Harkness, Edward Stephen, 1874-1940
Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 1318
3.3 linear feet (29 v.)
Edward Stephen Harkness (1874-1940) was a trustee of the New York Public Library. His wife and co-collector, Mary Stillman Harkness, died in 1950. Collection consists of holograph manuscripts, autograph letters, documents, and signatures...
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Edward Stephen Harkness (1874-1940) was a trustee of the New York Public Library. His wife and co-collector, Mary Stillman Harkness, died in 1950. Collection consists of holograph manuscripts, autograph letters, documents, and signatures representing artists and literary and historical figures. Includes 15th-century illuminated Book of Hours and letters and documents of all American presidents from Washington to Franklin D. Roosevelt, except for Herbert Hoover. Items are accompanied by typed transcripts, portrait photographs and illustrations, and related letters, clippings and other materials. Persons represented include Shirley Brooks, Frances H. Burnett, Thomas Carlyle, Walter Crane, George Cruikshank, General Henry Dearborn, Charles Dickens, Benjamin Franklin, Marie Louise, Empress of France, Mary, Queen of Scots, Edgar Allan Poe, Joseph Conrad, John Ruskin, William M. Thackery, Henry D. Thoreau, Samuel Clemens, George Washington, John G. Whittier, and Captain Isaac Woods.
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Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 1109
211 linear feet (368 boxes, 153 volumes, 12 oversized folders)
The collection consists chiefly of papers of members of the Gansevoort, Lansing and Melville families and reflects the social, business, and political interests of the families, their friends and associates. Also included are some papers of...
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The collection consists chiefly of papers of members of the Gansevoort, Lansing and Melville families and reflects the social, business, and political interests of the families, their friends and associates. Also included are some papers of members of the Sanford, Van Schaick and other prominent families of the Hudson and Mohawk Valley areas of New York State. The papers include accounts, correspondence, maps, and land, court, and military records, as well as personal collections of photographs and artifacts documenting the families' history. Notable individuals represented int the collection are Revolutionary War officer Peter Gansevoort, Jr. (1749-1812), his son Peter Gansevoort (1788-1876), a New York State Assemblyman, Senator, and Judge Advocate General, Henry Sanford Gansevoort (1835-1871), Union officer in the Civil War, and author Herman Melville.
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Riker, James, 1822-1889
Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 2581
The James Riker Papers document the literary activity and family background of the New York historian and genealogist. The collection consists of original documents from colonial-era New York in Dutch and English, extracts and transcripts from New...
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The James Riker Papers document the literary activity and family background of the New York historian and genealogist. The collection consists of original documents from colonial-era New York in Dutch and English, extracts and transcripts from New York and New Jersey historical records, genealogical notes, correspondence, writings, notebooks, printed matter and photographs. Also included are Civil War correspondence and military records of James Riker's brother, Colonel John Lafayette Riker of the New York 62nd Regiment Volunteer Infantry.
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Liebmann, Alfred J., 1885-1957
Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 1756
.68 linear feet (2 boxes, 1 volume, 1 oversized folder)
Alfred J. Liebmann (b. 1885) was a research chemist. Born in Switzerland, he emigrated to the U.S. in 1910 and became technical director of Schenley Industries and president of the Schenley Research Institute. His studies included the utilization...
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Alfred J. Liebmann (b. 1885) was a research chemist. Born in Switzerland, he emigrated to the U.S. in 1910 and became technical director of Schenley Industries and president of the Schenley Research Institute. His studies included the utilization of cereal crops and of distillery by-products. Collection consists of correspondence, broadsides, official forms, and other documents concerning the distribution and use of liquor in the U.S. Topics include trade in rum and molasses in colonial America, Whiskey Rebellion in 1794, military use of liquor, taverns, and importation and sale of liquor. Some of the items are signed by notable political and military figures.
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Montague, Gilbert Holland, 1880-1961
Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 2037
10 linear feet (18 boxes, 20 volumes)
Gilbert Holland Montague (1880-1961) was an American lawyer and autograph collector. Collection consists of letters and documents with the autographs of American, British and other European figures including statesmen, politicians, artists,...
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Gilbert Holland Montague (1880-1961) was an American lawyer and autograph collector. Collection consists of letters and documents with the autographs of American, British and other European figures including statesmen, politicians, artists, scientists, and legal, literary and royal figures. Also, some carte-de-visite photographs of prominent individuals.
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Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 2045
1.11 linear feet (6 volumes)
Original documents and transcripts of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, relating to the worship of the Virgin at Guadalupe, and her apparition there; includes sermons, discourses, pieces in the native language, and a few engravings.
Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 1900
1 v. (53 p.)
Testimony against Hugh Parsons, taken before Judge William Pynchon at Springfield, Massachusetts.
Maitland, Alexander, -1907
Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 1848
.15 linear feet (1 v.)
The South Sea Company was formed circa 1711 by the British government with a monopoly on trade in South America in exchange for liquidating the British national debt by selling shares in its trading enterprises and funding payment of the debt from...
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The South Sea Company was formed circa 1711 by the British government with a monopoly on trade in South America in exchange for liquidating the British national debt by selling shares in its trading enterprises and funding payment of the debt from a part of the company's capital stock. In 1721 the inflated value of the company's shares collapsed which brought on the fall of the British government and widespread financial and political ruin. The Mississippi Scheme was a rival project in France devised by the Scottish economist John Law. Collection consists of correspondence and papers concerning the South Sea Company and the Mississippi Scheme. Materials include letters and documents, 1669-1747, of notable English persons who were involved in the South Sea Company affair; letters and papers, 1712-1771, relating to the company, its directors and shareholders; and letters and papers, 1690-1774, of persons in Great Britain and France who participated in the Mississippi Scheme or who were friends or benefactors of John Law.
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Vollmer, Ruth, 1900-1982
Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 3188
Chiefly an autograph collection of manuscript letters, documents, musical scores, photographs, and other papers of European, British, and American composers, musicians, authors, novelists, poets, playwrights, historians, philosophers, painters,...
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Chiefly an autograph collection of manuscript letters, documents, musical scores, photographs, and other papers of European, British, and American composers, musicians, authors, novelists, poets, playwrights, historians, philosophers, painters, sculptors, scientists, physician, politicians, statesmen, royalty, and others spanning the period from the 17th to the 20th centuries. There is also Vollmer family correspondence (1892-1959), primarily correspondence of Ruth Vollmer (in German) with family and friends in Europe just prior to the outbreak of Work War II.
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Smith, William, 1728-1793
Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 2796
4.18 linear feet (6 boxes, 10 volumes)
William Smith Jr. (1728-1793), an American Loyalist of New York and Quebec, was a prominent jurist, statesman, journalist and historian. The William Smith Jr. papers comprise the papers of William Smith Jr., 1683-1793; those of his son William...
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William Smith Jr. (1728-1793), an American Loyalist of New York and Quebec, was a prominent jurist, statesman, journalist and historian. The William Smith Jr. papers comprise the papers of William Smith Jr., 1683-1793; those of his son William Smith III (1769-1847), a Canadian government official, historian and militia officer, 1797-1848; and Smith family land and estate papers, 1665-1912. The bulk of the collection consists of William Smith Jr.'s papers pertaining to his activities as a lawyer, journalist and historian, and as a Councillor and Chief Justice in the British provinces of New York and Quebec (later Lower Canada). Papers include his correspondence and documents, writings for publication, and the diaries he kept from 1753 to 1783, known as his Historical Memoirs. Volumes documenting his law practice in New York are also present.
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Beale, Charles Currier, 1864-1909
Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 235
6.5 linear feet (23 boxes)
Charles Currier Beale (1864-1909), a collector of shorthand manuscripts and printed materials, founded and operated the Beale Shorthand Bureau and School of Phonography in Boston between 1884 and 1908. Collection consists of materials concerning...
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Charles Currier Beale (1864-1909), a collector of shorthand manuscripts and printed materials, founded and operated the Beale Shorthand Bureau and School of Phonography in Boston between 1884 and 1908. Collection consists of materials concerning American and English shorthand systems and also manuscripts written in shorthand which were acquired by Beale. Types of manuscripts include Bibles from the 18th and 19th centuries, sermons and prayer books; works by various authors; accounts of court trials; and other works transcribed in shorthand. Also, some correspondence, 1899-1907, and bibliographies of books about shorthand and books written in shorthand.
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Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 230
12 linear feet (36 boxes)
The Bayards, Campbells and Pearsalls were leading merchant and business families of New York who where related by marriage. Several members were Loyalists during the American Revolution. Family members had business interests in England, the...
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The Bayards, Campbells and Pearsalls were leading merchant and business families of New York who where related by marriage. Several members were Loyalists during the American Revolution. Family members had business interests in England, the Caribbean and South America. The firm of LeRoy, Bayard & McEvers sold medicine, silk goods, liquor, earthenware, and tobacco to Peru; and bought and sold timber, spices, food, apparel, and hardware in addition to buying and selling land, managing farms, and performing banking functions. Leading members of the families represented are William Bayard, Duncan P. Campbell, Thomas Pearsall, Samuel Cornell, Herman LeRoy, and Jerome Sillem. Collection contains business and family correspondence; accounts and business papers; and land papers consisting of deeds and maps primarily related to New York City, New York State, and other east coast states.
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Guilbaudiere, Jouhan de la
Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 1600
.21 linear feet (1 volume)
Buccaneer's Atlas or Portolano, entitled: "Description des principaux endroites de la Mer du Sud depuis les 52 degrez 30 minutes sud, ou est le d'Etroit du Magellan jusqu'au 41 degrez Nord qui est l'isle de Californie faite sur les lieux par le...
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Buccaneer's Atlas or Portolano, entitled: "Description des principaux endroites de la Mer du Sud depuis les 52 degrez 30 minutes sud, ou est le d'Etroit du Magellan jusqu'au 41 degrez Nord qui est l'isle de Californie faite sur les lieux par le sr. Jouhan de la Guilabuadiere. Dresse et dessigné les plans qui l'accompagnent sur ses memoires, par le sr. Hanicle ingenieur ordinaire du Roy en l'année 1696." Two hundred twenty pages of descriptive text, accompanied by thirty-five carefully executed colored maps and plans of the ports, harbors, anchorage, islands, etc. along the west coast of America, beginning with the Straits of Magellan, and extending as far as the Gulf of California The author of this volume was one of the celebrated band of buccaneers under the command of M. de Gennes. He was shipwrecked in the Straits of Magellan about 1688, and shortly afterward joined the buccaneering expedition of M. de Beauchesnegouin as second in command. This manuscript seems to have been compiled while on this expedition. In addition to the very exact survey of different harbors and ports, a detailed account is given of the inhabitants of the surrounding country, their manners and customs, etc. The volume also contains a long vocabulary of the buccaneer language Presented to the New York Public Library by Alexander Maitland. There is a description of this manuscript in G. Marcel's "Les Fuégiens à la fin du XVIIe siècle," Paris, 1892
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Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 1037
25 linear feet (55 boxes)
The Ford Autograph Collection was compiled between 1840 and 1898 by Gordon Lester Ford and his sons, Worthington Chauncey Ford and Paul Leicester Ford. Gordon L. Ford (1823-1891) was the business manager of the New York Tribune newspaper and had...
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The Ford Autograph Collection was compiled between 1840 and 1898 by Gordon Lester Ford and his sons, Worthington Chauncey Ford and Paul Leicester Ford. Gordon L. Ford (1823-1891) was the business manager of the New York Tribune newspaper and had substantial banking and railroad interests. His oldest son, Worthington (1858-1941) was chief of the Bureau of Statistics of the State and Treasury Departments in Washington, D.C., from 1885 to 1898, chief of the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress from 1903 to 1909, and editor of the Massachusetts Historical Society from 1909 to 1929. The younger brother Paul (1865-1902) was a journalist, author and historical editor. Collection contains autograph letters of American presidents, heads of governmental agencies, congressmen, governors, generals, writers, and artists as well as those of European political, military and literary figures, dating from 1589 to 1898. Collection also includes some correspondence of the Ford family.
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Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 2131
1.2 linear feet (3 boxes); 1 microfilm reel
Collection consists of letters of governors, petitions, extracts of letters, and other papers arriving in the colony of New Netherland. Also, accounts kept with the home government, list of houses, and various other colonial documents.
Anthony, Alfred Williams, 1860-1939
Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 115
19 linear feet (48 boxes)
Alfred Anthony Williams (1860- ), theologian, author and educator, was an executive and administrator of the Committee of the Federal Council of Christ, founder of the Federation Committee of Good Will Between Jews and Christians, and treasurer of...
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Alfred Anthony Williams (1860- ), theologian, author and educator, was an executive and administrator of the Committee of the Federal Council of Christ, founder of the Federation Committee of Good Will Between Jews and Christians, and treasurer of the General Conference of Free Baptists. Collection consists mainly of 18th-20th century autographs, with the bulk from the mid-19th to 20th centuries, representing both primary and secondary figures from diverse fields including literature, music, education, politics, and royalty. Names include Susan B. Anthony, John Bigelow, Edwin Booth, Frederick Douglass, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, H.L. Mencken, Franklin Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Margaret Sanger, Philip Schuyler, and Daniel Webster. Figures represented are mainly Americans. Many letters are to Anthony. Following the name file is a subject file consisting of miscellaneous autograph letters arranged by profession or institution. Also, two boxes of unsorted material, including photographs usually relating to individuals whose autographs are contained in the collection; an autograph fan; and a glass plate negative.
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Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 1144
.84 linear feet (2 boxes, 2 volumes, 1 other item)
The Gerry-Townsend family of Massachusetts included statesman Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814). The collection consists of correspondence of Elbridge Gerry, 1773-1814, and his son-in-law David S. Townsend, 1812-1846); legal papers and accounts of Eliza...
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The Gerry-Townsend family of Massachusetts included statesman Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814). The collection consists of correspondence of Elbridge Gerry, 1773-1814, and his son-in-law David S. Townsend, 1812-1846); legal papers and accounts of Eliza Gerry, administrator of Elbridge Gerry's estate; deeds, mortgages, and other land papers concerning lands owned by the Gerry and Townsend families in Boston; and diary, 1813, Elbridge Gerry, Jr. kept during a journey from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Washington, D.C. Includes letters relating to Gerry's mission to France, 1797-1798 (the XYZ Affair), and to national politics. Correspondents include John Adams, William Gordon, Gideon Granger, Thomas Jefferson, James Lovell, James Madison, W. Vans Murray, George Partridge, C.C. Pinckney, Samuel Osgood, Jonathan Trumbull, Jr., James Warren, James Wendell, and John Wendell.
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Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 1455
2.5 linear feet (5 boxes, 5 v.); 1 microfilm reel
The Hudson collection consists of mid-17th through early 19th-century correspondence, accounts, legal documents, land papers, business records, and shipping papers of families living in the Essex County, Massachusetts, towns of Newburyport,...
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The Hudson collection consists of mid-17th through early 19th-century correspondence, accounts, legal documents, land papers, business records, and shipping papers of families living in the Essex County, Massachusetts, towns of Newburyport, Salisbury and Amesbury; also in Boston, New York City and Rumford (now Concord), New Hampshire. Papers document family matters; seafaring; land transactions; and trade between New England and New York, and the West Indies, Great Britain, Russia (Archangel), and other New World and European ports. Bulk of papers documents the intermarried Hudson and Rogers families who lived in Newburyport, with branches in New York and Boston, mid-18th through early-19th centuries. Also included are papers of members of the related Balch family of Newburyport, 1766-1837; the True family of Salisbury, 1659-1835; and the Rolfe family of Rumford, New Hampshire. Some additional personal, town, church, school, business, and ship papers are in the collection.
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Kohns, Lee, 1864-1927
Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 645
6 linear feet (19 boxes, 3 v.)
Collection consists of letters and documents, ca. 15th-19th centuries, collected by Lee Kohns. American and European historical, literary, artistic, and scientific figures are represented.
New York Genealogical and Biographical Society
Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol NYGB 18274
22 linear feet (41 boxes)
The collection consists of original family letters, bible records, legal documents, such as deeds and wills, and genealogical research notes and charts, relating principally to families of New York City and State. The materials range from...
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The collection consists of original family letters, bible records, legal documents, such as deeds and wills, and genealogical research notes and charts, relating principally to families of New York City and State. The materials range from 1654-2002, but date primarily from the 19th and 20th centuries
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Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 2156
7.82 linear feet (16 boxes, 7 oversize folders)
Collection consists of documents pertaining to many aspects of New York City's history, including letters, certificates, reports, court records, land documents, maps, estates, deeds, official government records, autographs, news clippings, and...
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Collection consists of documents pertaining to many aspects of New York City's history, including letters, certificates, reports, court records, land documents, maps, estates, deeds, official government records, autographs, news clippings, and other printed matter. Although most of the materials are in their original format, some of the collection consists of facsimiles and photostats.
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Fleming, Walter L. (Walter Lynwood), 1874-1932
Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 1029
6 linear feet (14 boxes)
Walter Lynwood Fleming (1874-1932) was professor of history at various universities in the U.S. including West Virginia University, Louisiana State University and Vanderbilt University, in addition to serving as dean of arts and sciences at...
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Walter Lynwood Fleming (1874-1932) was professor of history at various universities in the U.S. including West Virginia University, Louisiana State University and Vanderbilt University, in addition to serving as dean of arts and sciences at Louisiana State and director of graduate work at Vanderbilt. He wrote and edited numerous publications. Collection consists of correspondence, research materials, writings, photographs, and printed matter relating to Fleming's work. Topics include the U.S. Civil War and Reconstruction, Jefferson Davis, the Ku Klux Klan, African-Americans, and Louisiana history. Papers contain documents, letters, clippings, notes and photographs pertaining to Fleming's historical writings.
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Smyth, John, 1567-1641
Manuscripts and Archives Division | *ZL-214
.5 linear feet (2 boxes)
John Smyth (1567-1640), from Nibley in Gloucestershire, England, was one of the original promoters of plantations and settlements in the second Virginia colony in North America. He was the author of "Lives of the Berkeleys". Collection consists of...
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John Smyth (1567-1640), from Nibley in Gloucestershire, England, was one of the original promoters of plantations and settlements in the second Virginia colony in North America. He was the author of "Lives of the Berkeleys". Collection consists of letters and documents relating to the settlement of Virginia from 1609 to 1622, collected by John Smyth.
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Van Cortlandt family
Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 3130
3 linear feet (7 boxes); 3 microfilm reels
Members of the Van Cortlandt family were major Westchester County landowners and New York politicians from the 17th to the 19th century. The Van Wyck family was related to them by marriage. Collection consists of correspondence, accounts, legal...
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Members of the Van Cortlandt family were major Westchester County landowners and New York politicians from the 17th to the 19th century. The Van Wyck family was related to them by marriage. Collection consists of correspondence, accounts, legal documents, papers relating to land in New York owned by the Van Cortlandt family, estate papers, and wills. Correspondence, 1779-1912, concerns family, personal and real estate matters, the progress of the Revolutionary War, and political matters. There is a significant amount of correspondence between Pierre Van Cortlandt and his son Philip. Also, 1824 almanac with journal notes; manuscript of Philip Van Cortlandt's autobiography; sketch of seating arrangement in Congress Hall, Philadelphia, 1795; family documents; and documents, 1775-1813, concerning the Continental Army.
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Cromwell, Oliver, 1599-1658
Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 696
.1 linear feet (1 folder)
One letter from Oliver Cromwell to John Cotton written after the Battle of Worcester, October 2, 1651, which destroyed the last major Scottish Royalist army. Cromwell alludes to his difficulties in treating with the Scots
Bancker, Evert, 1734-1815
Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 193
3.31 linear feet (15 boxes, 2 oversized folders)
Gerard Bancker (1740-1799) and brother Evert Bancker Jr. (1734-1815) were New York City surveyors and members of a wealthy merchant family. The land surveys, plats, and maps that comprise the bulk of the Bancker plans depict the streets,...
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Gerard Bancker (1740-1799) and brother Evert Bancker Jr. (1734-1815) were New York City surveyors and members of a wealthy merchant family. The land surveys, plats, and maps that comprise the bulk of the Bancker plans depict the streets, buildings, farms, and riverbanks of early New York. They were commissioned by individuals, churches, proprietors, and city government (The Corporation of the City of New York) and were created between 1667 and 1821, with the bulk of the collection dating from 1770 to 1810. There are also some surveys of land in upstate New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.
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Wells, Gabriel, 1862-1946
Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 2176
.1 linear feet (1 volume)
This collection brings together various deeds, indentures, receipts, governmental reports, and other documents related to the early history of New York Colony and State (1673-1799). Among these items are papers from New York governors Richard...
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This collection brings together various deeds, indentures, receipts, governmental reports, and other documents related to the early history of New York Colony and State (1673-1799). Among these items are papers from New York governors Richard Nicolls, Edmund Andros, Benjamin Fletcher, and Cadwallader Colden; Massachusetts Bay Governor William Burnet; and New York City Mayors Matthias Nicoll and Robert Walters, among others.
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Blom, Herman
Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol NYGB 19073
Account book of the Rev. Hermanus Blom, with his parishioners at Wiltwyck, Esopus, (now Kingston), N.Y. containing information on many early residents. In Dutch. 73 pages
Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 6358
.21 linear feet (1 volume)
This item is a handwritten copy of deeds and other town records for New Rochelle, Westchester County, New York, spanning December 2, 1669, to April 1, 1828
Manuscripts and Archives Division | MssCol 3704
.21 linear feet (1 volume)
Minutes of meetings concerning New York City charities attended by justices, aldermen, church wardens, and vestrymen (1694-1747). The meeting attendees were charged with the care of the poor, the administration of the Alms House (1736-1747), the...
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Minutes of meetings concerning New York City charities attended by justices, aldermen, church wardens, and vestrymen (1694-1747). The meeting attendees were charged with the care of the poor, the administration of the Alms House (1736-1747), the appointment of the schoolmaster, and related civic duties. These papers document attendance and proceedings to these meetings. This volume is a 19th century transcription.
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