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John C. Bergen papers

Call Number

1974.114

Date

1827-1894, inclusive

Creator

Bergen, John C.

Extent

1 Linear Feet in one flat box

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Abstract

John C. Bergen (1826-1907) was a farmer on Bergen's Island in Flatlands, Kings County, New York (now part of Brooklyn). His papers include pages from his diary (1846-1848, 1854); an account book with daybook and other transactional entries (1827-1835, 1865-1894); and Bergen's 1866 federal tax return. The diary entries focus principally on daily farming activities, hunting (including at Barren Island), weather, and bringing goods to market in Brooklyn and other Kings County towns, with references to illnesses, participation in town meetings, Bible readings, and other aspects of daily rural life. A farmhand named John J. who appears frequently in the diary's 1840s entries is, judging from an 1854 entry, an African-American.

Biographical / Historical

John C. Bergen (1826-1907) lived on the family farm on Bergen's Island in Flatlands, Kings County, New York, until 1890. He was the son of Cornelius Bergen (1798-1865). (See page 357 of Teunis G. Bergen's The Bergen Family in the BHS library at call number CS71.B47.1876. Also see the obituary from the Brooklyn Eagle of June 8, 1907, a copy of which is also found at page 357 in the above book.)

Arrangement

The loose manuscripts are foldered together in a box with the bound account book.

Scope and Contents

The collection includes pages from a diary (1846-1848, 1854) maintained by Flatlands farmer John C. Bergen; an account book with daybook entries (1827-1835), records of various transactions, such as sales of farm produce and purchase of manure and other supplies (1865-1872), and notes on cow births (1882-1894); one loose page of an account book (1872-1874); and Bergen's 1866 federal tax return. The diary entries focus principally on daily farming activities, hunting (including at Barren Island), weather, and bringing goods to market in Brooklyn and other Kings County towns, with references to illnesses, participation in town meetings, and other aspects of daily rural life. A farmhand named John J. who appears frequently in the diary's 1840s entries is, judging from an 1854 entry, an African-American. The 1854 pages include lists of daily family and "secret" Bible readings.

Conditions Governing Access

Open to researchers without restriction.

Conditions Governing Use

Material is in the public domain.

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date (if known); John C. Bergen papers, 1974.114; Brooklyn Historical Society.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The collection was a gift to the Long Island Historical Society (now Brooklyn Historical Society) in 1930 from Rev. John Tallmadge Bergen (likely John C. Bergen's son).

Related Materials

Brooklyn Historical Society holds much material concerning the Bergen family. Among these are the Mounted prints of Bergen family houses (call number V1986.011) which includes the John Bergen house at Bergen's Island. The largest collection is the Teunis G. Bergen and Bergen Family collection (call number ARC.006) which includes some material specifically concerning John C. A search in BHS's on-line catalog will identify other Bergen materials on the library shelves.

Collection processed by

Larry Weimer

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 11:17:50 +0000.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid is written in English.

Processing Information

The collection was processed in December 2011 by Larry Weimer.

Repository

Brooklyn Historical Society

Container

Box: OS-33 (Material Type: Text)
Center for Brooklyn History
128 Pierrepont Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201