New Haven County Superior Court Cost Ledger – Rex vs. Negro Cuff, 1749

Overview

This digital collection preserves the cost ledger for the criminal case Rex vs. Negro Cuff (1749) before the New Haven County Superior Court. It is part of the Connecticut State Library’s NHSC BAAI PS Costs series, which documents court‑related expenses for cases involving Black, African American, and Indigenous individuals. The collection contains two high‑resolution scans (JPEG and TIFF) of the original ledger, each accompanied by OCR‑extracted text that lists individual cost items and amounts in pounds, shillings, and pence.

Background

The New Haven County Superior Court was the principal judicial body for the region in the mid‑18th century. The case of Rex vs. Negro Cuff involved a criminal proceeding in which a Black defendant, identified only as “Negro Cuff,” was tried. The cost ledger records the financial outlays associated with the case, including fees for court services, bail, and other administrative expenses. The ledger is a primary source that illustrates how legal costs were recorded and paid in colonial Connecticut.

Contents

• Two scanned images of the original cost ledger (JPEG and TIFF).
• OCR‑derived text that reproduces the ledger’s entries, listing each cost item and its amount in pounds, shillings, and pence.
• Metadata identifying the case, date (1749), place (New Haven, Connecticut), and subject headings (legal documents, court costs, Black, African American, and Indigenous history, criminal case, 18th‑century legal records).

Scope

The collection covers a single criminal case from 1749 in New Haven County, Connecticut. It includes only the cost records for Rex vs. Negro Cuff and does not contain the full trial record, pleadings, or other case documents. The material is relevant to scholars of colonial legal history, Black and Indigenous legal experiences, and the economics of early American courts.