DOCKET OF THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE COUNTY OF WAYNE, January Term 1867. Hon. B.F.H. Witherell Judge. [Detroit].
W.A. Throop and Co. Bookbinders: Detroit, 1867. Item #99-1715
Gilt ruled and stamped 1/4 leather, leather label on front cover, black cloth, tabbed section at front is unpag + 314 pp. Covers fair/poor, spine split, loose and detached pages (all present), soiling, toning, page torn out prior to page 1, blank pages 143-192 and 199-314, contents good. There are occasional notes in the tabbed section; the court cases, of which there are 24, can be as brief as one page or continue on for two dozen pages, not all pages are written on the back; they all vary. There is a property dispute involving the City of Detroit, another where the City of Detroit is a defendant in a slip and fall case; libel involving the Detroit newspaper "Advertiser & Tribune," loss of 129 head of cattle being shipped by the Grand Trunk Railroad from Detroit to Buffalo; dispute between Capt. Selah Dustin and ship owner Michael B. Kean. The court clerk's handwriting is a bit hard to decipher. Judge Benjamin F.H. Witherell served as circuit court judge for Wayne County From 1857-1867. According to Friend Palmer's book "Early Days in Detroit" Judge Witherell served as the sole circuit judge. Palmer writes that the much loved judge "knew and was known by everybody, and no one who ever passed him on Jefferson Avenue. . . failed of a winning smile or a cordial greeting." Judge Witherell had an illustrious career in Detroit: justice of the peace, city recorder, judge of porbate, prosecuting attorney, historiographer of Detroit. An interesting look at Detroit's history. Court dockets like this are very scarce. Sold as is.
Price: $600.00