| "Duely &
Constantly Kept" (Click Here to view entire document in PDF format) |
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Foreword
In 1691 the Assembly of New York Colony passed an act establishing a Supreme Court of Judicature and provided that the court should be "Duely & Constantly kept" at times to be provided. Three hundred years later, after a political revolution, four State constitutions, and four major reorganizations of the judiciary, the Supreme Court continues as the State's court of "general, original jurisdiction?' The
Supreme Court today is still "duly and constantly kept?' The court holds trial terms in each county and hears appeals in its Appellate Division.
Extending the meaning of the phrase, the Supreme Court's archival records have likewise been `duly and constantly kept" for the past three centuries. Since the reorganization of the Supreme Court in 1847, the county clerks have maintained the court's trial records. (The four departments of the Appellate Division have their own clerks, and their archival records are designated for transfer to the State Archives.) Upon its establishment in 1847 the new Court of Appeals assumed custody of the pre-1847 Supreme Court records from the upstate clerk's offices (Albany, Utica, Geneva). The New York County clerk's office maintains the records of the Supreme Court of Judicature that were filed in New York City. in 1982 the Court of Appeals transferred to the State Archives in Albany several million Supreme Court documents, dating from 1797 to 1847, along with other pre-1847 records of New York's higher civil courts. The latter include the records of the Court of Chancery (1684-1847), Court for the Trial of Impeachments and Correction of Errors (1777-1847), and Court of Probates and its colonial predecessor (1664-1823). The records of the Supreme Court of Judicature contain a vast amount of information on the procedure and operation of New York's judicial system and on economic and social relations among New York's citizens. However, researchers have lacked access to these records, because the bundled papers and bound volumes were not arranged and described according to modern archival principles. Through the efforts of Dt James D. Folts and other State Archives staff, the records for the upstate districts were organized and described and physical deterioration was halted. While some documents have received conservation treatment and duplication through microfilm, much remains to be done to insure their preservation. This history of the Supreme Court and the inventory of its records in the State Archives are published jointly by the Court of Appeals and the State Archives and Records Administration to help commemorate the Supreme Court's three hundredth anniversary and to makes its documentary heritage more accessible to the legal community, academic scholars, educators, and interested citizens. In addition to the work of the staff of the State Archives and Records Administration, the actions of several individuals were crucial to survival of the records described in this publication. John H. Gary, former Motion Clerk for the Court of Appeals,was a longtime advocate for adequate care for the pre-l847 records and he watched over their administration. Dr. Leo Hershkowitz, Professor of History, and Professor Matthew J. Simon, Chief Librarian, Rosenthal Library, both of Queens College of the City University of New York, arranged for a temporary home for the records at the College during the l97Os when, for much of the period, there was no State Archives to administer them. Court of Appeals Judge Joseph Bellacosa, then Clerk of the Court, and Donald Sheraw, then Deputy Clerk and now Clerk of the Court of Appeals, provided strong support for the transfer of the records to the State Archives in 1982, and their interest and support have continued. Researchers in legal history and in many other fields are indebted to these individuals who also have my thanks.  |
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| Larry J. Hackman
Archivist of the State of New York |
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 The Historical Society of the Courts of the State of New York | |
