SOMERSET JUDICIAL RECORDS 1695-96

[MSA C 1774-12, Loc. 1/48/2/38]

ABSTRACTS WITH SELECTED TRANSCRIPTIONS

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Somerset Judicial Records 1695-96, identified in the Maryland State Archives as MSA C1774-12, records the proceedings of the Somerset County Court from August Court 1695 to March Court 1695. The preceeding volume (LD) concluded with the January 1694/5 session, so the records for two sessions, March  1694/5 and June 1695, have apparently been lost. Court sessions in this volume were held in September, November, January and March, commencing on the 2nd Tuesday of the month and generally lasting about a week. In adddition, some actions were taken at interim times and entered in the record. Preceeding each session, a list of Writs Returnable is entered, and at the end of each session a list of cases dismissed or settled out of court is recorded.

The first folio (unnumbered) of this volume identifies it as Liber E, No. 26, commencing August Court 1695 and ending March Court 1695/96.  The next three folios contain a list of court actions grouped according to the first vowel in the action. The Judicial Records proper then follow on folios enumerated from 1 to 150 commencing with a four folio list of “Writts Returnable” (actions pending). At the end of the liber is an alphabetical index of actions comprising 9 folios.

The essence of each separate action in the Court record has been abstracted and is presented in the following pages. Particular care has been taken to note all individuals cited in the records so that they can be readily identified through an electronic search process. Some liberty has been taken to rectify the spellings of names, when these are inconsistent or deviate from more standard usage. In some but not all cases the spelling as it appears in the actual text is shown in parentheses following the rectified spelling.

Users are cautioned that this present work is intended as a finding aid and not as a substitute for use of the original source document. Persons researching specific individuals or family histories should consult the original text to verify accuracy
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