In this Book
- The Case of the Piglet’s Paternity: Trials from the New Haven Colony, 1639–1663
- Book
- 2015
- Published by: Wesleyan University Press
- Series: The Driftless Connecticut Series & Garnet Books
In the middle of the seventeenth century, judges in the short-lived New Haven Colony presided over a remarkable series of trials ranging from murder and bestiality, to drunken sailors, frisky couples, faulty shoes, and shipwrecks. The cases were reported in an unusually vivid manner, allowing readers to witness the twists and turns of fortune as the participants battled with life and liberty at stake. When the records were eventually published in the 1850s, they were both difficult to read and heavily edited to delete sexual matters. Rendered here in modernized English and with insightful commentary by eminent Judge Jon C. Blue, the New Haven trials allow readers to immerse themselves in the exciting legal battles of America's earliest days.
The Case of the Piglet's Paternity assembles thirty-three of the most significant and intriguing trials of the period. As a book that examines a distinctive judicial system from a modern legal perspective, it is sure to be of interest to readers in law and legal history. For less litigious readers, Blue offers a worm's eye view of the full spectrum of early colonial society—political leaders and religious dissidents, farmhands and apprentices, women and children.
A Driftless Connecticut Series Book, funded by the Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.
Table of Contents
- 1. The Indian’s Name
- pp. 26-32
- 2. The Piglet’s Paternity
- pp. 33-39
- 3. The Exploding Gun
- pp. 40-44
- 4. The “Billingsgate Slut”
- pp. 45-48
- 5. New Haven’s Watergate
- pp. 49-53
- 6. The Sexual Harassment Case
- pp. 54-61
- 7. The Women Dissidents
- pp. 62-72
- 8. The Shipwreck
- pp. 73-83
- 9. The Faulty Shoes
- pp. 84-95
- 10. The Drunken Sailors
- pp. 96-100
- 11. The Competing Claimants
- pp. 101-106
- 12. The Frisky Couple
- pp. 107-110
- 13. The Rhode Island Privateer
- pp. 111-116
- 14. The Reputed Witch
- pp. 117-127
- 15. The Milford Bestiality Case
- pp. 128-131
- 16. The Boat Sex Case
- pp. 132-137
- 17. The Youth Sex Cases
- pp. 138-148
- 18. The Disputed Will
- pp. 149-152
- 19. The Farmhand Arsonist
- pp. 153-157
- 20. The Stolen Silverware
- pp. 158-162
- 21. The Vanished Husband
- pp. 163-166
- 22. The Attempted Bestiality Case
- pp. 167-171
- 23. The Clamorous Quaker
- pp. 172-178
- 24. The Currier’s Apprentice
- pp. 179-184
- 25. The Milford Paternity Case
- pp. 185-194
- 26. The Brickmaker’s Apprentice
- pp. 195-200
- 27. The Horse-Trading Case
- pp. 201-206
- 28. The Milford Arson Case
- pp. 207-213
- 29. The Southold Slander
- pp. 214-218
- 30. The Bigamist’s Wife
- pp. 219-221
- 31. The Stamford Murder Mystery
- pp. 222-230
- 32. The Lecherous Swineherd
- pp. 231-240
- 33. The Burning Barn
- pp. 241-252
- Acknowledgments
- pp. 253-254