RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_Executions_HamptonvsMartinClark_CaseFile_001.jpg

Hampton vs. MartinClark Execution Documents Collection

Version: 4 (current) | Updated: 12/4/2025, 3:18:01 PM

Added description

Description

Hampton vs. MartinClark Execution Documents Collection

Overview

This is a digitized collection of execution documents from the 1790 case of Hampton, a free Negro man, against John Martin and Samuel Clark in Cheshire, New Haven County, Connecticut. The collection comprises two scanned images: an execution writ issued by the New Haven County Superior Court and a label page identifying the parties and date. The documents are in English and were originally printed in lawful money (pounds, shillings, and pence). The collection is part of the Connecticut State Library’s NHSC BAAI PS Executions series, a project that indexes court records involving African American and Indigenous litigants.

Background

The case arose from a debt judgment rendered on August 5, 1790, for £2 9 2 lawful money in damages and £15 15 8 like money in costs, totaling £18 4 10 lawful money. The judgment was recorded in the New Haven County Superior Court, and the writ of execution was signed by clerk Geo. Delwin Clark on August 11, 1790. The writ directed the Sheriff of New Haven and constables of Cheshire to levy the defendants’ goods, chattels, and lands, and to detain John Martin and Samuel Clark in the New Haven prison until the judgment was satisfied. The collection reflects the legal mechanisms available to free Black citizens for debt recovery in the post‑Revolutionary United States.

Contents

  • Execution Writ (Image 001): The full text of the writ, including the court’s authority, the amounts owed, the instructions to seize property, and the command to imprison the defendants.
  • Label Page (Image 002): A brief caption reading “Hampton Negro John Martin Sr 1791,” identifying the parties and the year of the execution.
  • Metadata: JSON records detailing the collection’s provenance, subjects (execution documents, legal cases, African American history, debt collection, slavery and freedom), and institutional context (Connecticut State Library, PINAX).

Scope

The collection covers a single legal event in 1790, located in Cheshire and New Haven, Connecticut, involving a free Black plaintiff and two white defendants. It documents the enforcement of a civil judgment and the incarceration of the defendants, illustrating the intersection of debt law, race, and early American jurisprudence. The collection does not include the original court docket, trial transcripts, or subsequent appeals, focusing solely on the execution phase of the case.

Entities

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Entity Relationships

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Raw Cheimarros Data

@hampton_vs_martinclark_collection:document {title: "Hampton vs. MartinClark Execution Documents Collection", created: @date_1790_08_11, institution: @connecticut_state_library, subjects: ["Execution documents","Legal cases","African American history","New Haven County","Debt collection","Slavery and freedom"]}


@file_pinax -> documents -> @hampton_vs_martinclark_collection


@hampton:person {description: "free Negro man", role: "plaintiff"}


@john_martin:person {role: "defendant"}


@samuel_clark:person {role: "defendant"}


@delwin_clark:person {full_name: "Geo. Delwin Clark", role: "clerk"}


@cheshire:place {state: @connecticut, country: @united_states}


@new_haven:place {state: @connecticut, country: @united_states}


@new_haven_county:place {state: @connecticut, country: @united_states}


@new_haven_prison:place {location: @new_haven, type: "prison"}


@new_haven_county_superior_court:organization {type: "court", jurisdiction: @new_haven_county}


@hampton_vs_martinclark_case:event {date: @date_1790_08_11, jurisdiction: @new_haven_county_superior_court, location: @cheshire}


@hampton -> plaintiff in -> @hampton_vs_martinclark_case


@john_martin -> defendant in -> @hampton_vs_martinclark_case


@samuel_clark -> defendant in -> @hampton_vs_martinclark_case


@judgment:document {type: "judgment", amount_lawful: "£2:9:2", amount_like: "£15:15:8", total: "£18:4:10", currency: "lawful money"}


@judgment -> awarded to -> @hampton


@judgment -> against -> [@john_martin, @samuel_clark]


@sheriff_new_haven:person {role: "sheriff"}


@execution_writ:document {type: "writ of execution", date: @date_1790_08_11, author: @delwin_clark, total_amount: "£18:4:10 lawful money", additional_fee: "1 shilling 6 pence"}


@execution_writ -> addressed to -> @sheriff_new_haven


@execution_writ -> commands -> @john_martin {action: "levy money, goods, chattels"}


@execution_writ -> commands -> @samuel_clark {action: "levy money, goods, chattels"}


@execution_writ -> directs -> @new_haven_prison {action: "receive body of John & Samuel Sam Hampton"}


@execution_writ -> stored in -> @new_haven_prison


@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_executions_hamptonvsmartinclark_casefile_001_jpg -> contains -> @execution_writ


@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_executions_hamptonvsmartinclark_casefile_001_jpg -> part of -> @hampton_vs_martinclark_collection


@label_page:document {text: "Hampton Negro John Martin Sr 1791"}


@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_executions_hamptonvsmartinclark_casefile_002_jpg -> contains -> @label_page


@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_executions_hamptonvsmartinclark_casefile_002_jpg -> part of -> @hampton_vs_martinclark_collection

Metadata

Files (2)

RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_Executions_HamptonvsMartinClark_CaseFile_001.jpgJPEG
577.86 KB
OCR Text

To the Sheriff of the County of New Haven or his Deputy, or either of the Constables of the Town of Cheshire, Greeting. WHEREAS Hampton a free Negro Man of said Cheshire recovered Judgment against John Martin & Samuel Clark both of Cheshire aforesaid before the Court holden at New Haven within the County aforesaid, on the Fifth Tuesday of August 1790 for the Sum of £2:9:2 Lawfull money Damagy and for the Sum of £15:15:8 like money Costs of Suit, as appears of Record: Whereof Execution remains to be done. THESE are therefore by Authority of the State of Connecticut, to command you, that of the Money, Goods, Chattles, or Lands of the said John Martin &c within your Precincts you cause to be levied (and the same being disposed of or apprized as the Law directs) paid and satisfied unto the said Hampton the aforesaid Sums being $18:4:10 Lawful money in the whole; with One Shilling and Six Pence, Lawful Money, more for this Writ, together with your own Fees. And for want of such Money, Goods or Chattles of the said John Martin to be by him shewn unto you, or found within your Precincts, to the acceptance of the said Hampton For the satisfying the aforesaid Sums you are hereby commanded to take the Body of the said John & Samuel Sam Hampton and to commit unto the Keeper of the Goal in New Haven in the County aforesaid, within said Prison, who is likewise hereby commanded to receive the said John & Samuel Sam Hampton and to safely keep until they lay unto the said Hampton the full Sums above mentioned and be by him released, and also to satisfy your Fees. Hereof fail not, and make due Return of this Writ, with your Doings thereon, according to Law, within sixty Days next coming. Dated at New Haven, this 11th Day of August Anno Domini 1790 Geo. Delwin Clark

Version History (4 versions)

  • ✓ v4 (current) · 12/4/2025, 3:18:01 PM
    "Added description"
  • v3 · 12/4/2025, 2:43:28 PM · View this version
    "Added knowledge graph extraction"
  • v2 · 12/4/2025, 6:39:21 AM · View this version
    "Added PINAX metadata"
  • v1 · 12/4/2025, 6:30:38 AM · View this version
    "Reorganization group: Execution_Documents_Hampton_vs_MartinClark"

Parent

01KBKZY1R52SDWHMAW8B2V0N35

No children (leaf entity)