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John Middagh Account Book, 1773-1810.
ArMs 1974.027
This collection consists of one item: the account book of John Middagh, hatter and merchant, of Brooklyn. Middagh was active in the fur trade. 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, as did John Jacob Astor (1763-1848) and his agents.
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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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Thomas Messenger Family Papers, 1829-1923 (Bulk dates: 1853-1881). 3 Record Cartons (3 Cubic Feet).
ArMs 1978.124
Thomas Messenger (1810-1881) was a prominent landowner and businessman. Born in the county of Surrey in Southeast England, Messenger’s family relocated to America when he was very young and settled in Great Neck, Long Island. As an adult, Messenger would continue to reside in Great Neck with his wife and daughters, eventually coming to own the largest plot of land in Long Island and being elected President of the Queens County Agricultural Society. Along with their Long Island farm, the Messengers also resided at a property in Brooklyn Heights. Messenger and his brother, Harry, founded the tobacco company T. & H. Messenger & Co., which held its headquarters in New York City, and Messenger served as President of the Brooklyn Bank for twenty-five years until his death in 1881. The Messengers were also well known for their generous donations to both All Saints’ Church and St. Ann’s Church in Brooklyn.
The collection consists of 3 cubic feet of personal and business papers associated with Thomas Messenger and his family. The materials conveyed in the collection primarily consist of handwritten personal and business correspondences, as well as receipts, ephemera, insurance policies, writings and business transactions. The bulk of the collection comprises of materials written for or by Thomas Messenger. Correspondences to his wife, Ann, and youngest daughter, Marie, are also represented within the papers. The materials are primarily in English, but there are materials also written in French, Italian, and German, reflecting the extensive traveling the Messenger Family did oversees ca. 1874.
Access Points
Personal Names
Messenger, Ann
Messenger, Harry
Messenger, Marie Gerard
Messenger, Thomas
Corporate Names
Brooklyn Bank (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
St. Ann’s Church (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
T. & H. Messenger & Co.
Geographic Names
Great Neck (N.Y.)
Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
Manhattan (New York, N.Y.)
Westchester Co., N.Y.
Subjects
Banking
Tobacco industry New York (State) New York.
Travel
Long Island Railroad
Queens County Agricultural Society (N.Y.)
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Marcy Avenue Baptist Church Records, 1872-1939. 2 Record Carton boxes and 3 scrapbooks in custom enclosures (3.5 cubic feet).
ArMs 1985.081, ArMs 1977.206
The Marcy Avenue Baptist Church, which began as an outgrowth of the Washington Avenue Baptist Church, was formed in 1872 and located in the Beford-Stuyvesant area. The church experienced rapid growth and underwent several expansions in the 1870’s and 1880’s. By 1900 Marcy Avenue Baptist Church was the largest Baptist church in Brooklyn. It was dis-banned in 1939.
This collection contains the Marcy Avenue Baptist Church’s administrative and organizational records, which include Membership Rolls, Registers, and Marriage Stubs as well as Deacons reports, Ladies Aid Society reports, Sunday School Superintendent Reports, Benevolent Society reports, Reports of the Board of Trustees, and general Church Statistics.
Access Points
Personal Names:
Jeffery, Reuben, Rev., D.D.
Rhoades, W.C.P., Rev., D.D.
Fox, William B. (Brownell)
Fox, Emily Parker, Mrs.
Banta, Theodore M. (Theodore Melvin), 1834-1910
Hudnut, James Monroe, 1844-
Elliott, Emma Payne, Mrs., “Mother Elliot”
Snow, Charles Thompson
Stout, George Corwin
Corporate Names:
Marcy Avenue Baptist Church (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
Long Island Baptist Association
Washington Avenue Baptist Church (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
Marcy Avenue Baptist Church (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.) — History.
Marcy Avenue Baptist Church (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.) — Anniversaries, etc.
Topics:
Baptists - New York (State) - New York
Geographic Terms:
Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) — Church history.
Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) Religious life and customs - 19th century
Bedford-Stuyvesant (New York, N.Y.)
Marcy Avenue (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
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John D. Morrell Photograph Collection, 1957-1974, bulk 1958-1963. 2, 675 photographs (15 linear feet)
v1974.4, v1974.9
John D. Morrell, assistant librarian at the Long Island Historical Society (now called the Brooklyn Historical Society) donated over 2,000 black and white and color negatives and prints to the Photography Collection. The images document Brooklyns’s streets, railroads, buildings and some people in almost every neighborhood, but predominantly in Brooklyn Heights, Bath Beach, Flatbush, Carroll Gardens, and Downtown Brooklyn. They are indexed in detail by address, street name, and/or neighborhood, sometimes including proper names of businesses or institutions.
Subjects:
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) — Buildings, Structures, etc. — Pictorial Works
- Photographs
- Documentary Photographs
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Cranston Family Papers, 1846-1923. 4 boxes (3 legal manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box), 1.75 cubic feet.
ArMs 1994.013
The Cranston Family collection comprises 1.75 cubic feet of letters, clippings, books, certificates, and ephemera from three generations of the Cranston and Morehouse families of Brooklyn, N.Y. The majority of the collection relates to the lives of Alfred Cranston and his wife Elizabeth H. Petford Cranston. The collection also contains letters, books, and ephemera relating to the Cranstons’ daughter Ella Cranston, to the Morehouse family (from which a daughter, Emma Louise, married the Cranston’s son, Alfred Petford Cranston), and to their relatives, the Oliver and Bellows families.
Alfred Cranston was a volunteer firefighter and fought in the Civil War with the 14th Regiment on the New York State Militia, known popularly as “the Fighting Fourteenth”, and later superintendent of the Postal Telegraph Building in Manhattan, home of the Postal Telegraph Cable Company. Elizabeth H. Petford Cranston was active in the Society of the Wives and Daughters of the 14th Regiment War Veterans, serving as the Society’s president from 1893 to 1915. She also took part in numerous church and charity activities.
Subjects:
- Fire fighters - Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)-History-Civil War, 1861-1865-Regimental histories
- St. Cloud (Fla.)-History
- United States-History-Civil War, 1861-1865-Veterans
- Grand Army of the Republic
- Postal Telegraph-Cable Company
- United States. Army. New York Infantry Regiment, 84th (1861-1864)
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Meeker Brothers Land Records Collection, 1757-1882. 3 document boxes (1.5 cubic feet).
ArMs 1977.236 and 1977.247
This collection contains land records from the Brooklyn law office files of Samuel M. and David E. Meeker, located at 64 Broadway in Williamsburg, an independent Long Island city until its merger with Brooklyn in 1855. The records include mortgages, deeds, title abstracts, tax bills, wills, and correspondence relating to Brooklyn property transactions from 1757-1882. The collection is arranged by street address and/or approximate location. Names associated with the listed properties are also included.
Access Points:
- Meeker, Samuel M.
- Meeker, David E.
- Land titles- Brooklyn (New York, New York)
- Deeds- Brooklyn (New York, New York)
- Lawyers- Brooklyn (New York, New York)
- Mortgages- Brooklyn (New York, New York)
- Wills- Brooklyn (New York, New York)
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Records of the Morning Choral Society, 1919-1964. 2 record cartons, 1 manuscript box, 1 oversize box (3.1 linear feet).
ArMs 1977.201 and 1977.221
The Morning Choral Society was founded in 1919 by Herbert Stavely Sammond, (1871-1964) as a non-sectarian women’s amateur vocal group. The group’s regular activities included two major annual concerts in the spring and winter. The Society was also involved with social events and fund raisers such as annual spring luncheons and card parties. Howard Kasschan took over as conductor in 1949. The Society was voted disbanded at its annual meeting in 1962.
The collection contains records pertaining to the organizational activities and structure of the Society, including minutes, annual reports, budgets, and membership lists. It also includes material created for, or generated by, its member activities including programs, brochures, scrapbooks with newspaper clippings. There are two photographs and a small collection of sheet music. Little correspondence is included.
Access Points:
- Sammond, Herbert Stavely, 1871-1964.
- Morning Choral Society (Brooklyn, N.Y.).
- Choral societies - Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)
- Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.) - Social life and customs.
- Membership Lists
- Minutes
- Printed ephemera
- Reports
- Scrapbooks
- Sheet music
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Village of Brooklyn Deeds, 1770-1856. 1 box (0.25 linear feet).
ArMs 1974.038
This collection consists of deeds, quit claims, bonds, mortgages, leases and other legal documents for property held by the Middagh, Sands, and March families. Most of the documents relate to property originally belonging to the estate of Aert Middagh (d. 1777) on several acres of land in what would become part of the Village of Brooklyn in 1816. Much of this property passed into the Sands and March families by descent and marriage. Some records refer to properties in Jefferson County, NY.
The bulk of the collection pertains to transactions involving Samuel B. M. Sands (1799-1835) and/or his nephew, Joshua S. March (1809-1842), both of whom married Magdalen Middagh (1808-1844), the daughter of Aert Middagh (ca. 1776-ca. 1815) and Martha Middagh (née Van Nostrand). The collection most likely passed through the hands of John Middagh Sands (1827-1873), the son of Magdalen and Samuel B. M. Sands.
Records also derive from Nicholas Luquer and his wife Sarah Lea Luquer (née Lynch), from George Hicks, and others. Includes 1838 report of commissioners appointed by the Kings County Board of Supervisors, inquiring into a loan of $79,000 received from U.S. revenue.
Beyond its value as a record of property transactions, this collection may be of interest for the personal information on a number individuals, contained in certain documents.
Access Points:
- Deeds New York (State) New York
- Brooklyn Heights (New York, NY) History
- Deeds Brooklyn (New York, NY)
- Brooklyn (New York, NY) Neighborhoods Brooklyn Heights
- Bartow family
- Coles family
- Colwell family (spelled also, Caldwell)
- Cowenhoven family (spelled also, Covenhaven, Van Couvenhoven, Van Couwenhoven,Kowenhoven, Kouwenhoven, Van Kouvenhoven, Van Kouwenhoven)
- Dean family
- Henshaw Family
- Hicks family
- Luquer family (spelled also, Lequier, Luquere, Luqueer)
- Luquer, Nicholas (1810-1864)
- Luquer, Sarah Lea (1809-1887) (née Sarah Lea Lynch)
- March family
- March, Joshua Sands March (b. 1809)
- Middagh family (spelled also, Middaugh)
- Middagh, Magdalen (1808-1844) (aka, Magdalen Sands, Magdalen March)
- Mitchell family (spelled also, Mitchel)
- Sackett family
- Sands family
- Sands, Samuel B. M. (Samuel Bayard Malcolm Sands) (1799-1835)
- Van Nostrand family (spelled also, Van Noorstrant)
- Van Nostrand, Martha (aka, Martha Middagh) [m. Aert Middagh (ca. 1776-ca. 1815)]
- Woolsey family
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John Howard Melish, William Howard Melish, and Protestant Episcopal Church of the Holy Trinity (Brooklyn, NY) Collection, 1904-1985. 8 boxes (8 linear feet).
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 Attorney General of the United States in 1948 labeled the “National Council for Soviet-American Friendship” a subversive organization. Soon after, “the vestry sought to persuade the elder Melish to dismiss his son from the position of associate minister because they considered “that certain outside activities of the Assistant Rector were most detrimental to the interests of Holy Trinity Church.” The elder Melish declined, and the vestry attempted to remove them both. The ensuing battle involved the parishioners of Holy Trinity church, Bishop James Pernette DeWolfe, the Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Long Island, and wound up going to the New York Supreme Court twice in the course of the ensuing decade.
This collection covers the years 1904 to 1985. A few twentieth-century copies of materials concerning the origins of the Church of the Holy Trinity in 1847 are included. The collection really begins at 1904, at which time the Rev. John Howard Melish came to Brooklyn as pastor. The collection is also quite sparse after 1969, the year the Rev. John Howard Melish died. The bulk of the material is newspaper clippings, but also includes correspondence, publications, legal records, photographs, notes, ephemera, financial records, and minutes of meetings. It centers on the decade from 1948–1958, the period of the “Melish Case.”
Subjects:
- Melish, John Howard, 1874–1951
- Melish, William Howard, 1910–1986
- Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt), 1868-1963
- Miller, Arthur, 1915-2005
- White, Bouck, b. 1874
- Church of the Holy Trinity (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
- Church of St. Ann and the Holy Trinity (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
- Church controversies.
- Anti-communist movements–United States–History.
- City clergy.
- Episcopalians–United States.
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