Narrows Sunday School record and minute book

The records of the Narrows Sunday School were kept in a volume printed for the purpose at Philadelphia, 1832, by the American Sunday School Union. The book is softbound with worn marbled boards. There are entries on more than 75 pages, with each page bearing records of two Sundays in tabular form for activities and attendance of teachers and scholars. There are approximately 150 Sundays over an 11 year period, 1834-1845, which leaves gaps in the chronology.

The manuscript entries were made with some irregularity in a few hands, presumably as different persons became secretary. Some of the secretaries, including one Mrs. Williamson, are identified in the text. The records document how many students and teachers attended the school, with separate columns for male and female. The numbers of scholars actually present varied from as many as about 37 female and 23 male to far fewer – about 17 in total. The female teachers also outnumbered the male; sometimes ten or eleven were present.

There are notes on founding a sewing club, raising money for the school, trips to New Utrecht, collections for missions, scholars' exams at Flatbush, preparations for anniversary events, behavior of students, and so on. There are also frequent notes on weather, especially as it influences attendance.

This manuscript record reveals the individual personality and social outlook of teachers in Kings County in the mid nineteenth century. It documents the early history of a Brooklyn based religious education institution that has remained active into the 21st century. It is an important portrait of the early Dutch settlers in Brooklyn, especially as pertains to the influential Van Brunt and Bennett families.