Courts Where Tennessee Court Cases Were Tried
1796 - 1808
- Any minor matter -- Court of Common Pleas & Quarter Sessions
- Any larger matter & all appeals -- Superior Court of Law & Equity
1809 - 1834
- Any minor matter -- Court of Pleas
- Larger law cases -- Circuit Court
- Larger equity cases -- Supreme Court (see 1822-1834 also)
- Appeals of law cases -- Supreme Court
1822 - 1824
- Larger equity cases -- Chancery Division of Supreme Court
1824 - Present
- Business matters (not only disputes) -- County Court
- Any law case -- Circuit Court (which divided into Civil & Criminal courts in some places after 1847. Criminal heard "State" cases and Civil heard cases between individuals.)
- Any equity case -- Chancery Court
- Appeals of all cases -- Supreme Court
Types of Cases Heard in the Courts after 1834
County Court: Appointment of administrators and guardians; reports of same; wills proved; widow's provisions laid off; road crews appointed; apprentices bound; wildcat/wolf bounties paid; paupers and "idiots" provided for; taxes adjusted.
Circuit Court: (Heard cases of LAW -- where laws had been broken and guilt or innocence was to be decided.) Civil Cases include debt, divorce, assault. State/Criminal Cases include theft, gambling, fighting, murder, bastardy.
Chancery Court: (Heard cases of EQUITY -- disputes in which court had to decide what would be fair to all parties.) Estate disputes; land and slave ownership disputes; business partnership dissolutions; division of property in divorces; incompetency rebuttals; claims against public officials.