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Martin Schoonmaker family papers

Call Number

ARC.090

Date

1793-1889, inclusive

Creator

Schoonmaker, Martin
Schoonmaker family

Extent

0.25 Linear Feet in 28 folders, housed in 1 manuscript box.

Language of Materials

English .

Abstract

Martin Schoonmaker was a resident of the town of Gravesend in Kings County, N.Y. In the 1840s he served as Gravesend's first postmaster. He later served as the Gravesend Assessor, as Kings County Deputy Commissioner of Juries, and as secretary of the Ocean Parkway Owners Association. This collection spans the period 1793 to 1889 and contains materials relating to Schoonmaker and his family. Materials mainly include accounts, receipts, indentures, deeds, bonds, agreements, and other property and legal documents.

Biographical Note

Martin Schoonmaker, the son of Michael and Elizabeth H. Schoonmaker, was a resident of the town of Gravesend in Kings County, N.Y. In the 1840s he served as Gravesend's first postmaster, a position he held for 10 years. He later served as the Gravesend Assessor, as Kings County Deputy Commissioner of Juries, and as secretary of the Ocean Parkway Owners Association. Schoonmaker was married to Eliza (Emmens) Schoonmaker, sister of John Emmens (1832-1880), a claimant of a part of Coney Island. Martin's brother, Richard L. Schoonmaker (d. 1876), was postmaster of the Kings County town of Flatbush.

Sources:

  1. Lerardi, Eric J. Gravesend, the Home of Coney Island. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia, 2001.

Scope and Contents

The Martin Schoonmaker family papers span the period 1793 to 1889 and contain materials chiefly relating to Martin Schoonmaker, though other members of the Schoonmaker family are represented as well, including Martin's brother, Richard L. Schoonmaker; Martin and Richard's mother, Elizabeth H. Schoonmaker; Martin's wife, Eliza (Emmens) Schoonmaker; and Eliza's brother, John Emmens. Materials include accounts; receipts; indentures; bonds; documents relating to Martin and Eliza's property in Gravesend, including mortgage payments, agreements, and carpenter specifications; tax documents; account books and diaries; documents concerning court cases; papers regarding Martin's appointment to the honor of Notary Public by Kings County; wills, including those of Elizabeth H. and Richard L. Schoonmaker; legal documents, assessments, and correspondence regarding Ocean Parkway; legal documents regarding Coney Island and the town of Gravesend; a small amount of genealogical materials on the Schoonmaker family; and one bound volume, serving as an account book, that was likely owned and/or authored by Martin Schoonmaker while serving as Gravesend Assessor. The volume contains numerous references to the personal and business expenditures of Schoonmaker and his wife, and also renders family, farm, and rental accounts of other individuals, with information on various landowners of Gravesend, Ocean Parkway, Parkville, and Coney Island properties. The volume also contains six loose documents relating to accounts and property assessments.

This collection also includes a substantial amount of legal, business, and property documents pertaining to Kings County residents outside the Schoonmaker family, including Jacobus Van Nuys, Adrian Martense, Edward Ridley, Richard Denys, John F. Phillips, Thomas Gerald, and Adam Balzer. Many of these documents pertain to the occupations and families of the aforementioned individuals.

Conditions Governing Access

Open to researchers without restriction.

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date (if known); Martin Schoonmaker family papers, ARC.090, Box and Folder number; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Henry Bergen, 1919, and Mrs. Wheeler N. Voorhees, date unknown.

Other Finding Aids

A complete folder listing of the collection is available in paper form at the Othmer Library. Please consult library staff for more information.

Collection processed by

Nicholas Pavlik

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 11:20:56 +0000.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: English.

Processing Information

Minimally processed to the collection level.

The collection combines the accessions 1973.187, 1977.265, and 1977.410.

Note Statement

change to complete_collection_level

Repository

Brooklyn Historical Society

Container

Box: ARC.090 1 of 1 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Center for Brooklyn History
128 Pierrepont Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201