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Case Dockets - Justice of the Peace

Buried deep inside the old courthouse in Bisbee were the official docket ledgers of Gleeson's Justice of the Peace. As these were being identified and sorted for shipment to the state archives in Phoenix, (picture the penultimate scene in "Raiders of the Lost Ark", where the crate is being housed in a warehouse of similar crates), a narrow window of opportunity opened to look at the records and photograph them. The lighting was minimal, and time was extremely short. The resulting photographs are presented here, in all their imperfections. A complete index of names is in the works, showing who was involved in which cases. As you can see, sometimes the writing is very difficult to read. If you have any corrections to the names involved in a case, please let me know. Glenn@GleesonArizona.com

Gleeson Judicial Docket Book - 1909-1913

Listing of names in the first docket book

The first set of records span the years from 1909-1913. The second set (still in process) goes from 1914-1924. In these docket ledgers, you will find the handwritten records of the Judge, describing every case which came before him. Some of them were civil cases (suing for unpaid bills and debts), and some were criminal cases. The criminal cases range from murder down to "using obscene language in front of a female". Some definition and description of terms might be useful in understanding these cases.