About This Site


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Funded by a grant from the Donaghey Foundation

About This Site

This site contains images, transcripts and abstracts of records and briefs filed with the Arkansas territorial courts. The records date from 1809, when Arkansas was a district within the Territory of Louisiana. They continue through 1812, when Arkansas became part of the Territory of Missouri. In 1819, Congress made Arkansas a territory in its own right, and the Territorial Superior Court was established as the highest court of the territory. The Territorial Superior Court met first at the Arkansas Post, and later at Little Rock. Not all of its records have been preserved, but enough exist to give us a glimpse of appellate procedure, law and life in early 19th century Arkansas. At statehood, the existing records passed into the custody of the Arkansas Supreme Court, where eventually they were forgotten. Along with 90 years of the Supreme Court records and briefs, the territorial records and briefs were moved to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law, where they were discovered by library assistant Louise Lowe in 2001.

Professor and Librarian Kathryn Fitzhugh alerted Professor Lynn Foster, who researches in the area of Arkansas legal history, to the existence of the documents. A generous grant from the Donaghey Foundation was obtained with the assistance of Chancellor Charles E. Hathaway, and under Professor Foster's direction, the entire territorial collection is being scanned, transcribed, summarized, indexed and being made available on the Internet. This site would not have been possible without the work of law students Misty Bowen, Brooks Wiggins, Matt Wells, Vince Morris, Regina McCrea, Dana Stone, Shawn Key, Amanda Andrews, Brian Welch, Kim Greathouse, Bree Gibson, Stella Phillips, Matt Harward, and David Hawkey.

Viewing Suggestions

Transcriptions are best viewed at a display setting of either 800 x 600 pixels or 1024 x 768 pixels. To change your computer's display, click on Start, then Settings, then Control Panel, then Display, then Settings.

Scanned images are in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format. If your computer does not have Acrobat installed, you can install it for free by going to http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html and following the instructions.

These documents will interest historians, both legal and nonlegal, attorneys, genealogists, and all those who love history. We welcome your questions and comments. Please mail us at ARCOURTS@UALR.EDU.

CAVEAT: As of this date, 82 of 212 cases are online. Others are being added as they are transcribed and indexed.