RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_Executions_MountainJoseph_001.jpg

Execution Warrant for Joseph Mountain

Version: 4 (current) | Updated: 12/4/2025, 3:18:33 PM

Added description

Description

Execution Warrant for Joseph Mountain (1790)

Overview

This collection consists of a single legal instrument issued by the New Haven County Superior Court in 1790: an execution warrant for Joseph Mountain, a traveling African‑American man convicted of rape. The warrant is preserved as a text record, a scanned image (JPEG), and a high‑resolution TIFF, all held by the Connecticut State Library. The documents are dated 13 August 1790 and prescribe execution on 20 October 1790.

Background

The warrant was authored by Judge Ephraim Dyer of the New Haven County Superior Court. It reflects the criminal‑justice procedures of late‑18th‑century Connecticut, where convictions for rape were punishable by death. Joseph Mountain was tried on 1 August 1790 and found guilty of raping Eunice Thompson, a thirteen‑year‑old girl, on 26 May 1790. The warrant is part of the library’s “NHSC BAAI Cases Papers Subject” index, which catalogs New Haven Superior Court files involving Black, African‑American, and Indigenous individuals.

Contents

  • Text record (JSON metadata) detailing title, creator, date, subjects, and description.
  • Scanned image (JPEG) of the original warrant, including OCR‑extracted text that reproduces the full legal language.
  • High‑resolution TIFF of the same page, suitable for archival preservation.
  • Metadata record (Pinax JSON) linking the image, text, and institutional information.
The documents collectively provide the warrant’s full text, the court’s order, and the logistical instructions for the sheriff to carry out the execution.

Scope

The collection covers a single execution warrant dated 13 August 1790, issued in New Haven, Connecticut, for a case involving an African‑American defendant and a young female victim. It is limited to the warrant itself and its digital representations; no ancillary court filings, evidence, or execution reports are included. The material is relevant to scholars of early American criminal law, African‑American legal history, and the historiography of capital punishment in the New England region.

Entities

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Entity Relationships

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Raw Cheimarros Data

@joseph_mountain:person {race: "African American", status: "traveler"}

@ephraim_dyer:person {role: "Judge", court: @new_haven_county_superior_court}

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

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

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

@execution_warrant:document {title: "Execution Warrant for Joseph Mountain", creator: @ephraim_dyer, date_created: @date_1790_08_13, subjects: ["Execution","Legal documents","Crime","Rape","African American history","New Haven County","Superior Court"], description: "Execution warrant for Joseph Mountain, a traveling African American man, convicted of rape in New Haven, Connecticut, 1790.", location: @new_haven, institution: @connecticut_state_library}

@eunice_thompson:person {age_at_crime: 13, gender: "female"}

@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"}

@file_pinax:file {title: "Execution Warrant for Joseph Mountain", creator: @ephraim_dyer, created: @date_1790_08_13, language: "en", subjects: ["Execution","Legal documents","Crime","Rape","African American history","New Haven County","Superior Court"], description: "Metadata record for the execution warrant.", institution: @connecticut_state_library, place: @new_haven}

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_executions_mountainjoseph_001_jpg:file {format: "jpg", type: "image/asset with OCR", ocr_text: "To the Sheriff of the County New Haven Greeting: ... Dated at New Haven This Thirteenth Day of August A.D. 1790 Ephraim Dyer Judge of the Superior Court"}

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_executions_mountainjoseph_001_tif:file {format: "tif", type: "image/asset"}

@date_1790_08_13
@date_1790_08_01
@date_1790_05_26
@date_1790_10_20

@execution_warrant -> issued by -> @ephraim_dyer

@execution_warrant -> concerns -> @joseph_mountain

@execution_warrant -> ordered execution on -> @date_1790_10_20

@execution_warrant -> trial date -> @date_1790_08_01

@execution_warrant -> crime date -> @date_1790_05_26

@execution_warrant -> held at -> @new_haven

@execution_warrant -> victim -> @eunice_thompson

@execution_warrant -> indexed in -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject

@file_pinax -> documents -> @execution_warrant

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_executions_mountainjoseph_001_jpg -> depicts -> @execution_warrant

@connecticut_state_library:organization {type: "library", location: @hartford}

Metadata

Files (2)

RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_Executions_MountainJoseph_001.jpgJPEG
436.19 KB
OCR Text

To the Sheriff of the County New Haven Greeting: Whereas Joseph Mountain is a Travelling Negro Man Now in the custody of said Sheriff in New Haven County Goal Before the Superior Court held at New Haven in the State of Connecticut on the First Day of August D 1790. Was Legally Convicted of a Rape Committed on the Body of Eunice Thompson of said New Haven of the Age of thirteen years on the 26th Day of May last. And on Consideration of the Judges of said Superior Court was he the said Joseph Mountain Was sentenced and adjudged to be hanged up by his Neck with a Rope between the heavens and the Earth until he should be Dead All Which of the files and records of said Court fully appears Whereof Execution Still Remains to be done. These are therefore by Authority of the State of Connecticut So will and command that on Wednesday the Twentieth Day of October Next Insuring you Between the hours of Twelve O'clock in the Morning and two O'Clock in the afternoon you have the Body of him the said Joseph Mountain forth of the Goal where he is now Holden in Custody unto some open and convenient place for execution And then and there him said Joseph Mountain cause to be hanged up by his Neck with a Rope between the heavens and the Earth until he Shall be Dead To Which Purpose this Shall be your Legal and sufficient Warrant. Hence you may in no Way fail thus Make Return of this Writ & with your Serjeant thereof in Accordance to Laws. Dated at New Haven This Thirteenth Day of August A.D. 1790 Ephraim Dyer Judge of the Superior Court

Version History (4 versions)

  • ✓ v4 (current) · 12/4/2025, 3:18:33 PM
    "Added description"
  • v3 · 12/4/2025, 2:45:31 PM · View this version
    "Added knowledge graph extraction"
  • v2 · 12/4/2025, 6:39:38 AM · View this version
    "Added PINAX metadata"
  • v1 · 12/4/2025, 6:30:40 AM · View this version
    "Reorganization group: Execution_Warrant_Joseph_Mountain"

Parent

01KBKZY57F7AZZ7FFHCSJCP1JP

No children (leaf entity)