RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_IndigenousCases_MosesvsTurkeyHill_B_012.jpg

Moses vs. Turkey Hill Indigenous Case Sale Report and Accounting

Version: 4 (current) | Updated: 12/4/2025, 3:19:36 PM

Added description

Description

Moses vs. Turkey Hill Indigenous Case Sale Report and Accounting

Overview

This collection comprises a series of documents produced in 1871 by Watrous C. Wakeslee, the appointed overseer of the Turkey Hill Indians, concerning the sale of tribal land in Derby, Connecticut. The materials include a court‑reported sale transaction, financial accounting statements, and related court filings. The items are presented as high‑resolution JPEG and TIFF scans, accompanied by metadata that records dates, parties, and financial details. The collection is held by the Connecticut State Library and is part of the New Haven County Superior Court (NHSC) files, specifically the Black, African American, and Indigenous (BAAI) subset.

Background

The sale was authorized by an order of the New Haven Superior Court during its May 1871 session. The transaction involved the sale of a parcel of land owned by the Turkey Hill Indians to Sydney H. Downs for $1,000. The sale was recorded in a petition filed by Roswell Moses, Elisa Franklin, Lavinia Breckinridge, Elizabeth Moses, and Georgiana Moses—members of the tribe. Watrous Wakeslee reported the sale and its accounting to the court on September 20, 1871, and the documents were filed on September 19, 1871.

Contents

  • Sale Report: A formal report to the Superior Court detailing the authorized sale, the parties involved, and the court order.
  • Accounting Statement: A ledger showing the $1,000 sale proceeds, $40 in expenses (court and counsel fees), and the allocation of $960: $600 invested in real estate in New Haven and $240 deposited in the Derby Savings Bank.
  • Court Filings: Copies of the petition, decree, and related court documents.
  • Photographic Evidence: High‑resolution JPEG and TIFF scans of the original documents, including the court report, accounting ledger, and supporting affidavits.

Scope

The collection covers the period from the May 1871 court session through the September 1871 filing. It is geographically focused on Derby and New Haven, Connecticut, and thematically centers on Indigenous land transactions, legal proceedings, and financial accounting within the New Haven County Superior Court. The materials provide primary evidence of 19th‑century Indigenous land sales and the administrative processes governing such transactions.

Entities

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Entity Relationships

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Raw Cheimarros Data

@watrous_c_wakeslee:person {full_name: "Watrous C. Wakeslee", role: "Overseer of Turkey Hill Indians"}

@connecticut_state_library:organization {type: "State Library"}

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

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

@new_haven_superior_court:organization {type: "Superior Court", location: @new_haven_connecticut}

@roswell_moses:person {full_name: "Roswell Moses"}

@elisa_franklin:person {full_name: "Elisa Franklin"}

@lavinia_breckinridge:person {full_name: "Lavinia Breckinridge"}

@elizabeth_moses:person {full_name: "Elizabeth Moses"}

@georgiana_moses:person {full_name: "Georgiana Moses"}

@sydney_h_downs:person {full_name: "Sydney H. Downs"}

@turkey_hill_land:place {description: "Land in Derby owned by Turkey Hill Indians"}

@derby_savings_bank:organization {name: "Derby Savings Bank", location: @derby_connecticut}

@sale_transaction:event {date: @date_1871_05, amount: 1000, currency: "USD", buyer: @sydney_h_downs, seller: @watrous_c_wakeslee, property: @turkey_hill_land, expenses: 40, investment_total: 960, investment_breakdown: {real_estate_new_haven: 600, savings_bank_derby: 240}}

@pinax_collection:document {title: "Moses vs. Turkey Hill Indigenous Case Sale Report and Accounting", creator: @watrous_c_wakeslee, institution: @connecticut_state_library, created: @date_1871_09_19, language: "en", subjects: ["Indigenous cases","Land sale","Financial accounting","New Haven County Superior Court","Turkey Hill Indians"], description: "Collection of documents related to the sale of land by Watrous C. Wakeslee, overseer of the Turkey Hill Indians, as part of a court case involving Roswell Moses and other members of the tribe.", places: [@derby_connecticut, @new_haven_connecticut]}

@moses_vs_turkey_hill:event {description: "Legal case concerning sale of land by Watrous C. Wakeslee as overseer of Turkey Hill Indians", date: @date_1871_09_20, location: @new_haven_superior_court, parties: [@watrous_c_wakeslee, @roswell_moses, @elisa_franklin, @lavinia_breckinridge, @elizabeth_moses, @georgiana_moses]}

@file_pinax -> documents -> @pinax_collection:document

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_indigenouscases_mosesvsturkeyhill_b_012_jpg -> depicts -> @watrous_c_wakeslee:person {role: "Overseer"} {date: @date_1871_09_20}

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_indigenouscases_mosesvsturkeyhill_b_014_jpg -> contains -> @sale_transaction:event {excerpt: "sale of land for $1,000, expenses $40, investment $960"} {date: @date_1871_05}

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_indigenouscases_mosesvsturkeyhill_b_015_jpg -> contains -> @sale_transaction:event {excerpt: "$600 invested in New Haven real estate"} {date: @date_1871_09_19}

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_indigenouscases_mosesvsturkeyhill_b_013_jpg -> reports -> @moses_vs_turkey_hill:event {date: @date_1871_09_20}

Metadata

Files (8)

RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_IndigenousCases_MosesvsTurkeyHill_B_012.jpgJPEG
101.24 KB
OCR Text

Furman Hill Indians Report of Chalivous C. Watalee Overseer Sept. 20, 1871 Returned to Court & Filed Othoway Club Recorded Vol. 27, Page 138

RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_IndigenousCases_MosesvsTurkeyHill_B_013.jpgJPEG
230.13 KB
OCR Text

To the Honorable Superior Court now in session in New Haven within and for the county of New Haven at its September term A.D. 1871, the undersigned Watrous C Wakelee of Derby in said county of New Haven beg leave to report that at the May term of said Court A.D. 1871, held at New Haven in and for the county of New Haven, the said Watrous C Wakelee was authorized and empowered, as the overseer of a tribe of Indians located in said Derby, also known as the Turkey Hill Indians, to sell a certain piece of land and real estate situated in said Derby, and fully described in the petition of Roswell Moses, Elisa Franklin, Lavinia Breckinridge, Elizabeth Moses, and Georgiana Moses, members of said tribe of Indians, and brought to said May term of the Superior Court now on file on the records of said Superior Court, that pursuant to an order and decree of said Superior Court passed at the May session thereof 1871, upon the aforesaid petition, he the said Watrous C Wakelee, sold the property

RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_IndigenousCases_MosesvsTurkeyHill_B_014.jpgJPEG
210.33 KB
OCR Text

and real estate described in said petition and decree, on the day of May A.D. 1871, to Sydney H. Downs of said Derby for the price and sum of one thousand dollars, which sum was then and there paid by the undersigned by said Downs. That the said sum of one thousand dollars was the best price which the undersigned, after due effort made could obtain for said land, that the expenses of said sale including the costs of said petition, decree and counsel fees, amounted to the sum of Forty Dollars, which said expenses were paid by the undersigned out of said sum of one thousand dollars received as appraised; that he has invested the proceeds of said sale to wit the sum of Nine Hundred and Sixty Dollars as follows: to wit Seven hundred and twenty dollars of said sum are placed in the Derby Savings bank in Birmingham in said Derby at interest—the remaining two hundred and forty dollars of said Nine Hundred

RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_IndigenousCases_MosesvsTurkeyHill_B_015.jpgJPEG
112.86 KB
OCR Text

$600 are invested in real estate situated in the City of New Haven; said investment in real estate being the purchase of an unencumbered lot of land situated as aforesaid by Warranty deed duly recorded on the Land records of said town of New Haven—all of which is respectfully submitted. Dated at Derby this 19th day of September A.D. 1871. Watrous C. Wakeslee

Version History (4 versions)

  • ✓ v4 (current) · 12/4/2025, 3:19:36 PM
    "Added description"
  • v3 · 12/4/2025, 2:49:10 PM · View this version
    "Added knowledge graph extraction"
  • v2 · 12/4/2025, 6:40:21 AM · View this version
    "Added PINAX metadata"
  • v1 · 12/4/2025, 6:32:39 AM · View this version
    "Reorganization group: Sale_Report_and_Accounting"

Parent

01KBKZYGGDPYWYMZJSPSTVQEEY

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