N.B.--Hall had Transcripts and Briefs bound separately before 1878. After that date Transcripts and Briefs for a particular case are bound together. It is not clear why the individual Briefs were bound together as they were. Their order is vaguely chronological, but not consistently so--nor is there evidence of subject ar-rangement, apart from the uniform contents of Briefs, Vol. 6.

John B. Hall (1821-1906) practised law in Stockton, Calif. from1851 until his death. Hall was the son of a Hagerstown, Maryland attorney. He studied at St. Johns University and at the Jefferson Law College after which he was admitted to the Maryland bar (1840). Hall practised law in Hagerstown for ten years before coming to California (1850) where he established a practice in San Francisco. Soon afterward, Capt. Charles Weber, founder of Stockton, hired John B. Hall to handle his legal affairs (1851). Hall then relocated in Stockton where he remained until his death.

Collection is open for research.