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Williams County
A USGenWeb Site
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MAGISTRATES QUALIFICATIONS
WILLIAMS COUNTY, OHIO 1824 - 1879
Thanks to Cathy and Richard Cooley for this information!
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(Go to the bottom of the page to click on the alphabetical index for surnames listed)
Note: You may want to print this page, as it is the only place this information will appear.
Please keep in mind that Williams County was formed in 1820 and for judicial purposes was "attached" to Wood County until 1824. From 1824 to 1845, "old" Williams County included all of present day Defiance Co., OH. In 1845 Defiance formed its own county and separated from present day Williams Co., OH. Many names and dates prior to 1845 will include people living in what is now present day Defiance County.
Copies of the desired entry can be obtained by writing to:
Williams County Historical Society
619 East Main
Montpelier, OH 43543 - 1241
(Note: As always there may be copying fees involved)
Source Description:
"Magistrates Qualifications" was a journal kept by the clerk of court of Common Pleas, for the purpose of listing minor judicial officers (i.e. Justice of the Peace), and civil officers who were charged with the administration of the law (i.e. Sheriff).
Also, kept in the journal was the magistrates "qualifications" or the date of a persons commission or appointment to a certain position and the date a person took office. The foregoing, along with the name of the officer administering the oath of office, the name of the clerk of courts of Common Pleas, and the date the clerk received and filed the oath for record was also recorded.
The original journal was recorded by successive dates (i.e. 1839, 1840, etc.). There is no index included in the journal. If inquiring about a copy of a journal entry be sure to specify that the entries are filed by date.
The original journal is now housed at the the Williams County Historical Society museum at Montpelier, OH.
Only the names, dates, places and position for a given individual is provided on this site. If you see a parenthesis ( ) appearing around a persons appointed position (i.e. (JP)) this signifies the date of resignation. This is our code we use to save space.
Abbreviations that appear in the lists:
AU - County Auditor AJ - Associate Judge CC - Clerk of Courts
CM - County Commissioner P - Clerk of Courts of Common Pleas
CR - County Coroner DP - Deputy Sheriff MR - Mayor
NDCL - No date of commission listed NDOC - No date of commission
NDOL - No date of oath listed NDOR - No date of recording
NP - Notary Public NTL - No townshjp listed
PA - Prosecuting Attorney PJ - Probate Judge RE - County Recorder
SF - Sheriff SV - County Surveyor TR - County Treasurer
NOTE: From our researches, it is our understanding that in order to qualify for a magistrates position a person MUST:
be aged 21 years or older
be a legal resident in the township for the position for which elected
if a person removed from a township while holding office, he must resign his position
vacant positions held by a person either removing from or deceased in a township required the position could be filled by appointment for the remaining term of the prior office holders term.
All positions were by election within township.
Some of the duties performed by Justices of the Peace included, performing marriages, issuing warrants, making arrests, making affadavits, etc. Many of the duties of the old Justice of the Peace were similar to the duties performed by modern day Notary Public.
In the olden times, being a township or county officer, usually meant an additional but very minor income to the household. However, it still supplemented the persons income from his normal occupation.
h. To locate a persons name, click on the first letter your ancestors surname began with:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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