Jupiter Branford Inquest Collection

Version: 9 (current) | Updated: 12/4/2025, 3:24:48 PM

Added description

Description

Jupiter Branford Inquest Collection

Overview

The Jupiter Branford Inquest Collection is a digitized primary‑source archive held by the Connecticut State Library. It comprises the official report and jury verdict from the April 9, 1742 inquest into the death of Jupiter, a Negro‑boy of Jacob Ropes, who was found hanged in Branford, Connecticut. The collection includes two high‑resolution TIFF scans of the original court docket pages, two JPEG images of the inquest report, and a PINAX‑formatted metadata file that records provenance, creators, and subject terms. All materials are in English and are in the public domain.

Background

In the early colonial period, inquests were the legal mechanism for determining the circumstances of a death. This case is significant as the first known legal proceeding involving an African‑American individual in colonial Connecticut. The Connecticut State Library’s New Haven County Superior Court (NHSC) files are organized under the “Black, African American, and Indigenous History” (BAAI) initiative, and this collection is indexed in the NHSC BAAI Cases Papers Subject table with controlled terms such as Inquests, Legal Documents, African American History, Black History, and Indigenous History.

Contents

  • Inquest Report (two JPEG images) – the official narrative of the proceedings.
  • Jury Verdict – indicating a conclusion of suicide by hanging.
  • List of Jurors – Dan. Barker, James Hulse, Amos Johnson, William Fancher, Bow Smith, Abraham Mullen, John Weston, Abraham Page, Caleb Evans, Oliver Fisher, Benjamin Weston, Daniel Conkling.
  • Docket Scans (two TIFF files) – original court pages, witness statements, and orders.
  • Metadata (PINAX JSON) – detailing creator names, institution, language, subjects, and relationships to the event and jurors.

Scope

The collection documents a single event—April 9, 1742—in Branford, Connecticut. It provides a snapshot of colonial legal practice and the early legal recognition of an African‑American individual. The archive does not include subsequent court filings, broader criminal proceedings, or ancillary documents beyond the inquest itself. It is intended for scholars of colonial legal history, African‑American studies, and Indigenous history who require primary visual and textual evidence of the inquest proceedings.

Entities

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Entity Relationships

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Raw Cheimarros Data

@file_pinax:file {filename: "pinax.json", type: "Metadata (PINAX)", title: "Jupiter Branford Inquest Collection", created: @date_1742_04_09, language: "en", rights: "Public Domain", description: "Metadata for collection of documents and images related to the inquest of Jupiter, a Negro‑Boy of Jacob Ropes of Branford, found dead by hanging on April 9 1742.", institution: @connecticut_state_library, place: [@branford, @new_haven_county]}

@file_pinax -> created by -> [@dan_barker, @james_hulse, @amos_johnson, @william_fancher, @bow_smith, @abraham_mullen, @john_weston, @abraham_page, @caleb_evans, @oliver_fisher, @benjamin_weston, @daniel_conkling, @new_haven_county_superior_court]

@file_pinax -> subject terms -> [@inquests, @legal_documents, @african_american_history, @black_history, @indigenous_history, @suicide:concept {description: "Act of intentionally ending one's own life"}, @hanging:concept {description: "Method of execution or death by suspension by the neck"}]

@file_pinax -> metadata for -> @jupiter_branford_inquest_documents

@jupiter_branford_inquest_documents -> includes -> @file_pinax

@jupiter_branford_inquest_images -> subject terms -> [@inquests, @legal_documents, @african_american_history, @black_history, @indigenous_history]

@nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject -> indexes -> @jupiter_branford_inquest:event {subject: "Black, African American, Indigenous"}

@jupiter_branford_inquest:event -> part of -> @jupiter_branford_inquest_images

@jupiter_branford_inquest:event -> related to -> @jupiter

@jupiter_branford_inquest:event -> occurred {when: @date_1742_04_09, where: @new_haven_county}

@jupiter -> subject of -> @inquest_event

@inquest_event -> indexed by -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject

@inquest_event -> documented in -> @inquest_report:document

@inquest_report:document {title: "Report of Inquest on Jupiter Negro", date: @date_1742_04_09, location: @branford, subject: @jupiter, verdict: "Suicide by hanging"}

Metadata

Version History (9 versions)

  • ✓ v9 (current) · 12/4/2025, 3:24:48 PM
    "Added description"
  • v8 · 12/4/2025, 3:04:19 PM · View this version
    "Added knowledge graph extraction"
  • v7 · 12/4/2025, 6:44:01 AM · View this version
    "Added PINAX metadata"
  • v6 · 12/4/2025, 6:32:10 AM · View this version
    "Reorganized into 2 groups"
  • v5 · 12/4/2025, 6:32:08 AM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBM0Z6QZXJQP45T0G099S6ES"
  • v4 · 12/4/2025, 6:32:07 AM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBM0Z5EV0FYDKYV5Q1E9TRXG"
  • v3 · 12/4/2025, 6:22:02 AM · View this version
    "Added OCR to 2 files"
  • v2 · 12/4/2025, 6:14:45 AM · View this version
    "Set parent to 01KBKZYT0EP3B3FKJHAY6X008T"
  • v1 · 12/4/2025, 6:14:02 AM · View this version
    "Initial snapshot"

Additional Components

reorganization-description.txt
# Reorganization Summary

The files were grouped based on content type (documents vs. images) and thematic relevance (all pertain to the same historical inquest case). The document group contains the textual records of the inquest proceedings, while the image group contains preservation-quality scans of those documents. This maintains both thematic coherence and practical separation of file types while keeping all materials related to Jupiter's case together.

## Groups Created

- **Jupiter_Branford_Inquest_Documents**: Files containing the official documents related to the inquest of Jupiter, a Black boy from Branford, including the jury verdict and report.
- **Jupiter_Branford_Inquest_Images**: High-resolution image files (TIFF) of the inquest documents for Jupiter, a Black boy from Branford.

Parent

01KBKZYT0EP3B3FKJHAY6X008T

Children (2)