As the Uncovering New Haven project comes to a close, we will use the final months of this blog to publish a series of compilations detailing our discoveries in areas of major research interest.
In honor of Black and African American History month, February is devoted to highlighting the African-descended, African American, Black, and Indigenous persons and groups we have found in the New Haven County and Superior Court records.
Please note that this compilation is not comprehensive. To date, we have discovered over 500 cases involving these and other marginalized groups in the New Haven County and Superior Court records. This retrospective—along with the others to come—is meant to serve as a starting point for future researchers and investigators, giving a glimpse into the information these records contain.
Illustration from Slavery in the United States by Charles Ball, 1837. Public domain image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Although most people associate slavery with the American South, slavery also provided a significant source of labor for New England’s economy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and it was practiced in Connecticut until shortly before the Civil War. Indeed, the last enslaved people in this state weren’t freed until 1848.
Writ for William Hoadly vs. Samuell Pond, November 1712. Image courtesy of the Connecticut State Library.
In the eighteenth century, it was not uncommon for matters regarding slavery to be tried in court. This post examines the case of Devenshare Nero, an African-descended man who found himself at the center of a protracted legal dispute between two enslavers.
Digitized case documents (1712)
Digitized case documents (1714)
Connecticut Colony seal from colonial currency. Public domain image courtesy of Godot13 / Smithsonian Institution, via Wikimedia Commons.
Debt has been used as a tool to control individuals and groups throughout human history, and it is by far the most common type of case found in the New Haven County Court records. It was not unusual for the Indigenous peoples of colonial Connecticut, who traveled between the English settlements and their own communities, to find themselves entangled in debt lawsuits.
Indigenous Peoples and Debt in the Colonial Period
Writ for Barnabas Baldwin vs. Cubitt Freeman, March 1711. Image courtesy of the Connecticut State Library.
Cubitt Freeman, an Indigenous man described as “an Indian of Milford” in the New Haven County Court records, was sued by two English colonists for debt owed. He chose not to respond to the summons.
Cubitt Freeman and the Mounting Debts
Digitized case documents (Barnabas Baldwin vs. Cubitt Freeman)
Digitized case documents (Samuel Clark vs. Cubit Freeman)
Painting of John Rolfe and Pocahontas from the early 1850s by J. W. Glass. Public domain image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
In colonial New England, slavery followed the status of the mother. As a result, it was not uncommon in the 1700s for enslaved Black men to partner with free Indigenous women, so their children would have the chance to be free.
Indigenous Slavery and Intermarriage
Writ for Samuel Tyler vs. Mathew McCure, November 1745. Image courtesy of the Connecticut State Library.
In colonial New England, a young girl named Nelle had a freewoman mother from a Long Island tribe and an enslaved Black father. Two colonists disputed her status in the New Haven County Court: was she a “slave for life,” or could she be freed when she turned 18?
Writ for Samuel Hall vs. Theophilus Yale, March 1754. Image courtesy of the Connecticut State Library.
Given that enslaved people in colonial New England were not allowed to choose their living circumstances or even exercise autonomy over their own bodies, they were particularly vulnerable to epidemics. When “a Stranger” brought the dreaded smallpox to Wallingford in 1751, the town selectmen ordered an African-descended woman named Sim to provide service in a house that contained the infected. After she contracted the disease and died, her enslaver sued the Wallingford selectmen for damages.
Writ for Joseph Rogers vs. Isaac Gorham, November 1727. Image courtesy of the Connecticut State Library.
One of the many cruelties of chattel slavery was the reduction of human beings to financial investments, valued only for the labor they could perform in lifelong service to a captor. As such, enslaved people who were unable to work due to acute illnesses or chronic conditions were a major point of contention among the New Haven colonists. If an enslaved person’s affliction could be traced back to the time of purchase, their enslaver sought restitution in court. This post examines the cases of Harry, Dick, Fortune, Hanah, Ishmael, and Prince—six African-descended people who found themselves at the center of such legal disputes.
“The Defendant Did Affirm Said Boy to Be Well & Sound”
Digitized case documents (Harry)
Digitized case documents (Dick)
Digitized case documents (Fortune)
Digitized case documents (Hanah)
Digitized case documents (Ishmael)
Digitized case documents (Prince)
Writ for Phillis of New Haven vs. John Clark, January 1765. Image courtesy of the Connecticut State Library.
When Phillis, a New Haven freewoman of African descent, was assaulted and unlawfully deprived of her liberty, she took her attacker to court for unjust imprisonment—and she won her case. This was the first case we discovered in the New Haven County Court records involving an African-descended plaintiff.
“Still Doth Most Unjustly Imprison”: Phillis’s Fight for Freedom
Free! postcard from collection of twelve titled carte-de-visite size cards depicting the evolution of the life of an African American man from a slave to a Union soldier, circa 1863. Courtesy of Library Company of Philadelphia, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons.
While slavery was practiced in Connecticut until 1848, it was not legal in all scenarios. This post profiles the cases of Aaron Moree, Philip of Cheshire, Caroline Saunderson, and several others who resisted illegal slavery and forced servitude.
Illegal Enslavement in Colonial and Early American Connecticut
Digitized case documents (Aaron Moree)
Digitized case documents (Philip of Cheshire vs. vs. Moses Blakesley)
Digitized case documents (Philip of Cheshire vs. Samuel Merriam)
Digitized case documents (Dick of Wallingford)
Digitized case documents (Dinah and Betty of Wallingford: Hall vs. Ives and Feilds)
Digitized case documents (Dinah and Betty of Wallingford: Hall vs. Moss)
Digitized case documents (Dick of Middletown)
Digitized case documents (Sharp of Cheshire)
Digitized case documents (Amy of Wallingford)
Digitized case documents (Cato of Woodbridge) [in progress]
Digitized case documents (Caroline Saunderson)
Character witness statement for Comme Simons vs. James Shop, September 1784. Image courtesy of the Connecticut State Library.
In colonial Connecticut, debtors could be legally bound in indentured servitude to their creditors in order to fulfill their debts. This post examines the case of James Shop, a Black freeman of New Haven, who was indebted and subsequently bound to Comme Simons, a Black freeman of Woodbury.
Map of known Indigenous territories in southeastern New England from Native-Land.ca. Please be advised the creators of this website state that these maps do not represent official or legal boundaries of Indigenous nations, and that people should contact specific nations with questions. Also, please note that most existing maps of Indigenous territories are problematic because they were created from the point of view of the dominant culture and contain inaccurate names and locations.
We discuss cases in the New Haven County Court records involving Indigenous persons, groups, and lands in Connecticut, and the difficulties finding such documentation in colonial records.
Tracing Indigenous Presence in the New Haven County Court Records
Portrait of a young African woman by Wenceslaus Hollar, 1645. Courtesy of Folger Shakespeare Library, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license, via Wikimedia Commons.
We examine several cases in the New Haven County Superior Court records involving Black, African American, and Indigenous persons and groups—including the outcome of the protracted legal dispute between the enslavers of Devenshare Nero.
Portrait of a Man in a Red Suit by Joshua Reynolds, circa 1740-1780. Public domain image courtesy of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery, via Wikimedia Commons.
Africans were enslaved in colonial Connecticut, but there were still opportunities for leadership. Those who were elected by their peers to become Black Governors and Kings held great importance in the Black communities of New England from the mid-1700s to shortly before the American Civil War. In addition to discussing what we know of these leaders, we identify the first court case involving a Black Governor of Connecticut that we discovered in the New Haven County Court records.
Black Governors and Kings of Connecticut
Digitized case documents in progress.
Portrait of a Young Woman, formerly attributed to Jean-Étienne Liotard, late 18th century. Public domain image courtesy of Saint Louis Art Museum, via Wikimedia Commons.
In this post, we examine a debt case involving a freeborn woman named Rhoda who was sold into slavery. What makes this case particularly unusual is that three witnesses who testified in favor of Rhoda’s freeborn status provided invaluable information about her matrilineal ancestry—a tremendous boon for current researchers tracing the family histories of African-descended people in New England.
Digitized case documents in progress.
In addition to the blog, we profiled several cases involving African-descended, African American, Black, and Indigenous persons and groups on Instagram:
Eighteenth-century court cases remind us that the slave trade was fully operational in New England.
In January 1773, York and Gad, two freemen of New Haven, were sued for debt in two separate cases.
A 1756 debt case involved a man of African descent named Robin, who was enslaved by Abner Johnson of Wallingford but got sick at Aaron Day’s house in New Haven.
There is a popular meme on the internet that Alexander Hamilton once told Thomas Jefferson there weren’t enough words in the English language for him to express how much he wanted to hit him with a chair. Although that meme has been debunked, on at least two occasions in the New Haven County Court records, colonial men did commit assault with a chair. One such case from 1777 involved an African-descended servant called Boston.
On the back of an evidence summons for a trespass case, we discovered an advertisement from 1750 requesting the return of Sabina, a 20-year-old woman of Indigenous heritage who escaped her captor, George Gorham of Stratford.
In the New Haven County Court records dating from 1789 to 1806, we discovered 46 cases involving an African-descended freeman and Revolutionary War veteran named Prince Umstead.
We have uncovered at least 17 cases in the New Haven County Court records where there was mention of African-descended persons, but the clerks did not record their names.
In 1750, Joshua Atwater of Wallingford sued John Hurlbutt of Middletown for failing to pay wages owed for the military service of Peter, who was identified as an “Indian” and a “Slave for Life, Enlisting into his Majestys Service as private Soldier” for an expedition to Canada.
In August 1785, Sophia “Sophy” Saunderson (née Jackson) of New Haven sought a divorce from James “Quarm” Saunderson for bigamy.
A sheriff’s bill for the hanging of Joseph Mountain, a Black man who was executed on October 20, 1790 for the rape of Eunice Thompson of New Haven, “a Maid of the Age of thirteen years,” starkly demonstrates the financial impact of capital punishment.
In December 1818, Reuben Hickcox of Woodbridge sued Erastus Hoadly of New Haven regarding a planned traveling museum that failed to occur. Among other materials, this exhibit contained a wax figure titled “Black Boy.”
A Connecticut family launched a lawsuit in 1798 after losing a great deal of money in the Yazoo Land Scandal of Georgia, which concerned lands that had been “Settled, occupied enjoyed & owned... by certain Indian Nations Numerous, warlike & powerful denominated Chactaws Chickasaws & Creeks.”
As noted in a previous post, the records for these cases, as well as several of the cases previously profiled in this blog, are currently in the process of being digitized. They will eventually be available for public viewing at the Connecticut Digital Archive (CTDA).
This project is made possible through funding from the Historic Documents Preservation fund of the Office of the Public Records Administrator. We also recognize the past support of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).
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