Fascinating Old Minutes from the Supreme Court of the Mississippi Territory Discovered and Now Available Online

Collectors may collect for their own enjoyment, but in so doing, they provide an enormous benefit to all of society. They are also preservationists. We recognize this service when it is comes to library and institutional collections, but private collectors play the same role, even if they are not always conscious of it. Last month, we wrote about a recently discovered collection of autograph documents collected by Ferdinand de Rothschild in the 19^th century. Among the treasures were a letter from Queen Elizabeth I of England warning the King of France of threats posed to him by Spain, and one from Benjamin Franklin the day before the signing of the Treaty of Paris which officially granted America its independence. They were found in a previously unviewed collection in Waddeston Manor, gifted by the Rothschild family years ago.

Another interesting find, discovered last year, has now been made available online by the Mississippi State Law Library. It contains the earliest records of Mississippi Supreme Court cases. These Supreme Court minute books return to the time before there was a State of Mississippi. It was then the Mississippi Territory, and even the territorial government had only just been formed.

Their discovery goes back to last year when State Librarian Stephen Parks was informed by a friend that these long forgotten minutes of the Territorial Supreme Court were being offered in an estate auction. That led to a purchase and contribution of the records to the state library. They are in two bound volumes, 1799-1803 and 1805-1809. It is unknown what happened to 1804 nor whether there even is a minute book for that year.

The estate was that of Lucius B. Dabney, Jr. of Vicksburg. He was of the sixth generation of attorneys in his family that began their practice in Virginia in 1794. In 1835, they moved to Raymond, Mississippi, and in 1885 to Vicksburg. Lucius, Jr., joined the family firm in 1949 and was active until his retirement a few years ago. He died in 2022 at the age of 96. Dabney and Dabney is the oldest family-owned law firm in Mississippi. It is unknown how and when Dabney obtained the minute books, but with the Dabneys long time connection to Mississippi legal circles, it is likely the books had belonged to the firm for many years or were obtained from someone with such connections. Lucius Dabney, Jr., did his part preserving these long lost records.

The Mississippi Territory was only formed a year before these minutes books begin, in 1798. Before that, it was claimed as part of Georgia, the southern coastal states at the time claiming all lands to their west. The Mississippi Territory had different boundaries than does today's state by that name. It also included most of what is now Alabama. However, the Gulf Coastal region was either still part of Spain's West Florida, or disputed territory. The coastal region was later seized by the United States, and the Mississippi Territory had its eastern half lopped off to become the Alabama Territory. Mississippi was granted statehood in 1817, Alabama in 1819.

Looking inside, we get a flavor for what the law was like on the frontier in these distant times. The cases described aren't always easy to follow. A planned transcription will help immensely. Old style lettering, bleed through of pages, and sometimes unclear handwriting can make it challenging at times.

The first case describes the killing of one slave by another. Jack was the unlucky one. Paul, having been seduced by the devil, was the killer. Fortunately for Paul, the jury found him not guilty. Perhaps the jury recognized that punishing Paul would also be punishing his owner. In another case, one George Rapalje, with a dagger “of the value of one dollar,” struck one John Cotty. More specifically, Rapalje “then and there feloniously wilfully and of malice aforethought did strike & thrust giving to the said John Cotty then and there with the dagger aforesaid and upon the aforesaid left side of the body between the long ribs of him the said John Cotty one mortal wound of the breadth of two inches and of the depth of six inches of which said mortal wound the said John Cotty then and there instantly died.” That's what they said. This was the year 1800 and already lawyers were speaking in legalese.

The court did have an explanation for Rapalje's unsocial behavior. The “aforesaid gentleman not having the fear of God before his eyes, but being moved and seduced by the instigation of the Devil...” The Devil made him do it. The jury found Rapalje not guilty of murder, but guilty of felonious slaying. However, numerous local residents petitioned the Governor to show Rapalje mercy, which the Governor did, a pardon conditioned on his paying $2,000. That was a lot of money in 1800 (enough to buy 2,000 daggers), but it beats the hangman's noose.

While these names are obscure, there is a case involving one well-known person. That was Aaron Burr, Jefferson's opponent but his first Vice-President. His term expired in 1805 but the following year found him wandering around the South gathering up supporters for a cause whose exact aims remain unclear today. Jefferson believed, with some justification, that Burr was planning a filibustering mission into Mexico to set himself up as ruler of some new country in that territory (Texas was still part of Mexico). Jefferson issued a warrant for Burr's arrest. Burr read about it in the paper and turned himself in to federal authorities in Mississippi in early February, 1807. The Mississippi Supreme Court released him. Burr's case was taken to a grand jury. The minutes reveal, “The Grand Jury of the Mississippi Territory on a clear consideration of the evidence brought before them are of the opinion that Aaron Burr has not been guilty of any Crime or misdemeanor against the laws of the United States or of this Territory or given any just occasion for alarm or inquietude to the good people of this Territory.”

A few days later, the Attorney General appeared before the court and requested the Sheriff call Burr to appear before them. The minutes report that “the said Aaron Burr [?] called but came not.” Burr was arrested a week later and would face a trial for treason in Virginia, but was acquitted.

You can view these historic documents on the website of the State of Mississippi Judiciary.