Wheeler N. Voorhees collection
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Abstract
This collection consists of various genealogical papers and legal documents collected or created by Wheeler N. Voorhees and spanning the period 1766 to 1935. The bulk of the collection includes correspondence, receipts, mortgages, bonds, and genealogical papers pertaining to Martin Schoonmaker, the first postmaster of the town of Gravesend and later the Kings County Deputy Commissioner of Juries, and his wife, Eliza.
Biographical Note
Wheeler N. Voorhees (d. 1946) was a Brooklyn resident who worked as an engineer. He was also an amateur genealogist and a member of the Kings County Historical Society.
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of various genealogical papers and legal documents collected or created by Wheeler N. Voorhees and spanning the period 1766 to 1935. The bulk of the collection includes correspondence, receipts, mortgages, bonds, and genealogical papers pertaining to Martin Schoonmaker, the first postmaster of the town of Gravesend and later the Kings County Deputy Commissioner of Juries, and his wife, Eliza. Additional items include papers and clippings relating to the history of the Voorhees family of the Brooklyn town of Flatlands, particularly concerning the earliest generations to emigrate from the Netherlands; and various legal documents pertaining to property holdings and decedents' estates in the Brooklyn towns of Gravesend and Bushwick, and the town of Jamaica in Queens County. Remaining items in the collection include an outline of a lecture given by Wheeler N. Voorhees on historic Kings Highway, and an invitation to the lecture; a photostat copy of an English translation of a Dutch text on immigrating to New Netherland (later New York), featuring maps of various parts of the region; a photograph of a memorial to the settlers of Gravesend; and a copy of the Kings County Historical Society Magazine.
Subjects
Families
Genres
Topics
Conditions Governing Access
Open to users without restriction.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date (if known); Wheeler N. Voorhees collection, 1977.182, Box and Folder number; Brooklyn Historical Society.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Arthur J. Latham, 1949.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Minimally processed to the collection level.
