Records of the United States District Court in Louisiana | Series List
Records Available at the National Archives at Fort Worth
Introduction
In 1804 when Congress divided the Louisiana Purchase two territories, Orleans and Louisiana, it also created a U. S. district court for the Orleans Territory. Court sessions were to be held in the city of Orleans (New Orleans), but this court apparently never met until 1806.
When Louisiana became a state in 1812, the U.S. district court at New Orleans became the only federal court for the new state with both district and circuit court jurisdiction. Appeals from the court's decisions went directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. After the establishment of the Western District of Louisiana in 1823, the U S. District Court in New Orleans exercised circuit jurisdiction for both districts during the next eight years. Then an act of Congress in 1831 gave the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana both district and circuit court powers. Circuit court jurisdiction by both U.S. district courts ended in 1837 when the state of Louisiana was included in the Ninth Circuit and separate circuit courts were established for both districts. United States circuit courts, which were located within the state's judicial districts, exercised both original and appellate jurisdiction. In 1842, Louisiana was transferred to the Fifth Circuit where it remained until 1862 when the state was briefly included in the Sixth Circuit with Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Louisiana returned to the Fifth Circuit in 1866.
On three occasions from 1823-1881, the State of Louisiana was divided into two judicial districts. The Eastern and Western Districts, which were established by an act of Congress in 1823, were combined into one district in 1845 and Opelousas, the court seat for the Western District, ceased functioning. The increasingly heavy caseload of the court in New Orleans made a second division in the state necessary in 1849. The division between the two districts remained in effect after Louisiana seceded from the United States in January 1861. By October 1862, New Orleans had been recaptured by the Union troops and a U.S. provisional court was established there with district and circuit court jurisdiction. In 1863, the U.S. District Courts in Louisiana began functioning as a single judicial district.
The present Eastern and Western Districts of Louisiana were created in 1881. The Western District held court sessions at Opelousas, Shreveport (headquarters for the district), Monroe, and Alexandria. The Eastern District contained one court at New Orleans; by 1888, the district was divided into two divisions with court terms to be held in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Additional courts at Lake Charles and Lafayette were added to the Western District in 1905 and 1961, respectively. A new Middle District of Louisiana was created in 1971 and the Baton Rouge Division was transferred from the Eastern District to the newly created district. A list of the court sites and creation dates are provided in Appendix A. A list of judges for all of the districts including the Confederate and Provisional courts is provided in Appendix B.
In 1891 courts of appeals were created to hear appeals from U.S. district courts and the appellate jurisdiction of U.S. circuit courts ended. In January 1912, U.S. circuit courts ceased functioning and the existing federal judicial system began.
The district and circuit courts were involved with the following types of proceedings:
Admiralty
Article III, section 2, of the Constitution provides that the judicial power of the United States shall extend "to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction." The United States Supreme Court has interpreted this grant of authority as extending not only over the high seas but over all public navigable waters as well. The Judiciary Act of 1789 conferred original jurisdiction in admiralty and maritime cases exclusively on the district courts of the United States with provision for admiralty appeals to the circuit courts. This provision was abolished in 1891 when the newly-created courts of appeals became the final courts of appeal in admiralty.
American admiralty law deals with such matters as prizes, ransom, and military salvage; suits to try title to a ship; actions to recover ships to which a party is entitled by right; and a variety of maritime contracts and torts. Suits and proceedings in admiralty may be "in rem," against a thing, usually a ship or its cargo, or "in personam," against an individual.
Civil
Section 2 of an act of Congress, approved June 19, 1934, gave the Supreme Court of the United States authority to unite the general rules for equity and law proceedings into one form of civil procedures. On September 16, 1938, proposed Federal Rules of Civil Procedures became effective, and thereafter, law and equity actions were filed together as civil proceedings. Admiralty cases, civil lawsuits relating to violations of federal maritime laws, were filed separately from other civil proceedings until 1967. Beginning in that year, proceedings relating to maritime laws are identified as civil cases.
Law
As courts of common law jurisdiction, the U.S. district courts have possessed exclusive original jurisdiction over all seizures on land made under federal laws (libel in rem proceedings); exclusive original jurisdiction over suits for penalties and forfeitures incurred under federal laws (scire facias proceedings); concurrent jurisdiction with state courts and U.S. circuit courts over cases where an alien sued for a legal remedy when a law of nations or a treaty of the United States had been violated; concurrent jurisdiction with U.S. circuit courts in suits at common law where the United States sued under the authority of an act of Congress; and exclusive original jurisdiction over suits against foreign consuls and vice consuls. Most law cases relate to scire facias or libel in rem proceedings. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, effective in 1938 after their adoption by the U.S. Supreme Court, prescribed a uniform procedure for law and equity cases, with one form of action to be known as "civil action."
Equity
The basis of equity jurisdiction in the federal courts is laid in the provisions of the Constitution and the laws of the United States. This jurisdiction, as provided in section 16 of the Judiciary Act of 1789, is not exercised in any case where a "plain, adequate, and complete remedy may be had at law." This jurisdiction was in large part regulated by rules first prescribed in 1822 by the Supreme Court. The rules were replaced by additional sets of rules adopted in 1842 and again in 1913. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, effective in 1938, prescribed a uniform procedure for law and equity cases, with one form of action to be known as "civil action."
Criminal
The Judiciary Act of 1789 conferred very limited criminal jurisdiction upon the U.S. district courts. On August 23, 1842, Congress amended the Judiciary Act by extending the criminal jurisdiction of the district courts to all non-capital crimes and offenses against the United States. The circuit court of the United States exercised jurisdiction over federal capital crimes.
Naturalization
An act of Congress, approved April 14, 1802, provided for the naturalization of aliens in any court of record, having common law jurisdiction in the individual state or in U. S. district and circuit courts. In 1816 Congress passed an act, requiring the courts that had accepted declarations of intention to issue certificates of naturalization. An act of Congress in 1906, established a Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization in the Department of Commerce and standardized the filing of declarations of intention and petitions for citizenship. The declarations and petitions were to include biographical information about the petitioner.
Eastern District of Louisiana
District Court Records for the Eastern District of Louisiana
Circuit Court Records for the Eastern District of Louisiana
Confederate District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
Provisional Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
Western District of Louisiana
District Court Records for the Western District of Louisiana
- Alexandria Division
- Lafayette Division
- Lake Charles Division
- Monroe Division
- Opelousas Division
- Shreveport Division
Circuit Court Records for the Western District of Louisiana
Middle District of Louisiana
District Court Records for the Middle District of Louisiana
Eastern District of Louisiana
Records of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
Baton Rouge Division
For records of the Baton Rouge court after it became headquarters of the newly created Middle District of Louisiana in 1972, please see the Middle District.
General Records
Civil Records
Equity Records
Criminal Records
New Orleans Division
From 1806 until the circuit court's creation in 1837, papers entered in admiralty, law, equity, criminal, and habeas corpus proceedings were filed numerically in the series Case Files, 1806-1932 (21-ELA-21). Upon its creation in 1837, the circuit court had jurisdiction in the majority of equity and criminal proceedings.
After Louisiana seceded from the Union in January 1861, the district and circuit courts ceased functioning. Proceedings for May 1861-March 1862 can be found among the records of the Confederate District court while cases for January 1863-November 1865 are described in the records of the Provisional Court.
General Records
Admiralty Records
Civil Records
Equity Records
Equity or chancery cases for 1837-1911, with the exception of those relating to land claims, were filed in the series, General Case Files, 1806-1932 (21-ELA-21) of the circuit court. Chancery or equity proceedings relating to land claims in Louisiana were heard by the district court during 1845-1849 and 1861-1875. The "land claims" cases are described in the equity records of the district court. After the circuit court's abolishment on January 1, 1912, equity proceedings for the period 1912-1932 are filed in the series, General Case Files, 1806-1932 (21-ELA-21) of the district court.
The district court for the Eastern District of Louisiana had exclusive equity jurisdiction from 1806-1837, after which the majority of the equity proceedings were heard in the newly-created circuit court. In cases involving disbursing officers of federal civilian or military departments who were found to be delinquent in their accounts or suits filed by assignees and trustees to recover property of bankrupts, the district court had the authority to issue injunctions or hear bills in equity.
Records Relating to Land Claims
The district court for the Eastern District had jurisdiction in equity proceedings relating to private land claims. An act of Congress, approved May 26, 1824, gave the U. S. district courts jurisdiction in equity suits in which individuals filed land claims based on early Spanish and French grants. A congressional act of June 7, 1844, extended the 1824 act to the states of Louisiana and Arkansas and limited the filing period for the suits to five years. An act of Congress, approved June 22, 1860, again established procedures for filing land claim cases with the federal district courts. The equity-styled actions could be filed during a five-year period following the passage of the act. A congressional act in 1872 extended the 1860 act for three years. All land claims acts provided for an appeal of the district court decisions to the U. S. Supreme Court. Equity or chancery cases relating to land claims were filed with U. S. district court for the Eastern District from 1844-1849 and 1861-1875. Additional records relating to private land claims in Louisiana can be located among the records of the Bureau of Land Management (formerly General Land Office), Record Group 49. Some of the General Land Office records relating to Louisiana land claims have been microfilmed as National Archives microfilm publications M1382, Bound Records of the General Land Office Relating to Private Land Claims in Louisiana, 1767-1892, and M1385, Unbound Records of the General Land Office Relating to Private Land Claims in Louisiana, 1805-1896.
Act of 1844
Act of 1860
Law Records
From 1806-1932 the district court for the Eastern District maintained law cases with equity, habeas corpus, and admiralty proceedings in the series, Case Files, 1806-1932 (21-ELA-21). Beginning in 1932 law proceedings were maintained separately from the other civil-styled actions in equity and admiralty. This practice ended in 1938 when the court began to file law and equity actions under one form of civil procedure in the series, Civil Case Files, 1938-1993 (21-ELA-56). Law proceedings heard in the circuit court for 1837-1911 were filed in the series, Case Files, 04/01/1837-12/31/1911(21-ELA-121).
Criminal Records
Criminal cases for 1806-1837 were heard in the district court and are described in the series, Case Files, 1806-1932 (21-ELA-21). Beginning in 1837 and continuing until 1873, criminal cases can be located in the series, Case Files, 1837-1911 (21-ELA-121). After February 1873, the criminal cases were maintained in the series, Criminal Case Files, 1873-1911 (21-ELA-144) in the criminal records of the circuit court. Criminal cases from the district court for 1881-1884 are in the series, Criminal Case Files, 1881-1884 (21-ELA-78) and criminal cases for 1912-1952 are described in the series, Criminal Case Files, 1912-1986 (21-ELA-80). When the circuit court was abolished in January 1912, the active criminal cases were transferred to the district court, which maintained the numerical filing system begun originally in the circuit court.
Naturalization Records
Records of the Clerk
Records of the U.S. Commissioner
Records Relating to Amnesty
On December 8, 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued a Presidential Proclamation (no. 11), which granted a pardon to Confederates and restored the right of property except that of slaves or to property in which a third party had intervened. The pardon required the taking of an oath of allegiance to the U.S. government. The proclamation excepted those who had served as civil or diplomatic officers or as agents of the Confederate government, those who left U.S. judicial positions to aid the war, individuals who had served in the Confederate military above the rank of colonel or in the navy about the rank of lieutenant, and person who had unlawfully treated U.S. servicemen while they were prisoners of war.
The Presidential Proclamation (no. 37), issued by Andrew Johnson on May 29, 1865, further expanded the list of excepted classes who could not be pardoned except by special applications to the President. Beside the classes identified in the Presidential Proclamation of December 8, 1863, the excepted classes listed in the proclamation of 1865 included persons who resigned from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point or at the Naval Academy, governors of the states in rebellion, persons who participated in the destruction of U.S. commerce on the high seas or who had initiated raids into the United States from Canada, and individuals who had voluntary participated in the Rebellion whose taxable property had a value over $20,000. Like the earlier proclamation in 1863, this proclamation required the taking of an oath before the restoration of property rights. Amnesty oaths issued under the authority of the Presidential Proclamation of May 29, 1865, and additional oaths issued under the authority of the Presidential Proclamation of December 3, 1863, can be found among the amnesty records of the circuit court.
Records Relating to the Appointment of Court Officials
Records Relating to Juries
Records of the United States Circuit Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
Baton Rouge Division
General Records
Law and Equity Records
Criminal Records
New Orleans Division
The district court for the Eastern District also had circuit court powers until an act of Congress, approved March 3, 1837, established a circuit court. The circuit court, which was part of the ninth circuit, heard appeals from the U. S. District Courts of the Western District of Louisiana in addition to those from the Eastern District. In 1842 it was transferred to the fifth circuit where it remained until the court stopped functioning after Louisiana seceded from the U. S. in January 1861. When the circuit court began to hear cases again in June 1863, it was transferred to the sixth circuit. An act of Congress, approved July 23, 1866, returned the court to the fifth circuit where it remained until it was terminated in January 1912. When the circuit court ceased functioning on January 1, 1912, the proceedings which had begun originally in the circuit court were transferred to the district court for settlement. See the series, "Index to Case Files, 1806-1991" (21-ELA- 21A) for an index to cases.
General Records
From the circuit court's creation in March 1837 until its abolishment in January 1912, papers entered in law, equity, criminal, and admiralty and bankruptcy appeal proceedings were filed numerically in the series, Case Files, 1837-1941 (21-ELA-121). Beginning in February 1873, the criminal records were maintained separately in the series, Criminal Case Files, 1873-1911 (21-ELA-144). The circuit cases which were transferred to district court in January 1912 for final disposition retained the case number assigned by the circuit court even though the papers were filed with the clerk of the district court after the transfer.
Admiralty Records
Equity Records
From the creation of the circuit court for the Eastern District in 1837 until its termination in 1911, the papers entered in equity proceedings were filed numerically in the series Case Files, 1837-1941 (21-ELA-121) includes equity, law, criminal, and admiralty and bankruptcy appeal proceedings. Jurisdiction over equity cases was transferred to the U. S. district courts when the circuit courts were abolished in 1912.
Law Records
From its creation in 1837 the circuit court of the Eastern District filed papers entered in law proceedings numerically in the series Case Files, 1837-1941 (21-ELA-121) which included equity, criminal, and bankruptcy and admiralty appellate proceedings .
Criminal Records
Criminal cases for 1806-1837 were heard in the district court and are described in the series, Case Files, 1806-1932 (21-ELA-21). Beginning in 1837 and continuing until 1873, criminal cases can be located in the series, Case Files, 1837-1911 (21-ELA-121). After February 1873, the criminal cases were maintained in the series, Criminal Case Files, 1873-1911 (21-ELA-144) in the criminal records of the circuit court. Criminal cases from the district court for 1881-1884 are in the series, Criminal Case Files, 1881-1884 (21-ELA-78)and criminal cases for 1912-1952 are described in the series, Criminal Case Files, 1912-1986 (21-ELA-80). When the circuit court was abolished in January 1912, the active criminal cases were transferred to the district court, which maintained the numerical filing system begun originally in the circuit court.
Naturalization Records
Records of the U.S. Commissioner
Records Relating to Amnesty
On December 8, 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued a Presidential Proclamation (no. 11), which granted a pardon to those who had participated in the Rebellion and which restored the right of property except that of slaves or to property in which a third party had intervened. The pardon required the taking of an oath of allegiance to the U. S. government. The proclamation listed excepted classes who could not be pardoned including individuals who had served as civil or diplomatic officers or as agents of the Confederate government, those who left United States judicial positions to aid the Rebellion, individuals who had served in the Confederate military above the rank of colonel or in the navy above the rank of lieutenant, and persons who had unlawfully treated U.S. servicemen while they were prisoners of war.
The Presidential Proclamation (no. 37), issued by Andrew Johnson on May 29, 1865, further expanded the list of excepted classes who could not be pardoned except by special applications to the President. Beside the classes identified in the Presidential Proclamation of December 8, 1863, the excepted classes listed in the proclamation of May 29, 1865, included persons who resigned from the U. S. military service in order to evade their duty in resisting the Rebellion, absentees from the U.S. who were aiding the Rebellion, Confederate military or naval officers who were educated at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point or at the U.S. Naval Academy, governors of the states in rebellion, persons who participated in the destruction of United States commerce on the high seas or who had initiated raid into the United States from Canada, and individuals who had voluntarily participated in the Rebellion whose taxable property had a value over $20,000. Like the earlier proclamation in 1863, this proclamation required the taking of an oath before the restoration of property rights. Additional amnesty oaths issued under the authority of the Presidential Proclamation of December 8, 1863 can be found among the amnesty records of the district court in the series Amnesty Oaths, 1863-1865 (21-ELA-101).
Records Relating to the Appointment of Court Officials
Records Relating to Juries
Records Relating to the Supervision of Elections
An act of Congress, approved May 31, 1870 provided for the enforcement of the rights of citizens to vote in several states. The Congressional act, which was directed at correcting the voting irregularities in southern states, provided for the concurrent jurisdiction of U.S. district and circuit courts in civil and criminal cases arising from the enforcement of the act. Court supervision of elections in the southern states was further extended by an act of Congress, approved June 10, 1872 which provided for federal supervision of the registration of voters or of the election if ten citizens of the county or parish petitioned to the judge of the U.S. circuit court for supervision. The circuit court judge then appointed U.S. supervisors of elections from lists of individuals submitted by the different political parties. Special U.S. deputy marshals were also appointed for the supervision of elections and the protection of the election officials.
For the Eastern District, the U.S. Commissioner was appointed the Chief U.S. Supervisor of elections. The Chief Supervisor received the lists of names submitted by the political parties and committees and recommended which individuals should be appointed by the circuit court judge as U.S. supervisors of elections in each precinct of the parishes.
Records of the Confederate District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
Article 3 of the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States of America provided for the creation of a supreme court, district courts, and inferior courts. The Judiciary Act of March 16, 1861, which established the system of district courts, required the district court judges to hold at least two terms annually in each of the U. S. Judicial districts that had existed on November 1, 1860.
The Permanent Constitution of the Confederate States provided for the district courts to have jurisdiction in all cases arising under the Constitution, the laws of the Confederate States, and treaties; to cases affecting counsels or ambassadors, in admiralty and maritime proceedings; to cases in which the Confederate States shall be a party, to controversies between two or more States, between a State and the citizens of another State, where the State is the plaintiff, between citizens claiming land under grants of different States, and in cases between a State or its citizens and a foreign country or its citizens. The district courts also had exclusive jurisdiction in all crimes and offenses cognizable under Confederate law (sec. 35). The Confederate states adopted U.S. criminal law and mode of procedure.
When Louisiana seceded in January 1861, the federal judges of the U.S. Eastern and Western Districts in Louisiana resigned. The former U.S. judicial districts became divisions under the Confederate judiciary system. Confederate District Court Judge Edwin Moise presided over the court in the Eastern Division at New Orleans, from May 1861 until March 1862 when New Orleans was captured by federal troops. It is likely that the Confederate district court in the Western Division continued to hold sessions.
General Records
Sequestration Records
The principal business of Confederate district courts was the sequestration of alien-enemy property under acts of August 30, 1861 and February 15, 1862. Much of the property in the South was owned by northern merchants who held credits against the properties of southern landowners.
After the war, the original owners of lands and buildings sequestered recovered their property under the authority of a U. S. Congressional act of July 17, 1862, which rendered all conveyances of real estate by the Confederate Government null and void.
Receivers appointed by district judges were responsible for taking possession of alien-enemy property and selling it at auction. The sequestration receivers appointed by the district judge for New Orleans were John M. Huger and George W. Ward. If a receiver were unable to obtain possession of the property by other means, he petitioned the district court to sequester it. A clerk of the court, at the request of a receiver, issued writs of garnishment ordering persons to appear in court to explain what property or funds of alien enemies they had in their control or what sums they owed alien enemies.
Records of the Provisional Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
By May 1862, New Orleans came under the occupation of U. S. military troops. On October 20, 1862, President Lincoln issued an executive order establishing a U. S. provisional court in New Orleans. The court was given the powers of U. S. district and circuit courts in law, equity, and admiralty matters. The provisional court was a court of final jurisdiction whose powers were not to extend beyond the military occupation of New Orleans or after the restoration of civil authority in Louisiana. Although the U. S. provisional court began meeting in December 1862, causes were not filed with the court until January 1863. Upon the reestablishment of the U. S. district and circuit courts for the Eastern District in June 1863, the jurisdiction of the provisional court became limited to causes usually found in state and local courts. The series Index to Case Files, 1806-1191 (21-ELA-21A) serves as an index to these cases.
Western District of Louisiana
Most of Alexandria, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe, and Opelousas case files were interfiled in the case files of the Western District’s headquarters, Shreveport.
District Court Records for the Western District of Louisiana
Alexandria Division
General Records
Criminal Records
Naturalization Records
Lafayette Division
Lake Charles Division
General Records
Naturalization Records
Monroe Division
General Records
Admiralty Records
Naturalization Records
Records of the U.S. Commissioners
Opelousas Division
General Records
Equity Records
Law Records
Criminal Records
Naturalization Records
Other Records
Shreveport Division
General Records
Admiralty Records
Civil Records
Law and Equity Records
Criminal Records
Naturalization Records
Other Records
Records of the U.S. Commissioner
Circuit Court for the Western District of Louisiana
Alexandria Division
General Records
Criminal Records
Lake Charles Division
General Division
Monroe Division
General Records
Criminal Records
Opelousas Division
General Records
Criminal Records
Shreveport Division
General Records
Law and Equity Records
Criminal Records
Middle District of Louisiana
District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana
Baton Rouge
General Records
Civil Records
Criminal Records
Naturalization Records
Records of United States Commissioners/Magistrates
Appendix A
U.S. District Courts in Louisiana
Western District
Eastern District
Middle District
*Headquarters for district
Appendix B
List of Judges in Louisiana
United States District Court
Western District
Eastern District
Confederate Court
Provisional Court