About Archives & Special Collections
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Brooklyn and Long Island Scrapbooks, ca. 1860-1960
This collection is an accumulation of clippings from numerous Brooklyn and Long Island newspapers and magazines during the period ca. 1860-1960. The original clippings were assembled by staff members of the Brooklyn Historical Society. Due to the deterioration of the original clippings, they now exist only on microfilm. The collection numbers a total of 168 volumes, and its exhaustive scope makes it an excellent account of daily life in Long Island and Brooklyn from the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries.
The collection is accompanied by a navigational card index, which is separated into two sections, one dedicated to Long Island, the other to Brooklyn. Within each major division, the catalog is organized alphabetically by subject, individual, or business/organization. Each card lists the volume and page numbers on which its described contents can be found.
Newspapers and magazines represented in the collection include The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, The Brooklyn Times, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Harper’s Weekly, Suffolk County News, The Long Island Forum, The Long Island Press, The World-Journal Tribune, and The New York Mirror, among many others.
There is no appointment necessary to view this collection.
Marriage and Death Records from The Long Island Star (1809-1863), 1809-1845
The Brooklyn Historical Society possesses the entire run of The Long Island Star, which lasted from 1809 to 1863. The collection is on microfilm only and is accompanied by a navigational card index documenting the occurrence of marriage and death records posted in the newspaper between the years 1809 and 1845.
Information included in marriage records relates to the place and date of the ceremony, immediate family members and places of origin of the newlyweds, and, occasionally, the reverend who performed the service.
Information included in death records relates to the deceased’s relation to the Long Island/Brooklyn area, place and date of death, immediate familial and spousal relations, and occupation and/or titles of distinction. Occasional mentions are also made regarding place of birth, site of funerary ceremony, place of burial, and the family line of the deceased.
This collection is an excellent resource for genealogy researchers. No appointment is necessary to view this collection.
Lawrence Family Papers (1759-1852). 3 boxes (1.6 cubic feet).
ArMs 1977.105
This collection contains log books, account books, journals, and day books belonging to the Lawrences of Bayside and Flushing, N.Y.
Joseph Lawrence (1741-?) was a merchant captain from Flushing. He was at one time employed by Samuel Townsend, who was the son of one of the first settlers of Oyster Bay, L.I. One of Townsend’s vessels, the brig Audrey, built some time before the Revolution, was commanded by Joseph’s brother, Effingham. Another brother, John L., (1731-?) may be the “John” who appears on the cover of an account book in this collection. Joseph’s son, Effingham, was a judge in Queens County in the early 19th century. He lived at the family homestead, “Stone-House,” in Bayside and was possibly the source of the later account books.
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Isaac & Silas Ludlam Papers (1744-CA. 1870’s). 1 box (0.75 linear feet).
ArMs 1973.226
The Ludlam Family has a long history of serving as Surveyors for the Village and City of Brooklyn. Stephen Ludlam was the first, being appointed in 1809. He was followed by his son Silas in 1834, his grandson Austin in 1880 and his greatgrandson Ralph in 1911. Silas Ludlam (1806-1892) began working as a surveyor in 1927. In the 1834 New York City directory he is listed as a City Surveyor alongside one Isaac Ludlam, and the two share the same address. Their family and business relationship is unknown. Silas Ludlam was an authority on old Brooklyn, and the present Ludlam Place in Brooklyn is named in his honor.
The Isaac & Silas Ludlam Papers document the surveying activities of the Ludlams in Brooklyn. Although the collection contains 73 items from 1744 to 1880, the bulk of it consists of 69 letters received by the Ludlams between 1826 and 1839, requesting that the Ludlams provide surveying services. The writers of these letters include many prominent citizens of nineteenth-century Brooklyn, both public officials and private citizens.
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Hart - Linton Family Collection, 1865-1949. 1 record carton.
ArMs 1985.050 (also 2006.026).
Edith Linton married Frank Elsworth Hart at Plymouth Church in 1889 or 1890. Hart’s father, Frederick D. Hart, was chief engineer of Ridgewood Water Works. Frank and Edith had two children, both boys, and maintained residence on Jamaica Avenue in Flatlands. Frank died in 1895, and Edith then became a music teacher in the public schools and retired in 1921.
The Hart-Linton family materials constitute an evocative picture of c.1900 family life. The collection includes correspondence, certificates, obituary notices, wedding invitations, genealogy notes and papers, deeds and insurance, securities account books, and a number of images.
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Lefferts Family Collection (1671-1980). 6 record cartons, 1 document box, 1 flat box (7 cubic feet).
ArMs 2006.004
Since the eighteenth century, the Lefferts family, decended from the Dutch settlers of New York, has fostered a notable Brooklyn legacy, anchored by such family members as Pieter Leffert, a farmer, army lieutenant, and judge, who in 1783 built a farmhouse in Flatbush that has remained a Brooklyn landmark, currently standing in Prospect Park and housing the Lefferts Historic House Museum; and Gertrude Lefferts Vanderbilt, Pieter’s granddaughter, who documented her family life and that of the Flatbush community in The Social History of Flatbush, published in 1881.
This collection was originally discovered in the Lefferts family’s summer home in Bellport, Long Island, built by James Leffert in 1917. The collection, spanning the mid-17th century through mid-20th century, includes personal family books and letters, archival documentation, slave bills of sale, indentures, manuscripts, business and legal papers, newspaper clippings, a sub-division map of John Lefferts’s Flatbush property, as well as visual arts materials: scrapbooks, glass slides, photographs, and other materials from the Flatbush- and extended Lefferts family branches. It also includes information on other multi-generational Brooklyn families.
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The Reverend Peter Lowe of Flatbush Correspondence, 1782-1818. 1 legal manuscript box (0.25 linear feet).
ArMs 1974.008
The Reverend Peter Lowe was a beloved pastor who served the Brooklyn community from 1788-1818. Originally presiding over a union of six churches throughout the Brooklyn area, Lowe remained Pastor of the Dutch Church of Flatbush after the union dissolved, a position he held until his death in 1818.
This collection contains correspondence between the Reverend Lowe and various correspondents, many of them fellow clergymen. Includes items in Dutch and Latin, as well as English.
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Livingston Papers, 1670-1797. 2 boxes (0.5 linear feet).
ArMs 1974.018
Robert Livingston, known as “the Founder,” was born in Scotland, but spent many years in Holland, where he acquired the Dutch language and customs. In 1673, he moved to Albany, New York, and was shortly appointed town clerk and secretary of the board of commissioners for Indian Affairs. In 1686, he received a patent for land that encompassed the present counties of Columbia and Dutchess. In 1709 he represented the district of Albany in the Assembly and in 1718 was elected speaker. He retired in 1725. He functioned as secretary of Indian Affairs from the 1670s on, officially from 1696 to 1710, at which time he relinquished this post to Robert Livingston, Jr. (1663-1725), son of Robert Livingston’s uncle James and known as “the Nephew.”
The Livingston collection contains legal documents and correspondence related to Robert Livingston (1654-1728) of Albany, his heirs, and their estate, Livingston Manor. It also contains propositions, minutes, examinations, accounts, journals, and correspondence - a selection of transactions between the Commissioners of Indian Affairs at Albany and the Native American peoples of the Hudson Valley and central New York, 1679-1723.
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