Timothy Malankuss Execution Records Collection (1770–1790)

Overview

The Timothy Malankuss Execution Records Collection is a small archival set held by the Connecticut State Library. It comprises two primary 18th‑century legal documents issued by the New Haven County Superior Court: an execution warrant dated 1 September 1770 and an execution receipt dated 5 September 1790. Each document is preserved in its original paper form and accompanied by high‑resolution digital facsimiles (JPEG and TIFF) and detailed metadata. The collection is part of Record Group 3 (New Haven County Superior Court Files) and is indexed in the library’s NHSC BAAI Cases Papers Subject database, which catalogs court files involving Black, African American, and Indigenous individuals.

Background

In colonial Connecticut, criminal proceedings against Native Americans were recorded in the same court system that served the colonial population. The warrant orders the execution of a sentence against Timothy Malankuss, an Indigenous man convicted of murder in August 1770. The receipt records the formal acknowledgment of the execution order and the transfer of the condemned’s goods to the public treasury. These documents illustrate contemporary punitive practices—whipping, branding, and forfeiture—used to enforce colonial law and reflect the legal status of Indigenous peoples in the 18th‑century New Haven County.

Contents

• Execution Warrant (1770‑09‑01) – a handwritten order addressed to the Sheriff of New Haven County, detailing the sentence of 39 stripes of whipping, branding of the hand with the letter “M,” and forfeiture of all goods.
• Execution Receipt (1790‑09‑05) – a paper record signed by court officials, confirming the execution of the warrant and the transfer of property.
• Digital facsimiles – JPEG and TIFF scans of each document, preserving original layout and marginalia.
• Metadata files – JSON records (including a PINAX schema) describing provenance, subject headings, and relationships to other archival entities (e.g., the court clerk, sheriff, and victim).
• OCR text – extracted from the digital images, providing machine‑readable versions of the documents.

Scope

The collection focuses exclusively on the legal event surrounding Timothy Malankuss’s execution. It is geographically bound to New Haven County, Connecticut, and temporally confined to the early colonial period (1770–1790). The materials provide a focused view of criminal justice, Indigenous‑colonial relations, and punitive law in colonial Connecticut, and they exclude broader court proceedings or unrelated documents. The collection is in the public domain, reflecting its age and the nature of the source material.