Skip to main content Skip to main navigation

Charles Stuart Booth family papers and photographs

Call Number

ARC.154

Date

circa 1828 to 1906, inclusive

Creator

Booth family
Carrington, Eliza J. Booth
Booth, Charles Stuart
Booth, Horace
Booth, Thomas
Squires, Harry B.

Extent

1.26 Linear Feet in three manuscript boxes.

Language of Materials

English .

Abstract

Charles Stuart Booth (1804-1862) was a night watchman who lived and raised his family in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg and worked in lower Manhattan. He and his wife, Lavinia Lyon Booth, had four children: Horace, Eliza (Lila, 1836-1900), Thomas (Tom), and Phoebe (1830-1912). The Charles Stuart Booth family papers and photographs span the period circa 1828 to 1906 and contain journals written by Charles Stuart Booth, in which he recorded events that transpired during his posts as a watchman, as well as family letters to and from Horace Booth while he served in the Union Army during the Civil War. The collection also contains two photograph albums and several loose photographs depicting members of the Booth family, as well as several members of families related to the Booths by marriage, including the Lockwood, Carrington, Seward, Shepard, Slauter, King, Mott, and Squires families.

Biographical Note

Charles Stuart Booth (1804-1862) worked as a night watchman in lower Manhattan from 1828 to 1862. Booth was a resident of the Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburgh, which had been a separate city until it was annexed by the City of Brooklyn in 1855. Booth and his wife, Lavinia Lyon Booth, had four children: Horace, Thomas (Tom), Eliza (Lila, 1836-1900), and Phoebe (1830-1912). Horace Booth served in the Civil War from 1861 to 1863 as an engineer in the Union Army's 8th Regiment, and was posted in Annapolis and Washington, D.C. throughout his service. Tom Booth worked in a store in Williamsburgh and was also a night watchman in the early 1860s, a position he found through the help of his father. Phoebe Booth married Hiram K. Lockwood (1820-1870) in 1851, and her sister Lila married Samuel S. Carrington in 1857.

Scope and Contents

The Charles Stuart Booth family papers and photographs have been arranged into two series:

Missing Title

  1. Papers, 1828-1863
  2. Photographs, circa 1850-1906

Papers contain journals dating from 1828 to 1862 and written by Charles Stuart Booth during his shifts as a watchman in lower Manhattan, in which he details the events and occurrences that transpired during his shifts. The series also contains letters from Lila Booth to her brother, Horace, while he was serving as an engineer in the Union Army during the Civil War. The letters are dated 1861 to 1863 and relate to Lila's domestic life in Williamsburgh, as well as her wishes for Horace's health and safety. One of her letters from 1863 also comments upon the eruption of the New York City draft riots. Some letters to Horace are also written by his brother, Tom, and his father, while additional letters are from Horace to his sister, Phoebe, and her husband, Hiram K. Lockwood. Finally, the series contains a small number of additional items relating to the Booth family, including envelopes of visiting cards, the marriage book of Phoebe Booth and Hiram K. Lockwood, obituaries, and brief notes on the Booth and Lockwood families provided by Harry B. Squires (d. 1963), the donor of this collection.

Photographs consist of card photographs, tintypes, and prints. The photographs are contained in two albums and compiled loosely in three folders, and depict members of the Booth family, including Charles Stuart, Lavinia, Horace, Lila, and Phoebe. However, a larger amount of the photographs depict members of families related to the Booths by marriage, including the Lockwood, Carrington, Seward, Shepard, Slauter, King, Mott, and Squires families. Many photographs bear inscriptions identifying the individuals pictured, also provided by Harry B. Squires.

Conditions Governing Access

Open to researchers without restriction.

Conditions Governing Use

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

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date (if known); Charles Stuart Booth family papers and photographs, ARC.154, Box and Folder number; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Harry B. Squires, 1952, 1960, 1963, and 1964.

Other Finding Aids

An earlier version of this finding aid is available in paper form at the Brooklyn Historical Society. Please consult library staff for more information.

Collection processed by

Miranda Schwartz and Nicholas Pavlik

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 11:24:38 +0000.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: English

Processing Information

Minimally processed to the series level.

The collection combines the accessions 1977.165 and V1997.011.

Note Statement

change to complete_series_level

Repository

Brooklyn Historical Society

Container

Box: ARC.154 3 of 3 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)
Box: ARC.154 1 of 3 (Material Type: Text)
Box: ARC.154 2 of 3 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)
Center for Brooklyn History
128 Pierrepont Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201