Delaplaine Family Papers held by The New-York Historical Society

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: New York City, New York, United States
Surname/tag: delaplaine

Delaplaine Family Papers collection at The New-York Historical Society

This content was in the profile of Nicolaes de la Pleine Jr. (1634-1712) and was moved here for reference because it is not part of the biography of Nicolaes de la Pleine.

Source appears to be:

• Guide to the Papers of the Delaplaine Family 1762-1966 (bulk 1762-1879) MS 161 New-York Historical Society 170 Central Park West New York, NY 10024Phone: (212) 873-3400 © 2011 New-York Historical Society: Collection processed by Jan Hilley with later assistance by Alison Barr. Online finding aid created by Erin Shaw. This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit on May 28, 2013 Description is in English. Descriptive Summary Title: Delaplaine Family Papers Dates: 1762-1966 (bulk 1762-1879) Abstract: A collection of correspondence; wills and estate papers; land and real estate transactions; financial papers; genealogical materials; and personal items such as diaries, poetry, religious writings, recipes, school documents, calling cards and invitations, and book recommendations. The Delaplaine family members were New York residents from approximately 1657 although some individuals represented in the collection left the area and established themselves in Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia. Quantity: 3.0 Linear feet (4 boxes) Location note: Manuscript cage Call Phrase: MS 161

This collection should be cited as the Delaplaine Family Papers (MS 161), The New-York Historical Society.

Information derived from wills and other genealogical information within the collection. (Delaplaine family trees are available in the repository.)

This collection reflects the life and times of a relatively large family living in the northeastern United States in the late eighteenth - early nineteenth centuries. Among its varied contents are two folders of correspondence (1797-1879). There are letters relating business activity, family news, health concerns and reports, religious messages and romantic feelings (Box 1, Folders 1 and 2). Prominent among the correspondents are Phila Delaplaine Reed and her son-in-law David Sage Williams. A group of letters between Charlotte ("Lottie") and Nathaniel ("Nat") reveal their somewhat clandestine relationship. In one letter "Cousin Elizabeth Briggs," who is in financial distress, writes to Phila Reed asking that she take over the care of her daughter, Mary. Most of the letters are easily legible although, in a few cases, the ink is very faded.

Materials dealing with estates and their disposition are found in Box 1 and Box 2. In the first of these, there are wills, notices, releases, assignments, agreements and court actions involving the estates of Samuel Delaplaine, Joshua Delaplaine, Phila Delaplaine, Elijah P. and Charlotte Delaplaine (siblings who died in the same year, intestate), Phila Delaplaine Reed, John Ferris Delaplaine, and Samuel B. Delaplaine. Box 2, Folder 5 contains items pertaining to Collin Reed. He made many wills and this collection contains five of them, as well as an inventory of his estate and a number of documents related to the distribution of his property. Box 1, Folders 9-10 and Box 2 contain information on the many estates of John Ferris Delaplaine.

There are also two folders of land and real estate transactions (Box 1, Folders 7 and 8). With only two exceptions, all properties mentioned are located in New York City. The exceptions are a 1794 document referring to land in Georgia and a deed, dated 1838, for property in Flushing, Queens County. These items include deeds, indentures, notes, leases, agreements, quit claims, a tenant's agreement and a title search.

Among the financial items in Box 3, Folders 3 and 4, are calculations, obligations, accounts, tax assessments and many receipts. There are a bound receipt book (1801-1823) and two booklets primarily used for receipts but which also contain brief genealogical notes. Two 1762 insurance policies (Box 3, Folder 10) cover shipments of goods from New York to Philadelphia. Both policies are in poor condition.

Box 4, Folder 1 contains two personal diaries, for the years 1844 and 1845, belonging to Phila Delaplaine. The entries deal with weather, family issues and the condition of her health. At page 9/16 of the 1845 diary is a valentine poem. Of interest is the supplemental material in the 1844 diary. Included at the beginning are such things as a list of sheriffs and clerks for the various counties; public notaries and commissioners of deeds in New York City; rates of postage; foreign consuls; banks and insurance companies in New York and Brooklyn; and a list of Sundays in the year 1843. In Box 4, Folder 4 are more than 50 recipes for dishes such as pickled walnuts, ground rice pudding, gingerbread, jumbles, syllabub and fried oysters. Most are contained in a booklet that also has other personal notes such as comments on sermons and charitable activities. One page contains Phila's thoughts on the death of her daughter Charlotte in 1834.

The collection contains poetry (12 items in Box 4, Folder 2) and religious papers such as hymns, religious cards, a booklet listing members of the Brick Presbyterian Church of New York (1833) and "The Prayer of an American Citizen " written by B. Delaplaine, Jr. in 1793 (Box 4, Folder 3) Many of the Delaplaines were Quakers although membership in other denominations, such as Presbyterian, is also seen in the collection.

Among the school papers in Box 4, Folder 5 are five compositions written by David Sage Williams while he was a student at Renssalear Oswego Academy.

Box 4, Folder 7 contains three health-related items - a remedy for cholera, another for dropsy, and a medical certificate stating that Samuel B. Delaplaine is unfit for military duty (1814).

Specifications for the construction of a residence for Phila Delaplaine at 136 Bowery in New York City are included in Box 4, Folder 8. They require that the house be very similar to that on the adjoining lot belonging to Collin Reed. Box 4, Folder 10 contains a list of book recommendations by Phila Amelia Delaplaine (1842) and an inventory of books in an unidentified library.

Phila Reed was for many years associated with the New York Asylum for Lying-in Women. References to meetings and prospective 'patients' are intermingled with the recipes in Box 4, Folder 9 and there are several items such as a meeting invitation and a patient recommendation in Box 4, Folder 6.

A significant amount of genealogical information is contained in this collection (Box 4, Folder 11), from births and deaths written on scraps of paper to a 42-page typescript containing transcribed documents and citations focused on the Delaplaines. There is an account of Thomas Pell, Sr., a Williams family genealogy going back to 1647 and a list of houses in New York owned by the Delaplaines and the Pells. Many of the scraps of paper are barely legible but other items are in good condition.

The New-York Historical Society 170 Central Park West New York, NY 10024

Related Material at The New-York Historical Society

Within the Manuscript Department can be found the following:

• Samuel Delaplaine Papers
• Joshua Delaplaine Papers

One of the Delaplaine family members mentioned in the Philadelphia area is Joseph Delaplaine. The Library has several related items such as the following:

• Delaplaine, Joseph. Delaplaine's Repository of the Lives and Portraits of Distinguished Americans. Philadelphia: [s.n.], 1815-[1816]. (Call Number: Y-q 1815.Del)

The Library also has genealogical information concerning families related to the Delaplaines. Examples include:

• Van Name, Elmer Garfield. Pierre Cresson: the Huguenot of Staten Island, Pennsylvania and New Jersey Progeny Including (De la Plaine and Demarest Lines). Woodbury, N.J.: Van Name for the Benefit of Gloucester County, 1968. (Call Number: CS71.C9253 no.1)
• Barr, Lockwood. Genealogical Charts & Biographical Notes on the Pell Family with Special Reference to the Lords of the Manor of Pelham, Westchester County, New York. Pelham Manor, N.Y.: 1946. (Call Number: CS71.P385)

Container List

Container 1 Container 2 Title Date

Box: 1 Folder : 1 Correspondence (1 of 2) 1797-1853

Box: 1 Folder : 2 Correspondence (2 of 2) 1854-1879, undated

Box: 1 Folder : 3 Correspondence - John Ferris Delaplaine 1839-1856

Box: 1 Folder : 4 Wills, Estate Papers and Distribution of Estate - Delaplaines 1786-1859, undated

Box: 1 Folder : 5 Wills, Estate Papers and Distribution of Estate - Collin Reed 1809-1848, undated

Box: 1 Folder : 6 Estate Papers, Inventories, Court Records, and Distribution of Estate - John Ferris Delaplaine 1854-1858, undated

Box: 1 Folder : 7 Land and Real Estate Transactions (1 of 2) 1794-1818

Box: 1 Folder : 8 Land and Real Estate Transactions (2 of 2) 1820-1842

Box: 1 Folder : 9 Land and Estate Transactions, Brinkerhoff Property - John Ferris Delaplaine 1825-1827

Box: 1 Folder : 10 Land and Estate Transactions, Eldridge Street - John Ferris Delaplaine 1827-1837

Box: 2 Folder : 1 Land and Estate Transactions, Cannon Street Property - John Ferris Delaplaine 1829-1858

Box: 2 Folder : 2 Land and Estate Transactions, 27 Acres of Land (Kingsbridge) - John Ferris Delaplaine 1830-1850

Box: 2 Folder : 3 Land and Estate Transactions, Corner of Cherry and Pike Streets - John Ferris Delaplaine 1831-1845, undated

Box: 2 Folder : 4 Land and Estate Transactions, 122-123 Streets - John Ferris Delaplaine 1835-1843

Box: 2 Folder : 5 Land and Estate Transactions, 10 Van Dam Street - John Ferris Delaplaine 1837-1838

Box: 2 Folder : 6 Land and Estate Transactions, 189 Tenth Avenue - John Ferris Delaplaine 837-1843

Box: 2 Folder : 7 Land and Estate Transactions, 7th Avenue Lots - John Ferris Delaplaine 1839-1866

Box: 2 Folder : 8 Land and Estate Transactions, 114 Warren Street - John Ferris Delaplaine 1844

Box: 2 Folder : 9 Land and Estate Transactions, Gowanus Farm - John Ferris Delaplaine 1845-1847

Box: 2 Folder : 10 Land and Estate Transactions, Gowanus Farm - John Ferris Delaplaine 1847-1850

Box: 2 Folder : 11 Land and Estate Transactions - John Ferris Delaplaine 1845-1852

Box: 2 Folder : 12 Land and Estate Transactions, 18th Street - John Ferris Delaplaine 1852

Box: 3 Folder : 1 Elijah Delaplaine - Rentals 1818-1840, undated

Box: 3 Folder : 2 Advertisements for Property Sales 1828, 1844, 1868

Box: 3 Folder : 3 Financial Papers (1 of 2) 1783-1823

Box: 3 Folder : 4 Financial Papers (2 of 2) 1810-1847, undated

Box: 3 Folder : 5 Financial Papers - John Ferris Delaplaine 1817-1855

Box: 3 Folder : 6 Financial Papers - Elijah Delaplaine 1834-1837

Box: 3 Folder : 7 Papers - John Ferris Delaplaine, Jr. 1852-1869

Box: 3 Folder : 8 Insurance Policies 1762

Box: 3 Folder : 9 Bond - Daniel Proudfit to George Soullard 1809

Box: 3 Folder : 10 Fire Insurance Policies 1839, 1856, 1860

Box: 3 Folder : 11 Blank Forms undated

Box: 3 Folder : 12 Pew Purchase - Reformed Protestant Dutch Church 1854-1856

Box: 3 Folder : 13 Greenwood Cemetary Deed - Julia A. Delaplaine 1855

Box: 4 Folder : 1 Diaries of Phila Delaplaine 1844-1845, 1910

Box: 4 Folder : 2 Poetry 1800-1855, undated

Box: 4 Folder : 3 Religious Papers and Hymns 1793-1858, undated

Box: 4 Folder : 4 Recipes 1824-1834, undated

Box: 4 Folder : 5 School Papers 1838-1840, undated

Box: 4 Folder : 6 Calling Cards and Invitations 1799-1893, undated

Box: 4 Folder : 7 Health-Related Materials 1808, 1814, undated

Box: 4 Folder : 8 House Construction Specifications 1828, undated

Box: 4 Folder : 9 New York Asylum for Lying-In Women Material 1834-1838

Box: 4 Folder : 10 Book Recommendations and Inventory 1842, undated

Box: 4 Folder : 11 Genealogical and Historical Materials 1809, 1917, 1966, undated

Box: 4 Folder : 12 Fragment and Alienated Envelopes Undated