Series 1: Historical Manuscripts and Notes, 1762-1884, inclusive
Extent
Scope and Contents
The bulk of Historical Manuscripts and Notes includes Onderdonk's transcriptions, abstracts, and notes from various church and local government records, private journals, and newspapers. The series includes a small number of print versions of Onderdonk's works and of manuscripts of Onderdonk's own writing. Most of the documents in the series concern towns in nineteenth-century Queens County (which included present-day Nassau County), but towns in Suffolk County are also represented. The series also holds material on towns in Kings County, though to a lesser extent than other Long Island locales.
Many of the documents in the series have a topical focus, with the principal subjects concerning the American Revolution, Quakers (or Friends), and agriculture, including animal husbandry. These documents include transcriptions of Revolutionary-era correspondence to Major John Kissam of the Queens militia and of Quaker John Bowne's journal of imprisonment and account book. Documents concerning "olden times" are more wide-ranging, spanning social issues, commercial ventures, agriculture/farming, crime, church/religion, politics/governance, slavery, etc. Many documents are principally lists of marriages, deaths, baptisms, wills filed with the surrogate's office, tax lists, etc. Some of the manuscripts include an index.
Many of the notebooks in the series were constructed from previously-used documents, especially correspondence from circa 1870s to the clerk of Queens County, but also advertisements and other printed matter. Onderdonk wrote on the blank reverse sides of these documents, and much of the original content can still be viewed. A substantive example is an account book of fees received in 1866-67 by surrogate William H. Onderdonk.
Aside from the original artifacts comprising many of the notebooks themselves, there are few original records in the series. Significant exceptions to this are the wampum, bills of credit and paper currency attached to pages of Onderdonk's historical sketch of agriculture. Some of the notebooks include paper slips with signatures; it is not clear whether these are original signatures cut from documents or Onderdonk's tracings of the original signatures.
Arrangement
The series is arranged roughly by subject. The series opens with Onderdonk's bibliographies of Long Island history and material with a specific topical focus (e.g., Revolutionary War). These materials are followed by those of a more general nature (e.g., lists of marriages and baptisms).
Folder descriptions referring to printed matter use italics to distinguish the content from manuscript content.
For manuscript material consisting principally of transcribed records, an approximate date range of the records is included in the folder description. The folder date itself refers to the manuscript date, any dated artifacts comprising the pages of the manuscript, and/or original dated artifacts found in the manuscript.
Bibliography of Long Island, 1863, inclusive
Bibliography of Long Island, 1866, inclusive
Bibliography of Long Island, 1866-1874, inclusive
Revolutionary Incidents in Queens County - Manuscript and Notes (2 folders), 1846-1884, inclusive
Supplement to the Revolutionary Incidents of Suffolk and Kings Counties, 1776-1789, 1871, inclusive
Revolutionary Incidents at Huntington, 1776-1783, 1873, inclusive
Letters Addressed to Major John Kissam of the Queens Militia, 1777-1786, 1871, inclusive
Worcester Book / Hempstead Notes (including notes on Revolution), 1727-1792, 1850, inclusive
John Bowne's Journal of his Imprisonment, 1662-1664; Extracts from Account Book of John and Samuel Bowne, 1649-1701, circa 1871, inclusive
History of Friends in Flushing and New York City, 1658-1819, circa 1872, inclusive
History of Friends on Long Island, 1672-1797, circa 1872, inclusive
Friends on Long Island and in New York, circa 1872, inclusive
Quakers at Hempstead; Annals of Hempstead, circa 1870, inclusive
Genealogy of the Hegeman and Monfort Families, 1580-1859, circa 1860, inclusive
General
Small clippings from 1885, 1907, and 1961 related to the Hegeman family were tipped into the manuscript.
Some Notes for a History of Horse-Breeding and Horse-Racing in Queens County, 1665-1869 (in account book that includes Fees Received by Wm. H. Onderdonk, Surrogate, 1866-1867), 1788, circa 1870, inclusive
Farming in Olden Times in Queens County, 1656-1708, circa 1868, inclusive
Historical Sketch of Ancient Agriculture, Stock Breeding, and Manufactures in Hempstead, 1762-1790, 1867, inclusive
General
Manuscript includes bills of credit, currency, and a string of wampum glued to the reverse side of pages 20 and 21. See the Correspondence series for a letter likely concerning the source of the wampum.
