District Attorney De Lancey Nicoll scrapbooks, ledger journals, and diaries for 1879 to 1902


Description

Accession consists of scrapbooks, ledgers and diaries documenting in part the activities of the New York County District Attorney's Office and in part the legal career of De Lancey Nicoll (1854-1931) who served as Assistant District Attorney from 1885 to 1887 and as District Attorney from 1891-1893. The bulk of the accession consists of seventeen scrapbooks of news clippings covering the period from October 1885 to April 1893 with one small gap from September 1890 to June 1891. The clippings deal primarily with court trials in which the District Attorney's office was involved. Although mainly from the major New York dailies, out of town and foreign language press clippings are also included. The scrapbooks appear to be officially compiled, as most clippings have a stamped tab attached to them (with name of publication, date and "character of article"). Some are indexed. In addition to the trial/official scrapbooks, there are several of a more personal nature, one being devoted primarily to the District Attorney election of 1887, which Nicoll lost. Another covers crimes, trials during the period of 1879-1895, and a third relates to an 1898 trial in Brooklyn in which Nicoll participated. The ledger volumes and diaries appear to relate to the private law practice of Nicoll and include a case log for the years 1881-1884 and two attorney's work diaries for the period 1888-1889. A transcript of the Surrogates Court proceedings in regard to the estate of Joseph Richardson conducted by Nicoll (according to the 1909 "Who's Who in N.Y.") is also included. The accession represents an unusually detailed look at the professional career of a prominent New York official and attorney. Arranged chronologically within most volumes for scrapbooks and work diaries. Varied for other materials.


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