From art to politics, the women of Brooklyn have shaped its history, identity, and future. Powerful groundbreaking leaders like Shirley Chisolm and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as well as artists like Barbra Streisand, are counted among Brooklyn natives.
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Researchers should be aware that this guide is not necessarily comprehensive and is intended to be improved over time. This guide focuses primarily on sources relating to Brooklyn (Kings County) in particular and includes only select materials from the other Long Island counties or other areas of New York. Researchers may wish to explore the library catalogs further to identify other materials helpful to their research. Access to the search portals for all library collections may be found here.
This guide emphasizes text-based archival material unique to the BHS, but also includes select materials from the Society’s collections of photographs, maps, and prints and drawings, as well as some selections from the library’s extensive collection of books. In addition to the material detailed in this guide, there are many other resources at BHS useful to research in Brooklyn’s agricultural history. Researchers can use BHS’s online catalog, Bobcat, for other relevant material such as books and other printed matter available in the library. Search the catalog here.
The principal subject heading to search is Agriculture. You can search on this heading alone or narrow your results by using Agriculture with sub-headings such as history, folklore, economic aspects, handbooks, manuals, etc. Among other related subject headings are Farmers, Farms, Real Property, and Labor. You can also search by name of specific locations, either alone or with Agriculture or another subject heading. Examples of locations include: New York, Brooklyn, Flatlands, Kings County, Queens County, Nassau County, Suffolk County, and Long Island.
There is a section of this guide that has been edited to demonstrate that it's possible to edit these guides and retain the code.
The principal subject heading to search is Agriculture. You can search on this heading alone or narrow your results by using Agriculture with sub-headings such as history, folklore, economic aspects, handbooks, manuals, etc. Among other related subject headings are Farmers, Farms, Real Property, and Labor. You can also search by name of specific locations, either alone or with Agriculture or another subject heading. Examples of locations include: New York, Brooklyn, Flatlands, Kings County, Queens County, Nassau County, Suffolk County, and Long Island.
There is a section of this guide devoted solely to legal documents regarding land ownership. Further searches in this area could use the subject terms Land Titles, Deeds, Decedents’ Estates, and Landowners.
Collection materials are arranged by format in this guide. Within the format sections, collections or items are presented in rough chronological order according to the earliest date of the collection.
Each entry follows the format:
- Collection name, date range of the collection
- Call number
- Link to more information about collection (if available).
- Brief description of relevant content in the collection.
Archives and Manuscripts: Property Records
American Indians and English settlers Gravesend deed, 1665
Call number: 1977.594
Link to finding aid.
This is a photocopy of a 1909 typescript of the original deed for Gravesend.
Richard Nicolls Breuckelen patent, 1667
Call number: 1974.149
Link to finding aid.
Land patent for the town of Breuckelen, issued by New York Governor Richard Nicolls in an apparent reconfirmation of an earlier Dutch patent.
Flatlands land patents and military commission, 1667-1787
Call number: 1974.016
Link to finding aid.
Two land patents issued for the Town of Amersfort (Flatlands) in Kings County.
Brooklyn property records, 1683-1920
Call number: 1979.022
Link to finding aid.
The collection gathers together various deeds, leases, mortgages, and title abstracts for properties located in Brooklyn, N.Y. Most of the title abstracts and some of the other documents include plot maps that clearly show the location of the property in question. Neighborhoods include Willliamsburg and Bushwick.
Stevanus Van Cortlandt Red Hook land deeds, 1697, 1712
Call number: 1974.007
Link to finding aid.
This is a deed issued to Stephanus (spelled Stevanus) Van Cortlandt by William III, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland, granting Van Cortlandt a mill house, mill dam, waterways, and land tracts in an area of the Island of Nassau known as Red Hook (the present-day Brooklyn neighborhood of Red Hook), dated 1697. Also included is a deed from the heirs of Stephanus Van Cortland to Matthias Van Dyk for the property in Red Hook formerly owned by Van Cortlandt, dated 1712.
Ryck Hendrikse deed, 1704-5
Call number: 1978.112
Link to finding aid.
A deed for land in Flatbush.
Brooklyn and Long Island deeds collection, 1716-1885
Call number: 1978.006
Link to finding aid.
A collection of deeds from various properties located on Long Island. Property locations in the collection include Flushing, Newtown (now Elmhurst), Jamaica, and Brooklyn.
Hendrick H. Suydam papers, 1780-1806
Call number: 1991.009
Link to finding aid.
Includes three deeds: two in Gravesend, one in Flatbush.
Mortgage indenture between Nicholas Couwenhoven and John Van Dine, 1782
Call number: 1990.012
Link to finding aid.
An indenture for property in Flatbush.
George Irving title abstract and deed, 1798-1857
Call number: 1981.007
Link to finding aid.
One photocopy of a title abstract granting farmland in Flushing, Queens County, N.Y., commonly known as Willetts Neck, to George Irving, and one photocopy of a deed from Irving to the United States Government for the sale of the land. The title abstract includes a history of the ownership of the property stretching back to 1798. The original documents both date from 1857.
Abstracts of deeds to Brooklyn farms, circa 1800-1920
Call number: 1973.165
Link to finding aid.
One bound volume containing handwritten abstracts of titles and deeds to several Brooklyn farms from the late 18th to early 19th centuries. A partial index of some farms is also included.
Teunis Schenk land deed, 1818
Call number: 1973.218
Link to finding aid.
This deed concerns land now located on the Brooklyn and Jamaica turnpike.
Thomas Gascoyne certificate of sale, 1841-45
Call number: 1991.024
Link to finding aid.
This is of one certificate of sale to Thomas Gascoyne for property in Brooklyn on Myrtle and Tillary Streets in 1841 (now downtown Brooklyn). The document also records the selling of the property by Edward Gascoyne to Jacque Cortelyou in 1845.
Thomas Talmadge and Benjamin Stillwell land conveyance, 1845
Call number: 1991.027
Link to finding aid.
A conveyance of property between Thomas Talmadge, Mayor of the City of Brooklyn, and Benjamin Stillwell for property located in Brooklyn at Navy Street in present-day Vinegar Hill.
John M. Reid papers, 1861
Call number: 1980.017
Link to finding aid.
The John M. Reid papers include a bond and deed concerning property he owned in Brooklyn.
Elizabeth Brainerd deed, 1869
Call number: 1977.515
Link to finding aid.
Elizabeth Martense Brainerd (1794-1876) was the daughter of Flatbush farmer Adrian Martense (1768-1810), who willed his land in the town of New Utrecht to her (New Utrecht is now the neighborhoods of Bensonhurst, Borough Park, and Bay Ridge). Elizabeth Brainerd then gave it to her daughter, Lucy E. Brainerd Barron (b. 1834). This document is the quit claim deed between Elizabeth Brainerd and her daughter regarding the estate of Elizabeth’s father.
New Utrecht land deeds and executor documents, 1873-1897
Call number: 1974.244
Link to finding aid.
This collection contains two deeds for property in the town of New Utrecht in Kings County (now Bensonhurst, Borough Park, and Bay Ridge).
Photographs
Ditmas lantern slide collection, circa 1851 to 1905
Call number: V1974.018
Link to finding aid.
The collection includes both black-and-white and hand colored slides depicting farms, barns, and rural areas. Most locations are unidentified.
Dutch in New York lantern slide collection, circa 1880 to 1890
Call number: V1974.025
Link to finding aid.
Images in this collection depict homes, churches, and artifacts relevant to Dutch settlement in Brooklyn and New York City during the 17th and 18th centuries. One slide shows a circa 17th century Dutch map of the region surrounding the Noort Riuier, known today as the Hudson River.
19th century Brooklyn Cabinet Card Collection, circa 1890 to 1902
Call number: V1987.021
Link to finding aid.
This collection contains images of rural scenes.
William Koch glass plate negatives, 1890-1910
Call number: V1985.004
Link to finding aid.
The images in this collection show, among other things, houses, farms and individuals outdoors, as well as rural and wooded scenes, which show hunters and farmers. Koch owned a business in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn but the specific locations of these photographs are unknown. The images are all available online here.
Collection of photographic illustrations of locations in Brooklyn, circa 1900 to 1920
Call number: V1991.070
Link to finding aid.
This Collection consists of 23 color photographic illustrations showing views of Brooklyn including houses, churches, schools, and streets, circa 1900 to 1920. Each illustration measures 4 x 6.5 inches and includes a brief description printed on the bottom recto. It is likely that the illustrations were detached from the book Brooklyn’s Garden: Views of Picturesque Flatbush by Charles A. Ditmas.
Brooklyn’s Garden: Views of Picturesque Flatbush viewbook, 1908
Call number: V1986.019
Link to finding aid.
The subject of this viewbook is the Brooklyn neighborhood of Flatbush, circa 1908.
Prints and Drawings
Farmers Nooning
Call number: M1975.345.1
1843 engraving by Alfred Jones after an 1836 painting “Farmers Nooning” by William Sidney Mount.
Main Street / Formerly Kings Highway – at present 84th Street / New Utrecht 1890 / From New Utrecht Supplement of Brooklyn Eagle, Noc. ’46 / From “Tide” 1890 / Others as I remember them
Call number: M1975.681.1
Twelve panel, watercolor on cardboard folding panorama, dated 1949 by Carrie S. Cropsey.
Large poster announcing the sale of a farm and all its furnishings
Call number: M1975.1006.1
Lithograph by George Hayward of the Remsen Farm House
Call number: M1975.1462.2
Published by “D. T. Valentine’s Manual” for 1858, with several views of this farmhouse and of the Vechte-Cortelyou farmhouse.
Maps
Farm line map of the city of Brooklyn: from official records and surveys
Call number: Atlas (8)1874
Detailed estate and old farm line atlas of the city of Brooklyn
Call number: Atlas (24)1880
Farm and woodland of Robt. B. Lefferts
Call number: Bergen-[1862].Fl
Farm and property line map of Twenty-sixth ward of Brooklyn
Call number: Folded Maps B P-1889.Fd.F
Map of Cortelyou farm lots, Garrett Vanderveer, Flatbush
Call number: Bergen-[18–?]g.Fl
Village of Greenfield on David Johnson farm, Flatbush
Call number: Bergen-[185-?]l.Fl
Martense farm, 36th to 41st St., 9th Ave. to 13th Ave., Brooklyn
Call number: B P-[189-?]Fl.F
Map of the “Hunter fly farm” in the 9th ward of the city of Brooklyn
Call number: B P-[1850]c.Fl
Map of a farm belonging to the heirs of John Meserole, dec’d. (17th Ward, City of Brooklyn)
Call number: B P-[18–?]o.Fl
Map of the Marway farm belonging to the Manhattan Trust Co. of N.Y. City, situated in the town of Gravesend, Kings County, New York
Call number: B P-[1884].Fl
Map of land of Samuel Fleet dec[ease]d situated at Bay Ridge in the town of New Utrecht and County of Kings
Call number: Bergen-1869a.Fl
Map of land of heirs of John Ditmars
Call number: Bergen-1877.c.Fl
Map of H.B. Pierrepont’s farm in Brooklyn: as surveyed 21st May 1820
Call number: Pierrepont-1856.Fl H.B.
Map of the north farm of Leffert Lefferts
Call number: B P-[1877].Fl.RA
Map of land of George Kouwenhoven, situated in the town of Flatlands in the county of Kings
Call number: Bergen-1868.Fl.RA
Map of farm at Fort Hamilton in the town of New Utrecht
Call number: B P-[1834]f.Fl
Map of land of Phebe Cowenhoven situated in the town of New Utrecht in the county of Kings
Call number: Bergen-1852a.Fl
Map of farm and other pieces of land belonging to the estate of Nicholas N. Wyckoff
Call number: B P-1847.Fl.RA
Map of a farm belonging to the heirs of Peter Calyer
Call number: B P-[1848?].Fl
Map of part of the Suydam farm belonging to William Coit, situated in the 18th Ward in the City of Brooklyn
Call number: B P-[1857].Fl
Farm belonging to the heirs of Peter Calyer, Greenpoint
Call number: B P-[1848]a.Fl c.2
Lots known as the Greenpoint farm
Call number: B P-[18–?].Fl.RA 814
Farm belonging to heirs of Peter Meserole
Call number: B P-[1845]a.Fl
Proposed exchange between Bennet and Bogert
Call number: Bergen-1881.Fl
308 lots Bergen estate
Call number: B P-[1899?].Fl.F
City of Brooklyn/village of Williamsburg with farm lines
Call number: B A-1846a.Fl
Land of heirs of Van Brunt
Call number: Bergen-1953.Fl
Farms owned by Bergens at Gowanus in 1825
Call number: B P-[1825?].Fl and B P-[1825?]a.Fl
932 lots part of Bergen estate
Call number: B P-[1888]a.Fd
Farm belonging to heirs of John Meserole
Call number: B P-1852a.Fl.F
814 lots known as the Greenpoint farm
Call number: B P-[1839].Fl.F
Land of Bergens
Call number: Bergen-1854a.Fl
Properties in Sunset Park and Williamsburg
Call number: Bergen-[1869?].Fl
Books
Of Cabbages and Kings County: Agriculture and the Formation of Modern Brooklyn
Call number: F129.B7 .L6 1999
A comprehensive historical study of the origins of agriculture in Brooklyn and its development over time as Kings County urbanized.
How the Farm Pays
Call number: S561.5.C76 1884
Detailed information from a Long Island farmer and a Brooklyn gardener on how to cultivate land, cattle, plants, and so forth.
A History of Agriculture in the State of New York
Call number: S451.N56 H4 1933
This volume focuses on the social aspects of farming practice, and “has been written for the farmer’s fireside, not the study, classroom, or office.” Its narrative spans from “the early settlements” until the nineteenth century. Written at the request of the State Agricultural Society.
Farm changes on Long Island
Call number: S561.6.L8 K53 1967
1967 Long Island Historical Society pamphlet describing the early days of farming life on Long Island.
The John and Garret Baxter journals
Call number: F129.B7.F53.1955 (6 volumes)
Extracts from the Journal of John Baxter
Call number: F129.B7.F529.1943
Typescript versions of the original Baxter journals (ARC.257), which are too fragile for regular research use. The subjects covered by the Baxter journals include farming and agriculture and market transactions.
Extracts from Gabriel Furman’s Notes and Memoranda Relating to Brooklyn
Call number: F129.B7 F87 1953
A selection of typescript entries from Volumes 2, 3, and 4 of Furman’s Notes and Memoranda (see ARC.190, abo
Prepared by Diana Bowers, May 2014