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Kinyon (N.D.) Township Justice of the Peace Dockets

 Collection
Identifier: Mss 352

Scope and Contents

The Kinyon Township Justice of the Peace Records consists of two volumes, civil and criminal, of the cases heard by the township justice, consisting of pre-printed pages containing the charge, legal action, fee, and judgment for each case. They span from 1889 to 1927. Although there are pre-printed index pages at the front of each volume, they were not used for most of the cases. The Civil Case Docket spans from 1889 to 1927. The pre-printed forms include the names of the plaintiff and defendant, date of action, reason for the action, short claim text for each, the order of the court and section of ‘debt and damages.’ Most of the cases involve the recovery of money owed by the defendant. The name of the justice of the peace is recorded for each case, although the handwriting is difficult to determine the name’s spelling. Among those legible are Frank O. Emery, J.F. Maquire, A.B. Landt and Charles W. Sibley. The longest serving justice name is not clear. The Criminal Case Docket spans from 1890 to 1920. It is quite similar to the civil case docket volume recording the names of the plaintiff and defendant, date of action, type of complaint, fees, witnesses, and the order of the court. It appears the same person served as justice for both civil and criminal cases. Examples of cases tried include assault and battery, grand larceny, burglary, using obscene language, selling liquor, destroying personal property and robbery.

Dates

  • 1889-1927

Access

The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Institute.

Copyrights

Copyrights to this collection are held by the State of North Dakota.

History

Kinyon Township, Cass County, N.D. (Township 143, Range 50) was organized under the 1883 Dakota Territorial law for that purpose. A petition for organization was signed by a majority of the township residents and submitted to the Cass County Commissioners on Feb. 28, 1885. The township was formally organized on March 10, 1885. It was named after Martin Kinyon, one of the petition signers. Some of the other petition signers included William Black, Peter Reed, Thomas Clapp, J. William Thom, Arthur Elliott, George Pratt and John Anderson. The temporary chairman of the organization meeting was Mr. Taylor, held at the Grandin School. There were two rural schools in operation in the township in sections 20 and 26. The town of Grandin is located at the extreme north end of the township in Section 3.

Extent

0.2 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The Kinyon Township Justice of the Peace Records consists of two volumes, civil and criminal, of the cases heard by the township justice, consisting of pre-printed pages containing the charge, legal action, fee, and judgment for each case. They span from 1889 to 1927.

Provenance

Donated by George Pratt, 1963 (Acc. 1253).

Property rights

The State of North Dakota owns the property rights to this collection.
Title
Finding Aid to the Kinyon (N.D.) Township Justice of the Peace Dockets
Description rules
Appm
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Repository Details

Part of the Institute for Regional Studies Repository

Contact:
West Building N
3551 7th Avenue North
Fargo North Dakota 58102 United States