Newport Freeman and Violet Freeman Divorce Case Collection

Version: 11 (current) | Updated: 12/4/2025, 3:23:18 PM

Added description

Description

Newport Freeman vs Violet Freeman Divorce Case Collection (1790‑1799)

Overview

This is a digitized collection of court and ancillary documents relating to the divorce proceedings of Newport Freeman and Violet Freeman, a free Black couple whose case was heard by the New Haven County Superior Court. The collection, held by the Connecticut State Library, is indexed under the NHSC BAAI (Black, African American, and Indigenous History) subject field and includes scanned images (JPEG and TIFF), OCR‑derived text, and descriptive metadata for each item.

Background

The case documents span nearly a decade: a 1790 certification of summons issued in Middlesex & Cambridge, Massachusetts; a 1793 marriage certificate issued in Portsmouth, New Hampshire; a 1798 divorce petition and summons filed in New Haven; and the 1799 court grant of divorce. The parties were Newport Freeman, a free Negro man residing in New Haven, and Violet Freeman, a free woman who had lived in Boston and Portsmouth. The collection reflects the legal processes available to free Black individuals in late‑18th‑century New England and is part of a broader effort to make accessible court records that involve Black, African American, and Indigenous people.

Contents

  • Marriage Certificate (1793) – scanned images, OCR transcription, and metadata.
  • Divorce Petition (1798) – scanned images, OCR text, and metadata.
  • Summons (1798) – scanned images, OCR text, and metadata.
  • Certification of Summons (1790) – scanned images, OCR text, and metadata.
  • Divorce Grant (1799) – scanned images, OCR text, and metadata.
Each item is linked to the NHSC BAAI subject index and includes descriptive fields such as creator, date, place, and subject headings.

Scope

The collection is limited to the primary documents of the Freeman divorce case and their digital reproductions. It does not contain ancillary correspondence, appeals, or other court filings. The geographic focus is New Haven County, Connecticut, with related locations in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Boston, Massachusetts. The temporal coverage is 1790‑1799. The collection is valuable for scholars of early free Black legal history, colonial divorce law, and the archival practices of the Connecticut State Library.

Entities

(loading...)

Entity Relationships

(loading...)

Raw Cheimarros Data

@new_haven_county:place {state: @connecticut, country: @united_states}

@freeman_divorce_case_collection:document {title: "Newport Freeman and Violet Freeman Divorce Case Collection", creator: [@newport_freeman, @new_haven_county_superior_court, @reverend_samuel_hanson, @abiel_holmes], institution: @connecticut_state_library, created_range: {start: @date_1790_12_14, end: @date_1799_01_07}, language: "en", subjects: ["Divorce", "Legal documents", "Marriage", "Desertion", "Black, African American, and Indigenous History", "New Haven County Superior Court"], place: [@new_haven, @portsmouth_nh, @boston_ma, @middlesex_cambridge, @new_haven_county]}

@file_pinax -> documents -> @freeman_divorce_case_collection

@freeman_divorce_case_collection -> includes -> [@marriage_certificate, @petition_document, @summons_document, @certification_document, @divorce_grant_collection, @divorce_petition]

@freeman_divorce_case_collection -> subject -> @black_african_american_and_indigenous_history

@freeman_divorce_case_collection -> subject -> @baai

@newport_freeman -> part of -> @freeman_divorce_case_collection

@violet_freeman -> part of -> @freeman_divorce_case_collection

@reverend_samuel_hanson -> part of -> @freeman_divorce_case_collection

@abiel_holmes -> part of -> @freeman_divorce_case_collection

@freeman_divorce_case_collection -> held at -> @connecticut_state_library

@freeman_divorce_case_collection -> part of -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_divorce_freemannewportviolet_001_jpg -> depicts -> @marriage_certificate

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_divorce_freemannewportviolet_004_jpg -> depicts -> @petition_document

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_divorce_freemannewportviolet_005_jpg -> depicts -> @summons_document

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_divorce_freemannewportviolet_003_jpg -> depicts -> @divorce_petition

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_divorce_freemannewportviolet_002_jpg -> depicts -> @summons_document

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_divorce_freemannewportviolet_002_jpg -> depicts -> @certification_document

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_divorce_freemannewportviolet_001_jpg -> belongs to -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_divorce_freemannewportviolet_004_jpg -> belongs to -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_divorce_freemannewportviolet_005_jpg -> belongs to -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_divorce_freemannewportviolet_003_jpg -> belongs to -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_divorce_freemannewportviolet_002_jpg -> belongs to -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_divorce_freemannewportviolet_001_tif -> belongs to -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_divorce_freemannewportviolet_004_tif -> belongs to -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_divorce_freemannewportviolet_005_tif -> belongs to -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_divorce_freemannewportviolet_003_tif -> belongs to -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_divorce_freemannewportviolet_002_tif -> belongs to -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject

@new_haven_county_superior_court_files -> part of -> @connecticut_state_library

@new_haven_county_superior_court_files -> related to -> @baai

@new_haven_county_superior_court_files -> part of -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject

Metadata

Version History (10 versions)

  • ✓ v11 (current) · 12/4/2025, 3:23:18 PM
    "Added description"
  • v10 · 12/4/2025, 3:01:08 PM · View this version
    "Added knowledge graph extraction"
  • v9 · 12/4/2025, 6:42:59 AM · View this version
    "Added PINAX metadata"
  • v8 · 12/4/2025, 6:28:07 AM · View this version
    "Reorganized into 4 groups"
  • v7 · 12/4/2025, 6:28:06 AM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBM0QT87PJ76KCE903SYK7AA"
  • v6 · 12/4/2025, 6:28:05 AM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBM0QRXJ0T3T0PTW56TQ6BAM"
  • v5 · 12/4/2025, 6:28:03 AM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBM0QQHHQDAS8Y47ZAWJ96WA"
  • v4 · 12/4/2025, 6:28:01 AM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBM0QN96WTJ6T5153VR738ZN"
  • v3 · 12/4/2025, 6:18:46 AM · View this version
    "Added OCR to 5 files"
  • v2 · 12/4/2025, 6:14:45 AM · View this version
    "Set parent to 01KBKZYT0E4WN250H1RKB10E89"

Additional Components

reorganization-description.txt
# Reorganization Summary

The files were grouped based on their content and the legal process they document. The primary categories are the marriage certificate, the divorce petition, the divorce grant, and the summons and certification documents. Each group represents a distinct phase or document type in the divorce case of Newport Freeman and Violet Freeman. The TIFF files were paired with their corresponding JPEG files based on matching filenames, ensuring that all documents are accounted for in their respective groups.

## Groups Created

- **Marriage_Certificate_Documents**: Documents related to the marriage certificate of Newport Freeman and Violet Freeman, including the original certificate and its transcription.
- **Divorce_Petition_Documents**: Documents related to Newport Freeman's petition for divorce, including the petition itself and related legal filings.
- **Divorce_Grant_Documents**: Documents related to the granting of the divorce, including the court's decision and related records.
- **Summons_and_Certification_Documents**: Documents related to the summons served to Violet Freeman and the certification of its delivery.

Parent

01KBKZYT0E4WN250H1RKB10E89

Children (4)