Green-Wood Cemetery Land Acquisition - Legal Documents, 1812-1935 | The Green-Wood Cemetery

By J.D. Arden, Steph Diorio, Nik Dragovic, Dana Hart, Pratt School of Information Students; Emily Chapin, Pratt School of Information Intern

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Collection Overview

Title: Green-Wood Cemetery Land Acquisition - Legal Documents, 1812-1935

Predominant Dates:1830-1860

Extent: 6.0 Boxes

Arrangement: The collection is arranged into 9 series, based on material type.

Subjects: Cemetery Development, Land contracts, Legal Documents

Abstract

The materials in this collection were found in a safe deposit box owned by the Green-Wood Cemetery. The majority of the materials pertain to legal transactions, and include abstracts, indentures, contracts, reports, bills, maps of cemetery plots, and correspondence between involved parties and legal counsel.

Scope and Contents of the Materials

These records reflect the years of consolidating property in the City of Brooklyn, in an area then known as Flatbush, for the land and building rights of Green-Wood Cemetery. The collection also includes some records of the purchase and sale of burial plots, as well as business correspondence.

Collection Historical Note

Green-Wood Cemetery is an historic and famous cemetery located in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City. The brainchild of Brooklyn social leader Henry Evelyn Pierrepont, the cemetery was officially founded in 1838, although land was acquired prior to that date for its construction. The cemetery was a popular tourist attraction throughout most of the nineteenth century due to its park-style landscape, an idea inspired by the preexisting Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Many famous New Yorkers (and some famous non-New Yorkers) are buried within Green-Wood’s 478 acres, and in 2006 it was declared a National Historic Landmark, cementing its status as a cultural treasure.

Subject/Index Terms

Cemetery Development
Land contracts
Legal Documents

Administrative Information

Repository: The Green-Wood Cemetery

Processing Information: Accession #: 010-2015

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series I: Abstracts, 1834-1877],
[Series II: Indentures, 1849-1915],
[Series III: Contracts and Agreements, 1872],
[Series IV: Reports, 1847-1854],
[Series V: Letters, 1873-1934],
[Series VI: Documents Relating to 519 Madison Avenue, 1893-1899],
[Series VII: Receipts and Bills, 1854-1871],
[Series VIII: Maps],
[Series IX: Miscellaneous, 1812-1872],
[All]

Series II: Indentures, 1849-1915

This series contains 29 indentures made between 1849 and 1915. The bulk are for lots in the Green-Wood Cemetery, with ten indentures made for lots in the area between 7th and 8th Avenues and 20th and 21st Streets. Several of the indentures were made in debt to the financier Alexander M. White of the Brooklyn Trust Company.

Box 2

Folder 1: 21st St. and 8th Ave., 1876
Folder 2: Henry Pieper, Land lot 52, 1906
Folder 3: Green-Wood and the City of New York, 1915
Folder 4: Alexander M. White to Green-Wood Cemetery, 1877: 20th St. and 7th Ave.
Folder 5: Alexander White, 1883
Folder 6: Henry Story to Alexander M. White: Land lots 945-960, 8th Ave. and 20th St.
Folder 7: J.G. Bergen, 1849: Fifth Ave. and ?
Folder 8: Jon A. van Brunt, 1849
Folder 9: William Dunigan, 1849: 21st St. and 10th Ave.
Folder 10: William A. White, 1865: 55th St. and 4th Ave.
Folder 11: Henry E. Pierrepont, 1868
Folder 12: Elizabeth W. Blake and John H. Butterworth, 1868: 21st St. and 10th Ave.
Folder 13: Thomas Murphy, 1854
Folder 14: Peter Rhodes, 1871: 20th St. and 8th Ave.
Folder 15: Abraham Lott, 1871: 20th St. and 8th Ave.
Folder 16: Gerard M. Sterns, 1875: 20th St. and 8th Ave.
Folder 17: Alexander M. White: 20th St. and 8th Ave.
Folder 18: Robert S. Crooke, 1852
Folder 19: Patrick McGuire and Mary Catherine O'Shea, 1867: 21st St. and 10th Ave.
Folder 20: John Blair, 1884: Gravesend Ave. and 21st St.
Folder 21: John Dale, 1875: 8th Ave. and 21st St., Lot 82
Folder 22: John Mahoney, 1875: 8th Ave. and 21st St.
Folder 23: Daniel L. Jones to Green-Wood Cemetery: 8th Ave. and 21st St., Lots 6 and 7
Folder 24: Melvin Smith, 1870: 8th Ave. and 20th St.
Folder 25: Andrew S. Wheeler to Alexander M. White, 1874: Land lots 806-815, 833-842
Folder 26: William Hatfield and Alexander M. White, 1871: Land lots 963-973 and 986-989
Folder 27: Andrew S. Wheeler and Alexander M. White, 1871: Land lots 1 and 24, Block B
Folder 28: Smith W. Anderson and Aaron Clark, 1848
Folder 29: George Grove and The Green-Wood Cemetery, 1848