Series 17477

IRON COUNTY (UTAH). PROBATE COURT [2645]

MINUTES, 1853-1868.
2 microfilm reels

A separate agency history is available.

DESCRIPTION: In 1852 the Territorial Legislature defined the powers of county probate courts. In addition to traditional jurisdiction in the probate of wills, the administration of estates of deceased persons, the guardianship of minors, idiots, and insane persons, the Legislature gave Utah probate courts power to exercise original jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases (Laws of Utah, Chapter 42, 1852). The minutes of the Iron County Court describe the proceedings of that court and the cases it heard. They tell when the court met and adjourned, name the judge and indicate action taken or judgments made. The Iron County Probate Court handled criminal cases, probate, divorces, naturalization, and other civil matters. In 1869 the Territorial Legislature directed county probate courts to adjudicate ownership of town site lots in surveyed towns on the public domain. Iron County Probate Court minutes end in 1868 and therefore do not include land records.

ARRANGEMENT: Iron County probate court minutes were recorded chronologically by court date.

RESEARCH NOTE: Many pages of Iron County Probate Court minutes are too faded to read.

RELATED RECORDS: : The earliest probate court records were intermingled with minutes for the Iron County Court (Book B), which was forerunner of the Iron County Commission. These minutes are also included in series 83747, COMMISSION MINUTES. The Iron County Probate Court began keeping a separate set of books for probate cases in 1870. These were later transferred to Fifth District Court: Iron County, and are included in PROBATE RECORD BOOKS, series 1124. LAND CERTIFICATES (PAROWAN), series 23642, were issued by the Probate Court beginning in 1872, when the court began adjudicating ownership of town site lots.

PROCESSING NOTE: Iron County Probate Court minutes were microfilmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah in 1966 and processed by Rosemary Cundiff in April 2002

PREFERRED CITATION: Cite the Utah State Archives and Records Service, the creating agency name, the series title, and the series number.

GAPS: The whereabouts or existence of Iron County Probate Court minutes for 1869-1887 is not known.

CONTAINER LIST

Reel	Description
1	Sep 1853-Jan 1854 p. 1-19
1	[County Court minutes p.1 (Feb-Apr 1854)]
1	Mar 1854(?) p. 20-31
1	[County Court minutes p. 2-103 (Sep 1854-Sep 1870)]
2	Apr 1854-Aug 1868