In English law, there was a criminal court held before two or more justices of the peace, who met every quarter of the year. This Court of Quarter Sessions was continued in America and also in Kentucky. When Barren Co was formed, the court was served here by Judge WAKEFIELD, Caleb WALLACE, Christopher TOMPKINS, John HALL, Michael HALL and John GARNETT. The Court was abolished and individual judges then served on a court whose jurisdiction closely paralleled the present Circuit Court. In "Times of Long Ago", Franklin GORIN stated on p. 4 "Judge WAKEFIELD presided over the Circuit and Quarter Sessions Courts; John HALL and John GARNETT were associate judges of the same courts. Richard GARNETT was elected clerk of the above courts." Again, on page 54 he stated: "The judges of the first district and Quarter Sessions Courts were (same as above). Whether WAKEFIELD resigned or remained in office until the Circuit Courts were established, December 24, 1802, we do not know, for the records of the courts have been lost or misland, and there are no other means of ascertaining." Well - back about 10 years ago, I solved Franklin Gorin's question. I found the book, one of the happiest finds I could ask for. I'm sure it had been found over the years and then lost again (Gorin wrote this in 1870), but the thin book had slipped down between 2 filing cabinets in the County Clerk's office which likely hadn't been moved for many years. After photocopying the entire book (with permission), the County Clerk (the late Wilmer HODGES) and I presented the book to the Circuit Clerk (at the time Nancy BOTTS). For a little while I'd like to abstract from this book as it contains some of the earliest records of our county and might contain some names that don't appear in other records. The court met at the house of John McFERRAN on 25 June 1799 for its first session; he and John HALL, John GARNETT and Abel HENNON took their oaths of office - and pledged fidelity to the US government and the State of Kentucky. Richard GARNETT presented a Certificate from the KY Court of Appeals listing his qualifications and he was appointed Clerk; took his oath. James H RICE & Havilah CRUMP were already licensed to practice law in the Commownealth; they took their oath and were admitted to practice in Barren Co. A jury was empanneled consisting of William NEVILL (foreman), John MATTHEWS, William MARTIN, Thomas SMITH, Leonard HALL, Abner BROWN, Robt BRINTON, Robt STOCKTON, Francis LATTIMORE, James FORBIS, Edward YOUNG, James NEVILL, James GALLOWAY, John MURPHY, William ANDERSON, John MOSS, Hugh SMITH, Thomas SHIRLEY, Alexander EDWARDS, John SANDERS. After being sworn in as a grand jury, they received their "charge" and withdrew to reach a decision. They returned later into court and presented Jas SANDERS, William FISHER and John SNELL charges against them for profanity, swearing by God. SNELL had sworn twice and the other men, once. Thus the very first case held before Quarter Sessions was one of swearing! The jury was discharged and the judges continued with their docket. The 2nd case was William MARTIN vs John BUTLER. No reason for the case was given (remember, this is rather a minute book with not the full case shown); this case was dismissed entirely and the plaintiff had to pay charges. The 3rd case involved a deed from Henry VOWLES and his wife Mary to Jas DODD which was certified. Thus ended the first meeting in Barren Co of the Court of Quarter Sessions. They would meet again in September 1799 which saw a lot more cases. To be continued with these cases next week. Sandi Sandi's Puzzlers: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gensoup/gorin/puz.html SCKY Links: http://www.public.asu.edu/~moore/Gorin.html GGP: http://ggpublishing.tripod.com/