Rockingham County Court of Common Pleas, 1784-1845 – MS042
Provenance: Purchased by the Portsmouth Athenaeum
Citation: Rockingham County Court of Common Pleas, MS042, Portsmouth Athenaeum
Size: 1 Hollinger Box (.5 linear feet)
Access: No restrictions
Processed by: Virginia Thayer, Intern from Simmons College, in May 2004. Revised by Susan Stowe Kindstedt in March 2009. Item cataloged in May 2025.
Summary
This material primarily consist of court cases, including debts, or complaints alleging assaults or stolen property. There is a letter written by attorney Nathaniel A. Haven of Portsmouth NH on July 28, 1821, concerning a legal case. There is also one written by a Portsmouth town official on February 24, 1790, requesting the court force two African Americans to leave the town because they were branded as “vagabonds.” All the cases were heard either in the dwelling house or the office of a specific justice. Many of the cases were heard by Nathaniel Adams, who was the first President of the Portsmouth Athenaeum.
Related Collections
S737 Bound Volume of Nathaniel Adams Court Cases at the Portsmouth Athenaeum Library. Nathaniel Adams (1756-1829), was appointed Clerk of the New Hampshire Superior Court in 1787 and was the first President of the Portsmouth Athenaeum and held share number one. For additional information see the Proprietor Vertical Files, Research Library, Portsmouth Athenaeum. He held the office of the President from March 19, 1818 to January 1, 1828. Nathaniel Adams was the Master of the Masonic Fraternity of St. John’s Lodge of Portsmouth in 1792, when he was elected to succeed Major General John Sullivan. He also served as the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge from 1797 to 1801. Nathaniel Adams died from apoplexy on August 5, 1829, while attending a session of the Superior Court.
Processing Notes
Processing Note: Please refer to item catalog records for names of individuals associated with each record. Many of the earliest cases routinely covered long periods of time. The date that was consistently used was the date that case was first heard in court or when a judgment was rendered.
Folder List
Box 1
Folder 1 1784
Folder 2 1789-1790
Folder 3 1791-1792
Folder 4 1793-1794
Folder 5 1799-1800
Folder 6 1801-1803
Folder 7 January 1804 – May 1804
Folder 8 June 1804 – August 1804
Folder 9 September 1804 – October 1804
Folder 10 November 1804 – December 1804
Folder 11 January 1805 – July 1805
Folder 12 August 1805 – December 1805
Folder 13 1806-1807
Folder 14 1808
Folder 15 1809-1810
Folder 16 1811-1812
Folder 17 1813-1814
Folder 18 1815
Folder 19 1816
Folder 20 1817
Folder 21 January 1818 – July 1818
Folder 22 August 1818 – December 1818
Folder 23 1819
Folder 24 1820-1821
Folder 25 1822-1826
Folder 26 1827-1828
Folder 27 1829-1841
Folder 28 1843-1845
Folder 29 1846
Folder 30 undated fragments
