From the Introduction: "This book indexes all the persons, places, businesses, and institutions named in the earliest court records of La Porte County, Indiana, including more than 800 distinct surnames. The three handwritten books begin in 1833 - the 'minute record' of court procedures and rulings; the 'complete record' of cases that went to trial; and the 'judgment docket' of payments made." "The legal proceedings recorded in the books and indexed here describe fights, liquor sales, gambling parties, road building, timber cutting, slander, divorce, death, murder, and - above all - debt and the repayment of debt. Sometimes they state relationships. More often, they offer hints based on who put up money ('security' or 'bail') to guarantee someone else's performance of a duty."