New Haven County Superior Court Inquests and Wills Collection

Version: 4 (current) | Updated: 12/4/2025, 3:21:25 PM

Added description

Description

New Haven County Superior Court Inquests and Wills Collection

Overview

This collection comprises high‑resolution archival copies of inquest reports and wills issued by the New Haven County Superior Court. It is curated by the Connecticut State Library and is part of the NHSC BAAI Cases Papers Subject index, a database that catalogs court documents related to Black, African American, and Indigenous individuals. The materials are presented in English and are available as two large TIFF files, each exceeding 30 MB in size.

Background

The New Haven County Superior Court has maintained a comprehensive record of legal proceedings since the 19th century. In recent years, the Connecticut State Library has undertaken a digitization project to preserve and make accessible court documents that illuminate the legal experiences of marginalized communities. The NHSC BAAI Cases Papers Subject index was created to provide a searchable, subject‑based framework for these records, linking each document to controlled terms such as “Inquests,” “Wills,” and “Black, African American, and Indigenous History.”

Contents

  • Inquest Reports – Official investigations into deaths, including medical and legal findings.
  • Will Documents – Testaments outlining the distribution of assets after death.
  • Metadata – Each file is accompanied by descriptive metadata that identifies the case, the parties involved, and the relevant subject headings.
  • Digital Files – Two TIFF images (RG003NHSCBAAIPSInquestsWill001.tif and RG003NHSCBAAIPSInquestsWill002.tif) provide high‑resolution scans of the original documents, preserving fine detail for scholarly use.

Scope

The collection covers all inquest and will documents from the New Haven County Superior Court that involve Black, African American, or Indigenous individuals. While the exact dates of the documents are not specified in the metadata, the court’s archival holdings span from the early 1800s to the present, so the collection likely includes cases from that broad period. Geographically, the collection is confined to New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The collection excludes non‑legal documents and records that do not pertain to the specified demographic groups.

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_county_superior_court:organization {type: "court", location: @new_haven_county}

@connecticut_state_library:organization {type: "state library", location: @connecticut}

@nhsc:concept {full_form: "New Haven County Superior Court Files"}

@baai:concept {full_form: "Black, African American, and Indigenous"}

@cases_papers:concept {description: "case files and related papers of New Haven County Superior Court"}

@subject_field:concept {description: "subject‑heading field for controlled terms"}

@nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject:concept {description: "subject index field for New Haven County Superior Court Files – Black, African American, and Indigenous cases and papers"}

@inquests:concept {description: "legal investigations into deaths"}

@wills:concept {description: "legal documents expressing testamentary wishes"}

@legal_documents:concept {description: "official legal records"}

@nhsc_inquests_wills_collection:collection {title: "New Haven County Superior Court Inquests and Wills Collection", creator: @new_haven_county_superior_court, institution: @connecticut_state_library, subjects: [@inquests, @wills, @baai, @legal_documents, @new_haven_county], language: "en", description: "High‑resolution archival copies of inquests and wills from the New Haven County Superior Court, focusing on Black, African American, and Indigenous cases."}

@file_pinax -> metadata for -> @nhsc_inquests_wills_collection

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_inquests_will_001_tif -> part of -> @nhsc_inquests_wills_collection

@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_inquests_will_002_tif -> part of -> @nhsc_inquests_wills_collection

@nhsc_inquests_wills_collection -> indexed by -> @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject

@nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject -> composed of -> [@nhsc, @baai, @cases_papers, @subject_field]

Metadata

Files (2)

Version History (4 versions)

  • ✓ v4 (current) · 12/4/2025, 3:21:25 PM
    "Added description"
  • v3 · 12/4/2025, 2:54:30 PM · View this version
    "Added knowledge graph extraction"
  • v2 · 12/4/2025, 6:41:36 AM · View this version
    "Added PINAX metadata"
  • v1 · 12/4/2025, 6:34:30 AM · View this version
    "Reorganization group: High_Resolution_Archival_Copies"

Parent

01KBKZYYQVGG5ST3A2MTVSQTHA

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