Court Records of Lewiston.
Niagara County, New York: 1835-1842; 1854-56. Item #887 Two volumes. Folio ledgers. 340 x 210 mm., [132 ½ x 8 ¼ inches].; 310 x 205 mm., [8 x 12 ½]. Manuscript in ink. 238 pp.; 213 pp. Marbled board covers, calf spine; boards and spine show significant wear; sewing of the text block in the second volume is weak but intact; first two pages missing. Records written in a small, tight hand, yet legible; some fading of the ink to a number of pages; paper brown with age and fragile at the edges. The name "James Smith Esq" in pencil on inside front cover of the second volume; no other . Chronological record of court proceedings in the town of Lewiston in Niagara County, New York. Records include detailed descriptions of complaints, appeals, judgements and often fines and penalties as well as the names of the defendants, plaintiffs, and the date of the court case. The amount of information on the people of Lewiston, their employment, legal entanglements, and relations with other town residents is remarkable in its scope and detail. Niagara County is in the extreme western part of the New York State on Lake Ontario and the border with Ontario, Canada. Between the year 1830 and 1860 the population grew from 1500 to about 3300 residence and the town of Lewiston, the most prosperous in the county, was a center of fruit and vegetables farming and the cultivation of grapes and the wine industry in New York State. A typical case reads as follows: "William Hotchkiss agst. Armon McNichol. on the affidavit of the pltf issued warrant against the deft this 6th April 1855. the deft in court arrested by J T Beardsley Jun. The pltf complained against the deft for taking and carrying away a quantity of sand & gravel from a certain lot the property of the pltf in the village of Lewiston said County the 6th day of April to his damage of $56”. A case on page 16 of the second voume is described as follows: “The people of the State of New York vs a Person Known" involves a summons to "view the body of Elijah Johnson a Tunoroia (Tuscarora?) Indian. The court was held at the Indian Meeting House and the exhumed body was examined as part of an inquest into his death- apparently a murder. After examining the evidence the court determined that “Johnson was struck a blow on the left side of his head while standing on the suspension bridge in Lewiston by the hand of some person unknown.” The Tuscarora "hemp gatherers" or "Shirt-Wearing People" are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government of the Iroquoian-language family, with members today in North Carolina, New York, and Canada. They coalesced as a people around the Great Lakes, likely about the same time as the rise of the Five Nations of the historic Iroquois Confederacy, also Iroquoian-speaking and based then in present-day New York. It is also possible that the recorder was trying to spell "Sequoia" since the Five Nation Indian Alliance in the area was made up of the tribes of the Mohawk, Seneca, Onondaga, Oneida and Cayuga. Each had their designated function. The Senecas were the protectors of the land and waterway rights of the Niagara River, Lake Erie and Ontario. The Senecas were the "Keepers of the Western Door." There are usually two to three court entries per page making this a record of potentially more than 400 cases. Occasionally the signature of the plaintiff appears to affirm that damages have been received. A few cases show "The People" as plaintiff where charges are similar to breach of the peace or false promise. The New York State Register of 1843 shows a James Smith as a judge in Lewiston. (887)
In a case of the People vs Rachel Roe, Roe is accused of an convicted in the theft of a silver watch. She was sentenced to six months confinement in the county jail.
Price: $1,500.00