New Haven County Superior Court Divorce Case Freeman v. Freeman Collection

Version: 9 (current) | Updated: 12/4/2025, 3:23:20 PM

Added description

Description

Freeman v. Freeman Divorce Case Collection (1828)

Overview

This is a digitized collection of the New Haven County Superior Court divorce case Freeman v. Freeman, filed on 19 July 1828. The collection comprises the original petition for divorce, the court summons, proof of service, and court‑issued annotations, all rendered as high‑resolution TIFF and JPEG scans. It is part of the Connecticut State Library’s “New Haven County Superior Court – Black, African American, and Indigenous History” (NHSC BAAI) database and is indexed in the library’s NHSC BAAI cases‑papers subject table.

Background

Ebenezer Freeman of Guilford petitioned for divorce from his wife, Almira Brown (later Freeman), alleging adultery with Prime Wright and Harvey C. Shelley. The case was heard at the Superior Court in New Haven under Judge William Hood O’Conner. The summons was issued to Maria Frumoy of Guilford and served by Deputy Sheriff Reuben Stone. The documents illustrate early‑19th‑century Connecticut divorce procedures and are significant for studies of African‑American and Indigenous legal history in the region.

Contents

  • Petition for Divorce (filed 19 July 1828) – details the marriage, alleged adultery, and request for dissolution.
  • Court Summons (issued 2 August 1828) – commands Maria Frumoy to appear before the court.
  • Proof of Service (dated 31 July 1828) – records the delivery of the summons.
  • Annotations – court‑clerk notes summarising proceedings and legal findings.
  • Metadata & Subject Index – JSON files linking the case to the NHSC BAAI subject table.
Each document is represented by multiple high‑resolution images, providing both viewable and archival formats.

Scope

The collection covers a single 1828 divorce case involving the New Haven County Superior Court and the towns of Guilford, Branford, and New Haven. It includes key individuals—Ebenezer Freeman, Almira Freeman (née Brown), Prime Wright, Harvey C. Shelley, Maria Frumoy, Judge Hood O’Conner, and Deputy Sheriff Reuben Stone—and reflects the legal context of divorce by adultery. The collection is intended for researchers of early American legal history, African‑American studies, and genealogical inquiry, and does not contain related cases or external commentary.

Entities

(loading...)

Entity Relationships

(loading...)

Raw Cheimarros Data

@file_pinax:document {title: "New Haven County Superior Court Divorce Case Freeman v. Freeman Collection", type: "Collection", creator: [@freeman_ebenezer, @new_haven_county_superior_court], institution: @connecticut_state_library, created: @date_1828, language: "en", subjects: [@divorce, @adultery, @legal_documents, @new_haven_county_superior_court, @african_american_history, @freeman_ebenezer, @freeman_almira], description: "Collection of documents and annotations related to a divorce case between Ebenezer Freeman and Almira Freeman in the New Haven County Superior Court, 1828. Includes divorce petition documents, annotations, and legal proceedings.", places: [@guilford, @branford, @new_haven, @new_haven_county, @connecticut], id: "01KBM1K06JYG03TNBMHZV8QVHW", source: "PINAX", rights: "", access_url: "PLACEHOLDER"}

@adultery:concept {definition: "Act of marital infidelity"}

@connecticut:place {country: @united_states}

@freeman_divorce_case:document {title: "Freeman v. Freeman", type: "Divorce case", created: @date_1828, subjects: [@divorce, @freeman_ebenezer, @freeman_almira, @african_american_history, @legal_documents, @adultery]}

@freeman_divorce_case -> part of -> @freeman_divorce_collection

@file_pinax -> documents -> @freeman_divorce_case

@file_pinax -> indexed by -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject:concept

@freeman_divorce_collection -> part of -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers:concept

@freeman_divorce_collection -> indexed by -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject:concept

@divorce_petition -> filed by -> @freeman_ebenezer {when: @date_1828_07_19, where: @new_haven_county_superior_court}

@court_summons -> summons -> @maria_frumoy {when: @date_1828_08_02, where: @new_haven_county_superior_court}

@court_summons -> issued by -> @new_haven_county_superior_court

@court_summons -> signed by -> @judge_hood_oconnor

@court_summons -> delivered by -> @sheriff_new_haven

@marriage_1820:event -> participants -> [@freeman_ebenezer, @freeman_almira] {date: @date_1820_04_17, location: @branford}

@adultery_incident_1:event -> participants -> [@freeman_almira, @prime_wright] {type: "adultery", date: @date_1828_01_01, location: @guilford}

@adultery_incident_2:event -> participants -> [@freeman_almira, @harvey_c_shelley] {type: "adultery", date: @date_1828_01_01, location: @guilford}

Metadata

Version History (9 versions)

  • ✓ v9 (current) · 12/4/2025, 3:23:20 PM
    "Added description"
  • v8 · 12/4/2025, 3:00:48 PM · View this version
    "Added knowledge graph extraction"
  • v7 · 12/4/2025, 6:42:57 AM · View this version
    "Added PINAX metadata"
  • v6 · 12/4/2025, 6:27:46 AM · View this version
    "Reorganized into 2 groups"
  • v5 · 12/4/2025, 6:27:45 AM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBM0Q5A9Q01XX0NHVRNAAFBC"
  • v4 · 12/4/2025, 6:27:43 AM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBM0Q40GPM0XJDVG16N3QS0D"
  • v3 · 12/4/2025, 6:18:36 AM · View this version
    "Added OCR to 4 files"
  • v2 · 12/4/2025, 6:14:45 AM · View this version
    "Set parent to 01KBKZYT0E4WN250H1RKB10E89"
  • v1 · 12/4/2025, 6:14:07 AM · View this version
    "Initial snapshot"

Additional Components

reorganization-description.txt
# Reorganization Summary

The organizational strategy focuses on separating the formal legal documents (petition, summons, service records) from case annotations/notes. The petition documents form one coherent group as they represent the official court proceedings, while the annotations form a separate group as they appear to be supplemental notes about the case. TIFF versions were paired with their corresponding JPG content groups based on matching filenames.

## Groups Created

- **Divorce_Petition_Documents**: Files containing the formal petition for divorce and related legal summons/citations
- **Case_Annotations**: Files containing handwritten notes or annotations about the divorce case

Parent

01KBKZYT0E4WN250H1RKB10E89

Children (2)