RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_Inquests_UnnamedGirl_002.jpg

1767 Inquest of Unnamed Negro Child

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

Added description

Description

1767 Inquest of Unnamed Negro Child – Waterbury, Connecticut

Overview

This collection comprises the surviving legal record of an August 1767 inquest into the death of an unnamed Negro child belonging to Joshua Moss in Waterbury, Connecticut. The primary artifact is a scanned image of the jury’s verdict, reproduced in both JPEG and TIFF formats, accompanied by metadata in the PINAX format. The collection is part of the New Haven County Superior Court Files (Record Group 3) and was digitized by the Connecticut State Library under the NHSC BAAI project, which focuses on Black, African American, and Indigenous cases.

Background

In colonial Connecticut, inquests were formal judicial inquiries into sudden or suspicious deaths. This case is among the earliest documented legal proceedings involving an African‑American child in the state, providing rare insight into the treatment of enslaved or free Black individuals in 18th‑century New England. The NHSC BAAI project seeks to preserve and make accessible such records, and this collection was created to support that mission.

Contents

  • Metadata (PINAX JSON): Describes the case, its creator (Joshua Moss), date (August 1767), and subject headings (Inquests, African American History, Legal Documents, Child Death, Waterbury).
  • Verdict Image (JPEG): OCR‑enabled image showing the text “Verdict of Jury of Inquest – Female Child (Negro) belonging to Joshua Moss Waterbury Aug. 1767.”
  • Verdict Image (TIFF): High‑resolution, non‑OCR version of the same document.
  • Associated References: Links to the New Haven County Superior Court Record Group 3 and the NHSC BAAI project documentation.

Scope

The collection covers a single inquest event in August 1767, situated in Waterbury, Connecticut, involving an unnamed Negro child and his parent, Joshua Moss. It includes only the verdict record and its associated metadata; no additional court filings, witness statements, or subsequent proceedings are present. The collection is limited to English‑language documents and is held in the public domain, with no specified usage restrictions.

Entities

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Entity Relationships

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Raw Cheimarros Data

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

@connecticut:place {country: @united_states}

@joshua_moss:person {role: "parent of unnamed Negro child"}

@unnamed_negro_child:person {age: "child", ethnicity: "Negro", status: "deceased"}

@inquest_unnamed_negro_child:event {when: @date_1767_08, where: @waterbury, involved: [@joshua_moss, @unnamed_negro_child]}

@inquest_1767_collection:collection {title: "1767 Inquest of Unnamed Negro Child", includes: @inquest_unnamed_negro_child:event}

@file_pinax:file {type: "metadata", format: "PINAX", title: "1767 Inquest of Unnamed Negro Child", creator: @joshua_moss, institution: @connecticut_state_library, created: @date_1767_08, subjects: ["Inquests","African American History","Legal Documents","Child Death","Waterbury (Conn.)"], description: "Inquest records from August 1767 regarding the death of an unnamed Negro child belonging to Joshua Moss in Waterbury, Connecticut."}

@file_pinax -> describes -> @inquest_1767_collection:collection

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_inquests_unnamedgirl_002_jpg:file {type: "image/jpeg", ocr: true, ocr_text: "Verdict of Jury of Inquest\n\nFemale Child (Negro)\nbelonging to\nJoshua Moss\nWaterbury\nAug. 1767"}

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_inquests_unnamedgirl_002_jpg -> depicts -> @inquest_unnamed_negro_child:event

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_inquests_unnamedgirl_002_tif:file {type: "image/tiff", ocr: false}

@rg003:document {title: "New Haven County Superior Court Files – Record Group 3"}

@new_haven_county_superior_court:organization {name: "New Haven County Superior Court"}

@rg003 -> part of -> @new_haven_county_superior_court:organization

@new_haven_county_superior_court -> contains -> @inquest_unnamed_negro_child:event

@connecticut_state_library:organization {name: "Connecticut State Library"}

@nhsc_baai_project:concept {description: "Project to arrange, describe, and digitize New Haven County Superior Court records concerning Black, African American, and Indigenous individuals."}

@connecticut_state_library -> maintains -> @nhsc_baai_project:concept

@nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject:concept {description: "Subject-index field for New Haven County Superior Court Files – Black, African American, and Indigenous (BAAI) cases and papers."}

@nhsc_baai_project -> includes -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject:concept

Metadata

Files (2)

RG003_NHSC_BAAI_PS_Inquests_UnnamedGirl_002.jpgJPEG
347.15 KB
OCR Text

Verdict of Jury of Inquest Female Child (Negro) belonging to Joshua Moss Waterbury Aug. 1767

Version History (4 versions)

  • ✓ v4 (current) · 12/4/2025, 3:21:12 PM
    "Added description"
  • v3 · 12/4/2025, 2:54:22 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, 6:34:30 AM · View this version
    "Reorganization group: 1767_Inquest_NegroChild_Unnamed"

Parent

01KBKZYYQ78KTX3NJGS0B5XB7H

No children (leaf entity)