About Archives & Special Collections
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Brooklyn Voter Registries (1872-1897, 1930-1937)
The Brooklyn Historical Society’s collection of voter registries represents the voting population in Brooklyn both before and after its consolidation as part of the City of New York. Registries reflecting Brooklyn as an independent city prior to consolidation span the period 1872-1897, while post-consolidation registries only cover the years 1930-1937. Currently, all registries are available to researchers in their original physical format.
The organization of the voter registries is mainly a numerical scheme, with the broadest level of arrangement being contingent on ward number (or, in the case of the post-consolidation registries, assembly district number). Each ward or assembly district is further broken down numerically by election district, then alphabetically by street. Finally, within each street listing, individual voters are listed by their residence numbers. Some registries, particularly those dating from the earlier periods, are also accompanied by an alphabetical index to street numbers, as well as a description of election district boundaries.
Each registry also contains specific personal information regarding every registered voter that may be helpful to researchers. For example, all registries include such details as a voter’s age; how long each voter has lived in the state, county, and district; as well as any special remarks deemed useful by the Board of Elections, such as whether a voter is an African American, and whether a voter is illiterate or disabled. Some registries include further descriptive information, such as a voter’s height, weight, hair color, and distinguishing features.
This collection is an especially excellent resource for researchers interested in Brooklyn’s housing history and/or genealogy. While there is no appointment necessary to view the collection, please be advised that the majority of the registries are in extremely fragile condition and should be handled with the utmost care.
New York City and Brooklyn Directories
The Brooklyn Historical Society’s collection of city directories includes copies of both New York City and Brooklyn directories, available to researchers on microfilm and/or microfiche, with a very small portion of the collection available in print. The New York City directories include information pertaining to the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx, spanning the years 1786-1934, and are largely available only on microfilm (76 reels). The collection does include physical copies of New York City directories for the years 1915-1917 and 1925.
Brooklyn city directories are available on 28 microfilm reels for the period 1847-1913, or on microfiche for the period 1822-1861. The collection also includes one physical copy of a Brooklyn city directory covering the years 1933-1934, as well as four Brooklyn classified telephone directories spanning the years 1932-1938. Finally, the collection also includes separate directories for the city of Williamsburgh prior to its annexation as a part of the City of Brooklyn, which are available on microfiche and cover the years 1847-1854.
The collection of directories serves as a valuable resource of information pertaining to residential, municipal, and commercial life in both New York City and Brooklyn during from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth centuries. Directories are quite extensive and regularly include features such as registers of public departments and institutions, street and avenue directories, purchaser’s guides, general directories (including occupations and businesses of local residents), and advertising indexes, while also occasionally featuring illustrated city plans, maps of transit lines, and information pertaining to public parks, ward boundaries, freight depots, locations of piers, cabs and taxicabs, and borough histories.
There is no appointment necessary to view this collection.
Walter O’Malley Brooklyn Dodgers Papers, 1946-1957. 1 cubic foot in 1 record carton.
Accessions 2004.003 and 1997.471
This collection of documents and news clippings is a selected portion of the papers of former Brooklyn National League Baseball Club (Brooklyn Dodgers) president Walter O’Malley. The bulk of the collection comprises correspondence and memoranda from 1946-57, covering the period of O’Malley’s roles as counsel to, and vice president of, the Brooklyn Dodgers, and afterward his ascension to the presidency of the organization in 1950.
The collection consists of correspondence, memoranda, and reports, chiefly typewritten, some original letters and many carbon copies as typed by office staff. Other items include stadium plans, city committee and consulting engineers’ reports, press releases, and clippings from New York City and Brooklyn newspapers that cover the 1946-57 period. The material chiefly relates to the Dodgers’ efforts to secure a site and build a new stadium in Brooklyn to replace Ebbets Field, and failing to do so, the team’s move to Los Angeles in 1957. Included in these records is correspondence with such notable figures as city construction coordinator Robert Moses, Mayor Robert F. Wagner, New York State Governor Averell Harriman, Brooklyn Borough President John Cashmore, and architect/engineer Buckminster Fuller.
A number of documents includedin the collection are available for viewing on the Walter O’Malley website.
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Bedell and Conklin Family Collection, 1839-1917. 1 record carton (1 cubic foot).
ArMs 2005.021
Ebenezer Conklin was an employee or associate of the Peter Cooper glue factory and millworks, as well as a landlord and property owner. He and his wife Sarah Aletta Clowes had five children, two of whom are represented in this collection. Nathaniel Augustus, their third child, served in the Civil War. Sarah, the eldest, married George Bedell, the son of William Bedell, chief proprietor of a straw and feed company. William Bedell may also have been Ebenezer Conklin’s business partner for a time.
The Bedell and Conklin Family Collection contains financial records, family correspondence, and a small collection of ephemera. The financial records of Ebenezer Conklin make up the greatest part of the collection and pertain to all aspects of Conklin’s financial life. The financial records of his descendants and relatives generally concern only building repairs and tax records pertaining to various properties. The collection also includes two account books of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Bushwick spanning the years 1876-1884, correspondence reflecting Nathaniel Augustus’ experience in the Civil War, letters from Nathaniel Augustus to his father, and ephemera such as business cards and promotional materials. See the full finding aid for descriptions of additional items.
Access Points:
Personal Names
Bedell Family
Conklin Family
Conklin, Ebenezer
Conklin, Nathaniel Augustus
Bedell, Elbert
Bedell, George
Bedell, Sarah
Topics
Church records and registers-Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
Land titles-Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
Real property-Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
Retail trade-Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
United States-History-Civil War, 1861-1865
Geographic Terms
Bushwick (New York, N.Y.)
Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)-Social life and customs
Camp Russell A. Alger (Va.)
Williamsburg (New York, N.Y.)
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Morgan-Parry Family Papers, 1861-1909. 2 document boxes (0.8 cubic feet).
ArMs 1990.006
Henry C. Morgan was the son of N.D. Morgan, President of the North America Life Insurance Company in New York, and the nephew of Edwin Denison Morgan, who served as Governor of New York and later was a United States Senator. Henry worked as clerk for the Manhattan Life Insurance Company before being enlisted to serve in the Civil War as a Recruiting Officer on October of 1861.
While recruiting service in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, Henry met his future wife, Augusta “Gussie” Parry. After being wounded in Virginia in 1864, requiring amputation of his left leg above the knee, Henry left service, and he and Augusta were married in April of 1865. The couple had three daughters and settled in Brooklyn on Clinton Street, later moving to Connecticut.
The Morgan-Parry Family Papers include the Official and Personal papers of Henry C. Morgan and Augusta Parry. Materials of an official nature include documents and correspondence of Henry C. Morgan relating to his work as a 1st Lt. in the 12th infantry of the U.S. Army, and later as Captain in the 30th Regiment of the Infantry. Personal materials include correspondence and letters relating to Henry and Augusta, as well as their daughter Mary and Augusta’s father, Edward O. Parry. The collection also contains a contract for Henry and Augusta’s residence on Clinton Street dating from December 1870.
Access Points:
Personal Names
Morgan, Henry C. (Churchill)
Morgan, N.D. (Nathan Denison), 1818-1895
Morgan, Edwin D. (Edwin Denison), 1811-1883
Morgan, Augusta Parry, Mrs.
Parry, Edward O. (Owen)
Topics
United States History Civil War, 1861-1865
United States History Civil War, 1861-1865 Desertions
United States History Civil War, 1861-1865 Equipment and supplies
United States. Army. Subsistence Dept.
United States. Army. Infantry, 12th.
United States. Army. Infantry, 30th.
Geographic Terms
Brooklyn (N.Y.)–Streets-Clinton Street
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Patterson Family Collection, 1847-1956. 1.25 linear feet (3 document boxes, 1 oversize folder, 4 custom boxes).
AccNo. 1980.013
The Pattersons were a multi-generational family living in Brooklyn Heights, and its members worked in a variety of fields. William Patterson (c.1821-1890/1891) worked in construction, and his son, Stephen (1855-1905), worked as a lawyer, as did Stephen’s daughter, May (c.1879-1925). May Patterson holds the distinction of being the first female Assistant District Attorney to argue a case in a United States court. Stephen’s other daughter, Annie Louise (1883-1970), married Alexander Lassen Jones (c.1881-?), a theater manager and producer.
The Patterson Family Collection is comprised of the papers and photographs saved by the Patterson Family between 1847 and 1956. The collection includes financial documents, legal documents, correspondence, scrapbooks, diaries, photographs, post cards, and cartes de visite. The content of the collections varies based on date as different generations saved different types of material.
Access Points:
Personal Names
Elwell, Emily L. Jones (1921-?)
Jones, Annie L. Patterson (1883-1970)
Jones, Emily L. (1921-?)
Patterson, Annie L. Ames (1857-1931)
Patterson, Mary Anne (c.1826-1898)
Patterson, May (c.1879-1925)
Patterson, Stephen G. (1855-1905)
Patterson, William (c.1821-1890)
Subjects
District Attorney
Women’s Rights
Women-Suffrage
Women lawyers
Geographical Headings
Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
Brooklyn Heights (New York, N.Y.)
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Brooklyn Land Conveyance Collection, ca. 1699-1896. 375 Linear feet.
The Brooklyn Land Conveyance collection documents Brooklyn land transfers from the late 17th Century through to 1896. Organized by block, these abstracts show seller (grantor) and buyer (grantee) information. Please note that these are just abstracts, not the actual deeds. In many cases these abstracts are the only records for these early land transactions that have survived. The New York City Department of Finance has abstracts and deeds for property transfers post-1900.
To find out the block number for a specific address, just enter the address into the New York City Department of Buildings’ online database.
Subjects:
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Land titles – Registration and transfer
- Land tenure – United States – History
An appointment is not necessary to view materials from this collection, you may use them anytime the library is open to the public.
Washington Roebling-Brooklyn Bridge Collection 1873-1879. 1 manuscript box (0.5 cubic feet). ArMs 1977.259
This collection consists of notes, letters, engineering computations, reports, specifications, inventories and technical newspaper clippings, dated 1873-1879, all relating to the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, and includes notes to “Col. Roebling” and some items in his hand.
This is a fragmentary collection consisting of items rescued from a rubbish heap at a city-owned building being demolished in April, 1966.
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Shellens Family Collection, including Papers of Captain Michael Shellens, 1873-1984 (Bulk dates: 1880-1927). 6 Boxes (4 legal-sized document boxes and 2 oversize boxes), 3.6 cubic ft.
ArMs 1988.001
This collection contains personal and business correspondence, business and financial records, books, photographs, and ephemera related to Captain Michael Shellens (1854-1944) and his family. The materials are dated 1873-1984 and are principally about Shellens’ life and career as a mariner who advanced in rank to captain, afterward becoming a successful real estate businessman in Brooklyn.
The bulk of the collection dates from 1880 to 1927 and consists of family papers, chiefly those of Captain Shellens, with some from others of the immediate family and also from Shellens’s family in Antwerp. The materials collected from voyages consist of discharge papers received at destination ports, business and financial records, and correspondence compiled during Shellens’ various sailing trips.
Shellens’s business records comprise an assortment of materials relating to Shellens’ sailing and real estate career, including inventory of properties of interest to Shellens, professional certifications, survey reports from Shellens’ career as a Surveyor, and log books. Financial records include bank accounts, ledger books, and real estate transactions. Correspondence contains both business and personal materials, including employment applications, letters received and written to colleagues, tenants, and family members.
Materials relating to the Shellens family include correspondence between Shellens and his brother, M. Henry Shellens, and his Antwerp cousins, 1890-1940. Also included are obituaries of family members and materials relating to Shellens’ and his wife’s deaths such as funeral memoirs, legal and financial documents including wills, bank balances, an inventory of Shellens’s real estate holdings, certificates and birth records for Shellens’ daughter Ruth.
The last portion of the collection consists of books on sailing and ships and on religion.
Access Points:
- Shellens, Michael
- Shellens, Ruth
- Shellens, Marshall
- Shellens, Hazel
- Real estate
- Sailing
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Antwerp (Belgium)
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Independent Civic Association of Sheepshead Bay and Brooklyn (New York) Civic Council Records, 1922-1975 (bulk dates: 1922-1960). 9 manuscript boxes (4.25 linear feet).
ArMs 1978.125
The Independent Civic Association of Sheepshead Bay was founded in 1922, twenty-five years after Brooklyn’s consolidation into New York City. The association members were male, over the age of twenty-one, and residents or property owners in Sheepshead Bay, named in the colonial period for the abundance of the local fish. The association’s objectives focused on suggesting and securing community improvements and promoting community spirit. The Brooklyn Civic Council addressed civic issues for the whole of Brooklyn, and the Sheepshead Bay association was one of seventy civic groups in this period who participated in the larger council.
This collection includes records, clippings, reports, brochures and letters about the history of Sheepshead Bay and Marine Park, Brooklyn. The collection is made up of four series: Series I, “Independent Civic Association of Sheepshead Bay - Minutes and Records”; Series 2, “Independent Civic Association of Sheepshead Bay - Correspondence and Newspaper Clippings”; Series 3, “Scrapbooks”; and Series 4, “Brooklyn Civic Council Records.”
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