Archives & Library Special Collections
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Call Number: ARC.285
Extent: 0.33 Linear feet, in one manuscript box and one flat box
The Martense family papers include deeds, indentures, wills, estate administration documents, promissory notes, bills of sale for enslaved African-Americans, correspondence, and photographs and other images. The bulk of the documents date from the 1700s to circa 1876. The images date from circa 1870 to circa 1944. Deeds and other land transaction documents dating from the 1700s comprise the largest portion of the collection. The Martense family lived in Flatbush, now part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, and most of the collection concerns that area. Correspondence in the collection dates from 1837-1839 and includes several letters sent to Gerrit Martense at Rutgers College in New Brunswick, N.J., by his family in Flatbush. Subjects of the letters include domestic and local matters. The letters, and other documents in the collection, also refer to dealings concerning one Juan Scorsur, an Italian immigrant to New York attempting to acquire real estate in Brooklyn while residing for an extended time in Cuba. In addition to multiple generations of Martenses, among the surnames found in the collection are Cornell, Hegeman, Lefferts, Remsen, Suydam, Terhune, Van Brunt, Van der Bilt, Van der Veer, and Waldron. The bulk of the collection is in English, but there are several documents in Dutch and one in Spanish. The photographs and other images, to the extent they are identified, are principally of members of the Wilbur family, into which a Martense married.
Names:
Places:
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Flatbush (New York, N.Y.)
- Kings County (N.Y.)
Subjects:
- African Americans — New York (State) — Kings County
- Decedents’ estates — New York (State) — Kings County
- Family life
- Genealogy
- Real property — New York (State) — Kings County
- Slavery — New York (State) — Kings County
Types of material:
- Cabinet photographs
- Cartes-de-visite (card photographs)
- Correspondence
- Deeds
- Indentures
- Photographs
- Promissory notes
- Slave bills of sale
- Wills
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Call Number: 1974.027
Extent: 0.04 Linear feet, in one folder
This collection consists of one item: the account book of John Middagh, hatter and merchant of Brooklyn. The account book contains the autograph signatures of Middagh’s business associates in both Brooklyn and New York City, with their notations for dates of payment, amounts, and items or services purchased by Middagh for the period, 1773-1810. It also records the collection of Middagh’s taxes. Many prominent early Brooklynites set their hands to this book, including John Jacob Astor (1763-1848) and his agents.
Names:
Places:
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) — Commerce
Subjects:
- Businessmen — New York (State) — Kings County
- Merchants — New York (State) — New York
Types of material:
- Account books
- Receipts (financial records)
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Call Number: 1974.179
Extent: 0.17 linear feet, in 17 folders in one manuscript box
The Middagh family papers (1654-circa 1840) contain a variety of documents, many linked to the Middagh family by name or by affiliated family, including Couwenhoven and Stryker. Many documents have no obvious relationship to the Middaghs. Most of the collection includes legal documents of various forms including deeds, bonds, agreements, and legal filings. Among the documents not clearly linked to the Middaghs are: the concluding pages of the 1825 correspondence from William Steele to his son concerning Jonathan Dayton’s recollections of Benjamin Franklin’s proposal for prayer at the 1787 Constitutional Convention; the articles of agreement between generals Burgoyne (British) and Gates (American) at Saratoga during the Revolutionary War (1772), signed by Burgoyne; plans for the building of a school in Huntington, Long Island, and the subscriber list (1762); and a circa 1675 transcript of a 1669 Suffolk County Clerk’s document regarding the testimony of several Indian sachems of Montauket relating to a land dispute. Three items referring to African-Americans in Brooklyn are in the collection: an unidentified will (1727), a slave bill of sale (1737), and an arrest warrant concerning the unlicensed sale of liquor, including to African-Americans (1751). Eight documents (1654-1702) are in Dutch.
Names:
- Middagh family
- Cowenhoven family
- Stryker family
- Torrey, Joseph, 1707-1791
- United States. Constitutional Convention (1787)
Places:
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Kings County (N.Y.)
- Long Island (N.Y.)
- New York (State) — History — Revolution, 1775-1783
- Suffolk County (N.Y.)
Subjects:
- African Americans — New York (State) — Kings County
- County courts — New York (State) — Kings County
- Genealogy
- Indians of North America — New York (State) — Long Island
- Real property — New York (State) — Kings County
- Real property — New York (State) — Long Island
- Saratoga Campaign, N.Y., 1777
- Slavery — New York (State) — Kings County
Types of material:
- Agreements
- Correspondence
- Deeds
- Legal documents
- legal instruments
- Slave bills of sale
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Martin Fishman photographs, 1989 – 2009, 113 photographs (.25 linear foot)
Paula Fishman donated 113 photographs by the late Martin Fishman to the photography collection in 2010. The photographs are 8″x10″ and 8.5″x11″ black and white prints of photographs taken of Coney Island over the previous two decades. Some of the photographs capture events such as the annual Mermaid Parade.
Martin Fishman grew up on the Lower East Side and in Brighton Beach, and spent childhood summers in Coney Island. While attending Baruch College and later working as a caseworker for the City of New York, he pursued his passion for freelance photography. Most of his photography captures street scenes and people in Manhattan and Brooklyn. He was also known for his photographs of Quentin Crisp, some of which can be seen at Crisperanto.org. Fishman’s work has been published in Time Out New York and the New York Times, among other publications.
To access the Martin Fishman photographs, please visit the library.
Call Number: ARC.050
Extent: 8.0 Linear feet, in 16 manuscript boxes
The Rev. John Howard Melish (1874-1969) was pastor at the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Holy Trinity, Brooklyn, New York (1904-1949), while his son, the Rev. William Howard Melish (1910-1986), was associate rector at the same church from 1938 to 1957. The bulk of this collection covers 1947-1958, a period of time during which the two clergymen, with the support of parish congregants, struggled to remain attached to the Church of the Holy Trinity despite efforts by the church vestry and the Episcopal Bishop of Long Island to remove them. In the midst of the Cold War era, the Melishes’ removal was sought because of, at least in part, the son’s role as Chairman of the National Council for Soviet-American Friendship. The bulk of the collection consists of clippings maintained by William Howard Melish, but also includes correspondence, notes, and other documents from Melish and his supporters, including congregant Anna May Mason. The collection also includes an audiotape of William Howard Melish’s remarks at the 1963 memorial service held for W. E. B. Du Bois in Ghana.
Names:
- Mason , Anna May
- Du Bois, W. E. B., 1868-1963
- Fletcher, Joseph F.
- Melish, John Howard, b. 1875
- Melish, William Howard, 1910-
- Miller, Arthur, 1915-2005
- Wager, Ralph Edmond, 1881-1979
- White, Bouck, 1874-1951
- Church of the Holy Trinity (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
- Melish Defense Committee
- National Council of American-Soviet Friendship (U.S.)
- Touchet, Francis H.
Places:
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) — Church history
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) — History — Archival resources.
- Brooklyn Heights (New York, N.Y.) — Intellectual life
Subjects:
- Anti-communist movements — United States — History — 20th century
- Church controversies — New York (State) — New York
- City churches — New York (State) — New York
- City clergy — New York (State) — New York
- Cold War — Religious aspects
- Cold War — Social aspects — New York (State) — New York.
- Cold War — Social aspects — United States
- Episcopalians United States
- Episcopalians — New York (State) — New York
Types of material:
- audiotapes
- Church bulletins
- Clippings (information artifacts)
- Correspondence
- Journals (periodicals)
- Legal documents
- Photographs
- Sermons
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