RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_Divorce_Brockway_027.jpg

Brockway Divorce Witness Testimonies Collection

Version: 4 (current) | Updated: 12/4/2025, 3:11:56 PM

Added description

Description

Brockway Divorce Witness Testimonies Collection

Overview

The Brockway Divorce Witness Testimonies Collection is a small, digitized set of primary documents from the New Haven County Superior Court, dated 30 August 1758. It contains two witness statements—one by Sarah Newell of New Cambridge and the other by Josiah Lewis of Farmington—recorded in the course of the divorce proceedings of Samuel Brockaway and Margaret Brockaway. The collection is housed by the Connecticut State Library and is part of the broader NHSC BAAI (Black, African American, and Indigenous History) project, which indexes court files involving these communities.

Background

In the mid‑18th century, divorce cases were relatively rare in colonial Connecticut, and the court required sworn testimonies from witnesses to establish grounds for dissolution. The two statements in this collection were taken before Herzekiah Gridley, a deponent, and recorded by court clerk Adam Clark. The documents were originally handwritten on paper, later photographed and scanned in both JPEG and TIFF formats, and accompanied by a PINAX metadata record that preserves the collection’s provenance and bibliographic details.

Contents

  • Testimony of Sarah Newell (New Cambridge, 30 Aug 1758) – a narrative describing Margaret’s refusal to return to her husband and her subsequent fits of distress.
  • Testimony of Josiah Lewis (Farmington, 30 Aug 1758) – an account of Margaret’s collapse and behavior at the Brockaway house.
  • Image files: JPEG and TIFF scans of the original pages, each with OCR‑extracted text.
  • Metadata file: PINAX record detailing creators, dates, subjects, and institutional affiliation.

Scope

The collection focuses exclusively on the two witness statements and their associated images; it does not include the full case docket, court orders, or other contemporaneous documents. All materials are in English, originate from the New Haven County Superior Court, and are relevant to legal historians, genealogists, and scholars of early colonial Connecticut society. The collection is available for research through the Connecticut State Library’s digital repository.

Entities

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Entity Relationships

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Raw Cheimarros Data

@brockway_divorce_witness_testimonies:collection {title: "Brockway Divorce Witness Testimonies Collection", creator: ["Sarah Newell", "Josiah Lewis", "Samuel Newell", "Herzekiah Gridley"], institution: @connecticut_state_library, created: @date_1758_08_30, language: "en", subjects: [@divorce, @testimony, @legal_documents, @new_haven_county_superior_court], description: "Collection of witness testimonies related to the divorce case of Samuel Brockaway, including statements from Sarah Newell and Josiah Lewis.", place: [@new_cambridge, @farmington, @waterbury, @new_haven]}

@connecticut_state_library:organization {name: "Connecticut State Library", location: @new_haven, type: "State Library"}

@new_haven_county_superior_court:place {type: "Court", jurisdiction: "New Haven County", country: @united_states}

@new_cambridge:place {type: "Town", state: "Connecticut", country: @united_states}

@farmington:place {type: "Town", state: "Connecticut", country: @united_states}

@waterbury:place {type: "Town", state: "Connecticut", country: @united_states}

@new_haven:place {type: "City", state: "Connecticut", country: @united_states}

@sarah_newell:person {full_name: "Sarah Newell", role: "Witness"}

@josiah_lewis:person {full_name: "Josiah Lewis", role: "Witness"}

@samuel_newell:person {full_name: "Samuel Newell", role: "Reverend"}

@herzekiah_gridley:person {full_name: "Herzekiah Gridley", role: "Deponent"}

@adam_clark:person {full_name: "Adam Clark", role: "Court Clerk"}

@samuel_brockaway:person {full_name: "Samuel Brockaway", role: "Husband"}

@margaret_brockaway:person {full_name: "Margaret Brockaway", role: "Wife"}

@samuel_brockaway_divorce_case:event {type: "Divorce", parties: [@samuel_brockaway, @margaret_brockaway], jurisdiction: @new_haven_county_superior_court, date: @date_1758_08_30}

@testimony_sarah_newell:document {author: @sarah_newell, date: @date_1758_08_30, location: @new_cambridge, content: "Testimony of Sarah Newell of lawful age describing Margaret's refusal to return to her husband and her fits of distress.", related_case: @samuel_brockaway_divorce_case}

@testimony_josiah_lewis:document {author: @josiah_lewis, date: @date_1758_08_30, location: @farmington, content: "Testimony of Josiah Lewis of lawful age recounting Margaret's collapse, fit, and subsequent behavior at the Brockaway house.", related_case: @samuel_brockaway_divorce_case}

@file_pinax:file {title: "Brockway Divorce Witness Testimonies Collection", format: "PINAX", related_collection: @brockway_divorce_witness_testimonies}

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_divorce_brockway_027_jpg:file {title: "RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_Divorce_Brockway_027.jpg", format: "Image with OCR", ocr_text: "Re: Testimony of Sarah Newell ...", related_document: @testimony_sarah_newell}

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_divorce_brockway_027_tif:file {title: "RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_Divorce_Brockway_027.tif", format: "Image"}

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_divorce_brockway_028_jpg:file {title: "RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_Divorce_Brockway_028.jpg", format: "Image with OCR", ocr_text: "And not destituted and got up ...", related_document: @testimony_josiah_lewis}

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_divorce_brockway_028_tif:file {title: "RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_Divorce_Brockway_028.tif", format: "Image"}

@nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject:concept {description: "Subject index field for New Haven County Superior Court files concerning Black, African American, and Indigenous cases and papers"}

@brockway_divorce_witness_testimonies -> includes -> [@file_pinax, @file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_divorce_brockway_027_jpg, @file_rg003_nhsc_baa i_ps_divorce_brockway_027_tif, @file_rg003_nhsc_baa i_ps_divorce_brockway_028_jpg, @file_rg003_nhsc_baa i_ps_divorce_brockway_028_tif]

@testimony_sarah_newell -> given by -> @sarah_newell

@testimony_sarah_newell -> recorded in -> @file_rg003_nhsc_baa i_ps_divorce_brockway_027_jpg

@testimony_sarah_newell -> before -> @herzekiah_gridley

@testimony_josiah_lewis -> given by -> @josiah_lewis

@testimony_josiah_lewis -> recorded in -> @file_rg003_nhsc_baa i_ps_divorce_brockway_028_jpg

@testimony_josiah_lewis -> before -> @herzekiah_gridley

@samuel_brockaway_divorce_case -> involves -> [@samuel_brockaway, @margaret_brockaway]

@samuel_brockaway_divorce_case -> held at -> @new_haven_county_superior_court

@samuel_brockaway_divorce_case -> date -> @date_1758_08_30

@file_pinax -> metadata for -> @brockway_divorce_witness_testimonies

@nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject -> applies to -> @new_haven_county_superior_court {focus: "Black, African American, and Indigenous cases"}

Metadata

Files (4)

RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_Divorce_Brockway_027.jpgJPEG
536.02 KB
OCR Text

Re: Testimony of Sarah Newell of Lawfull Age Testified to with that same time, about or near the beginning of September left Margaret the wife of Samuel Brockaway came to my house & upon being enquired of as why she came from home, & desired to return, answer she utterly refused that, saying she never would live with Mr. Brockaway again. The next day Mr. Brockaway came to my house & asked her to go home with him which she utterly refused, & soon seemed to fall into a fit (crying out concerning her husband take him out of my presence). Though she could not be persuaded to go with him, after some time in night I persuaded him to go to Margaret's house, & lodged there again in the morning to which she confessed, went away as long as he was in the house she appeared to be in a horrible fit or raving distracted. As soon as he is back, way was gone but she appeared to be well. Rather is she gone—says she with an air of triumph & victory. To this deceit & hypocrisy to my satisfaction appeared in her repeatedly while at my house. When going away further she did appear to be very cross & contrary to everybody where she was at "my house." She also did say while she was at my house she would not live here with that regard that you have got there but while the reason she gave why she would not go home was because she could not & would not live with her husband. New Cambridge August 30, 1858 Sarah Newell The testimony of Josiah Lewis of Lawful age is that sum time in or about September last I see the wife of Samuel Brockaway of Waterbury at the house of Mr. Brockaway but she fell of immediately and lay on the ground and seemed to have a fit & cried so that told Mr. Brockaway that if she was my wife I wish whoever the devil out of her Mr. Brockaway said he could not dare to do that and said how mother or her brother for nearly raised him to wish her upon which she spoke quick and told her husband that he lie like the devil and I liked but what was become of her fit and she agreed to be led from over

RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_Divorce_Brockway_028.jpgJPEG
358.51 KB
OCR Text

And not destituted and got up and seemed to understand what she said Josiah Lewis Farmington August 30th AD 1758 The above written Depositions of Revd Mr Samuel Newell & Lieut Josiah Lewis both of New Cambridge in Farmington given & taken before me Herzekiah Gridley Jnst Peace New Haven Sup Court August 1758 Given in Court Day Geo Adam Clark The honorable deponent Govt Now living aft. Wherever

Version History (4 versions)

  • ✓ v4 (current) · 12/4/2025, 3:11:56 PM
    "Added description"
  • v3 · 12/4/2025, 2:25:41 PM · View this version
    "Added knowledge graph extraction"
  • v2 · 12/4/2025, 6:35:38 AM · View this version
    "Added PINAX metadata"
  • v1 · 12/4/2025, 6:28:04 AM · View this version
    "Reorganization group: Brockway_Divorce_Witness_Testimonies_1758"

Parent

01KBM0N8K9Z57WB446GY55RX41

No children (leaf entity)