Archives & Library Special Collections
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Call Number: 1978.010
Extent: 0.08 Linear feet, in one folder
This collection contains bills of sale for the purchase of slaves in Queens County, N.Y. from 1751 to 1793, prior to the abolition of slavery in New York State. Three of the six bills of sale document the purchase of slaves by the Wyckoff Family of Queens County, as well as John Van Wyck.
Names:
- Van Wyck family
- Wyckoff family
Places:
Subjects:
- African Americans — New York (State) — Queens County
- Slavery — New York (State) — Queens County
Types of material:
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Call Number: 1985.029
Extent: 1.0 Linear feet, in one oversize box.
Membership certificate to the Colonization Society of the State of New-York issued to the Reverend Alexander Hamilton Bishop, dated 1849.
The Colonization Society of the State of New-York, established circa 1820, was an auxiliary to the American Colonization Society, which was originally established in 1817 as the American Society for Colonizing the Free People of Colour of the United States. The Society supported the idea of helping free African Americans settle in Africa so as to enjoy greater freedoms.
Reverend Alexander Hamilton Bishop was born on November 14, 1810 in New Haven, CT. He married Susan Holmes, who was the daughter of Obadiah Holmes (1790-1867) and Sarah Van Wyck (1793-1825), both of whom descended from from well-known Long Island families. Reverend Bishop was the pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church in Astoria, Queens County, Long Island. He died in New Haven on February 3, 1854.
Names:
- Colonization Society of the State of New-York
- Bishop, Alexander Hamilton
Places:
Subjects:
- African Americans — Colonization
Types of material:
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Call Number: 1978.191
Extent: 0.08 Linear feet, in one folder
The articles of incorporation for the Brooklyn Brush Manufacturing Company, founded by Freeman Murrow and incorporated in 1848. The document features a list of subscribers as well as a diagram of Freeman Murrow’s patented double adjustable paint brush.
Names:
- Brooklyn Brush Manufacturing Company
Places:
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
Subjects:
- Manufactures — New York (State) — Kings County
Types of material:
- Articles of incorporation.
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Call Number: 1986.054
Extent: 1.34 Linear feet, in one oversize box.
The Ditmas family papers span the period 1647 to 1900 and consist of indentures, deeds, bonds, bills of sale, mortgages, agreements, and other documents, mostly regarding land transactions in the town of Flatbush in Kings County, N.Y. Other documents pertain to transactions involving African American slaves; land transactions in the towns of Bushwick and Gowanus in Kings County; and land disputes. One document in the collection is written in Dutch.
The Ditmas family (also spelled Ditmars) resided in the town of Flatbush in Kings County, N.Y. Family members chiefly represented in this collection include Johannes Ditmas and his descendants through the following three generations. Johannes Ditmas was a Quartermaster in the Kings County Regiment of Militia and participated in the Revolutionary War. His son, John J. Ditmas, married Priscilla Burr of Fairfield, CT. John and Priscilla’s son, also named John J. Ditmas, married Elizabeth Armstrong of Pawtucket, R.I., and later moved from Flatbush to Sunbury, OH. John and Elizabeth’s daughter, Elizabeth Armstrong Ditmas (b. 1853), had been born in Flatbush and continued to reside there as of the 1890s. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution through her relation to her great-grandfather, Johannes Ditmas.
Names:
- Ditmars family
- Ditmas family
- Ditmas, Elizabeth Armstrong, b. 1853
- Ditmas, Johannes
- Ditmas, John J.
- Ditmas, Priscilla Burr
Places:
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Bushwick (New York, N.Y.)
- Flatbush (New York, N.Y.)
- Gowanus (New York, N.Y.)
Subjects:
- Families — New York (State) — Kings County
- Real property — New York (State) — Kings County
- Slavery — New York (State) — Kings County
Types of material:
- Agreements
- Bills of sale
- Bonds (legal records)
- Deeds
- Indentures
- Land titles — New York (State) — Kings County
- Mortgages
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Call Number: ARC.198
Extent: 0.42 Linear feet, in one manuscript box.
The Augustus Griffin papers span the period 1792 to 1902 and consist of three bound volumes containing the diaries and genealogical research notes of Augustus Griffin, a resident of the village of Oysterponds on the North Fork of Long Island. Griffin’s diaries span the period 1792 to 1851 and record his daily activities and travels throughout Long Island and the New York City area, as well as notable local events and daily weather conditions. Griffin also makes numerous references to his fellow residents of Oysterponds and other parts of Long Island, and supplements his diaries with an index indicating the page numbers on which individual names can be found. The diaries also include references to African Americans, such as an entry about a free African American purchasing his relative’s freedom. Griffin’s genealogical research notes, dating from circa 1859 to 1863, are compiled in a separate volume and record marriages and deaths in the Long Island towns of Southold and Shelter Island, as well as other parts of the County and State of New York, throughout the period 1677 to 1859. The notes are also accompanied by an alphabetical index. The collection also includes a small amount of correspondence dating from 1889 to 1902 and addressed to Griffin’s grandson, Chatham A. Griffin, of Hartford, CT. The letters are mostly from Justus Alonzo Griffin (b. 1846, presumably a family relative) of Hamilton, Ontario, and discuss Augustus Griffin’s genealogical research.
Names:
- Griffin, Augustus, 1767-1866
- Griffin, Justus A., b. 1846
Places:
- New York (N.Y.)
- New York (State)
- Shelter Island (N.Y.)
- Southold (N.Y.)
Subjects:
- African Americans — New York (State) — Long Island
- Families — New York (State) — Long Island
- Genealogy
- Slavery — New York (State) — Long Island
Types of material:
- Correspondence
- Diaries
- Research notes
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Call Number: 1977.177
Extent: 0.05 Linear feet, in two folders and one bound volume.
This collection includes various records of the Gates Avenue Association spanning the period 1922 to 1944, including a minute book, correspondence, a list of residents and property owners for 1936, and various announcements and notes of the Association. The materials illuminate the Association’s regular activities and operations, as well as its opposition to the arrival of African Americans in the neighborhoods of Bedford-Stuyvesant and Clinton Hill.
Founded in Brooklyn in 1922, the Gates Avenue Association was formed in response, in part, to the movements of African Americans into the neighborhoods of Bedford-Stuyvesant and Clinton Hill, a demographic change which some of the older residents opposed.
Names:
- Gates Avenue Association (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
Places:
- Bedford-Stuyvesant (New York, N.Y.)
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) — Social conditions
- Clinton Hill (New York, N.Y.)
Subjects:
- African Americans — New York (State) — Kings County
- Citizens’ associations — New York (State) — Kings County
- Discrimination in housing — New York (State) — Kings County
- Race discrimination — New York (State) — Kings County
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Call Number: 1973.097
Extent: 0.02 Linear feet, in one folder.
This collection contains three manuscripts written by Brooklyn resident B.H. Huntington. The manuscripts relate to the history and folklore of East Hampton, Long Island from the 17th through 19th centuries, with an emphasis on church history. A narrative of an African-American girl buried at the site of a church is included. Titles include Deserted Fane: Being a Brief Obituary, Historical and Traditional of the Old Temple in East Hampton (1864); The Old Silver-Smith: A Reminiscence of East Hampton (1856); and The Old Church Bell (1856). All three manuscripts are compiled in one bound volume and are accompanied by a note to a Mr. Spooner (presumably Edwin B. Spooner, the son of Long Island Star publisher Alden Spooner) regarding their possible publication.
B.H. Huntington was a Brooklyn resident who lived at 323 Bridge Street.
Names:
Places:
- East Hampton (N.Y.) — Church history
- East Hampton (N.Y.) — Folklore
- East Hampton (N.Y.) — History
Subjects:
- African Americans — New York (State) — East Hampton
Types of material:
- Manuscripts (document genre)
- Volumes (documents by form)
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Call Number: 1977.381
Extent: 0.01 Linear feet, in one folder.
One letter from Robert Todd Lincoln to William B. Davenport regarding a visit made by President Abraham Lincoln to Brooklyn to consult with Henry Ward Beecher on the Emancipation Proclamation. The letter is dated April 9, 1911.
Robert Todd Lincoln (1843-1926) was the first son of United States President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) and Mary Todd Lincoln (1818-1882). He worked as a lawyer and also served as Secretary of War to United States President James A. Garfield (1831-1881).
Names:
- Lincoln, Robert Todd, 1843-1926
- Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887
- Davenport, William B.
- Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865
- United States. President (1861-1865 : Lincoln). Emancipation Proclamation
Places:
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
Subjects:
- Clergy — New York (State) — Kings County
- Presidents — United States
- Slavery — United States
- Slaves — Emancipation — United States
Types of material:
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Call Number: 1974.253
Extent: 0.01 Linear feet, in one folder.
Letter from Jack Harris, a slave in Augusta, GA, to his owner Robert Haviland in New York City, seeking an arrangement to buy his freedom.
Names:
- Harris, Jack
- Haviland, Robert
Places:
- Augusta (Ga.)
- New York (N.Y.)
Subjects:
- African Americans — Georgia — Augusta
- Slaveholders — New York (State) — New York
- Slavery — Georgia — Augusta
Types of material:
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Call Number: 1977.129
Extent: 0.01 Linear feet, in one folder.
One broadside, dated circa 1730, issued by John Montgomerie, governor of the Provinces of New York and New Jersey. The broadside announces the death of Richard Shaw, his wife, and three slaves as a result of a fire in Shaw’s home in the Suffolk County town of East Hampton, and solicits assistance for Shaw’s surviving family from the citizens of New York.
John Montgomerie (d. 1731) was governor of the English Provinces of New York and New Jersey from 1728 to 1731.
Names:
- Montgomerie, John, d. 1731
Places:
- East Hampton (N.Y.)
- New York (Colony)
Subjects:
- African Americans — New York (State) — East Hampton
- Charity
- Fires — Casualties — New York (State) — East Hampton
Types of material:
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