Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1885-12-25
INTER ESTING RECORDS.
THE EARLY DAYS OF CHlTTENDEN
COUNTY COURT.
Records of the First Cases Tried-Early
Record of II Case of Public Whipping
Litigation of the Eighteenth Gem
tury and that of the Present

County Clerk o. p Ray has begun the
work of mailnga general index to all the
County Court records, which consist of
fifty-four volumes and cover one unbroken
period from the year l1SS to the present
time. He has discovered in the early rec
ords many interesting things which are
valuable not only Us relics, but which also
furnish u vivid picture of the laws of
early Vermont and their enforcement
The first session of court in Chit euden
county, of which these records give any
account convened in February, l1SS three
years before Vermont was admitted to the
Union as a State. The name Of the county
clerk is given as John Knckerbacor.
There is no mention made aS to who the
judges were, but as John Fasset was
chief Judge and John White and Samuel
Lane were assistant judges at the NOVtm-
Der term in the same year, they uudOuDted-
ly presided also at the term III February
Of that year. The first case that appears
ON the records is that of William HuObell
against Andrew Van Glider, tried in Feb
ruary, liSS, "in which the plaintiff recover
ed from the defendant seven pounds and
four shillings lawful money" III action on
book account.
The first case of Il person being sen-
]
county that has been found III these rec
Ords was at the september term OF COun-
| ty Court in the year 1893 and the case is
| Of such peculiar interest at The present
! day that We give the entry III the case en-
| tire lust a> it Is written, as follows: BE.
| ii remembered that ut Il County Court hold
cu at burlington within and tor the Cuun-
| ty of Chitteuden on the last Monday save
| two of september, 1893, CedZir Negro
| was complained against by " Illiam G.
/ Harrington, states attorney of this
county for this, to wit that the said Ceazar
! ON the night following The 2lst day of
September, 1893, he did tcloniOuoly steal
and carry away from one Joseph Fox,
Junior, one leather pOrtmanteau con
! tanning 500 dollars and blue pair of lar
| sannlr Breecnes, three palrS OF stockings,
one linen shirt and one OyerCOat, &c, and
! the said Cea-ar being put to the bar OF
this court to plead pleaded guilty, where
upon it Is considered by the court here
| that the sad Caesar Negro be whipped
% stripes upon the naked back and pay
cost OF prosecution and stand comluilted
/ until sentence be completed with cost
! total ut 2E IS. solomon Miller, clerk.
The earliest case OF lining Tor selling IN
tONiCating liquor of which record Is given
was AT the February term i'll 1877, when
| William Meach OF Charlotte, David liaz-
elton of We-ttield, ApaphruS Hull OF
| HiuesbUrgh. samuel Fitch of Burlington
w
of Charlotte, EbeueZer Bowman of West
ford, Samuel Farrar OF Essen, William
! Persons OF Sheburn and Il number OF
others were indicted by the grand jury
for selling foreign distilled spirits with
out Il license and We're fined SO and
costs, the costs in each case being So
1t Will be noticed that the sentence bears
II striking resemblance to that fora first of
fense at the present time but i'll the number
II was imposed upon 1t Is wholly unlike
anything we have at present.
The records also furnish some interest
ing data as TO the number OF cases on the
docket of some OF the earlier terms OF
County Court and IL comparison between
the number of cases tried then and now
will show to what extent litigation has
fallen off in this county. At one term OF
the County Court in 1909 there were 2i'
Judgments rendered, and at one of the
terms in 1871 there We're over 2GO render
ed. These numbers seem somewhat
large as compared with the l2O case,
which are ON the docket for the mex
term of Chittenden County Court, leaV
ing ont OF consideration the small pro
portion of this lumber that will be tried
This comparison may cause Il longing
among Chittenden county lawyers for TN,
good old days" but ii speaks well for til,
growing inclination on the part of the resi-
dents OF Chittenden county to settle thell
differences amlCdDly.