New Haven County Superior Court Inquest Records Collection, 1770

Version: 10 (current) | Updated: 12/4/2025, 3:25:19 PM

Added description

Description

New Haven County Superior Court Inquest Records Collection, 1770

Overview

This archival collection comprises the court‑record documents and their digital surrogates for two 1770 inquests held under the New Haven County Superior Court: the inquest of Hamed Quaste, an enslaved servant of Timothy Thompson, and the inquest into the death of George, a Black servant of Timothy Sharp. The material is part of the Connecticut State Library’s NHSC BAAI (Black, African American, and Indigenous) project and is indexed in the “Cases Paper Subject” database. It includes a PINAX metadata record, high‑resolution JPEG and TIFF scans of the original documents, OCR‑extracted transcriptions, and, for George’s case, a list of the 15 jurors who convened the Haverhill Inquest Jury.

Background

In the 18th‑century New England legal system, inquests were convened by local juries to determine the cause of sudden or suspicious deaths. The New Haven County Superior Court recorded the findings of these juries, which were later digitised by the Connecticut State Library to preserve and make accessible court records involving Black, African American, and Indigenous individuals. The collection reflects colonial administrative practices concerning enslaved persons and the formal procedures of the Superior Court.

Contents

  • PINAX metadata file (JSON) detailing bibliographic data, provenance, and controlled subject terms.
  • JPEG and TIFF scans of the original inquest records, preserving the handwritten text and layout.
  • OCR‑transcribed text for each record, providing a searchable version of the jury’s statements.
  • Juror list embedded in the OCR for George’s inquest, naming the 15 members of the Haverhill Inquest Jury.

Scope

The collection is confined to the year 1770 and to two specific inquest events: Hamed Quaste’s inquest in New Haven and George’s inquest in Haverhill, Massachusetts. It includes only the primary court documents and their digitised representations; no ancillary correspondence, trial transcripts, or subsequent legal actions are present. The geographic focus is New Haven County, Connecticut, with a related place reference to Haverhill. The collection serves as a primary source for scholars studying colonial legal treatment of enslaved persons, early inquest procedures, and the administrative history of the New Haven County Superior Court.

Entities

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Entity Relationships

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Raw Cheimarros Data

@inquest_records_collection:document {title: "New Haven County Superior Court Inquest Records Collection, 1770", description: "Collection of inquest documents from New Haven County Superior Court, including records related to Hamed Quaste, an enslaved person, and George, a Black servant, from 1770.", year: @date_1770, language: "English"}

@file_pinax -> documents -> @inquest_records_collection

@inquest_records_collection -> created by -> [@new_haven_county_superior_court, @haverhill_inquest_jury]

@inquest_records_collection -> held by -> @connecticut_state_library

@inquest_records_collection -> includes -> @inquest_quaste

@inquest_records_collection -> includes -> @inquest_1770:event

@inquest_records_collection -> subject terms -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject

@inquest_records_collection -> related place -> @new_haven:place

@inquest_records_collection -> related place -> @haverhill:place

@inquest_records_collection -> related place -> @stony_river:place

@new_haven_county_superior_court -> created -> @inquest_records_collection

@haverhill_inquest_jury -> created -> @inquest_records_collection

@hamed_quaste -> same year as -> @george

@george -> same collection as -> @inquest_records_collection

@inquest_quaste -> part of -> @inquest_records_collection

@inquest_1770:event -> part of -> @inquest_records_collection

@inquest_quaste -> subject terms -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject

@inquest_1770:event -> subject terms -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject

Metadata

Title
New Haven County Superior Court Inquest Records Collection, 1770
Type
Collection
Creator
New Haven County Superior CourtHaverhill Inquest Jury
Institution
Connecticut State Library
Created
1770
Language
en
Subjects
Inquest, Enslaved persons, African American history, Suicide, Legal documents, 18th century, New Haven County
Place
New Haven, New Haven County, Connecticut, Haverhill, Massachusetts, Stony River, Haverhill
Source
PINAX

Version History (10 versions)

  • ✓ v10 (current) · 12/4/2025, 3:25:19 PM
    "Added description"
  • v9 · 12/4/2025, 3:05:21 PM · View this version
    "Added knowledge graph extraction"
  • v8 · 12/4/2025, 6:44:28 AM · View this version
    "Added PINAX metadata"
  • v7 · 12/4/2025, 6:33:34 AM · View this version
    "Reorganized into 2 groups"
  • v6 · 12/4/2025, 6:33:33 AM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBM11S1S9PWQSMFM1HCTSR8B"
  • v5 · 12/4/2025, 6:33:31 AM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBM11QQ52BG6X0WG62SD3P4J"
  • v4 · 12/4/2025, 6:22:43 AM · View this version
    "Added OCR to 1 file"
  • v3 · 12/4/2025, 6:22:34 AM · View this version
    "Added OCR to 1 file"
  • v2 · 12/4/2025, 6:14:50 AM · View this version
    "Set parent to 01KBKZYT0EP3B3FKJHAY6X008T"
  • v1 · 12/4/2025, 6:14:31 AM · View this version
    "Initial snapshot"

Additional Components

reorganization-description.txt
# Reorganization Summary

The files were grouped based on the distinct inquest cases they document. Each group represents a separate inquest into the death of an individual (Hamed Quaste and George Sharp), with both the original image files and their reference JSON files included in each group. The grouping reflects the natural division in content, with no overlap between cases.

## Groups Created

- **Inquest_Hamed_Quaste_1770**: Files related to the inquest into the death of Hamed Quaste, a Negro servant of Timothy Thompson, filed in June 1770.
- **Inquest_George_Sharp_1770**: Files related to the inquest into the death of George, a Negro servant of Timothy Sharp, who died by suicide in July 1770.

Parent

↑ 01KBKZYT0EP3B3FKJHAY6X008T

Children (2)