In 19th century Elk County, jury duty was posted in the newspaper for each quarterly session of the court. "Traverse" jurors were selected to hear specific criminal or civil cases. "Grand" jurors help prosecutors to determine if there is enough evidence of a crime to indict an individual, that is, to charge someone with a crime. The grand jury's work results in charges, the traverse jury's work results in a verdict.
The published lists of who served on county juries is interesting to genealogists and historians because it provides another small bit of information for individuals that may not be available in other sources.
Here are some of the known jurors of Elk County from Benezette Township.
October term, 1864 (Elk County Advocate, 20 September 1864)
- Grand jurors: John Z. Lindemuth, Erasmus Morey
- Traverse jurors: Milton Chase, Oliver Freeling, William Johnson, Charles H. Winslow
July term, 1865 (Elk County Advocate, 27 April 1865)
- Grand jurors: John Barr, Richard W. Doyle, Erasmus Morey
- Traverse jurors: William Derr, Miles Dent, David S. Johnson, Julius Jones, John Z. Lindemuth, D. B. Winslow
July term, 1866 (Elk County Advocate, March 1866)
- Grand jurors: J. W. Winslow, Julius Jones
- Traverse jurors: John Z. Lindemuth, Andrew Overturf, D. B. Winslow, Miles Dent
July term, 1867 (Elk County Advocate, June 1867)
- Grand jurors: John Z. Lindemuth, Miles Dent, Charles Winslow, Abner Ober, Edward Fletcher, Jacob English, Benjamin Johnson, Milton Chase
- Traverse jurors: George English, J. W. Brown, Reuben Winslow Jr., Wallace Johnson, Cornelius Wainwright, David Marsh
November term, 1868 (Elk County Advocate, November 1868)
- Grand jurors: Edward Fletcher, Charles Winslow
- Traverse jurors: Ralph Johnson [Jr?], William Derr