Admiralty Case Files of the First Circuit Court
- US HSA 001
- Series
- 1848-1900
Part of Records of the Judiciary
Contains cases 1 through 225, index, and minute books. Case numbers 146 through 174 were not used by the court.
Case files generally contain libel complaints, warrants, bonds, petitions, monitions (summons), bill of costs, motions, subpoenas, notices of motion for hearing, statements of claim, claims, accounts, affidavits, appeals, testimony, proceedings, judgments, satisfactions of judgment, decisions of the court, briefs, agreements between parties, depositions, exhibits which may include report of survey on a vessel, cargo lists, passenger lists, crew member rosters, maps, and drawings depicting locations of vessels in port. Appeals from the district or police court contain the lower court records relating to the case.
Cases involve violations of port regulations, claims against vessels for damages and lost cargo in collisions, claims by businesses and shipping agents against vessels to recoup cargo losses, claims for wages by the crew of a vessel, claims for lost personal property, smuggling, and libel for salvage.
Cases were heard by a First Circuit Court judge or Supreme Court justice in chambers. The minute books document the admiralty proceedings heard in chambers and contain holograph copies of claims, complaints, affidavits, orders, judgments, decrees, petitions, lists of property, and court costs. Disputes between merchants and shipping agents against vessel owners, disputes between the ship’s crew and vessel owners, and disputes between vessel owners are commonly found throughout the records.
Admiralty cases were not heard in the circuit court after 1900, when the Hawaiian Islands became a territory of the United States. Jurisdiction over maritime cases resides in federal district courts.
First Circuit Court