Hampton vs. Martin & Clark Execution Case Collection

Version: 15 (current) | Updated: 12/4/2025, 3:23:59 PM

Added description

Description

Hampton vs. Martin & Clark Execution Case Collection

Overview

This digitized collection preserves the full record of the 1789‑1790 execution case involving Hampton, John Martin, and Samuel Clark in the New Haven County Superior Court. It contains the court’s judgments, summons and subpoena pages, witness testimony, and financial accounts that document the litigation’s procedural and economic aspects. All items are in English, held in the public domain, and are part of the Connecticut State Library’s NHSC BAAI (Black, African American, and Indigenous History) digitization program.

Background

The materials were acquired from the New Haven County Superior Court archives and digitized under a National Archives NHPRC grant. The NHSC BAAI initiative seeks to surface court records that illuminate the legal experiences of marginalized communities in Connecticut. Key court officials—State Deputy Samuel Smith, Judge Charles Chauncey, Assistant Judge James Hillhouse, and Prosecutor John Peck Jr.—are credited on the documents. The case reflects early colonial legal participation of a free African American plaintiff and the application of capital punishment to Black defendants.

Contents

  • Judgments: Eight high‑resolution TIFF images (RG003NHSCBAAIPSExecutionsHamptonvsMartinClarkJudgment_001‑010.tif) showing the formal court decisions, signatures, and court seals.
  • Summons & Subpoenas: Seven scanned pages (RG003NHSCBAAIPSExecutionsHamptonvsMartinClarkJudgment_003‑007.tif) detailing summonses to Cheshire, New Haven, Enfield, and a Pennsylvania town.
  • Witness Testimony: OCR‑extracted text and marginalia from the summons pages.
  • Financial Accounts: Two judgment images and structured expense entries documenting court fees, travel costs, and total costs of £5.15.0.
  • Case Identification Documents: Formal case titles, parties, and associated judgment PDFs or images.

All files are linked to the NHSC BAAI subject index, which assigns controlled terms such as “executions,” “judgments,” and “Black, African American, and Indigenous history.”

Scope

The collection covers the period 1789‑1790, focusing exclusively on the Hampton vs. Martin & Clark execution case within New Haven County, Connecticut. It includes only the documents directly related to this case—judgments, summonses, witness records, and financial accounts—and excludes unrelated case files, appeals, or post‑execution records. The geographic focus is New Haven, Cheshire, Enfield, Cromwell, and a brief reference to Blythville, Pennsylvania. The collection is valuable for scholars of early American legal history, African American studies, and the social history of Connecticut’s marginalized populations.

Entities

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Entity Relationships

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Raw Cheimarros Data

@file_pinax:file {filename: "pinax.json", type: "Metadata (PINAX)", access_url: "PLACEHOLDER"}

@file_pinax -> creator -> [@samuel_smith, @charles_chauncey, @james_hillhouse, @john_peck_jr, @hampton, @john_martin_co, @new_haven_county_superior_court]

@file_pinax -> created {when: @date_1789, end: @date_1790, language: "en"}

@legal_documents:concept {description: "Legal documents"}

@summons:concept {description: "Summons"}

@witness_testimony:concept {description: "Witness testimony"}

@assault_and_battery:concept {description: "Assault and battery"}

@slave_narratives:concept {description: "Slave narratives"}

@african_american_history:concept {description: "African American history"}

@court_records:concept {description: "Court records"}

@file_pinax -> subjects -> [@legal_documents, @summons, @witness_testimony, @assault_and_battery, @slave_narratives, @african_american_history, @new_haven_county, @executions, @legal_proceedings, @judgments, @court_cases, @court_records, @court_judgments]

@file_pinax -> place -> [@cheshire, @new_haven, @st_christopher, @new_haven_county, @cromwell_connecticut]

@file_pinax -> documents -> @hampton_vs_martin_clark_execution_case_collection

@file_pinax -> documents -> @hampton_vs_martin_clark_executions_collection

@file_pinax -> documents -> @hampton_vs_martin_clark_judgment_documents

@file_pinax -> documents -> @new_haven_county_superior_court_case_identification_documents

@file_pinax -> documents -> @hampton_vs_martin_clark_case

@file_pinax -> indexed by -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject

Metadata

Title
Hampton vs. Martin & Clark Execution Case Collection
Type
Collection
Creator
Samuel SmithCharles ChaunceyJames HillhouseJohn Peck JrHampton (Negro)John Martin & Co.New Haven County Superior Court
Institution
Connecticut State Library
Created
1789-1790
Language
en
Subjects
Legal documents, Summons, Witness testimony, Assault and battery, Slave narratives, African American history, New Haven County, Superior Court, Financial accounts, Legal costs, Executions, Black, African American, and Indigenous History, Legal proceedings, Judgments, Court cases, Court records, Court judgments
Rights
Public domain
Place
Cheshire, Connecticut, New Haven, Connecticut, St. Christopher, New Haven County, Cromwell, Connecticut
Source
PINAX

Version History (10 versions)

  • ✓ v15 (current) · 12/4/2025, 3:23:59 PM
    "Added description"
  • v14 · 12/4/2025, 3:02:39 PM · View this version
    "Added knowledge graph extraction"
  • v13 · 12/4/2025, 6:43:28 AM · View this version
    "Added PINAX metadata"
  • v12 · 12/4/2025, 6:31:45 AM · View this version
    "Reorganized into 7 groups"
  • v11 · 12/4/2025, 6:31:44 AM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBM0YEYZ6MA3KVAYKYF62NQF"
  • v10 · 12/4/2025, 6:31:43 AM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBM0YDGSFANN96J864YE6H1N"
  • v9 · 12/4/2025, 6:31:41 AM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBM0YC1M3HY4V82C39S6EGGM"
  • v8 · 12/4/2025, 6:31:40 AM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBM0YAQM92W90W3W99G62X3K"
  • v7 · 12/4/2025, 6:31:38 AM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBM0Y9DD28AXMVMW21930T00"
  • v6 · 12/4/2025, 6:31:37 AM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBM0Y82AGBE3G6BEYYJB136C"

More versions available (pagination not yet implemented)

Additional Components

reorganization-description.txt
# Reorganization Summary

The files were organized primarily by their content type and subject matter, with parallel groupings for the JPEG and TIFF versions of documents. The main content groups are: (1) Summons and witness documents, (2) Financial records, (3) Court proceedings, and (4) Case identification. TIFF files were grouped to match their corresponding content categories. This approach maintains the legal narrative of the case while separating distinct document types for easier research access.

## Groups Created

- **Summons_and_Witness_Documents**: Documents related to summonses, witness appearances, and subpoenas in the Hampton vs Martin/Clark case.
- **Financial_Accounts_and_Costs**: Documents detailing financial transactions, court costs, and monetary judgments in the case.
- **Court_Proceedings_and_Judgments**: Documents containing court proceedings, judgments, and legal arguments in the case.
- **Case_Identification_Documents**: Documents that identify the parties involved in the case (Hampton vs Martin/Clark).
- **TIFF_Images_Summons_Witness**: High-resolution TIFF versions of summons and witness-related documents (matches content groups).
- **TIFF_Images_Court_Proceedings**: High-resolution TIFF versions of court proceeding documents (matches content groups).
- **TIFF_Images_Financial**: High-resolution TIFF versions of financial documents (matches content groups).

Parent

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Children (7)