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Charles Henry Wenman papers

Call Number

ARC.104

Date

1798-1951, inclusive

Creator

Wenman, Charles Henry
Hilfers, Kathleen

Extent

9 Linear Feet in six record cartons, two manuscript boxes, one half manuscript box, and one photograph album.

Language of Materials

English .

Abstract

Charles Henry Wenman was born in Rensselaerville, N.Y. in 1869. By 19, he had already secured a clerkship and within a few years, had become General Bookkeeper for the Illinois Central Railroad. By the time Wenman left the company in 1906, he had held various positions at the railroad. Wenman then became secretary to Stuyvesant Fish (1851-1923), the former president of the Illinois Central Railroad. Wenman held this position until Fish's death in 1923 and continued as secretary to the Fish family into the 1940s. Apart from Wenman's work with the Fish family, he also ventured into business on his own. In 1923, he formed the Stenciltype Company, which made mimeograph stencil machines for advertising and duplication. The company dissolved in 1925. Wenman also helped his cousin run the Crea-Mont Country Club in Culver Lake, N.J. from 1925-1927. Besides investing in the Stenciltype Company, Wenman also invested in a fraudulent motion picture company, Century Motion Picture Company, as well as several other ill-fated business ventures. Charles Henry Wenman was a long-time Brooklyn resident and lived most of life at his home in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. Wenman died in 1957.

Biographical note

Charles Henry Wenman (1869-1957) was the eldest son of Reverend Charles Aldis Wenman (b. 1841) and Anna Helena Hilfers Wenman (1851-1936). Rev. Wenman and Anna Hilfers were married at Grace Church in Brooklyn on October 15, 1868. Rev. Wenman served as a clergyman at Protestant Episcopal Church, also in Brooklyn. Due to a chronically weak and sore throat, he had to resign his position as Assistant Rector. Following his resignation, the Wenmans left Brooklyn and moved to Rensselaerville, N.Y. located about 150 miles north of New York City. Charles Henry Wenman was born there on December 23, 1869.

The family did not remain long in Rensselaerville and next moved to Cleveland, N.Y. where Eugene Hoffman Wenman was born on June 3, 1871 and Frederick Huntington Wenman was born on Dec. 22, 1872. After three years, the family moved again, this time to Cambridge, N.Y. Rev. Wenman's tenure at Cambridge lasted less than a year and the family then moved to Theresa, N.Y. A local sheriff tried to prevent the financially strapped Wenmans from leaving Cambridge, but a last-minute reprieve allowed the family to proceed to Theresa. Wenman's sister, Gertrude Wenman Castellanos, was born in Theresa on August 30, 1874.

At the age of 14, Wenman had already become self-supporting, and by 19 had secured a clerkship after finishing school. His uncle, John P. Ritter, introduced Charles to his friend, railroad baron Stuyvesant Fish, Sr. (1851-1923), then acting president of the Illinois Central Railroad. Within a few years, Wenman became the general bookkeeper of the company. By the time Wenman left in 1906, he had held various positions at the railroad, and after Fish's forced retirement from the railroad, Wenman became his secretary until Fish's death in 1923. Wenman continued in that position to the Fish family into the 1940s. As secretary to the family, Wenman helped Stuyvesant Fish, Jr. compile a genealogy of the Anthon Family. Fish's mother, Marian Graves Anthon (1853-1915), married Stuyvesant Fish, Sr. on June 1, 1876.

Fish was forcibly retired from the railroad by Western and Central Railroad president, and vice president of the Illinois Central Railroad, Edward H. Harriman (1849-1909). Harriman coveted Fish's Illinois Central due to the railroad's excellent development and assets. Harriman sought to obtain Illinois Central by accusing Fish of mishandling and padding the funds of the Commonwealth Trust Company, a holding company under the Fish banner. Wenman, along with several other employees, resigned from the railroad.

Apart from Wenman's work with Fish, he also ventured into businesses of his own. In 1923, he formed, with his nephew Frederick Wenman, and with patent attorney and inventor Thomas Hill, the Stenciltype Company. The company produced mimeograph stencil machines for advertising and duplication. According to documents within the collection, Hill turned out to be fraudulent, and by 1925, the company had dissolved. Upon the dissolution of the company, Wenman was plunged into a court battle for non-payment of wages. In addition, Wenman helped his cousin run the Crea-Mont Country Club in Culver Lake, N.J. from 1925-1927. Besides investing in the Stenciltype Company, Wenman also invested in a fraudulent motion picture company, Century Motion Picture Company, as well as several other ill-fated business ventures.

Wenman lived for a time at 436 Macon Street before moving to his life-long residence located at 990 Park Place in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn in 1905. His mother lived with him until her death in 1936, as well as his sister, Gertrude Wenman Castellanos, who had been abandoned by her spouse, Paul Castellanos Sr., in the early 1900s. In 1909, his brother, Frederick Wenman, previously committed to the Kings County Hospital, died due to health complications. Frederick's son, Frederick Jr., died in the 1930s, after suffering from a heart ailment. Charles Henry Wenman died on June 15, 1957, and is buried in the Wenman family plot in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

Scope and Contents note

The Charles Henry Wenman papers span 1798-1951. The collection has been arranged into six series, with several series further arranged into subseries. These series are: Personal correspondence, 1899-1950; Fish business records, 1947-1951; Wenman business records, 1915-1925; Wenman legal and real estate papers, 1936-1950; Wenman business and personal ledgers, 1843-1947; Wenman personal writings, 1901-1949; McFarland Family photographs, 1944-1947; and Genealogical papers, 1798-1951.

Conditions Governing Access

Open to researchers without restriction.

Conditions Governing Use

Reproduction rights for the photographs have not been evaluated. Please consult library staff for more information.

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date (if known); Charles Henry Wenman papers, ARC.104, Box and Folder number; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of James Hurley, date unknown.

Other Finding Aids

A folder-level inventory of the collection is available in the collection's accession file. For access to this inventory please contact our reference staff at library@brooklynhistory.org.

Collection processed by

Tanya Elder

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 11:21:47 +0000.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing Information note

The Charles Henry Wenman papers were originally arranged in 1978. At the time of original arrangement, the papers were placed in 35 archival boxes, and loosely categorized by personal correspondence, business correspondence, Fish family papers, Wenman real estate papers, and Wenman business records. Two boxes of genealogical notes and data gathered by Wenman were placed in a separate genealogical collection. No finding aid or description was written, but over 100 catalog cards were placed in the manuscript area of the card catalog, under the name of Wenman, Charles.

In 1996, with the aid of a grant from the Delmas Foundation and the National Historic Publications and Records Commission, Holly McCammon was hired as the Project Archivist. Her mission entailed enhancing access to the manuscript collections of the Brooklyn Historical Society. McCammon surveyed the Wenman collection, deeming it to be a collection that could be placed in storage during the final phases of the Brooklyn Historical Society building restoration.

In 1997, Tanya Elder was hired as Project Archival Assistant to McCammon, and was subsequently assigned the task of arranging and describing the Wenman papers in preparation for the move to storage. Elder combined many of the materials that were placed in separate folders, so that the total number of archival boxes was reduced from 35 to 17. The records were processed from July 1997 to September 1997.

Minor updates to the finding aid were made by Leilani Dawson, December 29, 2005.

In 2007 the boxes were transferred from manuscript boxes to six record cartons, but the original box scheme to identify folders was retained.

In 2010, the collection was combined with a related collection. The combined accessions are 1977.335 and 1981.013. This finding aid was further revised and entered into Archivists' Toolkit by Patricia Glowinski in September 2010.

In 2014, the McFarland Family photographs were returned to the collection by John Zarrillo. They had been removed in 1997 (V1997.092). In January 2016, the two manuscript boxes of genealogical notes compiled by Wenman were found and reintegrated into the collection by Katie Bednark and John Zarrillo (Series 8).

Repository

Brooklyn Historical Society

Container

Box: 1 of 9 (Material Type: Text)
Box: 2 of 9 (Material Type: Text)
Box: 3 of 9 (Material Type: Text)
Box: 4 of 9 (Material Type: Text)
Box: 5 of 9 (Material Type: Text)
Box: 6 of 9 (Material Type: Text)
Box: 7 of 9 (Material Type: Text)
volume: Photograph album 1981.013 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)
Center for Brooklyn History
128 Pierrepont Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201