THE CASE
OF THE
PIGLET’S
PATERNITY
A Driftless Connecticut Series Book
This book is a 2015 selection in the Driftless Connecticut Series, for an outstanding book in any field on a Connecticut topic or written by a Connecticut author.
Jon C. Blue
THE CASE
OF THE
PIGLET’S
PATERNITY
Trials from theNew Haven Colony,1639–1663
Wesleyan University Press
Middletown, Connecticut
Wesleyan University Press
Middletown CT 06459
© 2015 Jon C. Blue
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Designed by Mindy Basinger Hill
Typeset in Adobe Jenson Pro
The Driftless Connecticut Series is funded by the Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.
Wesleyan University Press is a member of the Green Press Initiative. The paper used in this book meets their minimum requirement for recycled paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Blue, Jon C., author.
The case of the piglet’s paternity : trials from the New Haven colony, 1639–1663 / Jon C. Blue.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8195-7537-1 (cloth : alk. paper) —
ISBN 978-0-8195-7538-8 (ebook)
1. Trials—New-Haven Colony—History.
2. Trials—Connecticut—History.
3. Justice, Administration of—Connecticut—History.
4. Law—New-Haven Colony—History.
I. Title.
KF220.B58 2015
347.746'0709032—dc23 2014048332
5 4 3 2 1
Cover illustration: Detail from sow and pigs, Catchpenny Prints.
FOR JEAN
CONTENTS
Introduction The New Haven Trials 1
6 The Sexual Harassment Case 54
11 The Competing Claimants 101
13 The Rhode Island Privateer 111
15 The Milford Bestiality Case 128
22 The Attempted Bestiality Case 167
24 The Currier’s Apprentice 179
25 The Milford Paternity Case 185
26 The Brickmaker’s Apprentice 195