Abraham Auger and Negro Tom Court Expenses Collection

Version: 9 (current) | Updated: 12/4/2025, 3:22:23 PM

Added description

Description

Abraham Auger and Negro Tom Court Expenses Collection

Overview

The Abraham Auger and Negro Tom Court Expenses Collection is a small archival unit held by the Connecticut State Library. It comprises court expense documents from the New Haven County Superior Court dated January 29, 1790. The unit is part of the library’s NHSC BAAI (Black, African American, and Indigenous History) project, which indexes and preserves court records that involve African American and Indigenous individuals. The collection is catalogued in English and contains a single Shyner Bill, a colonial Connecticut instrument used to record the payment of court costs, along with associated metadata and digitized reproductions.

Background

In 1790 the New Haven County Superior Court was the principal trial court in Connecticut. Abraham Auger, an attorney, and a person identified only as “Negro Tom” were parties to a legal proceeding that generated court expense records. The Shyner Bill is a formal bill of costs issued by the court and reflects the financial obligations incurred by the parties. The collection was created by Abraham Auger and is now preserved by the Connecticut State Library as part of the NHSC BAAI retrospective on Black, African American, and Indigenous legal history.

Contents

  • Shyner Bill (January 29, 1790) – A printed bill of court costs, reproduced in both JPEG and TIFF formats. The image shows the bill’s title, date, and the phrase “A Shyner Bill.”
  • Metadata – The collection is linked to the NHSC BAAI Cases Papers Subject index, which assigns controlled subject terms such as court expenses, legal documents, African American history, and New Haven County Superior Court.
  • Supporting files – A PINAX metadata file and OCR‑enabled image files provide searchable text for the Shyner Bill.
  • Contextual notes – The collection includes a brief description of the ledger’s purpose and scope, as well as references to other prisoners listed in the ledger (e.g., Joseph Dickinson, Sarah Balfour Lewis, Andrew Rhodes, Daniel Osborne, Nathan Black, John Griffith, Noah Brooks, Prine Nigw, and Negro Tom).

Scope

The collection covers a single date in early colonial Connecticut and focuses on a specific legal transaction involving an African American individual. It is geographically bound to New Haven County, Connecticut, and is relevant to scholars of early American legal history, court economics, and African American history. The unit is not restricted by rights and is available for research and digitization purposes.

Entities

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Entity Relationships

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Raw Cheimarros Data

@file_pinax:file {title: "Abraham Auger and Negro Tom Court Expenses Collection", type: "Collection", creator: [@state_of_connecticut, @abraham_auger], institution: @connecticut_state_library, created: @date_1790, language: "en", description: "Collection of court expense documents related to Abraham Auger and Negro Tom, including details of board and care for various state prisoners in 1790.", access_url: "PLACEHOLDER", source: "PINAX", rights: "", place: [@new_haven_connecticut, @new_haven_county, @connecticut]}

@file_pinax -> describes -> @court_expenses_collection

@file_pinax -> describes -> @court_expenses_augur_abraham

@prisoners:concept {description: "Individuals incarcerated or detained by the state"}

@black_african_american_and_indigenous_history:concept {description: "Historical studies focusing on Black, African American, and Indigenous peoples"}

@file_pinax -> subject -> [@court_expenses, @legal_documents, @african_american_history, @new_haven_superior_court, @prisoners, @black_african_american_and_indigenous_history]

@court_expenses_collection -> includes -> @court_expenses_augur_abraham

@court_expenses_augur_abraham -> part of -> @court_expenses_collection

@abraham_auger -> appears in -> @court_expenses_collection

@negro_tom -> appears in -> @court_expenses_collection

@court_expenses_collection -> indexed by -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject

Metadata

Title
Abraham Auger and Negro Tom Court Expenses Collection
Type
Collection
Creator
State of ConnecticutAbraham Auger
Institution
Connecticut State Library
Created
1790
Language
en
Subjects
Court expenses, Prisoners, Abraham Auger, Negro Tom, Joseph Dickinson, Sarah Balfour Lewis, Andrew Rhodes, Daniel Osborne, Nathan Black, John Griffith, Noah Brooks, Prine Nigw, Black, African American, and Indigenous History, Legal documents, African American history, New Haven County Superior Court
Place
New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven County, Connecticut
Source
PINAX

Version History (9 versions)

  • ✓ v9 (current) · 12/4/2025, 3:22:23 PM
    "Added description"
  • v8 · 12/4/2025, 2:59:27 PM · View this version
    "Added knowledge graph extraction"
  • v7 · 12/4/2025, 6:42:19 AM · View this version
    "Added PINAX metadata"
  • v6 · 12/4/2025, 6:25:18 AM · View this version
    "Reorganized into 2 groups"
  • v5 · 12/4/2025, 6:25:17 AM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBM0JMXQ3ET4MSA7S2TND2WH"
  • v4 · 12/4/2025, 6:25:16 AM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBM0JKM4BXB1FGYB1BD0ASCR"
  • v3 · 12/4/2025, 6:15:47 AM · View this version
    "Added OCR to 2 files"
  • v2 · 12/4/2025, 6:14:45 AM · View this version
    "Set parent to 01KBKZYT0EXA04TRHN0SDDKG4E"
  • v1 · 12/4/2025, 6:13:35 AM · View this version
    "Initial snapshot"

Additional Components

reorganization-description.txt
# Reorganization Summary

The files were grouped based on their content and context. The first group contains documents related to court expenses submitted by Abraham Auger Esq. in 1790, detailing costs for state prisoners. The second group contains documents related to a Shyner Bill from the same year. Each group includes both the original image files and their corresponding reference files (.ref.json). The grouping ensures that related documents are kept together while maintaining distinct categories for different types of records.

## Groups Created

- **CourtExpenses_AugerAbraham_NegroTom_1790**: Files related to court expenses submitted by Abraham Auger Esq. in 1790, including board and maintenance costs for state prisoners like Negro Tom and others.
- **ShynerBill_1790**: Files related to a Shyner Bill dated January 29, 1790, which appears to be a separate document from the court expenses.

Parent

↑ 01KBKZYT0EXA04TRHN0SDDKG4E

Children (2)