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 IX: Miscellaneous, 1812-1872

This series contains ten folders of documents that did not fit into any of the other series in this collection. These include a possible foreclosure on a property that the cemetery purchased at a later date, rent for a church pew in Garrison, New York, an obituary, a last will and testament, receipts of a Cemetery Board Trustee, and tax assessments for farmland the Cemetery later purchased to grow the property.

Box 6

Folder 1: Certificate of Sale, October 27, 1879

8th Ave. and 21st St. (possible foreclosure)

Folder 2: Letters resembling an abstract - Lawrence S. Abbott, Referee, February 15, 1868

Folder 3: Rent of Pew 28, St. Phillips Church in the Highlands, Garrison, NY, January 1, 1933

Folder 4: Obituary of George Griswold, 1859

Folder 5: Receipts of A.S. Wheeler, 1871-1872

Folder 6: Will of Lydia A. Joyce and notes, March 6, 1874

Folder 7: Farmland dimensions and tax assessments, 1859

Wyckoff, Dean, Bennett, and Story farms

Folder 8: Envelope addressed to Mr. Levi C. Hildreth, contains 10 items

10 items:

1. John Vanderbilt Tract Abstract to William Augustus White, [n.d.], for the property Northeast by 17th St., Northwest by 11th Ave., Southwest by 18th St., Southeast by the Brooklyn - Flatbush line

2. Will of John Vanderbilt of Flatbush, dated May 15, 1812

3. Several notes on deeds, dated 1817; John Vanderbilt & Sarah Vanderbilt, Will and Testament, dated 1853; Deed of John H. Bell and Edward Belknop, dated May 23, 1853; Deed of Edward Belknop, his wife, and Patrick O’Donnell, dated April 18,1854

4. Will of John Vanderbilt, Book 2, pg. 226

5. Note, dated September 18, 1872 from I.A. Perry to B.K. [Iru?], esq., re: deeds and boundaries specified by Mr. Pierrepont to the Cemetery

6. Unpaid taxes report, 1869-1870, by lot number, name of individual, and amount owed

7. Deed, November 7, 1865, of Jacob Vanderbilt [Hortense?] to several individuals

8. Requests for Records Search, 1862-1871, from Kings Co. to Clerk, G. Herman

9. Deed, January 20, 1863, of Levi C. Hildreth and William Augustus White

10. Map of Property, 11th Ave., between 17th & 18th St., 8th Ward, Brooklyn; J.C. Terry, esq., filed July 6,1855 [Removed to OVERSIZE Box]

Folder 9: Abstract of Title and Indenture for Quitclaim Deed, 8th Ave., between 20th St. and 21st St.

Folder 10: Assorted papers including 1881 tax forms and an abstract