Moses vs. Turkey Hill Court Petition Collection
Version: 4 (current) | Updated: 12/4/2025, 3:19:25 PM
Added description
Description
Moses vs. Turkey Hill Court Petition Collection
Overview
The Moses vs. Turkey Hill Court Petition Collection is a digitized assemblage of legal documents from the New Haven County Superior Court, dated May 1871. The collection comprises the original petition, a citation, and the court order authorizing the sale of a parcel of land belonging to the Turkey Hill Indians tribe in Derby, Connecticut. The materials are presented as scanned images (JPEG and TIFF) and include OCR‑extracted text for each document.Background
In the early 1870s, descendants of the Turkey Hill Indians—Roswell Moses, Eliza Franklin, Elizabeth Moses, and Georgiana Moses—filed a petition to sell a seven‑acre tract of land that had been unused for over two decades. The case was brought before the New Haven County Superior Court and represented by the law firm Wooster & Torrance. Watrous C. Wakelee, the appointed overseer of the tribe, appeared in court to testify on behalf of the petitioners. The petition was part of a broader effort to secure financial benefits for the tribe through the sale and reinvestment of land proceeds.Contents
- Petition – A formal request to the court for the sale of Turkey Hill land, detailing the petitioners’ lineage and the land’s status.
- Citation – A legal citation addressed to Overseer Wakelee, calling him to appear before the court.
- Court Order – The Superior Court’s decree authorizing the sale, specifying the overseer’s authority to sell, reinvest proceeds, and report annually on the sale’s outcome.
- Images – High‑resolution scans of the three primary documents (JPEGs) and their corresponding TIFF files, providing archival quality reproductions.
- Metadata – Structured data linking the documents to the New Haven County Superior Court, the Turkey Hill Indians, and the broader NHSC BAAI Indigenous Cases series.
Scope
The collection covers a single legal event—Moses vs. Turkey Hill—in May 1871, focusing on indigenous land rights, land sale procedures, and court proceedings in New Haven County. It is relevant to scholars of 19th‑century Connecticut legal history, indigenous studies, and land‑use policy. The collection does not include ancillary documents such as the original land deeds or subsequent sale records, which may be found in related collections.Entities
(loading...)
Entity Relationships
(loading...)
Raw Cheimarros Data
@new_haven_county:place {state: @connecticut, country: @united_states}
@derby:place {county: @new_haven_county, state: @connecticut}
@whitney_farm:place {owner: @sidney_a_downs, location: @derby}
@turkey_hill_land:place {size_acres: 7, location: @derby, adjacent_to: @whitney_farm}
@turkey_hill_indians:organization {type: "tribe", location: @derby}
@new_haven_county_superior_court:organization {type: "Superior Court", jurisdiction: @new_haven_county, state: @connecticut}
@roswell_moses:person {role: "petitioner"}
@eliza_franklin:person {role: "petitioner"}
@elizabeth_moses:person {role: "petitioner"}
@georgiana_moses:person {role: "petitioner"}
@thomas_phillips:person {role: "author of statement"}
@watrous_c_wakelee:person {role: "overseer"}
@sidney_a_downs:person {role: "owner of Whitney farm"}
@wooster_torrance:organization {type: "law firm", role: "attorneys"}
@petition:document {title: "Petition for Sale of Turkey Hill Land", date: @date_1871_05, parties: [@roswell_moses, @eliza_franklin, @elizabeth_moses, @georgiana_moses]}
@citation:document {title: "Citation to Overseer Watrous C. Wakelee", date: @date_1871_05}
@court_order:document {title: "Court Order Authorizing Sale of Turkey Hill Land", date: @date_1871_05, issued_by: @new_haven_county_superior_court}
@moses_vs_turkey_hill:event {type: "court petition", when: @date_1871_05, where: @new_haven_county_superior_court}
@turkey_hill_land_sale:event {type: "land sale", when: @date_1871_05, property: @turkey_hill_land, overseer: @watrous_c_wakelee, proceeds: "invested for tribe members"}
@moses_vs_turkey_hill_collection:collection {title: "Moses vs. Turkey Hill Court Petition Collection", created: @date_1871_05, institution: @connecticut_state_library, subjects: ["Indigenous rights", "Land sale", "Turkey Hill Indians", "New Haven County Superior Court", "Legal petition"]}
@moses_vs_turkey_hill_collection -> contains -> @moses_vs_turkey_hill:event
@moses_vs_turkey_hill_collection -> contains -> @petition
@moses_vs_turkey_hill_collection -> contains -> @citation
@moses_vs_turkey_hill_collection -> contains -> @court_order
@moses_vs_turkey_hill:event -> petitioned by -> [@roswell_moses, @eliza_franklin, @elizabeth_moses, @georgiana_moses]
@moses_vs_turkey_hill:event -> represented by -> @wooster_torrance
@moses_vs_turkey_hill:event -> overseer -> @watrous_c_wakelee
@court_order -> orders -> @turkey_hill_land_sale
@court_order -> requires -> @watrous_c_wakelee {action: "report sale details"}
@file_pinax:file {filename: "pinax.json", type: "Metadata"}
@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_indigenouscases_mosesvsturkeyhill_a_001_jpg:file {filename: "RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_IndigenousCases_MosesvsTurkeyHill_A_001.jpg.ref.json", type: "Image/Asset with OCR"}
@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_indigenouscases_mosesvsturkeyhill_a_001_jpg -> depicts -> @petition
@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_indigenouscases_mosesvsturkeyhill_a_002_jpg:file {filename: "RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_IndigenousCases_MosesvsTurkeyHill_A_002.jpg.ref.json", type: "Image/Asset with OCR"}
@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_indigenouscases_mosesvsturkeyhill_a_002_jpg -> depicts -> @court_order
@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_indigenouscases_mosesvsturkeyhill_a_003_jpg:file {filename: "RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_IndigenousCases_MosesvsTurkeyHill_A_003.jpg.ref.json", type: "Image/Asset with OCR"}
@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_indigenouscases_mosesvsturkeyhill_a_003_jpg -> depicts -> @court_order
@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_indigenouscases_mosesvsturkeyhill_a_001_tif:file {filename: "RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_IndigenousCases_MosesvsTurkeyHill_A_001.tif.ref.json", type: "Image/Asset with OCR"}
@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_indigenouscases_mosesvsturkeyhill_a_002_tif:file {filename: "RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_IndigenousCases_MosesvsTurkeyHill_A_002.tif.ref.json", type: "Image/Asset with OCR"}
@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_indigenouscases_mosesvsturkeyhill_a_003_tif:file {filename: "RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_IndigenousCases_MosesvsTurkeyHill_A_003.tif.ref.json", type: "Image/Asset with OCR"}Metadata
Files (6)
OCR Text
-EXHIBIT 1 ATTACHED TO STATEMENT OF THOMAS PHILLIPS. Your petitioner therefore pray your Hon. Court to take N. H. Sup. Ct. #27 p. 60. Roswell Moses & Others, vs. The tribe of Turkey Hill Indians, Watrous C. Wakelee, Overseer. Superior Court, New Haven County, May Term, 1871. Upon the petition of Roswell Moses, Eliza Franklin, Elizabeth Moses and Georgiana Moses of the town of Derby, in New Haven County brought to the present term of this Court, showing that they respectively belong to and are descendants and members of the tribe of Indians formerly located in the town of Derby, and known as the Turkey Hill Indians. That said tribe own a certain piece of land located in said town of Derby at a place called Turkey Hill and in quantity about seven acres, which said land lies in and is enclosed by land known as the Whitney farm, and now owned by Sidney A. Downs of said Derby. That said land is fit for and used as agricultural land. That no one of said Tribe resides on the same and has not for more than twenty years last past. That the only use to which the same can be put is to rent the same for agricultural purposes. That said land can now be advantageously sold and for such a sum as that the interest on the same will yield a much larger annual income to the owners thereof than the annual rents that will accrue by holding the same. That the avails of the sale of said land can be divided between the members of said tribe and invested by the overseer thereof to the individual advantage and gain of the several members thereof and not injurious to the interest of said tribe.
OCR Text
Your petitioner therefore pray your Hon. Court to take their case into consideration and enquire in the allegations herein, and to order and decree a sale of said land pursuant to the statute in such case made and provided. To which said petition was annexed a citation in due form of law citing Watrous C. Wakelee of said Derby, the duly appointed and qualified Overseer of said tribe to appear before this Court to answer to said petition and show cause if any he had why the prayer thereof should not be granted. And now at the present term of this court the said petitioners by their counsel Wooster & Torrance appear to prosecute and the said Overseer Watrous C. Wakelee, personally appeared in court and was examined touching the matter in said petition, and the court finds the allegations in said petition proved and true and that said petitioners are the sole survivors of said tribe entitled to any portion of said land known to said Overseer, and that they all have an equal interest in the same. The court further finds that a sale of said real estate will be beneficial to the said owners and not injurious to the interest of said Tribe. It is therefore ordered by this Court that said Overseer Watrous C. Wakelee shall have liberty to sell said piece of land so owned by said Tribe for the best price to be obtained for the same, and on such terms and conditions and in such manner as shall seem to him to be for the best interest of said owners, and to make good and sufficient deeds and conveyances of the same and to reinvest the avails of such sale or any part thereof, for the benefit of those entitled to the same, or to deposit the whole or any part thereof not re-invested in real estate in some savings bank of this State and to apply the use, interest and income arising therefrom for the comfort and support of said tribe
OCR Text
in proportion that the individual members thereof shall be entitled to, and if from necessitations, circumstances of any one or more of said tribe any portion of the principal to which such needy member shall be entitled shall be required to support and sustain him or her, then said Overseer shall be authorised and empowered to use such part of the principal sum of said needy members as shall be necessary to relieve his, her or their necessities. And this Court further orders that said Overseer shall make due return in writing of said sale to the Term of the Superior Court for New Haven County at the term next succeeding such sale, specifying the date and terms of such sale, to whom made, and the price received, and the expenses of said sale including this application which said expenses said Overseer is authorized and directed to pay, and shall also state how the proceeds of said sale have been invested loaned or used, and shall annually thereafter make return pursuant to the statute in such case provided. Thomas Pheiny's by Beatrice H. H. Cohen his attorney
Version History (4 versions)
- ✓ v4 (current) · 12/4/2025, 3:19:25 PM
"Added description" - v3 · 12/4/2025, 2:47:54 PM · View this version
"Added knowledge graph extraction" - v2 · 12/4/2025, 6:40:12 AM · View this version
"Added PINAX metadata" - v1 · 12/4/2025, 6:32:11 AM · View this version
"Reorganization group: Moses_vs_TurkeyHill_Court_Petition"
Parent
No children (leaf entity)