People
Meet the many people who argued for and against carceral, institutional, and interpersonal confinement in the petitions filed in County and District Courts throughout the American West over the long nineteenth century. Browse or search people by name, demographic characteristics, case role, and/or relationships described in each petition. Our encoding practice for people features data pulled from the available case files and in some instances additional data from supplemental sources is also included. Only people with case roles are indexed here, while all persons named in a case are listed on the case page. The Glossary defines the attributes used to structure data from the habeas petitions. The Code Book explains the relational structure of the data and functionality of the database website.
Featured story: Lucía Martínez: Yaqui Arizona, 1854-1900
Basic Search
Simply enter the word you wish to find and the search engine will search for every instance of the word in the journals. For example: Fight. All instances of the use of the word fight will show up on the results page.
Wildcard Searches
Using an asterisk (*) will increase the odds of finding the results you are seeking. For example: Fight*. The search results will display every instance of fight, fights, fighting, etc. More than one wildcard may be used. For example: *ricar*. This search will return most references to the Aricara tribe, including Ricara, Ricares, Aricaris, Ricaries, Ricaree, Ricareis, and Ricarra. Using a question mark (?) instead of an asterisk (*) will allow you to search for a single character. For example, r?n will find all instances of ran and run, but will not find rain or ruin.
Capitalization
Searches are not case sensitive. For example: george will come up with the same results as George.
Phrase Search
Searching for a specific phrase may help narrow down the results. Rather long phrases are no problem. For example: "This white pudding we all esteem".
Subsequent Searches
Because of the creative spellings used by the journalists, it may be necessary to try your search multiple times. For example: P?ro*. This search brings up numerous variant spellings of the French word pirogue, "a large dugout canoe or open boat." Searching for P?*r*og?* will bring up other variant spellings. Searching for canoe or boat also may be helpful.
Filter by:
Case Roles
- petitioner 16
- bound party 13
- holding party 7
- respondent 6
- responding party 5
- interested party 2
Birth Place
- Germany 11
- Nebraska 7
- Unknown 4
- Hemme, Germany 1
- Illinois 1
- Iowa 1
- Missouri 1
- New York 1
- Prussia 1
- Roggendorf, Austria 1
- Saxony-Weimar 1
Age Category
- Adult 25
- Minor 6
- Unindicated 1
Cases
- The State of Nebraska On the Relation of Hermann Reiter, Complainant vs. Johanna Reiter, Respondent 5
- In the matter of the application of Alma Zerbst for a writ of Habeas Corpus 3
- In the Matter of the Application of F. Vetter for a Writ of Habeas Corpus 3
- Eugene Crowne v. James McAuliff 2
- In re application of Frank Kreishutz for Writ of Habeas Corpus 2
- In the matter of the application of Arthur Treichel, minor on the part of Marie Holz and Adolph Holz for a writ of Habeas Corpus 2
- In the matter of the application of Fred Evers by Christ Evers, his father and next friend, for a writ of Habeas Corpus 2
- In the matter of the application of Henry Rasmus for a writ of Habeas Corpus 2
- In the matter of the application of Pearl Brandt, minor, by Frank Brandt her father and next friend for a writ of Habeas Corpus 2
- Albert Schiessl, Plantiff Vs. Mrs. Gussie Maloney, Defendent 1
- In re application of Rose Van Ormer by her next friend John Van Ormer for a writ of Habeas Corpus 1
- In the matter of the application for Kathleen L. Williams for Writ of Habeas Corpus for Roger H. Williams 1
- In the matter of the application of Charles Myers, on Habeas Corpus 1
- In the Matter of the Application of Edward Krause for a Writ of Habeas Corpus 1
- In the Matter of the Application of Emma Rupert for a writ of habeas corpus, for the body of Clarence Rupert 1
- In the Matter of the Application of Henry Craemer for Writ of Habeas Corpus 1
- In the Matter of the Application of Jacob Schuman for a Writ of Habeas Corpus 1
- In the matter of the Petition of Michael Shrek for a Writ of Habeas Corpus 1
- The state of Nebraska, on relation of Anna C. Sieck, Relator, vs. Lawrence B. Pillsbury, as Superintendent of the State Hospital for Insane, at Lincoln, Nebraska, and Robert Smith, as Clerk of the District Court and Ex-Office Clerk of the Commissioners of Insanity of Douglas County, Nebraska, Respondents 1
31 results
Download JSON Download CSVBecker, Emma
- Birth date: January 1, 1878
- Birth place: Iowa
- Sex: Female
- Race or ethnicity: White, German
- Case role(s): Respondent, responding party, holding party
Brandt, Frank
- Birth date: January 1, 1864
- Birth place: Illinois
- Sex: Male
- Race or ethnicity: White, German
- Case role(s): Petitioner
Craemer, Henry
- Birth date: N.D.
- Sex: Male
- Race or ethnicity: German
- Case role(s): Petitioner, bound party
Evers, Christ (Christian Evers)
- Birth date: August 1, 1859
- Birth place: Germany
- Sex: Male
- Race or ethnicity: White, German
- Case role(s): Petitioner
Evers, Fred
- Birth date: October 1, 1891
- Birth place: Nebraska
- Sex: Male
- Race or ethnicity: White, German
- Case role(s): Bound party
Gieselman, Dora
- Birth date: January 1, 1851
- Birth place: Germany
- Sex: Female
- Race or ethnicity: German
- Case role(s): Respondent, holding party
Gieselman, William
- Birth date: January 1, 1847
- Birth place: Germany
- Sex: Male
- Race or ethnicity: German, White
- Case role(s): Responding party, holding party
Goodhard, Elsaba (Emma Guthard)
- Birth date: November 19, 1823
- Birth place: Hemme, Germany
- Sex: Female
- Race or ethnicity: White, German
- Case role(s): Holding party, respondent, responding party
Holz, Adolph
- Birth date: January 1, 1859
- Birth place: Germany
- Sex: Male
- Race or ethnicity: German
- Case role(s): Petitioner
Holz, Marie (Mary Holz)
- Birth date: January 1, 1870
- Birth place: Germany
- Sex: Female
- Race or ethnicity: German
- Case role(s): Petitioner
Krause, Edward (Edward Slompke)
- Birth date: N.D.
- Birth place: Unknown
- Sex: Male
- Race or ethnicity: German
- Case role(s): Petitioner, bound party
Kreishutz, Elizabeth
- Birth date: N.D.
- Birth place: Unknown
- Sex: Female
- Race or ethnicity: German
- Case role(s): Petitioner
Kreishutz, Frank
- Birth date: N.D.
- Birth place: Unknown
- Sex: Male
- Race or ethnicity: German
- Case role(s): Bound party
Myers, Charles
- Birth date: N.D.
- Birth place: Unknown
- Sex: Male
- Race or ethnicity: German, Jewish
- Case role(s): Petitioner, bound party
Rasmus, Henry
- Birth date: August 8, 1856
- Birth place: Germany
- Sex: Male
- Race or ethnicity: White, German
- Case role(s): Petitioner
Reiter, Hermann
- Birth date: November 1, 1865
- Birth place: Roggendorf, Austria
- Sex: Male
- Race or ethnicity: White, German
- Case role(s): Petitioner
Reiter, Hermann Jr.
- Birth date: July 1, 1892
- Birth place: Nebraska
- Sex: Male
- Race or ethnicity: White, German
- Case role(s): Bound party
Reiter, John
- Birth date: August 1, 1874
- Birth place: Nebraska
- Sex: Male
- Race or ethnicity: White, German
- Case role(s): Bound party
Reiter, Lillie
- Birth date: June 1, 1895
- Birth place: Nebraska
- Sex: Female
- Race or ethnicity: White, German
- Case role(s): Bound party
Reiter, Rosa
- Birth date: February 1, 1888
- Birth place: Nebraska
- Sex: Female
- Race or ethnicity: White, German
- Case role(s): Bound party
Rupert, Emma
- Birth date: January 1, 1877
- Birth place: Germany
- Sex: Female
- Race or ethnicity: White, German
- Case role(s): Petitioner
Schiessl, Albert
- Birth date: January 1, 1888
- Birth place: Nebraska
- Sex: Male
- Race or ethnicity: White, German
- Case role(s): Petitioner
Schuman, Jacob
- Birth date: September 1, 1849
- Birth place: Germany
- Sex: Male
- Race or ethnicity: White, German
- Case role(s): Petitioner, bound party
Shrek, Michael (Scherek, Schreck)
- Birth date: January 1, 1839
- Birth place: Germany
- Sex: Male
- Race or ethnicity: White, German
- Case role(s): Petitioner, bound party
Sieck, Carston Hans
- Birth date: August 10, 1863
- Birth place: Germany
- Sex: Male
- Race or ethnicity: German
- Case role(s): Bound party
Van Ormer, Christina (Christiana Summerlad)
- Birth date: September 1, 1846
- Birth place: Germany
- Sex: Female
- Race or ethnicity: White, German
- Case role(s): Respondent, responding party, holding party
Vetter, Fred
- Birth date: January 1, 1837
- Birth place: Saxony-Weimar
- Sex: Male
- Race or ethnicity: German
- Case role(s): Petitioner, interested party
Vetter, Lina (Lena)
- Birth date: N.D.
- Birth place: Prussia
- Sex: Female
- Race or ethnicity: German
- Case role(s): Respondent, holding party, responding party, interested party
Vetter, Susannah
- Birth date: January 1, 1864
- Birth place: New York
- Sex: Female
- Race or ethnicity: White, German
- Case role(s): Bound party
Williams, Elisabeth S. (Elizabeth)
- Birth date: January 1, 1865
- Birth place: Missouri
- Sex: Female
- Race or ethnicity: White, German, Swiss
- Case role(s): Respondent, holding party
Zerbst, Alma
- Birth date: January 1, 1889
- Birth place: Nebraska
- Sex: Female
- Race or ethnicity: White, German
- Case role(s): Petitioner
