New Haven County Superior Court Legal Costs Collection
Version: 4 (current) | Updated: 12/4/2025, 3:17:44 PM
Added description
Description
New Haven County Superior Court Legal Costs Collection
Overview
This is a digital collection of court‑record documents from the New Haven County Superior Court, assembled by the Connecticut State Library. The collection was created in 1853 and contains legal cost records, notably a bill of costs for a divorce proceeding between Sarah A. Fennant and Henry I. Fennant. The materials are presented in both JPEG and TIFF formats, preserving the original layout and annotations.Background
The New Haven County Superior Court was the primary judicial body for civil and criminal matters in Connecticut during the mid‑19th century. In 1853, the court issued a bill of costs for the divorce case of the Fennants, a document now preserved in the state library’s archival holdings. The collection is part of the “Black, African American, and Indigenous History” (BAAI) initiative, which indexes court records that involve Black, African American, or Indigenous individuals. The collection is linked to the NHSC BAAI Cases Papers Subject database, a subject‑index field used to catalog such records.Contents
- Bill of Costs (JPEG & TIFF): A scanned image of the original bill, detailing the costs incurred during the April 1853 divorce proceeding. Items include petition fees, office charges, attorney fees, court and clerk fees, witness expenses, and a total of $82.39.
- Metadata: JSON records describe the collection’s title, creator, institution, date, language, subjects, and place. The metadata also references the individuals involved (Sarah Fennant, Henry Fennant) and the clerk (Coburn).
- Subject Index: The collection is associated with the NHSC BAAI Cases Papers Subject concept, indicating its relevance to the BAAI project.
Scope
The collection covers a single legal cost document from 1853, situated in New Haven County, Connecticut. It focuses on divorce and tenant matters within the broader context of court records and Black, African American, and Indigenous history. The collection does not include other court filings, case transcripts, or related legal documents beyond the bill of costs. It is a focused, high‑resolution digital representation of a specific 19th‑century court expense record.Entities
(loading...)
Entity Relationships
(loading...)
Raw Cheimarros Data
@nhsc_legal_costs_collection:collection {title: "New Haven County Superior Court Legal Costs Collection", creator: @new_haven_county_superior_court, institution: @connecticut_state_library, created: @date_1853, language: "en", subjects: ["Legal costs", "Divorce", "Tenant", "Court records", "Black, African American, and Indigenous history"], description: "Collection of legal cost documents from the New Haven County Superior Court, including a bill of costs for a divorce case involving Sarah A. Fennant and Henry I. Fennant.", place: [@new_haven_county, @connecticut]}
@new_haven_county_superior_court:organization {full_name: "New Haven County Superior Court", jurisdiction: @new_haven_county}
@connecticut_state_library:organization {full_name: "Connecticut State Library"}
@new_haven_county:place {state: @connecticut, country: @united_states}
@sarah_fennant:person {full_name: "Sarah A. Fennant"}
@henry_fennant:person {full_name: "Henry I. Fennant"}
@coburn_clerk:person {last_name: "Coburn", role: "Clerk"}
@fennant_divorce_case:event {type: "Divorce", parties: [@sarah_fennant, @henry_fennant], when: @date_1853_04, where: @new_haven_county_superior_court, subject: "Divorce"}
@bill_of_costs:document {type: "Bill of Costs", total_amount: "$82.39", items: ["Petition 7 pages $4.09","Office $1.95","Trans. proofs $.60","Attorney $2.68","Mandance & ds $1.75","Court & Clerk $7.00","Subpounds $1.00","Notice of our by Cass $1.11","So. \"Do\" Yale $1.77","So. \"Do\" Clark $2.15","So. \"Do\" So $4.66","3: Witnesses &c $53.13"]}
@bill_of_costs -> pertains to -> @fennant_divorce_case
@bill_of_costs -> filed by -> @coburn_clerk
@fennant_divorce_case -> involved -> @sarah_fennant
@fennant_divorce_case -> involved -> @henry_fennant
@file_pinax:file -> documents -> @nhsc_legal_costs_collection
@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_divorce_tenant_010_jpg:file -> describes -> @fennant_divorce_case
@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_divorce_tenant_010_tif:file -> related to -> @file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_divorce_tenant_010_jpg
@legal_costs:concept {description: "Legal costs"}
@divorce:concept {description: "Divorce"}
@tenant:concept {description: "Tenant"}
@court_records:concept {description: "Court records"}
@black_african_american_and_indigenous_history:concept {description: "Black, African American, and Indigenous history"}
@nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject:concept {description: "Subject-index field for New Haven County Superior Court files concerning Black, African American, and Indigenous individuals."}
@nhsc_legal_costs_collection -> uses field -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subjectMetadata
Files (2)
RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_Divorce_Tenant_010.jpgJPEG
OCR Text
Sarah A. Fennant vs. Henry I. Fennant, New Haven County Superior Court, April Term 1853 Petitioner's bill of cost: Petition 7 pages $4.09 Office $1.95 Trans. proofs $.60 Attorney $2.68 Mandance & ds $1.75 Court & Clerk $7.00 & Subpounds $1.00 Notice of our by Cass $1.11 So. "Do" Yale $1.77 So. "Do" Clark $2.15 So. "Do" So $4.66 3: Witnesses &c $53.13 $82.39 Filed by Coburn Clerk
Version History (4 versions)
- ✓ v4 (current) · 12/4/2025, 3:17:44 PM
"Added description" - v3 · 12/4/2025, 2:42:18 PM · View this version
"Added knowledge graph extraction" - v2 · 12/4/2025, 6:39:12 AM · View this version
"Added PINAX metadata" - v1 · 12/4/2025, 6:30:00 AM · View this version
"Reorganization group: Legal_Costs"
Parent
No children (leaf entity)