New Haven County Superior Court Writ and Summons Collection
Version: 4 (current) | Updated: 12/4/2025, 3:21:54 PM
Added description
Description
New Haven County Superior Court Writ and Summons Collection
Overview
This collection comprises writs and summons issued by the New Haven County Superior Court during the 18th and early 19th centuries (circa 1700‑1800). It is housed by the Connecticut State Library and is part of the NHSC BAAI project, which documents court records relevant to Black, African American, and Indigenous history. The collection is presented in English and includes both scanned image files (TIFF) and their corresponding OCR‑derived text.Background
The New Haven County Superior Court was the principal judicial body for the county’s civil and criminal matters. The Connecticut State Library acquired the records as part of a broader effort to digitize and describe the county’s legal archives. The NHSC BAAI initiative focuses on identifying cases involving African American and Indigenous individuals; the writs in this collection illustrate land‑partition disputes that intersect with the broader social history of the region.Contents
- Writ Summons 001: A summons directed to Samuel Braden of South Milford, ordering his appearance before the County Court in New Haven. The document cites a partition case involving Enoch Clark, his wife Sarah Clark, and Braden, concerning two parcels—Buckinghams Hill (42 acres ½ 15 rods) and the Northend of Four Mile Meadows (17 acres ½ 35 rods).
- Associated images: A high‑resolution JPEG (RG003NHSCBAAIPSPartitionLandClarkvsPrudden001.jpg) and a TIFF (RG003NHSCBAAIPSPartitionLandClarkvsPrudden001.tif) provide the original manuscript.
- Metadata: The collection’s subject headings include “Writ and Summons,” “Land Partition,” “Legal Documents,” “New Haven County,” “Milford,” “Enoch Clark,” “Sarah Clark,” and “Samuel Braden.” Place entities record the county, town, and specific land sites (Buckingham Hill, Four Mile Meadows).
Scope
The collection covers legal proceedings from the early 1700s to the mid‑1800s, focusing on land‑partition disputes in Milford, New Haven County. It documents the procedural aspects of writ issuance and the parties involved, offering insight into property rights, local governance, and the legal status of African American and Indigenous litigants in the region. The collection does not include subsequent court decisions or related case files beyond the writ itself.Entities
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Entity Relationships
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Raw Cheimarros Data
@file_pinax -> documents -> @new_haven_county_superior_court_writ_and_summons_collection:collection {title: "New Haven County Superior Court Writ and Summons Collection", creator: @new_haven_county_superior_court, institution: @connecticut_state_library, created_range: @date_1700_1800, language: "en", subjects: ["Writ and Summons","Land Partition","Legal Documents","New Haven County","Milford","Enoch Clark","Sarah Clark","Samuel Braden"], places: [@new_haven_county, @milford, @buckingham_hill, @four_mile_meadows]}
@new_haven_county_superior_court:organization {full_name: "New Haven County Superior Court"}
@connecticut_state_library:organization {full_name: "Connecticut State Library"}
@new_haven_county:place {state: @connecticut, country: @united_states}
@milford:place {county: @new_haven_county, state: @connecticut, country: @united_states}
@buckingham_hill:place {located_in: @milford}
@four_mile_meadows:place {located_in: @milford}
@enoch_clark:person {full_name: "Enoch Clark"}
@sarah_clark:person {full_name: "Sarah Clark", spouse_of: @enoch_clark}
@samuel_braden:person {full_name: "Samuel Braden"}
@clark_vs_prudden_case:event {type: "Partition of Land", parties: [@enoch_clark, @sarah_clark, @samuel_braden], location: @milford, description: "Partition of land between Clark parties and Samuel Braden in Milford, involving Buckinghams Hill and Four Mile Meadows"}
@writ_summons_001:document {type: "Writ and Summons", related_case: @clark_vs_prudden_case, OCR_source: @file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_partitionland_clarkvsprudden_001_jpg, image_source: @file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_partitionland_clarkvsprudden_001_tif}
@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_partitionland_clarkvsprudden_001_jpg -> OCR -> @writ_summons_001
@file_rg003_nhsc_baai_ps_partitionland_clarkvsprudden_001_tif -> image -> @writ_summons_001
@new_haven_county_superior_court_writ_and_summons_collection -> contains -> @clark_vs_prudden_case
@new_haven_county_superior_court_writ_and_summons_collection -> contains -> @writ_summons_001
@new_haven_county_superior_court_writ_and_summons_collection -> includes -> [@enoch_clark, @sarah_clark, @samuel_braden]
@nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject:concept {description: "Subject-heading field for Black, African American, and Indigenous cases and papers in New Haven County Superior Court files"}
@new_haven_county_superior_court_project:project {focus: "Black, African American, and Indigenous History", abbreviation: "NHSC_BAAI"}
@nhsc_baai_cases_papers_database:document {contains_cases: [@clark_vs_prudden_case], subject_field: @nhsc_baai_cases_papers_subject, project: @new_haven_county_superior_court_project}Metadata
Files (2)
OCR Text
To the Sheriff of the County of New Haven his Deputy or either Constable of Milford within S. County, Greeting. In the Name of the Govt. and Company of the State of Connecticut you are hereby Required to summon Samuel Braden of S. Milford to appear before the County Court to be holden at New Haven within and for S. County on the first Friday of April next there and there return your unto Enoch Clark and Sarah Clark his wife both of S. Milford: the said Enoch Clark, her in Right of his S. wife Sarah in a Plea of Partition brought it on one Statute Law of this State Constituted an Act for the Partition of Lands &c where it stands enacted that all Persons having or Holding or that Shall at any time hereafter have or Hold any Lands Tenements or Hereditaments as Coparceners, joint Tennants, or Tennants in common May be compelled by writ of Partition to Divide the same where the Parties cannot agree to make Partition among themselves, whereupon the Office say, that they and the Def. together and Undivided Do hold these Several Parcels of Land within the Bounds of the Township of S. Milford one Lye with at a Place called Buckinghams Hill containing Forty two Acres one Half and 15 Rods of Land and is Bounded South on Highway and Sam. Ellis his Land, East on Highway and John Burwells Land, North on Land of Joseph Jonathan and Enoch Braden and west on Lands of Phil's Treat and the Clarks Land, one other Piece at a Place called the Northend of the four Mile meadows and contains Seventeen Acres one Half and Thirty five rods of Land and is Bounded Easterly northeasterly and westerly one
Version History (4 versions)
- ✓ v4 (current) · 12/4/2025, 3:21:54 PM
"Added description" - v3 · 12/4/2025, 2:56:03 PM · View this version
"Added knowledge graph extraction" - v2 · 12/4/2025, 6:41:56 AM · View this version
"Added PINAX metadata" - v1 · 12/4/2025, 6:35:07 AM · View this version
"Reorganization group: Writ_and_Summons"
Parent
No children (leaf entity)