New York County Court of General Sessions indictments and related records

Collection REC0127 - RG 065. New York State Supreme Court

Collection REC0127 - RG 065/RG 065.2. New York State Supreme Court, First Judicial District, New York County

Abstract

The Court of General Sessions heard criminal cases brought by the District Attorney through Grand Jury indictments. This collection consists of Grand Jury indictments and related records dating from 1879-1942 (bulk 1879-1924). A list of the indictments dating from 1879-1894 that includes name and crime can be downloaded from the External Documents section of this guide. Digitized microfilm of indictments dating from 1879-1893 can be accessed from the Digital Material section of this guide.

Extent

1256 cubic feet

Dates

1879-1942, bulk 1879-1924

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research. A portion of the collection was microfilmed in 2010, and that microfilm has been digitized. Patrons are requested to access the digitized copies when available due to the fragility of the original material. Digitized material can be accessed through the Digital Collections portal. Please contact us to arrange access to undigitized materials.

Physical Location

Materials are stored at 31 Chambers Street in Manhattan and at 147 41st Street in Brooklyn.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

It is unknown when the collection was received by the New York City Municipal Archives (NYCMA) or who transferred it to NYCMA. It was accessioned by NYCMA in 2010.

Existence and Location of Copies

The collection has been digitized and can be accessed through the Digital Collections portal. A portion of the material was microfilmed in 2010.

Related Materials

The New York City Municipal Archives holds numerous court records and criminal justice system records. Collections can be searched via Collection Guides.

Processing Information

A portion of this collection (1879-1894) was processed in 1997 by unknown staff and an inventory was created that includes the name of defendant, crime charged, date charged, and sometimes comments. 546 boxes of indictments dating from 1879-1923 where microfilmed in 2010.
The New York County Court of General Sessions heard criminal cases brought by the District Attorney through Grand Jury indictments. This collection consists of Grand Jury indictments and related records dating from 1879-1942 (bulk 1879-1924). Indictments may include a complaint form from Police Court, a Grand Jury indictment, and related attachments such as a coroner's inquiry, witness testimony, subpoenas, inquisitions, affidavits, news clippings, correspondence, business cards, vital statistical certificates. Some items of evidence such forged checks, currency, and photographs may also be included. Some of the evidence has been separated and replaced by photocopies. The collection also includes bonds.
Until its consolidation with the Supreme Court of New York County in 1962, the Court of General Sessions was the oldest continuing court of criminal jurisdiction in the United States. The Court of General Sessions was a county court established on October 17, 1683 by the first Assembly in New York. Initially the court was known as the Court of Quarter Sessions, it had both civil and criminal jurisdiction.(1) The court had been brought over by English colonists as part of the "remembered way of doing things."(2) Its origins date back to fourteenth century England when the traditional "justices of the peace" were required to hear more serious offenses in meetings held four specific times a year which came to be called general or quarter sessions.(3) When the English rule of New York City was re-established after the Dutch occupation for a year in 1674-1675, Edmund Andros, the English governor, reconstituted the city government, giving to the mayor and any four of the aldermen, power to hold a court of sessions. In 1685, a permanent law officer, called a recorder, was authorized, who thereafter sat as part of the court.(4) Formally established by the Judicial Act of 1691, the Court of General Sessions had jurisdiction to try felony indictments not punishable by death or life imprisonment.(1, Ibid) Criminal jurisdiction continued in the municipal legislative body with little change after the Revolutionary War. In 1787, a statute directed that in New York City the mayor, recorder, and aldermen, or any three of these, of whom the mayor or recorder had to be one, composed the Court of General Sessions in and for the City and County of New York. Meetings were held on the first Tuesday in February, May, August, and November of each year, and might last eight days.(5) The Court of General Sessions existed in New York County (Manhattan) only. The court tried felony indictments before a petit jury. The definition of a felony changed over time, but generally included crimes such as burglary, homicide, grand larceny, felonious assault, robbery, and perjury. General Sessions also heard appeals from lower courts (Police Court, Magistrates' Court, and Court of Special Sessions). A case was brought before the Court when a Grand Jury agreed that the District Attorney had presented sufficient evidence that a crime had been committed and signed a bill of indictment. The Court of General Sessions was abolished in all counties except New York County by the New York State Constitution of 1846, and its jurisdiction was transferred to the County Courts.(1, Ibid) The adoption of this basically English institution established such rights as trial by jury and the use of the Grand Jury as part of New York's legal system from the late 1600s. In its basic forms and procedures, the court remained relatively unchanged over the next three centuries. In 1962, the court system in New York City was reorganized and the New York County Court of General Sessions was abolished, its jurisdiction was vested in the New York Supreme Court, Criminal Branch.(1, Ibid)

Sources

  1. “The Court of General Sessions, 1683-1847, in New York City, 1683-1962,” The Historical Society of the New York Courts. https://history.nycourts.gov/court/court-general-sessions/
  2. Martin L. Budd, "Law in Colonial New York: The Legal System of 1691," Harvard Law Review, 1967, Vol. 80, page 1764.
  3. Anna M. Kross and Harold M. Grossman, "Magistrates' Court of the City of New York: History and Organization," Brooklyn Law Review, December 1937, Vol. VII, pages 134-135.
  4. Kross, pages 137-138.
  5. Kross, pages 139-140.
The collection is arranged into three series.
Title
Guide to the New York County Court of General Sessions indictments and related records, 1879-1942
Status
Completed
Author
Kenneth R. Cobb (Historical Note) and Patricia Glowinski
Date
2025 January
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English