In the Society's Manuscript Collection are two boxes of research papers of Rosalie Fellows Bailey, FASG, FGBS (1908-1991), a leading New York genealogist. Perhaps the rest of her files were lost prior to 1986 when these two boxes were presented to the Society, though she had given other materials to the Society before then. She was the author of numerous articles in the Record and other genealogical journals as well as three books used frequently for New York research: Guide to Genealogical and Biographical Sources for New York City (Manhattan), 1783-1898 (see below); Dutch Systems in Family Naming: New York-New Jersey (National Genealogical Society, 1954, still in print); and Pre-Revolutionary Dutch Houses and Families in Northern New Jersey and Southern New York (1936, reprinted Dover Publications, 1968).
The forty families treated in these two boxes of research papers are as follows [the collection inventory indicates the order of the files and those files containing more than one family]:
| Chalmers | Lacey | Rousmaniere |
| Cornwell | Las(t)ley | Ryder |
| De Graaf | Le Comte | See |
| Delafield | Le Roy | Smith [Scotland] |
| Dyckman | McKelvie [Scotland] | Stol |
| Farwell | Maull [England] | Stuyvesant |
| Few | O'Brien | Strong |
| Fish | Ormiston | Van de Water |
| Gerritsen | Parsells | Van Pelt |
| Haines | Remmersen | Van Valkenburg |
| Jardine [Scotland] | Richards | Varleth |
| Kean | Roll | Webb |
| Kennedy | Romine | Westbrook |
| Williamson |
Bailey's New York City Guide Reprinted
Rosalie Fellows Bailey's Guide to Genealogical and Biographical Sources for New York City (Manhattan), 1783-1898, originally published in 1954 and long out of print, has been reprinted by Clearfield Company. In an introduction to the reprint, NYG&B Editor Harry Macy points out that much of the information in Bailey's guide is still of great value to anyone researching 19th century New York City families. The library materials she describes, including many obscure titles, are still in the same repositories. On the other hand, many if not most of the government records described by Bailey have been moved or made more accessible, and Mr. Macy directs the reader to later publications, especially the guide published in 1989 by the Jewish Genealogical Society (Genealogical Resources in the New York Metropolitan Area). The careful researcher will use both Bailey and the later guides.
The reprint of Bailey's guide may be ordered from Clearfield Genealogy Booskop . In the NYG&B Library, the call number is [N.Y. L M314.19 B35].
by Henry B. Hoff, CG, FASG, FGBS
Originally published in The NYG&B Newsletter, Summer 1998
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