Guide to Santa Barbara County Court records 1850-1908 AR.1949.001
Chris S. Ervin CA
First Edition
Gledhill Library
2020-08-22
136 E. De La Guerra
Santa Barbara, California 93101
archivist@sbhistorical.org
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Gledhill Library
Title: Santa Barbara County Court records
creator:
Santa Barbara County (Calif.). Superior Court
Identifier/Call Number: AR.1949.001
Physical Description:
34 Linear Feet
– 2,329 files in 34 record storage boxes
Date (inclusive): 1850-1908
Abstract: The Santa Barbara County Court records contain over 2,300 court cases beginning with California statehood through the first
decade of the 20th century. The variety of court cases represented span legal proceedings from debt settlement to probate
to murder. The plaintiff and defendant names documented in these cases are a Who's Who of notable Santa Barbara Californios
and early American settlers.
Language of Material: Although primarily in English, the earliest court cases are in Spanish owing to Santa Barbara citizens' gradual transition
from a Latin culture-based interpersonal style of dispute resolution to a more prescribed form of American litigation.
Scope and Contents
The Santa Barbara County Court records contain over twenty-three hundred (2,300) individual court cases beginning with California
statehood through the first decade of the twentieth century. The cases are organized in one large chronological series by
date. The variety of court case represented span legal proceedings from debt settlement to probate to murder. The plaintiff
and defendant names documented in these cases are a Who's Who of notable Santa Barbara Californios and early American settlers.
Biographical / Historical
As mandated by the California Constitution, each of the 58 counties in California has a superior court. The original California
Constitution of 1849 and the California Judiciary Act of 1851 created multi-county district courts of general jurisdiction
which supervised county courts and justice of the peace courts of limited jurisdiction.
The Superior Court was created in 1880 by provisions of the 1879 State Constitution. This court assumed the functions previously
carried out by the District, Sessions, County, and Probate Courts. Cases are handled by one of four departments: criminal,
civil, probate, and juvenile. Each county in California has its own Superior Court.
Arrangement
The Santa Barbara County Court records are organized into one large chronological series by date.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The materials were acquired from Santa Barbara County Superior Court.
Related Materials
Santa Barbara Historical Museum. Gledhill Library.
Canfield and Starbuck Law Firm Papers, 1866-1935. AR-2019-016. https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c83b666b/
Other Finding Aids
Finding Aid to Santa Barbara County Court records 1850-1908, https://bit.ly/31y8eqj, Santa Barbara Historical Museum. Gledhill Library. (
see Collection level "Online items available")
Original index cards to court records, Santa Barbara Historical Museum. Gledhill Library.
Processing Information
The Santa Barbara County Court records were processed by Kathi Brewster, Brigitte Forssell, and Andrée Steele from 1990-1992.
Steele, a retired French attorney, and Brewster, a retired Santa Barbara paralegal, and Forssell, all multi-lingual, translated
the early Spanish language cases during the processing cycle. A copy of Barron's Law Dictionary was employed. Additionally,
four green metal boxes of original plaintiff and defendant index cards were checked against all physical case files and received
new cards or corrections as necessary.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of file], Santa Barbara County Court records, AR-1949-001, Gledhill Library, Santa Barbara Historical Museum,
Santa Barbara, California.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Santa Barbara Historical Museum. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact
the Head Archivist of the Gledhill Library.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Complaints (Administrative procedure)
County courts
Court records
Depositions
Indictments
Judgments
Legal petitions
Aguirre, José Antonio, 1793-1860
Bard, Thomas Robert, 1841-1915
Canfield, Robert B. (Robert Bage), 1843-1929
Cook, I. N., 1827-1894
Dibblee, Thomas B. (Thomas Bloodgood), 1823-1895
Dibblee, Francisca de la Guerra, 1849-1931
Eddy, William M., 1826-1904
Fernald, Charles, Judge (Charles Heald), 1830-1892
Guerra, Francisco de la, 1817-1878
Guerra y Noriega, José de la, Don (José Antonio), 1779-1858
Hollister, W. W., Col. (William Welles), 1818-1886
Kellogg, Frank (Franklin Erwin), 1851-1923
Kimberly, Martin M. (Martin Morse), 1826-1878
Lobero, Giuseppe "Jose", 1823-1892
More, Thomas W. (Thomas Wallace), 1826-1877
Norway, W. H. (WIlliam Henry), 1834-1900
Oreña, Gaspar, 1824-1903
Ott, Adam, 1847-1919
Sexton, Joseph, 1842-1917
Storke, C. A. (Charles Albert), 1847-1936
Thompson, Alpheus Basil, 1797-1869
Thompson, Dixie W., 1826-1903
Trenwith, George F., 1849-1913
box 01
Court Cases
1850-09-09-1853-12-30
Physical Description: 140 Folder(s)
box 02
Court Cases
1854-01-01-1854-12-29
Physical Description: 89 Folder(s)
box 03
Court Cases
1855-01-05-1857-08-31
Physical Description: 113 Folder(s)
Jose de la Guerra y Noriega vs. Thomas W. More [Debt settlement]
1855-03-27
Jose de la Guerra y Noriega vs. Thomas W. More [document]: 1855-03-27-
Physical Description: 1 Folder(s)
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Huse, Charles E. (Charles Enoch), 1825-1898
Thomas More vs. M. J. Box [Debt settlement]
1857-06-02
Thomas More vs. M. J. Box [publication]: 1857-06-02-
Physical Description: 1 Folder(s)
box 04
Court Cases
1857-09-04-1858-12-25
Physical Description: 66 Folder(s)
box 05
Court Cases
1859-01-03-1860-10-30
Physical Description: 94 Folder(s)
box 06
Court Cases
1860-11-05-1862-09-26
Physical Description: 114 Folder(s)
box 07
Court Cases
1862-10-02-1863-12-29
Physical Description: 58 Folder(s)
box 08
Court Cases
1864-01-07-1865-04-27
Physical Description: 56 Folder(s)
box 09
Court Cases
1865-05-16-1867-06-22
Physical Description: 61 Folder(s)
box 10
Court Cases
1867-07-23-1868-12-30
Physical Description: 49 Folder(s)
box 11
Court Cases
1869-01-02-1869-12-29
Physical Description: 53 Folder(s)
box 12
Court Cases
1870-01-15-1870-12-22
Physical Description: 65 Folder(s)
box 13
Court Cases
1871-01-07-1871-12-30
Physical Description: 65 Folder(s)
box 14
Court Cases
1872-01-04-1872-12-30
Physical Description: 41 Folder(s)
box 15
Court Cases
1873-01-02-1873-06-27
Physical Description: 60 Folder(s)
box 16
Court Cases
1873-07-01-1873-12-27
Physical Description: 67 Folder(s)
box 17
Court Cases
1874-01-05-1874-04-30
Physical Description: 67 Folder(s)
box 18
Court Cases
1874-05-12-1874-12-28
Physical Description: 79 Folder(s)
box 19
Court Cases
1875-01-02-1875-06-22
Physical Description: 71 Folder(s)
box 20
Court Cases
1875-07-05-1875-11-27
Physical Description: 83 Folder(s)
box 21
Court Cases
1875-12-02-1876-03-20
Physical Description: 59 Folder(s)
box 22
Court Cases
1876-03-21-1876-05-30
Physical Description: 34 Folder(s)
box 23
Court Cases
1876-06-01-1876-08-15
Physical Description: 56 Folder(s)
box 24
Court Cases
1876-08-18-1876-11-14
Physical Description: 50 Folder(s)
box 25
Court Cases
1876-11-15-1877-02-20
Physical Description: 57 Folder(s)
box 26
Court Cases
1877-03-01-1877-07-11
Physical Description: 85 Folder(s)
box 27
Court Cases
1877-07-14-1877-12-24
Physical Description: 68 Folder(s)
box 28
Court Cases
1878-01-08-1878-06-30
Physical Description: 76 Folder(s)
box 29
Court Cases
1878-07-01-1878-08-31
Physical Description: 38 Folder(s)
box 30
Court Cases
1878-09-02-1878-12-30
Physical Description: 68 Folder(s)
box 31
Court Cases
1879-01-07-1879-03-31
Physical Description: 42 Folder(s)
box 32
Court Cases
1879-04-03-1879-07-23
Physical Description: 58 Folder(s)
box 33
Court Cases
1879-08-01-1879-12-31
Physical Description: 50 Folder(s)
box 34
Court Cases
1880-02-28-1908-08-02
Physical Description: 98 Folder(s)
