New York County Surrogate's Court estate inventories
Collection REC0123 - RG 064. New York State Surrogate's Court
Collection REC0123 - RG 064/RG 064.3. Surrogate's Court, New York County
New York County Surrogate's Court estate inventories
Collection
REC-0123
Collection
REC-0123
The collection includes both testate and intestate inventories—that is, the estates of individuals who died with and without wills in New York County. Individual estate inventories in the collection range from a single page to dozens of pages, and an appraiser’s attention to detail was often as evident for a modest estate as for a large one. Typically, an inventory includes furniture, paintings, books, furnishings, clothing, linens, and kitchen utensils. Inventories also include financial assets such as real estate, corporate and government bonds, cash, and real estate holdings. The estates of particularly wealthy individuals included property outside of New York, such as Stephen Getin’s 1807 estate that included property on the island of Santo Domingo in the Caribbean [Box 8, Folder 5]. The ownership of enslaved people is noted in some estate inventories. For example, the 1804 inventory of the estate of Samuel Kip (of Kip’s Bay) listed “three Negro girls, Jane, Phebe, and Hannah," as well as two enslaved men who apparently took advantage of Kip’s death by running away, "with little chance of return" [Box 11, Folder 12].
The collection's value to scholars derives from its level of detail, and from the insights it provides into New York City's 18th and early-to-mid 19th century material culture, personal and family wealth, and forms of urban taste and sophistication. In many cases the estate inventories are organized room-by-room, allowing fine-grained reconstruction of a residence or business. In some cases, contents of servants’ rooms are included, offering a rare window into their living conditions.
Lists of financial assets demonstrate the complex and often obscure banking systems of the time. Many estates also include numerous personal loan notes, often for mortgages, suggesting the large role played by non-institutional financial transactions. Some individuals loaned money to the United States to assist in the War of 1812, such as Philip Arcularius ("U. States, loan of 1813") [Box 1, Folder 7].
The wide range of occupations represented in the estates (baker, blacksmith, carpenter, grocer, doctor, butcher, cartman, broker, among many others) provides the opportunity to link occupations to possessions—including tools of tradesmen—and to relative wealth. The importance of maritime trade to New York City's economy is indicated by the estates of seamen, shipwrights, sea captains, mariners, and pilots. Wealthy New Yorkers also listed ships, or shares of ships and their cargoes, among their assets.
Inventories of decedents who owned retail establishments provide valuable information about the goods available for purchase during the first decades of the nineteenth century. The contents of a toy-store are a noteworthy example.
The representation of storied New York individuals and families is a notable feature of the collection. The names Stuyvesant, Livingston, Vanderbilt, Roosevelt, Schermerhorn, Van Wyck, Astor, Kip, Varick, and Beekman are in the collection, as decedents and in some cases as appraisers. Their connections are a reminder of how small and intertwined the privileged population of the city was—for example, the 1831 estate of Richard Varick, a former Mayor, was inventoried by James Roosevelt [Box 84, Folder 5).
The collection's value to scholars derives from its level of detail, and from the insights it provides into New York City's 18th and early-to-mid 19th century material culture, personal and family wealth, and forms of urban taste and sophistication. In many cases the estate inventories are organized room-by-room, allowing fine-grained reconstruction of a residence or business. In some cases, contents of servants’ rooms are included, offering a rare window into their living conditions.
Lists of financial assets demonstrate the complex and often obscure banking systems of the time. Many estates also include numerous personal loan notes, often for mortgages, suggesting the large role played by non-institutional financial transactions. Some individuals loaned money to the United States to assist in the War of 1812, such as Philip Arcularius ("U. States, loan of 1813") [Box 1, Folder 7].
The wide range of occupations represented in the estates (baker, blacksmith, carpenter, grocer, doctor, butcher, cartman, broker, among many others) provides the opportunity to link occupations to possessions—including tools of tradesmen—and to relative wealth. The importance of maritime trade to New York City's economy is indicated by the estates of seamen, shipwrights, sea captains, mariners, and pilots. Wealthy New Yorkers also listed ships, or shares of ships and their cargoes, among their assets.
Inventories of decedents who owned retail establishments provide valuable information about the goods available for purchase during the first decades of the nineteenth century. The contents of a toy-store are a noteworthy example.
The representation of storied New York individuals and families is a notable feature of the collection. The names Stuyvesant, Livingston, Vanderbilt, Roosevelt, Schermerhorn, Van Wyck, Astor, Kip, Varick, and Beekman are in the collection, as decedents and in some cases as appraisers. Their connections are a reminder of how small and intertwined the privileged population of the city was—for example, the 1831 estate of Richard Varick, a former Mayor, was inventoried by James Roosevelt [Box 84, Folder 5).
Extent
62 cubic feet
Dates
1786-1859