000.
41. Overheard in the Courtroom
• “The very air seemed
a little dryer after the
jury announced its
verdict. The way of
the transgressor is
hard, but the way of
the thirsty citizen is
harder.”
42. Double Jeopardy?
• May 17 ~ Trial #2 begins
• May 19 ~ Judge Peck orders jury to
acquit Remus
• May 20 ~ Misdemeanor charges of
maintaining a nuisance at Death Valley
Farm
• May 24 ~ Sentence of 1 yr in county jail to
run concurrent with 2 year sentence
• December ~ Appeals to Circuit Courts of
Appeals begin. Conviction upheld 1925.
43. ~ Final Thoughts ~
• Filson Historical Society, Louisville
• GenealogyBank
• National Institute of Genealogical Studies