Collections

Archives Showcase: Cast Iron/Wicker Baby Scale

2012-01-02T13:26:00.000-08:00

In addition to the Oyster Bay Then and Now series, I thought that it might be fun to have our readers see some of the unusual items that we uncover here as the moving continues. I am calling this new series Archives Showcase where I’ll take a few of the items on the shelf and briefly describe their purpose. As always, if anyone reading would like to add information, share a story or correct me when I’m wrong, I welcome any comments or suggestions.

This first item came to us from a “picker” who thought it would be of interest to us being that it came from a nearby estate. This scale was what we once measured babies on. This pediatric cast iron and wicker scale was manufactured by the Jacobs Brothers . I found the following image and description for the exact same make on Ebay. Here is what that seller wrote:

Detecto Scale Company was started in 1900 in New York City by three immigrant brothers (The Jacobs Brothers) in the butcher supply business. The company produced bakers' dough scales, butchers' scales, clinical scales, counter scales and hanging scales.*

I found a photograph showing this type (although not exact) of scale being put to good use by one of the staff members at the Visiting Nurses Association in Oyster Bay. ~N. Menchise

*http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-DETECTO-WICKER-BABY-SCALE-JACOBS-BROS-C-1900-/140590150883 accessed 2 January 2012

Photographs courtesy of the Oyster Bay Historical Society, specifically the Oyster Bay Visiting Nurse Association Records.

Groble Brothers Music Store

2011-12-07T08:30:00.000-08:00

In 1893 the U.S. Supreme Court legally declared the tomato to be a vegetable, Lizzie Borden was acquitted of murder, and Edward and Adolphus Groebl opened a music store on East Main Street, Oyster Bay.* According to a short biography written by the American Art Journal, April 21st, 1900, The Groebl brothers and sister Marie came from a musical background. “Both… parents were fine musicians, [their] father a notable composer and [their] mother a singer and pianist of prominence.” The store had originally opened on what was then known as Fleet’s Block for the purchase of musical instruments, but when Marie came on board the school offered vocal instruction and music lessons at home. An advertising pamphlet found in the Oyster Bay Historical Society archives contains excerpts from the American Art Journal and letters featuring the accomplishments of Marie Groebl:

“For the benefit of out of town singers and teachers who wish to pass the summer in study and the brushing up of their repertories Miss Marie Groebl, who has had a successful career on the operatic stage and in the concert room, has decided to hold a summer school at her beautifully situated and well equipped home and studios at Oyster bay, on Long Island Sound, within easy reach of New York, the greatest and most attractive of American summer watering places.”
Edward received his own bit of advertisement as the instructor “on the piano and organ, in harmony, sight reading and ensemble playing. The Virgil Method, violin and violoncello also taught.”

Per John Hammond’s research, besides merchandising and instructing, repairing and tuning, the Groebls pursued music publishing.** In the OBHS collection there are many postcards featuring scenes of Oyster Bay that were printed in Germany were sold by the Groebl Bros. Music Store.

The three siblings shared their gifts for the rest of their lives. As none of the siblings ever married, their talents were passed on only in the form of gentle instruction and the students who were fortunate to learn at their side. ~N. Menchise

*wiki.answers.com accessed Dec 7, 2011.

**Hammond, John. Oyster Bay Remembered. Huntington, New York: Maple Hill Press, 2002.

Images coutesy of the Oyster Bay Historical Society

Oyster Festival 2011

2011-10-20T06:36:00.000-07:00

Program from the 2nd Oyster Festival held in 1985
This is my third Oyster Fest as a (not so new) newcomer. The one two years ago ended before I could get to it, but it was also a little stormy if I recall. In 2010 the weather was uncooperative to say the least. Having met with the folks at the Rotary I knew how many organizations benefit from their monetary support – many organizations that do good work to help the young and senior citizens of our community.

I walked around this Oyster Festival very proud of what our community had accomplished. The weather was perfect, possibly a little too warm at times, but the streets and T.R. Memorial park were crowded with what looked like a lot of satisfied people.

There was certainly plenty to see. From the mini-mart style vendors along Audrey Avenue, the Pirate show at the Pirate’s Cove, the amazing Lynx Schooner and our special guest the John J. Harvey, and naturally the oysters! I even say my first kangaroo – groggy though he was. Along with other organizations in our fair hamlet, the Oyster Bay Historical Society held down, sometimes literally, our own tent. Elizabeth Roosevelt, the society’s 2nd Vice President was there alongside Jacqueline Blocklyn, Director of our School of Domestic Arts. The booth had items made by students and teachers of the school including embroidery, glycerin soaps, and pincushions. There were books and maps of Oyster Bay in addition to some of Elizabeth’s sought after photographs.

There is no question that this was a banner year for the Oyster Festival. It seemed like everyone stepped up to the plate at the food court - no pun intended. There was a kind of cohesive esthetic to the booths that made the whole area look really put together.

I hardly saw anyone I knew from town in the crowds, but that was mostly because everyone was working. And working hard. Nonstop crowds left no rest for the weary. I know I have only been here a few years, but as I ran back and forth from the booth on Audrey to the Earle-Wightman House I couldn’t help but be proud of Oyster Bay; like it was my town really coming together to support the causes it cares about.

Sometimes we take for granted the natural beauty of this hamlet and the harbor. I realized as I was taking a lap around the festival that many people were stopping to sit down on the beach or near the water to admire the moored boats, blue water and cool breeze. Maybe some of our guests came in from the city, or maybe from the east end or south shore, but they arrived and they stayed and they spent. That adds up to a beautiful weekend for the town of Oyster Bay and new energy for the Oyster Festival. ~N. Menchise

Photographs and Oyster Bay Festival program courtesy of the Oyster Bay Historical Society

Preservation Workshop: TEXTILES

2011-10-15T11:32:00.000-07:00

It’s been really busy around the Oyster Bay Historical Society. As Director Phil is fond of saying, “history is yesterday,” meaning that the past is not just a time long gone by, but as recent as our last action or thought. History is happening now. With the days and events rolling by it is easy to get behind. Hopefully I will be a better blogger this autumn as things begin to ease into a more relaxed schedule.

Last Sunday the Oyster Bay Historical Society held another preservation workshop, this time the focus was on textiles. We often forget how susceptible these items are. Textiles are more than clothing, they are items made up of cloth but can also contain other organic elements like bone, leather, feathers and stone. Textiles are parasols, shoes and belts, hats as well as quilts and fine embroidery.

A few days after the workshop a member called me to ask about her own collection and I will tell you what I told her: come to the workshops! But seriously, I will gladly share some very general information about proper storage of textiles:

No attic or basement storage (unless these areas are climate controlled)

Keep the temperature at 70 degrees F and relative humidity at 50% (these are the average numbers)

Both natural and artificial light can cause damage & it is irreversible

Keep the items in locations and boxes where air can circulate

Go through textiles every 6 months to look for signs of infestation

Remove jewelry and watches when handling textiles – gloves preferred

Do not eat, drink or smoke around your collection

Carefully research the materials used if you choose to permanently display your item

Two wonderful resources can be found at the websites of The Northeast Document Conservation Center and the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works.

One of the attendees of the workshop is a lovely young woman who works for the costume department for the series Boardwalk Empire. I’d tell you all the things we dished about, but that wouldn’t be right. Next time, come and see what you’re missing! ~N. Menchise

Photographs courtesy of the Oyster Bay Historical Society

Christ Church Bell

2011-08-26T07:29:00.000-07:00

One of our latest projects at the Oyster Bay Historical Society is sorting through the impressive collection of records recently donated to us by the Christ Episcopal Church. There will be more to come on this collection, but for now I would like to write about the bell that resides at the tower of the Church. Thankfully my job here is made easier by the fact that there was documentation collected and preserved by the folks at Christ Church.

One document reads: “The bell was made for Christ Church by the I T Verdin Company in Cincinnati, Ohio whose bell foundry is located in Holland. The bell is a cast bronze bell with the musical note of “C sharp”. The bell was shipped from Rotterdam (the second-largest city in the Netherlands and the largest port in Europe*) on the [ship] The New England Scout on February 29th, 1976. It took between 30 and 45 days for the bell to arrive, ready for installation. The inscription on the bell is: “Christ Church – Oyster Bay – 1976”.

The I T Verdin Company has installed 35,000 cast bronze church bells in towers throughout the world. As they put so elegantly on their web site: “For centuries, church bells have played a prominent role in the history of countries, communities, and places of worship throughout the world. Historically, church bells have served as timekeepers, used to mark the hour for work, prayer and community gatherings. The church bells of today often ring to commemorate occasions and events. The impact of melodious cast bronze church bells is timeless.”

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotterdam accessed August 16, 2011.
**http://www.verdin.com/ accessed August 16, 2011.

Images courtesy of the Oyster Bay Historical Society - Christ Church Collection

Then and Now: Oyster Bay High School

2011-07-08T06:27:00.000-07:00

The Oyster Bay High School located on East Main Street was built in 1928 and designed by architect’s Tooker and Marsh. Before this, the site was the home to Dr. Matthew Parish, who settled in Oyster Bay in the early 1700’s and Zeruiah Townsend, daughter of Mill John Townsend as per John Hammond in his 2002 book Oyster Bay Remembered. Oyster Bay needed a new high school because of a population boom of school aged children in the 1920’s resulting in the overcrowding of the current school. The high school was completed during the winter of 1928-1929 and the school officially opened in February 1929.

In 1986, Kurt Kahofer produced a summary of the building for the Division for Historic Preservation. The summary states, “the four story school building incorporates forms and detail of the Tudor, Gothic, Art Deco, and Beaux arts styles. A central three bay, four story section is flanked by symmetrical pairs of five bay wings which in turn are flanked by solid massive “book end” sections.”

“Throughout the façade, stone blocks cap the brick piers that divide each bay section from another these end as parapets above the roof. Below the parapet is a stone frieze with Gothic detail. A mock vaulted ceiling covers the vestibule. Inside, the main auditorium has similar Gothic details including diamond paned leaded windows, Tudor type wall paneling, stucco and stone quoined walls and a pair of tabernacle canopies that flank a decorated proscenium.”

When completed, the high school successfully incorporated the artistic styles of Gothic, Tudor and Art Deco, making the building architecturally pleasing.

~D. Sokolowski

Photographs courtesy of Oyster Bay Historical Society

Oyster Bay 4th of July Parade and Historical Society’s Ice Cream Social

2011-07-07T09:50:00.000-07:00

Early Fourth of July morning I went walking through our colonial style garden gathering herbs to make fresh sachets. It is very peaceful and well kept thanks to the North Country Garden Club, and in the cooler hours of the morning it is a place to enjoy a little nature and breathe in the fragrant lavender and honeysuckle. I knew the peacefulness would soon segue into laughter and comradery.

The lineup for the parade was 10 a.m. and the marching began at 10:30. Being that this was the first parade I personally marched in I felt a little nervous, but the community came out to support us and once the cheering began the butterflies disappeared. Immediately following the conclusion of the parade the Oyster Bay Historical Society held our Ice Cream Social in the back yard and garden.

I’m sure the complimentary homemade ice cream was quite the incentive on such a warm day, but as the afternoon rolled on, it was clear that people may have come for some tea or lemonade, but stayed to chat with their neighbors and friends, and play a little bean bag toss.

The staff has had a lot of good suggestions for a bigger and better event next year. We are all looking forward to extending this event for many 4ths to come! ~N. Menchise

Photographs courtesy of the Oyster Bay Historical Society.

Audrey Avenue Then and Now – Part 3

2011-06-22T06:14:00.000-07:00

34 Audrey Avenue or

The Powers Building

As mentioned in part one and two of this series on Audrey Avenue, I have been relying a great deal on the information provided by Mr. Kurt E. Kahofer and his reports to the Division for Historic Preservation in Albany, New York. Created in 1986, the report on the building’s structure reads as follows: 34 Audrey Avenue is a three story, three bay brick building surmounted by a central cornice pediment inscribed “B H POWERS” decorated with seashell and sand dollar motifs. A wide cornice spans the third story, decorated with block modillions. Stone lintels cap the windows. In 1970 the ground story was remodeled with face brick, the north extension was added and the interior was modified.

B. H. Powers was involved in the building trades of plumbing, heating, roofing, and well drilling. He built the structure with a shop in the basement, a store on the first floor, and living quarters for himself and his family on the second and third floors. The Powers building is one of several masonry commercial buildings built near the turn of the century on Audrey Avenue, part of the Townsend family estate subdivision. ~N. Menchise

Photographs courtesy of the Oyster Bay Historical Society

Audrey Avenue Then and Now – Part 2

2011-06-08T07:32:00.000-07:00

2-8 Audrey Avenue - The Randall Building

Today we frequent the Randall Building for a refreshing Carvel treat, but it was originally built circa 1900 to be used as a dry goods store and offices. In Kurt E. Kahofer’s evaluation, he researched the historical and architectural importance of this building. I’d like to share some of his notations as well as those of Town Historian John Hammond from his book Oyster Bay Remembered (Maple Hill Press, 2002).

Per Kahofer, the Randall Building is a narrow brick commercial structure, 3½ stories tall including a low mansard roof punctuated with both flat roofed and gabled dormers. The building has a wide simple cornice and stone lintels and sills on the second and third stories over a high ground story. The facades are emphasized horizontally by a recessed course of brick, set at seven layer intervals. The masonry work was done by John Bennett.

Per Hammond, Joseph H. Randall spent the better part of three years acquiring the locations on the corner of Audrey and South Street including what was (once the old Friend’s Meeting House) then occupied by Elbert Tappen’s Bicycle Shop and Victorio’s fruit and vegetable market. When it opened in 1900, the Randall Building was the largest in the village of Oyster Bay. The building became occupied by James Moore in 1901 when his business outgrew his original location. Moore’s dry goods store occupied the Randall building while Moore oversaw the reconstruction of his place across the street.

The Randall Building was also the home of the social club named the Odd Fellows Hall and they met regularly on the second floor. According to Kahofer, behind the plastic veneer now covering the ground story is the Odd Fellows symbol, a concrete emblem consisting of three chain links with a large tablet. The emblem was designed by Amos Cheshire of Oyster Bay and made by the Felton Construction Company.~N. Menchise

Photographs courtesy of the Oyster Bay Historical Society

Audrey Avenue Then and Now – Part 1

2011-06-03T09:45:00.000-07:00

In 1986 Kurt E. Kahofer created a number of “Building Structure” inventories for the Division for Historic Preservation under the New York State Parks and Recreation Department. Mr Kahofer’s notes are the basis of this short series of three buildings along Audrey Avenue that you may have passed by for years but failed to realize their significance and historical importance to Oyster Bay.

12 Audrey Avenue
Originally used as the post office for a short while, 12 Audrey Avenue is a three story brick building originally constructed circa 1919. Per Mr. Kahofer’s report:

12 Audrey Avenue is the third post office that served Oyster Bay. The cosmopolitan style of 12 Audrey Avenue, complemented by its neighbor to the east, the Randall Building, and its neighbor to the west, the former Oyster Bay Bank… reflects the emergence of Oyster Bay after the turn of the century as a modern commercial center on Long Island’s north shore.

Some notable features include having a pedimented front. The main (south) façade is divided into three vertical sections by brick pilasters capped with large stone consoles. The center section is punctuated with coupled windows and, on the ground story, a central door. A stone beltcourse wraps the building above the windows on the third story.

Spring at Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park

2011-05-13T10:20:00.000-07:00

This past Tuesday I took the afternoon to drop in at our neighbors at Coe Hall to see their latest exhibit and tour the mansion and grounds. Spring is the perfect time to revisit the beautifully manicured lawn and gardens and to relax among the hyacinths, tulips, dogwood trees and so much more.

Per the Planting Fields website (http://www.plantingfields.org/), the arboretum is comprised of 409 acres of greenhouses, rolling lawns, formal gardens, woodland paths, and outstanding plant collections. The original historic estate buildings remain including the 65 room Tudor Revival mansion, Coe Hall.

I enjoyed an interesting and thorough tour of Coe Hall by one of the volunteers and was amazed by the “Buffalo Room,” the grand living room, and all of the details in the stained glass and artistic carvings reminiscent of a stately English manor. I encourage you to stop by this spring or early summer when the roses begin to bloom! ~N. Menchise

Photographs provided courtesy of the Oyster Bay Historical Society

Preservation Workshop at the Earle Wightman House

2011-05-04T09:54:00.000-07:00

For the past month the Oyster Bay Historical Society has been promoting an event that took place this past weekend recognizing Preservation Week. Every year the American Library Association designates a week to encourage libraries, museums, historical societies, and any other organization that maintains collections of historic or informational value, to create awareness in their community of the importance of safeguarding these items. All over the country there have been exhibits, meetings, demonstrations, and

workshops all to promote the importance of maintaining our personal and collective history to pass on to future generations. I feel obligated to just let you in on a few amazing statistics provided from the ALA website (www.ala.org):

Preservation Fast Facts

· More than 4.8 Billion Artifacts are held in public trust by more than 30,000 archives, historical societies, libraries, museums, scientific research collections, and archaeological repositories in the United States. 1.3 billion of these items are at risk of being lost.
· Roughly 70% of institutions need additional conservation/preservation training for their staff and volunteers.· A majority of collecting institutions, more than 80 percent, do not have a disaster plan in place that can be executed by trained staff.
· Nearly a quarter of all the 21 million paintings, sculptures, and works of decorative art in U.S. collections need conservation treatment or improved care and conditions.
· More than 50 percent of collecting institutions have had their collections damaged by light.
· More than 65% of collecting institutions report damage to their collections due to improper storage.*

Here at the OBHS we decided to host a Preservation Workshop so that members of our community could learn some of the basic threats and preservation methods for their own personal archives. We had a good turnout and most everyone agreed that they took away some valuable information. The presentation was held in the Earle Wightman House and was an informal affair with open discussion, examples of damaged items, and helpful demonstration of book repair by director Philip Blocklyn. It was indeed a fun and informative afternoon!

Photographs courtesy of the Oyster Bay Historical Society

*Source: “A Public Trust at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America’s Collections,” Library of Congress, http://www.loc.gov/preserv/tops/laise/index.html

George Washington's Diary Entries - Part III

2011-04-22T08:08:00.000-07:00

Friday, 23d.

About 8 o’clock we left Roe’s, and baited the Horses at Smiths Town at a Widow Blidenberg’s a decent House 10 miles from Setakit – then 15 miles to Huntington where we dined – and afterwards proceeded seven miles to Oyster Bay, to the House of a Mr. Young (private and very neat and decent) where we lodged. –The house we dined in at Huntington was kept by a Widow Platt, and was tolerably good. – The whole of this days ride was over uneven ground and none of it of the first quality but intermixed in places with pebble stone. –After passing Smiths-town & for near five miles it was a mere bed of white Sand, unable to produce trees 25 feet high; but a change for the better took place between that and Huntington, which was a sml. Village at the head of the harbour of that name and continued to improve to Oyster Bay about which the sands are good – and in the Necks between these bays are said to be fine. It is here the Lloyds own a large & valuable tract of Neck of Land (Lloyd’s Neck was a great rendezvous for Tories during a part of the Revolution.) from whom the British whilst they possessed New York drew large supplies of wood – and where, at present, it is said large flocks of sheep are kept.

Saturday, 24th.
Left Mr. Young’s before 6 o’clock and passing Musqueto Cove, (Now Glen Cove) breakfasted at a Mr. Underdunck’s at the head of a little bay (Henry Onderdonk’s, upon the shore of the present Hempstead Harbor, at the village of Roslyn) Where we were kindly received and well entertained – This Gentleman works a Grist & two Paper Mills, the last of which he seems to carry on with spirit, and to profit – (This was the first paper-mill erected in the province, and was established by Andrew Onderdonk at about the middle of the last century. There is a tradition in the family that, on this occasion, Washington made a sheet of paper (it then being made by hand) and that it was preserved for a great many years. Distc from Oyster-bay 12 miles. – From thence to Flushing where we dined is 12 more - & from thence to Brooklyne through Newton (the way we travelled and which is a mile further than to pass through Jamaica) is 18 miles more. The land I passed over to day is generally very good, but leveler and better as we approached New York – the soil in places is intermixed with pebble, and towards the west end with other kind of stone, which they apply to the purposes of fencing which is not to be seen on the South side of the Island, nor towards the Eastern parts of it – From Flushing to New town 8 miles & thence to Brooklyn, the Road is very fine, and the Country in a higher state of cultivation & vegetation of Grass & grain forwarded than any place also, I had seen, occasioned in a great degree by the manure drawn from the City of New York, - before sundown we had crossed the Ferry and was at home.

*Images provided by the Oyster Bay Historical Society Summers Postcard Collection, the website for the George Washington Manor in Roslyn, NY: http://www.georgewashingtonmanor.com/History.html (accessed 04/22/11), and the website: http://www.longislandcateringhalls.com/li/george-washington-manor.html# (accessed 04/22/11).

George Washington’s Diary Entries - Part II

2011-04-21T07:11:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, 21st

The morning being clear & Pleasant we left Jamaica, about eight o’clock, & pursued the Road to South Hempstead, passing along the South edge of the plain of that name - a plain said to be 14 miles in length by 3 or 4 in breadth without a Tree or a shrub growing on it except fruit trees (which do not thrive Well) at the few settlements, thereon. – The soil of this plain is said to be thin & Cold, and of course not productive, even in Grass. – We baited in South Hempstead & a very neat and decent one. – After dinner we proceeded to a Squire Thompson’s such a house as the last, that is, one that is not public but will perceive pay for everything it furnishes in the same manner as if it was. –
The Road in which I passed to day, and the country here more mixed with sand than yesterday and the soil of inferior quality;- yet with dung which all the Corn ground receives the land yields on an average 30 bushels to the acre often more. –Of wheat they do not grow much on acct. of the fly but the crops of Rye are good.

Thursday, 22d.

About 8 o’clock we left Mr. Thompson’s – halted awhile at one Greens distant 11 miles and dined Hart’s Tavern in Brookhaven township, five miles farther. To this place we travelled on what is called the South Road described yesterday, but the country through which it passed grew more and more sandy and barren as we travelled Eastward, so as to become exceedingly poor indeed, but a few miles further Eastward the lands took a different complexion we were informed. –From Hart’s we struck across the Island for the No. side passing the East end of the Brushey Plains - and Koram 8 miles – (Corum, near the center of the town of Brookhaven.) thence to Setakit (Setauket, one of the oldest settlements in Brookhaven) 7 miles more to the House of a Capt. Roe, which is tolerably dect. with obliging people in it.
The first five miles of Road id too poor to admit inhabitants or cultivation being a low scrubby Oak, not more than 2 feet high intermixed with small and ill thriven Pines. – Within two miles of Koram there are farms, but the land is of an indifferent quality much mixed with sand. – Koram contains but few houses - from thence to Setakit the soil improves, especially as you approach the sound: but it is far from being of the first quality – still a good deal mixed with Sand. – The road across from the So. To the No. side is level, except a small part So. Of Koram, but the hills there are trifling.

*Images provided by the Patchogue-Medford Area Historic Images of the Patchogue-Medford Library

George Washington’s Diary Entries

2011-04-20T09:08:00.001-07:00

In 1790 George Washington toured Long Island and roughly twenty years ago the Sagtikos Manor Historical Society published a transcription of Washington’s diary entries during his trip. As these events occurred April 19th-24th, I thought it would be interesting to follow his thoughts on Long Island from two hundred and twenty-one years ago:

Monday, 19th

Prevented from beginning my tour upon Long Island to day from the wet of yesterday and the unfavorableness of the morning. Conversed with the Secretary at War on the formation of the troops proposed, by the amendments in the Senate to be established.

Tuesday, 20th

About 8:00 o’clock (having previously sent over my servants, Horses, and carriage,) I crossed to Brooklyn and proceeded to Flat bush – thence to Utrich (now New Utrecht, on the western and of Long Island) – thence to Gravesend – thence through – Jamaica where we lodged at a Tavern kept by one Warne – a pretty good and decent house, - at the house of a Mr. Barre, at Utrich, we dined, - the man was obliging but little else recommended it – He told me that their average Crop of Oats did not exceed 15 bushels, to the acre – but of Indian Corn they commonly made from 25 to 30 and often more bushels to the acre, but this was the effect of dung from New York (about 10 cart loads to the acre)- That of Wheat they sometimes got 30 bushels and often more Rye.

The land after crossing the Hills between Brooklyn & Flat Bush is perfectly level, and from the latter to Utrich, Gravesend and in short all that end of the Island is a rich black loam – afterwards, between – and the Jamaica Road, it is more sandy and appears to have less strength, but is still good & productive. – The grain in general had suffered but little by the openness, and Rains of the Winter and the grass (clover &c.) appeared to be coming on well, _ the Inclosures are small, & under open Post & Rail fencing - The timber is chiefly Hiccory & Oak, mixed here and there with locust & Sasafras trees, - and in places with a good deal of Cedar, - The Road until I came within a mile or two of the Jamaica Road, called the middle road, kept within sight of the Sea, but the weather was so dull & at times Rainy that we lost much of the pleasures of the ride. From Brooklyn to Flatbush is called 5 miles, thence to Utrich 6 – to Gravesend 2 – and from thence to Jamaica 14 – in all this day 27 miles.

Before I left New York this morning, I signed commissions, appointing Mr. Carmichael, Charge des Affairs at the Court of Versailles, (this should read Madrid) & Mr. Short, Charge des Affaires at the Court of Versailles which though not usually given to Diplomatic Characters of their Grades was yet made necessary in the opinion of the Secretary of State by an Act of congress.

St. Dominic Roman Catholic Church

2011-04-13T11:18:00.000-07:00

Initially constructed in 1897 and dedicated on Thanksgiving Day, St. Dominic Church was evaluated and inventoried in 1986 by Kurt E. Kahofer. I found his notes on the building to be full of interesting facts that may not be commonly known among Oyster Bay residents. Looking at his notes has inspired us at the OBHS to expand upon our earlier blogs about buildings that have historical meaning to Oyster Bay. Look for these in the months to come. The folks at the Main Street Association explain that St. Dominic Church was “built in the Gothic Revival style…[and] inside is a Hook and Hastings Opus tracker organ, installed in 1901.” Mr Kahofer report offers even more details:

St Dominic Church is located on the highest point in the village of Oyster Bay, in a residential section largely of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. St. Dominic church is built of “salt and pepper” Connecticut granite, quarried in Greenwich and randomly laid….In 1899 the interior of the church was redecorated in oil paint by an artist formerly associated with Tiffany Studios. Done in muted blues, reds, greens, and golds, the painted designs adorn the ribs and roof trusses. The same year, three windows were installed in the apse.

The stained glass windows were probably made by Hardman Studio of Birmingham, England, for in 1900 a memorial window depicting the Virgin Giving the Rosary to St. Dominic was installed in the church from that studio. Two stained glass windows, one depiction the Good Samaritan and one depicting the Resurrection, were installed in May of 1905. Those windows were crafted in Munich, Bavaria.

1905 Roosevelt Inaugural Opening Exercises

2011-03-04T09:28:00.000-08:00

Here at the Oyster Bay Historical Society we are preparing to relocate our materials to the newly secured Angela Koenig Center. Part of that process is to re-inventory and catalog in greater detail our collection of manuscripts. Last week while going through some of the pieces from the Earle Family, I came across an odd little booklet. It appeared to be some type of program for an event, albeit much smaller than the type of program that we are used to handling today. Sized at roughly 2.5” by 3” it was a sturdy booklet with 16 printed pages. At the time it had been catalogued as “inaugural ball program.” Looking more closely at the program, I noticed the date: March 4, 1905. Though it did not list President Roosevelt’s name, I found confirming information online (thanks to http://www.archive.org/) listing the same “Order of Exercises” in the souvenir program digitized by the Library of Congress and available for online viewing.* What I had in my hands was the program for the Promenade Concert to be held in the morning of March 4, 1905.

Many of the pages listed names of the members of the Inaugural and Floor Committees, but in the center was a list of the dances to be performed by the William A. Haley’s Orchestra. Included were several waltzes, promenades and polkas, concluding with the National Anthem. From my research this would have taken place between 9 and 11 in the morning with lunch or supper to follow.The menu for the event was printed on the final page of the program. Included in the array of delicacies were hot dishes of creamed oysters and chicken croquettes, cold dishes of salmon and filet of beef, and desserts of macaroons, biscuit merveilleux, and tutti frutti ice cream!
~N. Menchise
All images courtesy of the Earle Family records, Oyster Bay Historical Society. *http://www.archive.org/details/souvenirprogramm00npmar4 (4 March, 2011)

Preserving Your Past

2011-02-12T12:35:00.000-08:00

Working at the OBHS there is always talk of preservation. The American Library Association has designated April 24-30th Preservation Week to “connect our communities through events, activities, and resources that highlight what we can do, individually and together, to preserve our personal and shared collections.” As I look out the window and see the mounds of still-not-melted remains of the past two blizzards, I realize that April feels like a long way off. However, educating ourselves and using best practices in safeguarding family treasures should begin immediately. When it comes to preservation techniques it seems that most folks know just enough to be dangerous. Scrapbooking is popular and has been for a long time, but try to remember how that glue or tape will affect your mementos, newspaper clippings and photographs. Personally, it breaks my heart that the one photograph I have of my maternal grandparents is almost transparent because I had to tear it off of a page in a 50 year old photo album. Thankfully, I have become much more patient and respectful of such valuables (both mine and others as well.) I hope to create a seminar on general preservation techniques as recommended by the ALA, but until then I would like to pass along some helpful hints for protecting photographs as per the American Institution of Conservation for Historic and Artistic Works:

Maintaining a Suitable Environment: Photographic materials benefit from a cool, dry, well-ventilated storage environment. High temperature and relative humidity increase deterioration and promote the growth of mold and mildew. Avoid storing photographs in the attic, the basement, or places where environmental conditions are more prone to extremes and fluctuations.

Choosing Storage Enclosures: Keep photographic materials in enclosures that protect them from dust and light and provide physical support during use. Plastic sleeves should be constructed of uncoated polyester, polypropylene, or polyethylene or choose paper enclosures that are lignin-free, 100 percent rag or alpha-cellulose fibers. Film-based negatives, which can produce acidic gasses as they age, should be stored separately from other photographic materials.

Displaying Photographs: Photographs should be protected from extended exposure to intense light sources. Reproduce vulnerable or unique images and display the duplicate image; in this way, the original photograph can be properly stored and preserved.

Handling Procedures: Most damage to photographs results from poor handling. Lessen the possibility of leaving fingerprints and soiling the materials and support photographs carefully and hold them with both hands to avoid damage.

A final word on photo albums… “Albums can be wonderful sources of historic and genealogical information. Preserve them intact when possible and store them in custom-fitted archival boxes. Magnetic or self-adhesive albums can damage photographs and should not be used.”

Sources accessed 2/22/2011:
American Library Association: http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alcts/confevents/preswk/index.cfm
American Institution of Conservation for Historic and Artistic Works: http://www.conservation-us.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.viewPage&PageID=633&d:\CFusionMX7\verity\Data\dummy.txt

SeaSpace Research / TidaLab

2011-01-25T11:19:00.000-08:00

One of the exciting initiatives taking place at the Oyster Bay Historical Society is the uploading of photographs from our extensive photograph collection to our online, searchable archive. One of the joys of adding these photographs online is finding interesting snapshots of people, events and sometimes objects. Looking through the collection I came across the above photograph. Appearing like a vessel designed by James Bond’s colleague “Q”, this odd, floating laboratory was known as a SeaSpace Research vessel or TidaLab.

In 1966, Robert D. Hawkins wrote:
“Exploration and development of the ocean has called for a new breed of structures with which to occupy the surface of the sea. Structures on which man can live and work in comfort….Such structures might be called stable sea platforms.” Just over 50 ft in diameter, this “research prototype” used signals from hydrophones to gather data. According to the reports created in 1967, the estimated annual operating costs would be just over $16,000. This included one full time captain taking the vessel out three times a week, fifty weeks a year and an average of 30 miles each trip.

In 1967 a letter was written to Ed Patterson, then the Curator of the Nassau County Museum of Natural History, Bob Hawkins expressed that though the “intended” use was for “marine science education of public school groups with short daytime excursions…favor[ing] the floating marine museum idea.” His feelings were that “a child finding a shell or crab could have his questions answered with authority and timeliness.” ~ N. Menchise

Information and photographs gathered from the TidaLab files courtesy of the Oyster Bay Historical Society.

Lost and Found: The Nantucket Lightship

2011-01-14T09:05:00.000-08:00

When I moved to Oyster Bay in 2009 I spent many afternoons walking through Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park and would inevitably come to Oyster Bay Harbor and Jakobson’s Pier. At that time the Nantucket Lightship was docked there and as a newcomer I assumed this was a historical landmark significant to the Town of Oyster Bay. About four months ago I realized that the lightship was gone. I asked around as to what became of the Nantucket and some people were shocked that they too had not noticed this change to our community landscape. Turns out she had been rescued. And if you don’t know the story here are some highlights.

A few years ago, the National Lighthouse Museum Executive Director Gerald Roberts wrote an article urging the involvement of the Oyster Bay community to rally around the cause of the Nantucket Lightship. He wrote, “Once upon a time this ship was anchored on the most remote lighthouse station on the planet. Fifty miles southeast of Nantucket Island, nearly 100 miles out to sea from mainland USA… the Nantucket Lightship and her crews stood their ground from 1936 to 1975, marking the outer limits of the treacherous Nantucket Shoals and defining the edge of the New World.”

For over a decade the Nantucket Lightship had no permanent home after retirement. Even her time in Oyster Bay was originally expected to last just a few months. With time running out the Nantucket was nearly sold for scrap before Robert Mannino Jr. purchased the ship for one dollar. Naturally much more was paid repairing the Nantucket in order to get it across the Sound, a full renovation estimating close to a million dollars.

Some facts you may or may not know*:
· Built in 1936
· Lenght: 148'10" (loa); Beam: 32'0"; Draft: 16'3"; Tonnage: 1050 displ
· Propultion: Steam - compound reciprocating engine, 600 IEP; 2 oil fired Babcock-Wilcox water tube boilers, max speed 12 knots
· Retired from duty: 1975; AGE: 39
· Designated a National Historic Landmark: 1989
· Sister Vessels: None
*from the U.S. Coast Guard and Wikipedia websites accessed Jan. 14, 2011.

It may have been the opinions of some that the once grand ship had slipped too far into disrepair, and had become an eyesore or perhaps an environmental hazard. It doesn’t seem to matter now for she has been rescued. A fitting retirement for a landmark lightship that saved countless crossing the Atlantic Ocean. ~N. Menchise

Recent photographs taken by Nicole Menchise, other images courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard.

Oyster Bay Then and Now: Ludlam's to Appliance World

2011-01-05T10:38:00.000-08:00

On the corner of South Street and West Main Street resides a another cornerstone of the Oyster Bay Community. Built in 1849 by James Ludlam, this building and the one adjacent to it survived two fires and continues to be one of the oldest commercial buildings in the villiage of Oyster Bay. Mr. Ludman's store sold dry goods, meats and lumber, soon becoming one of the most respected proprietors on the North Shore. In 1876 he gave the business over to sons JamesHenry and Frederick and in 1907 the building was sold to the Kursman brothers who turned it into a clothing shop. For nearly two decades it has been an appliance store and is still privately owned by another local family. - N. Menchise

Thanks to John Hammond for the information regarding the history of the Snouder Corner Drug Store in his book titled Oyster Bay Remembered, Maple Hill Press, 2002. Recent photographs taken by Nicole Menchise, other images courtesy of the Oyster Bay Historical Society.

Oyster Bay Then and Now: Snouder's Corner Drug Store

2010-12-09T08:27:00.000-08:00

In 1884 the Conklin’s Drug Store opened on the corner of West Main Street and South Street. Working with his son-in-law Andrew Snouder, Abel Miller Conklin turned the drug store into a cornerstone of the community. It didn’t hurt that this was the location of the first telephone in Oyster Bay. At the turn of the century, medicines were compounded as needed by the druggist available. When Andrew’s son Arthur graduated from the New York College of Pharmacy in 1900, he took over the family business and the location was renamed Snouder’s Corner Drug Store. In 1999, Carolyn Jenkinson found and donated several antique medicine bottles and some sundry items. Currently, we have been attempting to research what the contents of these bottles were and for what ailments. The O.B.H.S. purchased a “print on demand” copy of the Merck’s Index of Fine Chemicals and Drugs for the Materia Medica from 1889 in an attempt to get some answers, but there have been challenges in identifying these chemicals as some of the labels are partially or entirely missing from the bottles. The O.B.H.S. encourages you to visit these and other items at the Wightman House. ~ N. Menchise

Oyster Bay Then and Now: The Derby-Hall Bandstand

2010-12-09T08:20:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday, Oyster Bay residents braved the cold to attend the 2010 tree lighting ceremony held in the park at the intersection of Audrey Avenue and Shore Avenue. This is the location of the Oyster Bay Derby Hall Bandstand which is a replica of the one that stood 100 years ago. One of the first structures built along Audrey Ave (notice in one of the photos the current Post Office is not yet built) the bandstand remains a gathering place on holiday occasions such as the 4th of July parade and festivities and this past weekend’s tree lighting. The bandstand is surrounded by three cannons. One of which has a tablet fixed to it that was cast from metal recovered by the U.S.S. Maine destroyed in 1898. Another cannon has a plaque that reads “Civil War Trophy Gun…Made in 1861…Unveiled By Theodore Roosevelt President of United States June 27 1903.”

Current photographs by Nicole Menchise, other images appear courtesy of the Oyster Bay Historical Society.

Preview of New OBHS Repository

2010-11-11T10:40:00.000-08:00

On October 30th, members of our distinguished Board of Trustees and some of our generous benefactors gathered for an early look at the current exhibit Boat Life on the Sound: An 1858 Yachting Party and a special tour of the Angela P Koenig Research and Collections Center. This future home of the Oyster Bay Historical Society’s archival collections is expected to be completed and open to the public this winter. The three story structure (elevator included) was built as a replica of the Grist Mill and will include a library, archival holdings and space for exhibits and meetings. The Center is located behind the Earle Wightman House – a historic landmark and the current location of the OBHS – just beyond the garden, where a path will be created between structures. The fireproof building is being constructed by Baldino Construction and we are grateful for their interest in preserving the hamlet of Oyster Bay and its history. Naturally, many thanks must be given to our Current and past board members who have lobbied, beseeched, and fundraised tirelessly to see this project through. ~ N. Menchise

Pictures include Frank Leone, President; Fran Leone, First Vice President, Grace Searby, Treasurer; Elizabeth Roosevelt, Secrectary; Philip Blocklyn, Executive Director; Yvonne Cifarelli, Curator; Milicent Pittis, Administrative Assistant; photographs taken by Nicole Menchise.

Oyster Bay Then and Now: Ivy Street Residence

2010-11-11T10:16:00.000-08:00

About a month ago I was looking through a donated collection that contained some personal mementos and photographs of the Hoyt family. Curious to see how their family home had managed through the years I took a short drive up to Ivy Street to see for myself. As an archivist I am privileged to look at photographs of neighborhoods was they were first being populated. When I drove by the home built by Albert James Hoyt in 1904. I saw a beautiful, tree lined yard and some interesting differences in the elevation of the street compared to what was there in the old photograph. Hoyt’s widow bought the property next door and built a home there for her daughter Mildred Valentine and her husband in 1910. From the looks of it, there wasn’t much to the property then. Now the street is lush with coniferous and deciduous trees, decades old. The driveway appears to be cut out from the front lawn, but it may have been part of the original street. I think it is always fun to look back at this town and the homes that these great families built. Sometimes we take for granted that homes which were once built on acres of pasture are now the cornerstones of our historic neighborhoods. –N. Menchise

Pictures of Hoyt residence donated by Anne Sutter courtesy of the Oyster Bay Historical Society Archives.

Captain Albert James Hoyt Returns to Oyster Bay

2010-09-30T10:44:00.001-07:00

The Oyster Bay Historical Society recently received a donation of photographs and other personal effects of businessman and oysterman Captain Albert James Hoyt. Raised in South Norwalk, at the age of twenty-five he joined his father’s seed oyster business determined to master all aspects of the operation. The firm of William H. Hoyt & Son would soon become one of the most far-reaching seed oyster businesses on the Long Island Sound and parts of Europe. Hoyt was not only an astute businessman, he also designed and built boats specifically for oystering; and created the MILDRED which was believed to have been the largest oyster steamer in the world. He had also built a houseboat and had it anchored by the dock so that he could entertain his business associates. According to the Fishing Gazette, this houseboat had a private office, a telephone, the comforts of home, and was “where one could always be sure of a good meal and a welcome from the owner.”

Within the Albert James Hoyt family papers there are photographs, early drawings and sketches from Hoyt’s boyhood, and a scrapbook of obituaries put together by his widow. One of the most interesting pieces is Hoyt’s daybook where he carefully penciled in addresses, coordinates, plans, prices and more regarding his personal and professional business. The collection is available by request at the Oyster Bay historical Society. More to come of this collection in the next issue of The Guardian. – Nicole Menchise

Oyster Bay Then and Now: The Octagon Hotel

2010-09-23T11:48:00.000-07:00

When I was a girl I loved the book The Little House. It was a story about a beautiful home in the country that was eventually left for ruin within the metropolis that was built around her. Then one day a man who once lived in the house as a boy decided to relocate the house and had it restored and returned to the country. When I first moved to Oyster Bay I would walk past what I felt must have been a once-grand building; now decaying and seemingly destroyed on the corner of West Main and Spring Street. It wasn’t until I read about the Octagon Hotel in the Oyster Bay Enterprise Pilot that I began to take notice and do a little research on the building. The facts are easy to come by: Originally called the Nassau House, the building was constructed in 1851 for Luther Jackson. Later it was renamed the Acker Nassau House but remained a popular dining and meeting place for over three decades. When Mary and Phillip Lavelle purchased the business in 1887, they renamed it the Octagon Hotel and the name became synonymous with the building regardless of what type of business would be held within. This historic place has seen many incarnations and as a newcomer to Oyster Bay, I was happy to see her brought back to her former beauty. Many thanks to the Oyster Bay Preservation Roundtable, the TOB Commissioner of Planning and Development, Oyster Bay Main Street Association, and all those who have contributed to bringing Oyster Bay’s own little house to life again. The story of the Octagon Hotel can be read online at the website for the Oyster Bay Main Street Association, or in one of the books written about Oyster Bay by Town Historian John Hammond.

Written by Nicole Menchise
Photos courtesy of the Oyster Bay Historical Society Photograph Collection

An Evening at Twinight: A Collector's Paradise

2010-09-10T09:30:00.000-07:00

On July 11th the Oyster Bay Historical Society and the Roslyn Landmark Society hosted An Evening at Twinight: A Collector’s Paradise at the extraordinary estate of Mr. Richard Baron Cohen. Guests arrived for cocktails at five and thankfully the weather cooperated as artists and patrons mingled along the patio overlooking the Long Island Sound. The silent auction featured works of art by Christopher Delloiacone, Hanneke Goedkoop, Franklin Perrell, Frances Webb Roosevelt, Rob Zeller and other notable artists. Guests were also given the opportunity to browse through the lower level of the estate and take in the beauty of Mr. Cohen’s famous collection of early 19th century royal porcelain. As the silent auction came to a close the guests gathered for the live auction with John Loring acting as auctioneer. Artists graciously contributing their works included Dan Christoffel, Kendall Klingbeil, Bennett Vadnais and Richard Vaux to name a few. Thanks to the generous nature of our guests, the evening proved to be both splendid and successful. More can be read about the artists by selecting the website created for the event.http://www.acollectorsparadise.org/

From top to bottom: Pieces of Mr. Cohen's collection, silent auction items, Oyster Bay Historical Society's Philip Blocklyn and Tom Kuehaus, Mr. Richard Baron Cohen and Peter Crifo from the Roslyn Landmark Society. Photos taken by Debbie Wells.

Trade Cards

2010-02-05T08:33:00.001-08:00

Trade cards were a handy and portable form of commercial advertising throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and into the twentieth. Although generally larger than the modern business card, they served the same purpose of getting the name, products, and services of a business out in front of the customers’ eyes. Today, they fall into the big black box labeled EPHEMERA, from which they offer quiet testimony to the art of the engraver, letterpress printer, or lithographer who produced them.

The trade card reproduced here is fairly easy to date. The Strawberry Gardens at Bower Ashton (Bristol, UK) flourished until around 1851, according to the Bristol & Avon Family History Society. Mr. James Plumley, the gardener and cowkeeper who signed this card and sent it to a Miss Gibbs, appears on the roll of bankrupts published by the Jurist in its issue of 11 March 1848. Finally and circumstantially, the card itself ended up in a folder of correspondence that William T. McCoun of Oyster Bay received from England and the Continent between 1839 and 1850. That folder is now part of the Oyster Bay Historical Society’s McCoun Collection.

So it’s a mid-1800s trade card. However, we could just as easily reach that conclusion simply from the design of the card itself. By 1850, the use of multiple ornamented display type was the rule in advertising, as was the slavish devotion to rigidly centered lines of text. The ornamental border is fancy enough but relatively restrained compared to what was coming later in the century. On the whole, the card is in no way distinguishable from the countless such cards entered into the design contests of the period.

Note: John Wright, who produced this card, was an important Bristol printer, opening his business in 1825.

Trade Card. Strawberry Gardens, Bower-Ashton. Letterpress on card stock, 9 x 12.5 cm. The Oyster Bay Historical Society McCoun Collection. 99.130.046.

Writing Schools

2010-02-04T10:08:00.000-08:00

John Jenkins’ The art of writing reduced to a plain and easy system… (Boston: 1791) represents an American author’s first original foray into handwriting instruction. By the time Jenkins issued a second edition in 1813, his system had proven so popular that his many followers succeeded in borrowing, adapting, or shamelessly stealing almost all of it for their own benefit. Jenkins died in 1822 without ever re-establishing authority over his own work. Meanwhile, the art of writing in America, like everything in America, had become a business spawning an array of self-proclaimed “practical” or “scientific” systems, each proclaiming its originality and its appeal to commercial interests. Private instruction and smaller academies in the first half of the nineteenth century gave way later to the development of large national chains of business colleges that integrated writing instruction into a broad commercial curriculum. What John Jenkins viewed as an art, if a mechanical one, became as the century progressed an instrument of practical beauty in the service of facilitating business.

The Wheatly Writing School must have been a representative of the small academy devoted to teaching its students the virtues of a pretty hand. The Oyster Bay Historical Society has in its Library and Archives a series of seven instructional copysheets, in the hand of Aaron Simonson of Cedarswamp, executed between August and October 1812 for that school’s writing master, Daniel Johnson. Simonson’s practice work is typical for the day: the repetition of homilies and doggerel on high moral themes, as if students were to learn their manners along with their scripts.

So remember, as Simonson so laboriously copied out for his assignment of 13 August 1812:

Order is heaven’s first law and this confest,
Some must and will be greater than the rest,
More rich more wise;- but who infers from thence
That such are happier shocks all common sense.

Copysheet, 13 August 1812, in the hand of Aaron Simonson for the Wheatly Writing School (Daniel Johnson, writing master). 26 x 21 cm. Manuscript 093 (alternate 371-3-X).

City Directories

2009-12-23T09:36:00.001-08:00

Brooklyn Directory and Yearly Advertiser for 1848-9, containing the usual arrangement of names, occupations and residences…. Compiled and published by H. R. & W. J. Hearne. Brooklyn : Lees & Foulkes, Printers, 35 & 41 Fulton Street, [1848]. 18 cm. 75.260.235.

The Oyster Bay Historical Society Library. 917.4723 B872.

Brooklyn Directory and Yearly Advertiser for 1848-9

City directories served obvious practical purposes in mid-19th century America. They provided alphabetical listings of inhabitants and their addresses, naturally, along with a table of cross streets; a roster of municipal and judicial officer holders and functionaries; trustees of prominent professional and civic organizations; and a listing of churches, banks, and lodges.

Such publications still serve the reference needs of local historians, and so they are hardly outdated relics. It is interesting to note, for instance, that some directories inserted an asterisk before the names of “colored people.” Widows were usually identified as widows, this being a sort of occupation—like daguerreotypist or segar maker—in the 1840s. Meanwhile, some occupations have fallen out of favor. There may still be a professor of the broad and small sword exercise on Adams Street, as Christopher G Taaffe claimed to be, but probably not. I suppose you can Google it.

But directories are also worth studying as artifacts of interest in themselves. The Oyster Bay Historical Society’s Brooklyn Directory and Yearly Advertiser for 1848-9 is a modest representative of book arts from the press of Lees & Foulkes on Fulton Street in Brooklyn. Bound in thin card boards covered with printed paper advertisements mounted over brown cloth, the book stands only seven inches high and would have been handy to use and shelve at home or office. Its subscription price, too, was agreeable: only a dollar, with costs underwritten to some degree by advertisements. Even so, the publishers, Henry R. and William J. Hearne, claimed that even an entirely sold-out edition would “leave them barely a remunerating profit.”

The Hearne directory’s aberrant page numbering testifies to common printing practices with directories of the period, during which printers routinely printed off the statistical and advertising matter at the rear of the book while awaiting the directory’s main text. For the 1848 edition, the Hearnes grossly underestimated the number of Brooklynites and so had to produce a 56-page insert numbered in Roman numerals following page 276.

Finally, the advertising pays tribute to the nineteenth century’s furious and delirious expansion of typographic display fonts, in all their condensed, ornamented, expanded, shaded, backsloped, historiated, modulated, and tooled glories. Many of these are particularly ugly if not entirely illegible.

Current Exhibition

2009-10-10T10:37:00.001-07:00

Tracing Peg: Slavery in Oyster Bay
An American Archives Month Exhibit
11 October—23 December 2009
Reception at Oyster Bay Historical Society’s Earle-Wightman House, Saturday 24 October, 3:00—5:00 p.m.
For further information:
516-922-5032
danielle.apfelbaum@yahoo.com

We leave traces of ourselves everywhere and in every format imaginable: in legal documents, family papers, and on audio/visual materials. What’s more, we have wholeheartedly embraced the speed and connectivity of the Internet: we blog, we Tweet, we Facebook. We have the ability to reach thousands in a matter of seconds, to share our thoughts with the world as fast as we can think them up. Though we may not yet realize it, we are, in these acts, creating future archival records. In short, we are preserving our stories – in our words – for generations to come.

Given the relative simplicity with which we document ourselves, it is easy to overlook not only the importance of the archival record but also its complexity. The materials in Tracing Peg are rare; in a community where transactions between slaveholders and their human property were largely a private matter, original documentation remains scarce. Purchases, manumissions, and other slave-related legal documents that were never copied into the Town Records may have been lost or destroyed. Some, however, have been preserved. Such is the case with Peg.

Though unrecorded in the Town Records, the 1721 sale of twenty-two year old Peg and two-year old Bess to Nathaniel Coles and David Vallantine from Thomas Kirby resides today in the Oyster Bay Historical Society’s archives. It is, perhaps, the only trace of Peg and Bess that exists.

As with the other archival records on display, it is important to note that these are one-sided documents. They were written from the point of view of the slaveholder; the enslaved African and African-American Islanders with whom they are concerned had no say in how they were represented therein. And yet, today, they may be reread as a powerful testament to the existence of these individuals and the invaluable contributions they made to the community of Oyster Bay.

--Danielle S. Apfelbaum, Archives Month Curator

Receipt, 10 January 1722. Thomas Kirby to Nathan Coles and David Vallantine, selling to them, for sixty pounds, two female slaves, Bess and Peg.
23 x 21 cm. Manuscript 168.

New Acquisitions

2009-09-16T11:01:00.000-07:00

Papers of Hazel Scudder. 09.274

This recently accessioned collection includes 1) Hazel Scudder’s 1976 memoir of her grandfather George Hewlett Townsend and his farm in Glen Head (6 p., typescript); 2) her 1914 school memory book from the Ingleside School of New Milford, Connecticut; 3) her undated scrapbook of images documenting European and American sculpture; and 4) a second scrapbook of early twentieth-century postcards, primarily of resort scenes (Paris, Capri, Lake Placid, Quebec, Monte Carlo, and others).

The memory book is of special interest. School memory books traditionally held photographs, ribbons, visiting cards, and other memorials of school life. Entries were affixed by paste or pin, or simply laid in. The Scudder book contains a great deal of loose material, including photographs, correspondence, newspaper clippings, invitations, and cloth swatches, all of which present their own challenges to preservation efforts.

Invitation, Pi Epsilon Initiation, March 20, 1912.
Gilt monogrammed stationery, manuscript text.
13 x 11 cm. 09.274.002.
The Marshal of Pi Epsilon wishes to inform you that your initiation will begin at dawn tomorrow, March 20, 1912.

New Acquisitions

2009-08-21T10:02:00.000-07:00

Records of Christ Church, Oyster Bay

This summer, work has begun on processing an important new accession: the Records of Christ Church, Oyster Bay, Long Island, 1835-2005. The collection includes minute books and registers, diocesan school reports, treasurers’ reports, parish aid booklets, certificates, and documents. Anyone interested in the functions and activities of Christ Church, its vestry, and congregation will find this a valuable collection. But many records here have an intrinsic appeal as well, providing not just information but also giving us an actual look at how documents in the nineteenth century were designed and produced.

The certificate posted here, for instance, shows off an elaborately floriated double border—a decorative device popular throughout the second half of the 1800s.

We will continue to post images from the Records of Christ Church, as well as from other new accessions, in the coming weeks.

Certificate [confirmation of baptismal vows], Mrs. Sarah Adam, Christ Church, Oyster Bay, Long Island, Diocese of New York, twenty second day of June 1864.
Printed, with manuscript entries
27 x 20 cm.

Sylvan Scenes

2009-07-22T11:31:00.000-07:00

Postcards from the Heart of the Oyster Bay Historical Society Collections

The Oyster Bay Historical Society has several hundred postcards bearing Oyster Bay scenes extending back to the 1890s. While in the process of building a digital collection of these postcards, we will be posting representative images and brief catalog entries. Images may not be reproduced without written permission from the Oyster Bay Historical Society.
Early 20th century postal regulations allowed only an address on the card’s verso side. Messages were relegated to a small blank panel [here left unmarked] below the card’s image.

The Shore Road, Oyster Bay, L. I.
New York : Illustrated Post Card Company, ca. 1904. 89 mm x 139 mm.
Kraft Collection. 374.32.Kr88. 00.0.776.