RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_Inquests_UnnamedGirl_001.jpg

1769 Inquest into the Death of Negro Child Lively

Version: 4 (current) | Updated: 12/4/2025, 3:21:06 PM

Added description

Description

1769 Inquest into the Death of Negro Child Lively – New Haven County

Overview

This collection comprises the original 1769 inquest record issued by the New Haven County Jury of Justices, a high‑resolution scanned image of the document, its accompanying TIFF scan, and the JSON metadata that describes the record. The materials document the jury’s findings that a Negro child named Lively, belonging to Joshua Moss, died of infirmity and weakness of body on 18 October 1769. The collection is part of the Connecticut State Library’s NHSC BAAI project, which digitizes and indexes New Haven County Superior Court files related to Black, African American, and Indigenous individuals.

Background

In the colonial period, New Haven County’s jury of justices conducted inquests into deaths that raised legal or moral questions. The 1769 inquest into Lively’s death is one of the earliest surviving documents addressing the fate of a Black child in Connecticut. The jury, led by Clerk Justice of Peace Thomas Matthews, comprised twelve jurors, including Stephen Matthews, John Mettel, Thomas Coll, and others. The record reflects contemporary legal practices and the social status of enslaved or free Black individuals in the colony.

Contents

  • Text record: A structured JSON entry summarizing the inquest’s title, creator, date, subjects, and description.
  • JPEG image: A scanned copy of the original inquest, with OCR text reproducing the jury’s verdict and the list of jurors.
  • TIFF image: A high‑resolution scan preserving the full detail of the original document.
  • Metadata: JSON files (pinax.json, RG003NHSCBAAIPSInquestsUnnamedGirl001.jpg.ref.json, RG003NHSCBAAIPSInquestsUnnamedGirl001.tif.ref.json) that encode place, people, and project relationships.
  • Project linkage: References to the NHSC BAAI project and its subject‑index field for Black, African American, and Indigenous cases.

Scope

The collection covers a single event—an inquest held on 18 October 1769 in New Haven County, Connecticut. It focuses on the death of a Black child, the legal procedures surrounding the case, and the individuals involved (the child, his guardian Joshua Moss, and the jury members). The materials are relevant to scholars of colonial legal history, African American studies, and the historiography of New Haven County. The collection does not include subsequent court proceedings or broader demographic data beyond the inquest record itself.

Entities

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Entity Relationships

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Raw Cheimarros Data

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

@new_haven_jury_of_justices:organization {type: "jury of justices", jurisdiction: @new_haven_county, created: @date_1769_10_18}

@lively:person {race: "Negro", role: "child", status: "deceased"}

@joshua_moss:person {role: "parent/guardian"}

@stephen_matthews:person {full_name: "Stephen Matthews"}
@john_mettel:person {full_name: "John Mettel"}
@thomas_coll:person {full_name: "Thomas Coll"}
@thomas_jaslittle:person {full_name: "Thomas Jaslittle"}
@samuel_doolittle:person {full_name: "Samuel Doolittle"}
@nathaniel_hannah:person {full_name: "Nathaniel Hannah"}
@david_scott:person {full_name: "David Scott"}
@gordham_fulford:person {full_name: "Gordham Fulford"}
@samuel_hickey:person {full_name: "Samuel Hickey"}
@thomas_weston:person {full_name: "Thomas Weston"}
@david_wooster:person {full_name: "David Wooster"}
@thomas_foot_jann:person {full_name: "Thomas foot Jann"}
@thomas_matthews:person {full_name: "Thomas Matthews", role: "Clerk Justice of the Peace"}

@new_haven_jury_of_justices -> members -> [@stephen_matthews, @john_mettel, @thomas_coll, @thomas_jaslittle, @samuel_doolittle, @nathaniel_hannah, @david_scott, @gordham_fulford, @samuel_hickey, @thomas_weston, @david_wooster, @thomas_foot_jann, @thomas_matthews]

@inquest_lively:document {title: "1769 Inquest into the Death of Negro Child Lively", creator: @new_haven_jury_of_justices, institution: @connecticut_state_library, created: @date_1769_10_18, language: "en", subjects: ["Inquest","Death Investigation","African American History","Legal Documents","18th Century"], description: "An inquest document from New Haven County detailing the jury's findings regarding the death of a Negro child named Lively, who died of infirmity and weakness of body.", place: @new_haven_county}

@new_haven_jury_of_justices -> issued -> @inquest_lively:document {date: @date_1769_10_18}

@inquest_lively -> concerned with -> @lively:person

@inquest_lively -> concerned with -> @joshua_moss:person {role: "owner"}

@nhsc_baai:project {title: "New Haven County Superior Court Files – Black, African American, and Indigenous", description: "Project to arrange, describe, and digitize New Haven County Superior Court records relating to Black, African American, and Indigenous individuals."}

@nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject:concept {description: "Subject-index field for New Haven County Superior Court files related to Black, African American, and Indigenous cases and papers."}

@nhsc_baai -> includes -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject:concept

@inquest_lively -> part of -> @nhsc_baai:project

@file_pinax -> metadata for -> @inquest_lively:document

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_inquests_unnamedgirl_001_jpg -> image of -> @inquest_lively:document

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_inquests_unnamedgirl_001_tif -> image of -> @inquest_lively:document

Metadata

Files (2)

RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_Inquests_UnnamedGirl_001.jpgJPEG
503.31 KB
OCR Text

New Haven County 18 October 1769 We the subscribers, A jury of justices for our sovereign Lord the King to Thomas Matthews, Clerk Justice of Peace for New Haven county On our oath present the following verdict on the body of a certain female child now lying dead belonging to Joshua Moss of said waterside in New Haven county that is to say we find that the Negro child Lively died of infirmity and weakness of body and no other cause. Stephen Matthews John Mettel foot Thomas Coll Thomas Jaslittle Samuel Doolittle Nathaniel Hannah David Scott Gordham Fulford Samuel Hickey Thomas Weston David Wooster Thomas foot Jann

Version History (4 versions)

  • ✓ v4 (current) · 12/4/2025, 3:21:06 PM
    "Added description"
  • v3 · 12/4/2025, 2:54:17 PM · View this version
    "Added knowledge graph extraction"
  • v2 · 12/4/2025, 6:41:26 AM · View this version
    "Added PINAX metadata"
  • v1 · 12/4/2025, 6:34:28 AM · View this version
    "Reorganization group: 1769_Inquest_NegroChild_Lively"

Parent

01KBKZYYQ78KTX3NJGS0B5XB7H

No children (leaf entity)