Court of Common Pleas Ledger, Montgomery County, PA, 1866-1891.
Exceptional 19th-Century Rural Pennsylvania Justice of the Peace Docket Book [Manuscript]. [Pennsylvania]. [Court of Common Pleas Ledger]. Montgomery County, PA, 1866-1891. 428 pp. [405 pp. with content]. Folio (12-1/2" x 7-3/4"; 31.75 x 19.7 cm). Contemporary paneled calf, raised bands and lettering piece to spine, blind tooling to outer and inner board edges, bookseller ticket (of B. Kohler, "Job & Fancy Bookbinder") to front pastedown. Manuscript text in single neat hand, additional slips of paper pinned to several leaves. Moderate toning, light foxing and soiling to a few leaves. $750. * This comprehensive legal ledger documents over two decades of local law enforcement and community disputes in rural Douglass Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Kept in a single hand-likely that of local Justice of the Peace Joseph Kolb or closely associated with Constable Isaac Bickel-the volume acts as a vivid window into post-Civil War rural life. While a significant portion of the docket tracks the economic realities of the era through debt collection, breach of contract, and small claims, the ledger is particularly rich in criminal and social history. It records local actions for trespassing, forgery, perjury, assault and battery (including explicit instances of domestic abuse), and bastardy (illegitimacy) cases, offering crucial primary source material for researchers of 19th-century community dynamics, gender roles, and rural jurisprudence. The inclusion of the pinned-in manuscript slips-often serving as original warrants, witness notes, or financial receipts-adds a distinct layer of archival depth and material texture to the volume.
Price: $750.00
Book number 82675