Call Number: 1986.048
Extent: 2.17 Linear feet, in two manuscript boxes and one oversized box.
The Fish family papers and photographs span the years 1876 to 1950 (bulk dates 1883 to 1927) and measure 2.17 linear feet. The collection illustrates Fish’s professional achievements and social activities, including tenure as magistrate of Brooklyn’s traffic court, his election campaign for justice of the Municipal Court of the second district, his membership in the Independent Order of Good Templars, and his interest in and support of the prohibition movement. The papers span most of Fish’s life until his death in 1936. The collection also includes materials related to Fish’s family, including photographs, genealogical correspondence, news articles concerning Fish’s wives and relatives, and correspondence regarding Fish’s son, Lawrence Chaffee Fish, Jr.
Box 1 contains: Papers and photographs, 1876 to 1950
Materials in this box include genealogical notes, correspondence, programs, invitations, clippings, school certificates and programs, programs and printed ephemera pertaining to the prohibition movement, and items removed from the scrapbooks, most of which relate to Fish’s career as judge and magistrate. There is also one folder containing numerous black and white photographic prints, one tintype, and four negatives. The photographs are of various Fish family members, the majority of which are of Lawrence Chaffee Fish, Emma Fish, Lawrence Chaffee Fish, Jr., and his wife and son.
Box 2 contains: Scrapbooks, 1883 to 1927; photographs mounted on woodcuts
Vol. 1: Early career and social activities, 1883 to 1918
Vol. 2: Early career and traffic court judge, 1902 to 1927
Photographs mounted on woodcuts: Six black and white photographs are mounted on wood cuts and include accompanying stands. The photographs are full body shots and are of Lawrence Chaffee Fish, his wife Emma Fish, and their son Lawrence Chaffee Fish, Jr. Each family member is represented individually and then again in a group setting.
Box 3 contains: Scrapbooks, 1920 to 1927
Vol. 3: Traffic court cases, 1920 to 1921
Vol. 4: Election campaign, 1925 to 1927
Lawrence Chaffee Fish was born in Brooklyn on June 21, 1872. As a young man, Fish was deeply involved in the prohibition movement, where he organized temperance lectures and served as Chief Templar of the Independent Order of Good Templars. Fish first attended Columbia University Law School but transferred to the New York Law School and was one of the newly founded school’s first graduates in 1893. He passed the New York State bar exam in 1896 and served over the years as an attorney for Grover Cleveland, David B. Still, and James G. Blaine. Fish’s professional achievements included eight years as a magistrate of Brooklyn’s traffic court and a successful 1927 campaign bid as the Democratic candidate for judge in the Municipal Court of the second district.
In 1896, Fish married Margaret Summers, who died fourteen months later. In 1901, he married Emma Ellis. Lawrence and Emma had one son, Lawrence Chaffee Fish, Jr. (b. 1906). Outside of his career, Fish was a member of numerous social clubs, including the Andrew Jackson Club and the Elks, and was active in the First Free Baptist Church.
Names:
- Fish family
- Fish, Emma
- Fish, Lawrence Chaffee, 1872-1936
- Fish, Lawrence Chaffee, b. 1906
Places:
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) — Politics and government — 19th century
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) — Politics and government — 20th century
Subjects:
- Genealogy
- Judges — New York (State) — Kings County
- Lawyers — New York (State) — Kings County
- Prohibition — New York (State) — New York
- Prohibition — United States
- Prohibitionists — New York (State) — New York
- Temperance — United States
- Traffic courts — New York (State) — New York
Types of material:
- Certificates
- Clippings (information artifacts)
- Correspondence
- Financial records
- Invitations
- Photographs
- Printed ephemera
- Programs (documents)
- Scrapbooks