1889-1896 HAYS COUNTY TEXAS CRIMINAL COURT ACCOUNT BOOK / WITNESS LEDGER BOOK

Description

Very rare and fascinating, original Part-Printed 1889-1896 Hays County, Texas Criminal Court Record Account Book / Ledger detailing payments made to persons who appeared as witnesses in Criminal Cases heard in Hays County.
This fascinating, Hays County Criminal Court Account Book measures approx. 11" by 16" and contains 300 pages of which 288 pages have been used to record the accounts of the individual witnesses who appeared in court. The Ledger is bound in its original ¾ leather binding with highly raised spine and titled on the spine in gilt lettering “Minutes of Witness Accounts” and “Hays County”.
The Ledger / Account Book covers the period from September 9th, 1889 through October 3, 1896. Each page features 2 copies of a pre-printed form used to record and verify payments made to reimburse expenses incurred by a witness as a result of their appearance in court. Each entry includes the name of the Witness, the date of the Trial, the name of the Judge, the name of the Defendant in the criminal proceeding, the crime they are charged with, the reason that the witness is due payment (mileage traveling to court, room and board, etc.), the amount due and an affidavit signed by the Clerk swearing that the amount due is correct and that the witness had received payment.
Reading through this Account Book is a fascinating insight into the criminal prosecutions in a central Texas County during the late 19th century. The vast majority of cases involve the theft of cattle and horses and accessory to the theft of cattle or horses – rustling was obviously a major part of the case load in Hay County at this time. But the entries are peppered with other less mundane court cases including Embezzlement, Robbery, Theft over .00, Assault to murder, Manslaughter and a number of Murder cases. We started to dig deeper into these murder cases but, as is the usual case, we soon go distracted and fell down the “rabbit hole” finding ourselves looking at photographs of Texas Ranger and reading about the exploits of cattle rustlers and horse thieves.
I do realize that this description is somewhat sparse as far as the cases referenced in the Account Book is concerned. We have owned this Volume only a few weeks and we leave the proper study the contents to its next owner – something that will certainly be a fantastic subject / object for hundreds of hours of research.
This fascinating, 19th century Hays County Texas, Criminal Court Witness Account Book is bound in its original 3/4 leather and cloth binding with highly raised spine ribs. The cover and binding are intact and sound but the cloth panels are lacking. The interior pages are very well preserved - complete and tight and generally clean throughout. The entries are neat and easily readable and executed in beautiful penmanship by the hays County Clerk.
A very rare and fascinating, late 19th century Hays County, Texas Criminal Court Witness Account Book and a fantastic addition to any Texiana or Western Americana Collection!!
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