Before traveling to the Queens County Surrogate's Court for an early probate proceeding — perhaps only to learn that the file is missing or to be informed that it is too late that day to order a file — one is well advised to first check the collection of abstracts of early Queens County wills on the shelves of the Long Island Division of the Queens Borough Public Library. (The Long Island Division is on the second floor of the Central Library, Queens Borough Public Library, 89-11 Merrick Boulevard, Jamaica, NY 11432.) These typescripts, prepared in 1939 and 1940 by the WPA, cover wills in Liber A (1787-1800), B (1800-07), C (1807-16), D (1816-21), E (1821-27), and F-G (1827-35), as well as wills of real estate in Libers 1-3 (1834-35), 4-6 (1845-55), 7 (1855-75), and colonial wills in the county deed libers (1683-1774). Most of the volumes are indexed by all names abstracted. On the same shelves are a few indexes to certain wills to 1874, and an index to some of the administrations during the years 1878-1908. For NYG&B Library holdings of similar material for Queens County, see this Newsletter 2:2:15 (Spring 1991) and 3:1:6 (Spring 1992).
The collections of the Long Island Division are not limited to Queens County interests. As its title indicates, the Division's holdings also cover Kings, Nassau, and Suffolk counties. Since 1912, the librarians have been collecting materials that are varied and unique and which help to fill in some of the gaps in the records for certain areas of Long Island.
Unlike the other genealogical libraries of the City, the Long Island Division cannot claim fame by having one outstanding special genealogical collection. Instead, it is known as the home of the single family document, the obscure find, the tidbit of information, and clue, clues, and more clues. The local researcher is well aware that one should not be satisfied that research of a Long Island family particularly of the 19th century has been completed, until after a visit to the Long Island Division.
The 240-drawer Catalogue of 3x5 cards is divided into several categories. Each card contains a brief description of an item in the collections, whether a manuscript or a published source; and the catalogue is updated regularly. For example, the category of "Newspapers Currently Received" notes the date of any discontinuance. The category "Prints" includes those of homes of Long Island families that date back to the 19th century and earlier part of this century. "Vital Records," filed in 22 drawers, have been abstracted from the early Long Island newspaper notices and from manuscripts in the Division. The "Information Index" is helpful when the researcher asks, "What does this Library have on the subject of _____?" The brief descriptions on those particular cards serve primarily as an index to the Vertical Files Collection. The subjects of those entries run the gamut from a list of names of the Acadian refugees sent to Long Island towns, to the law covering the boundaries that were set for an old Queens community; or from fire fighting to the histories of old forts of Kings, Queens, and elsewhere on Long Island; or the names and histories of the schools of Queens, both public and private. The additional categories, such as "Broadsides" and "Censuses" to take two examples, concern items of even more specialized interest.
The Vertical Files take up considerable space in the Division. The number of items in the hundreds of folders varies; they consist of photocopies of news clippings, correspondence, pertinent items extracted from published works, miscellaneous papers and documents. In the several folders on "Civil War Veterans" can be found obituaries, biographies of survivors, or lists of members of the Flushing and Jamaica G.A.R. posts. There are folders on the histories of the local communities of Queens; on the origin of place names of Long Island; on historical societies of Long Island, past and present; on inns and taverns; and one file contains the newspaper article that instructed the enumerators preparing to take the 1917 Military Census (see this Newsletter 5:3:21, Fall 1994).
A folder in the Surname Files may contain anything from a letter of inquiry and/or the reply of the librarian citing the works in the Division concerning that particular name — to a family Bible record or other family document, or a lineage or genealogy. Inasmuch as the contents of each Surname File are from the inquirer-descendant, the family interests are not limited to those of Long Island. As a few examples at random, the Creed file contains the original Bible records of the early 19th century family of Bernardus H. Creed and his wife Jane D. Wiggins. The Cozine file consists of a typescript on the descendants of Garret I. Cozine (1764-1840). The Fairbanks file holds the original Bible records of 19th century descendants of that old New England family, which was passed on to their Wooley descendants of Watertown and elsewhere in New York State. As one might suspect, the Lawrence file is thick with papers. The Lockwood file, however, contains only a single sheet with the brief notation that John Lockwood, born 1814 in Ballston Spa, New York, moved to Jamaica in Queens County where his son later became head of the water supply department — even so, perhaps the answer for one struggling over a Lockwood family problem. The Sampson file, a manuscript, concerns the account of the family of Arthur Sampson, Rector of Killrea, Antrim, and also of Derry in 1764, whose son and descendants resided in New York City and whose daughter died there in 1864, the widow of the famous Wolfe Tone of Ireland's history. The Sealy file is comprised of three folders thickly packed. One of the several Smith files is the 1 1/2” inch ring binder entitled, "The Ancestry and Descendants of Magistrate William Smith of Jamaica, N.Y., 1596-1668," possibly of help to one of the many Smith researchers. There are about 400 or so Surname Files in this collection.
On the open shelves are duplicates of Typescripts of church records and cemetery inscriptions and the like, compiled by earlier researchers and also found on the shelves of other City libraries. However, the typescript by Eugene Armbruster of Long Island marriages of the 19th century and earlier differs slightly from his indexed manuscript at the Brooklyn Historical Society. Another typescript, with facsimiles of signatures of some of the earliest settlers of Long Island, also serves as an aid in identifying some of those who removed from New England to Long Island.
The excellent Map Collection is given the care one hopes for from conservationist-archivists. The early tinted 19th century maps of the old communities are well preserved in acid-free protectors and are available in the numerous map drawers; and the bound maps for census purposes are on the shelves for easy handling by the user.
For the researcher of Families of this Century and thus, of course, for future researchers, there are a number of minor collections. The 60 bound volumes of Long Island Biographies and the bound volumes of Performing Arts Biographies concern those who were and are connected with today's Queens County; and the bound volumes of Histories of Communities also concern the Queens County of today. All three sets of bound volumes are indexed.
A few of the 55,000 images in the Photographs Collection date back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The subjects are quite varied. Photographing of parts of this and the Map Collection by library visitors is permitted; understandably, however, permission must be obtained in advance.
The Microfilm Collection holds the passenger ship lists for the Port of New York 1820-1897 (indexed to 1846); Brooklyn and Manhattan city directories; the General Index of the Compiled Service Records of the Revolutionary War (58 reels); the 1870, 1880, 1900 and 1910 Federal Censuses for New York State (including the 1880 and 1900 soundexes); the earliest New York City court records, e.g., those of the old Mayor's Court; many Long Island newspapers, among them the complete run of the Brooklyn (Daily) Eagle; and Lucius Barbour's name indexes and town indexes to the Vital Records of Connecticut — to give an idea of the variety of the films. (On reviewing the contents of the microfilm drawers, about 100 in number, one is reminded again that the Long Island Division is a public library.)
Also on microfilm are the Historical Documents of old New York City that once were housed in the Paul Klapper Library of Queens College, most of the originals of which have since been turned over to the New York State Archives. Before the transfer of these documents, William Asadorian, member of the staff of the Long Island Division, prepared a catalogue of them which is in the staff office.
Not available in the research room, but housed elsewhere in the library building, are Additional Archival Materials. They are of an historical nature in the main, although a few can be considered as at least partially of help to the genealogist. Examples are Friends records that concern only specific families, such as Bowne, Parsons, etc.; or petitions signed by Friends of a locality. The staff has a finding aid to these archives.
The Staff of the Division is a small one. They only accept telephone inquiries if the question is a brief one and limited to a specific holding among the collections. Concerning correspondence, they do try to reply as soon as possible; understandably, though, there often are delays. They are unable to do any research for correspondents; however, they can arrange for certain items to be photocopied or photographed, advising beforehand of the estimated costs.
Researchers may accomplish in one trip to the Long Island Division what might require trips to two or more other repositories in the same day. In addition, the Division's new location is most comfortable for the researcher. Each of the two microfilm-microfiche readers is in good working order and has a coin box attached for making prints. The two computers have on-line access to the Internet, OCLC, etc., as do those at the New York Public Library in Manhattan. The decor in the form of high-back chairs for the researchers, highly polished tables, shiny glass cases, and dust-free shelves, is pleasing to the eye. I mention this only as a preliminary to my advice that the researcher had best get over to the Long Island Division before word of its spanking new quarters reaches the rest of New York City!
by B-Ann Moorhouse, CG, FGBS
Originally published in The NYG&B Newsletter, Winter 1994
Updated September 2000
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