In Historic Richmond Town, an outdoor museum village comprised of 28 historic Staten Island houses and early (and working) workshops and buildings, is the old red-brick school building that now serves as the home of the Library of The Staten Island Historical Society. Its holdings often contain the only information to be found concerning an 18th, 19th or 20th century family or institution of Richmond County; and often a trip to the Library will save the researcher unnecessary searches of some of the earlier records of the County.
In the Search Room are vertical files and 3x5 card collections that make up most of the materials. The cards were prepared in the early 1940s as part of The Historical Records Survey of the Work Projects Administration (WPA); and since that time the librarians and archivists have added more information to them.
Generally the first card collection checked by the researcher is that of “Vital Records of Staten Island Families,” which takes up 47 drawers. It is alphabetized by the surname of the Staten Islander mentioned in the County's early wills, administrations, guardianships, deeds, mortgages and releases; in newspaper death notices and articles; in the early records of Staten Island churches and on tombstones; in family Bibles and other private family papers; and in certain New York City published works (earlier issues of the NYG&B Record among them). Thus, this collection of 3x5 cards might be considered a sort of run-down of early records in which the Staten Islander's name may be found. The WPA at the same time also prepared several offshoots of this collection; e.g., “Occupations,” “Place-names” and “Afro-Americans,” all alphabetized and taken from the same sources.
The major group of vertical files is expanding constantly, inasmuch as it consists chiefly of 20th century items, such as newspaper and magazine articles and clippings, pamphlets, bulletins, brochures, booklets, correspondence, etc., covering a wide variety of subjects chiefly concerning Staten Island (art, bridges, businessmen, cemeteries, churches, Italians on Staten Island, ferries, forts, hotels, inns, taverns, schools, Sailors Snug Harbor, American Indians on Staten Island, prominent citizens, institutions and organizations, and separate folders for each Richmond County town — to name only a few of the topics). All files are alphabetized by topic and are in legal-size folders in five cabinets with a total of 20 drawers. There is much here for the genealogist seeking background data; for the historian; and certainly for the researchers of the future.
“Biographies-Genealogies,” a smaller vertical file, tends more to families, as its title indicates, but not limited to those of Staten Island. It contains photographs, news clippings, correspondence from inquirers, family records, copies of genealogies from published Staten Island books, and notes on genealogies prepared by a few earlier Staten Island genealogists and family historians.
“Finding Aids - Family Papers MS1-MS44” (in a large 3-ring binder) contains analyses of the Manuscript Collections. Each Collection has been assigned a control sheet, encapsulating its contents, indicating its emphasis and, among other entries, including the span of years covered by the genealogical and/or historical data it contains. A few examples of the Manuscript Collections are those of Austen (1766-1976), Cutting (1820-1910), Frech (1810-1916, contains some items in German), Holder (1854-1957), Golder (1769-1946), Decker/ Prall/Hillyer (1784-early 1950s) and Cropsey (1800-1978, includes mention of the famed artist Jasper Cropsey). Other Collections are noted in the hand-out of The Society, “Research Facilities and Resources.” In back of the binder is an index to all the names found in the Manuscript Collections.
In the hall directly outside of the Search Room are additional 3x5 cards prepared by the WPA, e.g., “Road Records,” alphabetized by the name of the road and related surnames found in 18th and early 19th century deeds of Richmond County; and “Minutes of School Districts.” Two interesting double-drawers of cards contain “Vaults at the Richmond County Clerk's”; “Bureau of Inventory and Statistics”; and “The Museum” (now the Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences), listing in alphabetical order the items found in these three repositories in the 1940s.
It should be mentioned here that the Library holds none of the original documents listed as sources for the information found on any of the 3x5 cards. That applies as well to another collection of 3x5 cards, “Bible Transcripts,” which are just that: transcriptions from private family Bibles, all of which were returned to their original owners. There is an index to the 375 to 400 entries on these cards, which also is found in the same hall area.
The collection “Geographic-Photographs” contains pictures of houses of well-known Staten Islanders and houses marked on Beers' 1874 Atlas of Staten Island. Clear photocopies can be made by the Staff. The collection is indexed by the name of the Staten Island town and the name of the owner of the house.
The 3x5 card collection “Afro-Americans,” mentioned above, when combined with the contents of the “Jackson” carton, form the Afro-American Collection. The contents of the carton include news clippings, magazine articles, photographs of persons and school children, records of marriages and baptisms of Afro-Americans recorded by early Staten Island churches, mentions of slaves in early Richmond County wills, etc. Much of these materials served as sources for Ronald David Jackson and Evelyn E. Jackson when preparing their Raw Notes published by The Society in 1995.
The stacks housing the books, periodicals, typescript collections, etc., of the Library are not open to search. Instead, the visitor must fill out call-slips (there is a card catalogue by author and title in the Search Room). Inasmuch as comparatively little has been published solely on Staten Island, it is understandable that although this is a good-size collection, many of the published works on its shelves concern other areas or are works concerning today's New York City as a whole. There are also published genealogies of Staten Island families and many of the compilations of New York City records now in print. Representative typescripts are Herbert Magruder's “Daniel D. Tompkins” (1969), Hon. James Ridgeway's “Monograph of the Ridgeway Family . . .” (1906); and the Family Group Sheets of “Jonathan Bush (1801-1850) and his wife Elizabeth Lee (1806-1872),” a Pennsylvania couple who migrated to Illinois, that carries their descendants down to recent times. Several typescripts are devoted solely to the records of Staten Island; e.g., those prepared in 1941 by the Junior Group of the Staten Island chapter of the DAR, “Abstracts of Wills of Richmond County (1787-1863),” “Abstracts of Letters of Administration (1787-1865) and of Guardianship Papers (1802-1865)” with the index volume (by first letter of the surname only), “Will Index and Letters Index.” In addition there are the “Abstracts of the 17th and 18th Centuries Deeds of Richmond County,” and “Staten Island Newspapers 1726-1890,” a typescript of articles mentioning Staten Islanders and various topics.
Also in the Search Room are microfilms of directories, newspapers, and Federal Censuses covering Staten Island, together with large maps and atlases for Census-search purposes. Unfortunately, due to extreme budget cuts by the City, there is no working microprinter (it has seen its day) and the film reader is on its last legs. There is no computer setup, but visitors are welcome to bring laptops. Photographing of materials is not permitted, and photocopying is done only by the staff. The Library has a research service and those interested should write for the requirements (soon subject to change).
The Library is open from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. on Mondays and Tuesdays only. Visitors must make appointments in advance by contacting the staff member able to assist the researcher, Mrs. Carlotta DeFillo, Curatorial Assistant, The Staten Island Historical Society, 441 Clarke Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10306, telephone (718) 351-1611. [Note: this information may be out of date. Please visit The Staten Island Historical Society website for current information.]
The first-time visitor coming from Manhattan will appreciate the ferry ride across the harbor, and all will enjoy examining the restored houses and shopping at the workshops and store (when open during the warmer weather), all of which share with the Library the park-like surroundings where one is able to absorb the quiet and relaxing pre-20th Century atmosphere of Historic Richmond Town.
by B-Ann Moorhouse, CG, FGBS
Originally published in The NYG&B Newsletter, Winter 1995
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