New Haven County Superior Court Bill of Costs Collection

Version: 8 (current) | Updated: 12/3/2025, 7:23:47 PM

Added description

Description

New Haven County Superior Court Bill of Costs Collection (1754)

Overview

This collection preserves the 1754 Bill of Costs issued by the New Haven Superior Court for the detention and execution of Indigenous prisoners and a named prisoner, Sanford. It comprises a digitized text record, a structured metadata file, and high‑resolution scans (TIFF and JPEG) of the original handwritten bill. The materials collectively illustrate colonial Connecticut court procedures and the economic burden of criminal justice in the mid‑18th century.

Background

Prepared by Samson Ashfield, Sheriff of New Haven County, the bill was attested by Judge Sam Lynde and issued in February 1754 under the jurisdiction of the New Haven Superior Court. The record reflects the colonial legal framework for handling prisoners, including Indigenous peoples, and demonstrates the administrative practices of the New Haven County Superior Court during the pre‑Revolutionary period. The collection is part of the NHSC BAAI Cases Papers Subject index, which catalogs Black, African American, and Indigenous (BAAI) cases and papers within the New Haven County Superior Court Files.

Contents

  • Text record: Describes the bill’s purpose, creator, date, and subjects (Indians, criminals, bill of costs, etc.).
  • Metadata file: Enumerates entities such as the sheriff, judge, blacksmith, and the prisoner Sanford, and records their relationships.
  • TIFF & JPEG scans: High‑resolution images of the original bill, showing handwritten charges, dates, and amounts.
  • Charges:
- Receiving Indians: £10 (Dec 2 1753 – Mar 2 1754) - Receiving Sanford: £2 (Jan 26 1754 – Mar 2 1754) - Blacksmith services (Sam Plumb): £0 7 6 - Execution of Sanford: £1 0 0 - Additional costs for confinement, wood, blankets, and jury travel.

Scope

The collection covers a single bill of costs for the period December 1753 to March 1754, focusing on the financial aspects of incarcerating Indigenous prisoners and Sanford in New Haven County. It is geographically limited to New Haven County, Connecticut, and thematically centered on colonial criminal justice, prison economics, and Indigenous‑related legal matters. The archive does not include other court cases or broader court records from the period.

Entities

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Entity Relationships

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Raw Cheimarros Data

@baai_history:concept {description: "Black, African American, and Indigenous History"}

@grand_jury:concept {description: "Grand Jury"}

@criminals:concept {description: "Criminals"}

@nhsc_files:concept {description: "New Haven County Superior Court Files"}

@new_haven_bill_of_costs_collection:document {title: "New Haven County Superior Court Bill of Costs Collection", creator: @samson_ashfield, institution: @connecticut_state_library, year: @date_1754, subjects: ["Indians","Criminals","Bill of Costs","New Haven County","Sanford","Sheriff","Grand Jury","Execution","Black, African American, and Indigenous History","New Haven County Superior Court Files"], description: "Collection of New Haven County Superior Court Bill of Costs documents related to Indians and Sanford, including charges for jail expenses and other costs.", place: @new_haven_ct, language: "en"}

@file_pinax -> documents -> @new_haven_bill_of_costs_collection

@new_haven_bill_of_costs_collection -> contains -> @mansfield_bill_of_costs

@new_haven_bill_of_costs_collection -> subjects -> [@indians, @criminals, @grand_jury, @baai_history, @nhsc_files]

@samson_ashfield -> creator_of -> @new_haven_bill_of_costs_collection

@new_haven_bill_of_costs_collection -> part_of -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject:concept {description: "Subject index for Black, African American, and Indigenous (BAAI) cases and papers within New Haven County Superior Court Files (NHSC)"}

Metadata

Title
New Haven County Superior Court Bill of Costs Collection
Type
Collection
Creator
Samson Ashfield
Institution
conneticut state library
Created
1754
Language
en
Subjects
Indians, Criminals, Bill of Costs, New Haven County, Sanford, Sheriff, Grand Jury, Execution, Black, African American, and Indigenous History, New Haven County Superior Court Files
Place
New Haven, Connecticut
Source
PINAX

Version History (8 versions)

  • ✓ v8 (current) · 12/3/2025, 7:23:47 PM
    "Added description"
  • v7 · 12/3/2025, 7:19:11 PM · View this version
    "Added knowledge graph extraction"
  • v6 · 12/3/2025, 7:15:29 PM · View this version
    "Added PINAX metadata"
  • v5 · 12/3/2025, 7:13:08 PM · View this version
    "Reorganized into 1 groups"
  • v4 · 12/3/2025, 7:13:07 PM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBJT3WDRBZ2E7HJEAAG0G8C9"
  • v3 · 12/3/2025, 7:12:06 PM · View this version
    "Added OCR to 1 file"
  • v2 · 12/3/2025, 7:11:50 PM · View this version
    "Set parent to 01KBJT1ABC66MAMWRVHJQJQN69"
  • v1 · 12/3/2025, 7:11:43 PM · View this version
    "Initial snapshot"

Additional Components

reorganization-description.txt
# Reorganization Summary

All files in this directory pertain to a single historical document—the 1754 bill of costs from a New Haven Superior Court case involving Indigenous individuals and a man named Sanford. The files include both the original TIFF image, a smaller JPEG version, and their respective reference JSON files. Since all files derive from the same document and context (court costs from a specific BAAI-related case), they logically belong in a single group named after the case's key identifiers (NHSC_BAAI, Costs, MansfieldBillOfCosts, and 1754). No files remain ungrouped as the entire directory contents are thematically unified.

## Groups Created

- **NHSC_BAAI_Costs_MansfieldBillOfCosts_1754**: Files related to the 1754 bill of costs from the New Haven Superior Court case involving charges against Indigenous individuals and Sanford, including sheriff's expenses and virtualing costs.

Parent

↑ 01KBJT1ABC66MAMWRVHJQJQN69

Children (1)