About Archives & Special Collections
|
Gabriel Furman Papers, 1819-1896. 4 boxes.
ArMs 1974.113
Born in 1800, Gabriel Furman was a Brooklyn lawyer, justice, and state senator who was also an avid antiquarian and collector. Furman compiled research notes relating to the history of the New York area throughout his life, and much of his work was posthumously edited and published. During his lifetime, Furman had also published the work Notes, Geographical and Historical Relative to the Town of Brooklyn in 1824, and he also released an annotated version of the historic work A Brief Description of New York (1670) by Daniel Denton, published by publisher William Gowans in 1845. Furman is believed to have been addicted to opium, and he died in poverty in 1854.
The Gabriel Furman Papers are largely a collection of Furman’s research notes, manuscripts and documents, with a small amount of correspondence and legal documenation. Furman’s notes touch on subjects ranging from the Revolutionary War, the laws of the early settlement of New York, and the Cholera epidemic of 1832-1833, to weather observations, cures for common ailments, and notes on current events. The collection also includes ten pages of manuscript notes for Furman’s Notes, Geographical and Historical Relative to the Town of Brooklyn.
View Full Finding Aid
Fish Family Papers, Lawrence Chaffee Fish, 1876-1950. 2 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box (1.3 cubic feet).
AccNo 1986.048
Lawrence Chaffee Fish was born in Brooklyn on June 21, 1872. He graduated from the New York Law School in 1893 as one of the newly founded school’s first graduates. Following graduation Fish embarked on a distinguished career as an attorney. As a young man he was highly involved in prohibition work, and later he served as a magistrate in Brooklyn’s traffic court and was a judge in the Municipal Court of the second district. He also represented such notable figures as Grover Cleveland, David B. Still and James G. Blaine. Fish was also active in the First Free Baptist Church. In 1896 he married Margaret Summers, who died fourteen months later. In 1901 he married Emma Ellis. Fish died in 1936.
The Fish Family Papers illustrate Fish’s professional achievements and social activities. The collection contains a Bible, documents, correspondence, financial records, news clippings, photos and four scrapbooks relating to the Fish Family. These papers span most of Fish’s life until his death in 1936. The collection also includes materials related to Fish’s family, including genealogical correspondence, news articles concerning Fish’s wives and relatives, and correspondence regarding Fish’s son, Lawrence Chaffee Fish, Jr.
View Full Finding Aid
Brooklyn Firefighting Collection, 1825-1949 (Bulk Dates: 1850-1900). 33 cubic feet (10 document boxes, 14 records cartons, 44 unboxed ledgers).
ArMs 1989.006
The Brooklyn Firefighting Collection comprises records of firefighters, their organizations, and activities in the village, city, and borough of Brooklyn from 1825 through 1945. The bulk of the collection covers a span of over one century, during which time firefighting in Brooklyn evolved from a six man volunteer force to a paid department employing over ten-thousand men. Firefighting played an important social and political role in early Brooklyn, and the influence of firefighters and firefighting associations is tracked in this collection. The materials in the collection offer insight into the development of firefighting practices during the nineteenth century and illustrate how Brooklyn’s massive nineteenth century population growth and the city’s growing prominence as a seat of industry affected the city’s need for a reliable and modern fire department.
The files in this collection represent a portion of the material generated by several Brooklyn and King’s County volunteer fire companies and by related local, county, state, and national organizations, between 1825 and 1949. The bulk of the material spans the time period between 1850 and 1900. Included in the collection are: appointments, bids, bonds, broadsides, certificates, circulars, clippings, communications, contracts, correspondence, deeds, drawings, estimates, ledgers, letters, minutes, notices, orders, petitions, receipts, recommendations, regulations, reports, requests, resolutions, rolls, rosters, speeches, and telegrams.
Subject Headings:
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Engine companies - New York (State) - New York
- Fire departments - New York - Brooklyn
- Fire departments - equipment and Supplies
- Fire departments - Law and legislation - New York
- Fire departments - New York (State) - New York
- Fire engines
- Fire extinction - New York - Brooklyn - History
- Fire extinction - Long Island - History
- Fire fighters
- Fire fighters - New York - Brooklyn
- Fire fighters - Pensions - New York - Brooklyn
- Fire stations - New York - Brooklyn
- Fires - New York - Brooklyn
- Ladder companies - New York (State) - New York
- Municipal services - New York (State) - New York
View Full Finding Aid
Brooklyn Theatre Fire Relief Association Records, 1876-1879. 2.5 document boxes (1 linear foot)
 Stereograph depicting Johnson St. after the Brooklyn Theater Fire, December 5, 1876. Waller & Schrader, Photographers. V1972.1.923 ArMs 1977.049
The Brooklyn Theatre Fire Relief Association Records document the efforts of a voluntary charity organization to provide relief to the families of the victims of the tragic fire in 1876 that killed more than 300 people in the Brooklyn Theatre. The collection is mainly comprised of the investigations conducted into the claims made by surviving relatives of those killed in the fire and the financial documents of the association.
Subjects
- Brooklyn Theatre Fire Relief Association
- Brooklyn Theatre (New York, N.Y.) — Fire, 1876
- Charity organization
- Demographic surveys
- Memorial service
- Putnam, A. P. (Alfred Porter), 1827-1906
- Schroeder, Frederick A.
View Full Finding Aid
|
Recently Added Collections
|
