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Bannerman Family papers

Call Number

MS 2906

Date

1788-2001 (bulk, 1890-1968), inclusive

Creator

Bannerman, Francis, VI, 1851-1918

Extent

3 Linear feet (7 boxes and 3 volumes)

Language of Materials

The documents in this collection are in English.

Abstract

Francis (Frank) Bannerman VI was born in Dundee, Scotland on March 24, 1851. Following the Civil War, Bannerman founded a company, Francis Bannerman Co., specializing in military surplus and scrap. In 1900 Bannerman puchased Polopel Island, a small island located in the Hudson River just north of West Point, NY, with the aim to turn it into a safe storage location for his large stores of military surplus that had now outgrown his warehouse space in Brooklyn. Patriotic to his heritage, Bannerman designed plans to have a unique, Scottish-style estate be constructed on the island to serve both his business and personal needs. The family owned both the business and the island until the late 1960s.

Subseries IV.D Glass Plate Negatives is digitized and available in the Shelby White and Leon Levy Digital Library.

Biographical Note

Francis (Frank) Bannerman VI was born in Dundee, Scotland on March 24, 1851. At the age of three he and his family moved to the United States, where they settled in Brooklyn. Soon after, Bannerman's father began a business of re-selling items purchased at Naval auctions. When his father joined the Union Army during the Civil War, Francis carried on and gradually grew the business by collecting large quantities of scrap. Once the Civil War ended, Bannerman officially founded his own company, Francis Bannerman Co., at the age of 14. It was during a business trip to Ireland a few years later, in 1872, that Bannerman met and married his wife, Helen Boyce.

In 1900 Bannerman purchased Polopel Island, a small island located in the Hudson River just north of West Point, NY, with the aim to turn it into a safe storage location for his large store of military surplus that had now outgrown his warehouse space in Brooklyn. Patriotic to his heritage, Bannerman designed plans to have a unique, Scottish-style estate constructed on the island to serve both his business and personal needs. Construction began in 1900 and continued steadily through the time of Bannerman's death in 1918. Buildings constructed included an arsenal, a superintendent's house, a workshop, a powder house, an ice house, breakwaters, turrets and a grand personal residence and gardens for the Bannermans. Proud of his island home, Francis attempted to officially rename the island "Bannerman Island," but never gained consent to do so. During their time living on the island, a number of unfortunate incidents befell the Bannermans, including a large explosion at the powder house in 1920 that caused minor injuries and a fair amount of damage, and frequent lightning strikes due to the castle's numerous flag poles.

In 1918 two of Francis Bannerman's sons, Frank Jr. and David Boyce, became partners in the business and changed its name to Francis Bannerman Sons. When Francis passed away later that year, his two sons carried on and continued to grow the business. In 1946, following the death of Frank Jr., Francis' grandson Charles S. Bannerman became a partner and incorporated the business. In 1959 Charles, then President, closed the company's storefront that had long been on Broadway and moved the business office to Blue Point, Long Island. The family sold the company to James F. Hogan, previously the company's secretary, in the late 1960s.

In 1967 the Bannermans sold Polopel Island to The People of the State of New York, and on July 1, 1968 it was placed under the supervision of the Taconic State Park Commission. Unfortunately, a fire during the night of August 8, 1969 severely damaged all of the buildings. Today the island and the ruins remaining of the buildings are maintained by a non-profit agency associated with the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

Arrangement

This collection is organized into four series, three topical and one based on media format:

Series I: Bannerman Family
Series II: Francis Bannerman (Sons) Business
Series III: Polopel (Bannerman) Island
Series IV: Photographs and Negatives

Within these series, materials are arranged chronologically. Undated materials have been placed at the end of each series or subseries and are arranged alphabetically.

Scope and Contents

This collection pertains to the personal life, business and estate of Francis Bannerman VI and his family. Primary topics in this collection are the Bannerman family; military equipment and World War I, which are reflective of Bannerman's company's specialty of military surplus and his interest in military achievement; and Polopel (Bannerman) Island and the estate Bannerman built there. Materials include correspondence, notes, time books, scrapbooks, clippings, monographs, serials, photographs, glass plate negatives and objects.

Access Restrictions

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Use Restrictions

Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.

Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as the Bannerman Family Papers, MS 2906, The New-York Historical Society.

Location of Materials

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donation, Virginia Collins, 2011.

Related Materials

There is a large collection of Bannerman family and business papers at the Hagley Museum and Library. http://www.hagley.lib.de.us/library/collections/manuscripts/bannermanabst.html Contact them for more details.

Collection processed by

Ashley Todd

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:47:24 -0400.
Language: Finding Aid is written in English.

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024