New Haven County Superior Court Files - Black, African American, and Indigenous History Collection

Version: 6 (current) | Updated: 12/4/2025, 3:26:35 PM

Added description

Description

New Haven County Superior Court Costs and Fees Collection (1794)

Overview

This archival unit contains a single high‑resolution image of a cost ledger from the New Haven County Superior Court, dated 1794, accompanied by an OCR‑derived text file and structured metadata. The ledger records the monetary outlays associated with the land‑partition case Clark vs Prudden. The unit is catalogued under the NHSC BAAI “New Haven County Superior Court” subject index and is held in the public domain by the Connecticut State Library.

Background

The New Haven County Superior Court was the principal civil court for the county during the late‑18th century. The NHSC BAAI initiative, funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, digitizes court records that involve Black, African American, and Indigenous litigants. The Clark vs Prudden ledger exemplifies the financial aspects of a land‑partition dispute in which the parties were identified in the court’s records as “Clark” and “Prudden.” The ledger was produced by court clerks and reflects the fiscal practices of the Connecticut judicial system at that time.

Contents

  • Ledger Image – A high‑resolution JPEG and TIFF of the original cost sheet, showing line items such as “Writ,” “Office,” “Travel,” “Attorney Fees,” and “Court of Jury.”
  • OCR Text – A machine‑read transcription of the ledger, preserving the numeric and textual details.
  • Metadata – Structured PINAX JSON metadata records creator, date, subjects (e.g., “Court Costs,” “Land Partition,” “Black, African American, and Indigenous History”), and geographic tags (New Haven County, Connecticut).

Scope

The unit covers only the 1794 cost ledger for the Clark vs Prudden land‑partition case. It does not include trial transcripts, appellate filings, or other court cost records. All materials are in English and freely accessible. The ledger provides a focused snapshot of the economic dimensions of early Connecticut court proceedings and is valuable for scholars of colonial legal history, the economics of land disputes, and the NHSC BAAI project’s focus on marginalized communities.

Entities

(loading...)

Entity Relationships

(loading...)

Raw Cheimarros Data

@connecticut_state_library:organization {full_name: "Connecticut State Library"}

@file_pinax:file {title: "New Haven County Superior Court Files - Black, African American, and Indigenous History Collection", type: "Metadata", created: {start: @date_1690, end: @date_1859}, language: "en", rights: "Public Domain", source: "PINAX", access_url: "PLACEHOLDER"}

@file_pinax -> creator -> [@new_haven_county_superior_court, @state_of_connecticut, @connecticut_state_library]

@file_pinax -> subject -> [@murder:concept, @suicide:concept, @inheritance:concept, @legal_proceedings:concept, @summons:concept, @writ_and_summons:concept, @legal_fees:concept]

@legal_fees:concept -> related to -> @legal_costs:concept

@legal_fees:concept -> related to -> @court_fees:concept

@murder:concept -> related to -> @crime:concept

@suicide:concept -> related to -> @crime:concept

@inheritance:concept -> related to -> @property_valuation:concept

@legal_proceedings:concept -> related to -> @court_records:concept

@summons:concept -> related to -> @legal_documents:concept

@writ_and_summons:concept -> related to -> @legal_documents:concept

@file_pinax -> place -> [@new_haven, @derby, @guilford, @waterbury, @wallingford, @cheshire, @durham, @milford, @north_haven, @ansonia, @turkey_hill, @new_haven_ct, @ipswich, @stratford_new_york, @haverhill_ma, @augusta, @nifford, @fair_milford, @buckingham_hill, @four_mile_meadows]

@file_pinax -> indexed by -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject

@file_pinax -> uses_subject_field -> @subject_field

@file_pinax -> part of -> @new_haven_county_superior_court_project

@file_pinax -> holds -> @connecticut_state_library

@file_pinax -> institution -> @connecticut_state_library

@file_pinax -> description -> "A comprehensive collection of legal documents, court records, and proceedings from the New Haven County Superior Court, focusing on Black, African American, and Indigenous history. The collection spans various legal issues including costs, expenses, divorce cases, executions, inquests, land partitions, and more, from 1690 to 1859."

--- 

# SYNTHESIS

- The metadata file expands the subject taxonomy of @file_pinax by adding concepts such as @murder, @suicide, @inheritance, @legal_proceedings, @summons, @writ_and_summons, and @legal_fees, linking them to existing concepts like @crime, @legal_costs, @court_fees, and @property_valuation.  

- The creator list in the PINAX record (court, state, library) aligns with the broader creator network already defined in the subdirectory, reinforcing the institutional provenance of the collection.  

- Place references from the JSON file match the extensive geographic scope already captured for @file_pinax, confirming consistency across sources.  

- The indexing field @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject serves as the central subject‑index for the collection, now enriched by the newly added concepts, illustrating how the database schema integrates detailed subject headings from multiple documentation layers.

Metadata

Title
New Haven County Superior Court Files - Black, African American, and Indigenous History Collection
Type
Collection
Creator
New Haven County Superior CourtState of ConnecticutConnecticut State Library
Institution
Connecticut State Library
Created
1690-1859
Language
en
Subjects
Black, African American, and Indigenous History, Legal Documents, Court Records, Historical Records, Slavery, Court Cases, Legal History, African American History, Indigenous History, Colonial America, 18th Century, 19th Century, New Haven County, Superior Court, Legal Costs, Court Fees, Prisoners, Executions, Land Ownership, Divorce, Assault, Forgery, Military Records, Probate, Domestic Violence, Interracial Relations, Property Valuation, Financial Accounts, Criminal Justice, Murder, Suicide, Inheritance, Legal Proceedings, Summons, Writ and Summons, Legal Fees
Rights
Public Domain
Place
New Haven County, Connecticut, Connecticut, Derby, Connecticut, Branford, Connecticut, Guilford, Connecticut, Waterbury, Connecticut, Wallingford, Connecticut, Cheshire, Connecticut, Durham, Connecticut, Milford, Connecticut, North Haven, Connecticut, Ansonia, Connecticut, Turkey Hill, New Haven, Connecticut, Ipswich, Stratford, New York, Haverhill, Massachusetts, Augusta, Nifford, New Haven County, Connecticut, Fair Milford, Connecticut, Buckinghams Hill, Four Mile Meadows
Source
PINAX

Version History (6 versions)

  • ✓ v6 (current) · 12/4/2025, 3:26:35 PM
    "Added description"
  • v5 · 12/4/2025, 3:11:26 PM · View this version
    "Added knowledge graph extraction"
  • v4 · 12/4/2025, 2:24:02 PM · View this version
    "Added PINAX metadata"
  • v3 · 12/4/2025, 6:14:57 AM · View this version
    "Set parent to 00000000000000000000000000"
  • v2 · 12/4/2025, 6:14:53 AM · View this version
    "Added children"
  • v1 · 12/4/2025, 6:14:40 AM · View this version
    "Initial snapshot"

Parent

↑ 00000000000000000000000000

Children (1)