Mansfield Bill of Costs Collection, 1754

Version: 8 (current) | Updated: 12/4/2025, 3:21:53 PM

Added description

Description

Mansfield Bill of Costs Collection, 1754

Overview

The Mansfield Bill of Costs Collection, 1754, is a single court‑record document produced by Samson Ashfield, Sheriff of New Haven County, Connecticut. It details the monetary charges imposed on Indigenous criminals and a defendant named Sanford during their imprisonment and legal proceedings in February 1754. The collection is housed in the Connecticut State Library’s New Haven County Superior Court files and is linked to the NHSC BAAI project, which focuses on Black, African American, and Indigenous history in the region.

Background

In colonial Connecticut, the sheriff was responsible for the custody and financial accounting of prisoners. Ashfield drafted the bill of costs, which was later examined and attested by the New Haven Superior Court. The NHSC BAAI initiative seeks to digitize and index such records to illuminate the legal experiences of Indigenous peoples and other marginalized groups in 18th‑century New Haven County.

Contents

The collection contains a single bill of costs, reproduced in both JPEG and TIFF formats. The bill lists detailed fees for:
  • Receiving Indigenous criminals and Sanford into jail (£10 and £2 respectively)
  • “Virtualing” (transportation) of prisoners, with weekly rates of 2/6 of a pound for various periods
  • Provision of wood, blankets, and blacksmith services (including branding irons)
  • Attendance before a grand jury (£0.70)
  • Execution of Sanford (£100) and related costs (£3.18 £)

The document is signed by Sheriff Ashfield and attested by Judge Sam Lynde, providing a granular view of the financial burdens imposed on prisoners and the administrative procedures of the colonial court system.

Scope

The collection covers New Haven County, Connecticut, in the year 1754. It focuses on the legal and financial treatment of Indigenous criminals and a single non‑Indigenous defendant. The material is relevant to scholars of colonial law, Indigenous history, and the economic dimensions of early American criminal justice. The collection does not include broader court opinions or trial transcripts, but it offers a detailed snapshot of the costs associated with imprisonment and execution during this period.

Entities

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Entity Relationships

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Raw Cheimarros Data

@pinax:concept {description: "Metadata standard for archival description"}  

@pinax_metadata:document {type: "Metadata", format: "JSON", standard: @pinax}  

@file_pinax -> documents -> @mansfield_bill_of_costs_collection:collection {title: "Mansfield Bill of Costs Collection, 1754", creator: [@samson_ashfield], institution: @connecticut_state_library, created: @date_1754, language: "en", subjects: ["Indigenous people", "Criminals", "Jail costs", "Legal expenses", "New Haven County", "Black, African American, and Indigenous History"], description: "A collection of documents detailing the costs associated with the imprisonment and legal proceedings of Indigenous criminals and Sanford in New Haven County, Connecticut, in 1754.", place: @new_haven_county_connecticut} {source: @pinax_metadata, access_url: "PLACEHOLDER"}  

@file_pinax -> described by -> @pinax_metadata  

@samson_ashfield -> appears in -> @file_pinax  

@indigenous_criminals -> part of -> @nhsc_baai_project  

@mansfield_bill_of_costs_collection -> indexed by -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject  

@sanford -> defendant in -> @mansion_bill_of_costs_page_001  

@file_pinax -> related subject -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject  

@file_pinax -> related subject -> @indigenous_criminals  

@file_pinax -> related subject -> @sanford

Metadata

Title
Mansfield Bill of Costs Collection, 1754
Type
Collection
Creator
Samson Ashfield
Institution
Connecticut State Library
Created
1754
Language
en
Subjects
Indigenous people, Criminals, Jail costs, Legal expenses, New Haven County, Black, African American, and Indigenous History
Place
New Haven County, Connecticut
Source
PINAX

Version History (8 versions)

  • ✓ v8 (current) · 12/4/2025, 3:21:53 PM
    "Added description"
  • v7 · 12/4/2025, 2:57:33 PM · View this version
    "Added knowledge graph extraction"
  • v6 · 12/4/2025, 6:41:56 AM · View this version
    "Added PINAX metadata"
  • v5 · 12/4/2025, 6:24:05 AM · View this version
    "Reorganized into 1 groups"
  • v4 · 12/4/2025, 6:24:04 AM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBM0GDSKFRNAZHBB7QXXZZX0"
  • v3 · 12/4/2025, 6:15:08 AM · View this version
    "Added OCR to 1 file"
  • v2 · 12/4/2025, 6:14:45 AM · View this version
    "Set parent to 01KBKZYT0EBH7DHHGTHX3E5WHG"
  • v1 · 12/4/2025, 6:13:33 AM · View this version
    "Initial snapshot"

Additional Components

reorganization-description.txt
# Reorganization Summary

All files belong to the same logical group as they represent different formats (JPG/TIFF + JSON metadata) of the same historical document: a 1754 bill of costs from the New Haven Superior Court related to Indigenous prisoners and an individual named Sanford. The grouping preserves the BAAI (Black, African American, and Indigenous) context from the original filename structure while consolidating all related file formats.

## Groups Created

- **NHSC_BAAI_Costs_MansfieldBillofCosts_1754**: Files related to the 1754 New Haven Superior Court costs/billing documents for Indigenous prisoners and Sanford, from the Black, African American, and Indigenous (BAAI) collection.

Parent

↑ 01KBKZYT0EBH7DHHGTHX3E5WHG

Children (1)