Last week’s blog demonstrated how to determine when a building was constructed using the Municipal Archives assessed valuation of real estate collection, a.k.a. the tax assessment ledgers. For illustration purposes, the blog focused on 50 West 13th Street, a three-story building located in Manhattan just east of Sixth Avenue.

As noted in the blog, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation had recently publicized their efforts to landmark and preserve the building (“Fighting to Save 50 West 13th Street,” Village Preservation News, Summer 2021).  According to the article, the building contains one of New York’s oldest off-off-Broadway theaters and had been the home of Jacob Day, a prominent African American caterer, during the 19th century.

This week, the blog will describe how other Municipal Archives collections can be researched to learn about the people who resided in buildings. Once again, we will use 50 West 13th Street as our example.  

1890 “Police” Census.

Census records are very useful records for documenting the residents of a house or building at specific points in time. The federal census, conducted every ten years, is accessible from many popular family history websites such as Ancestry.com or Familysearch.org. However, there is one notable gap in the federal census series—the 1890 enumeration was almost completely destroyed in a fire. In a fortunate coincidence that year, New York City conducted its own census to support the contention that the federal enumeration had undercounted the City’s inhabitants.  Although federal authorities ultimately did not accept the City’s re-count, the “Police” census (so-named because police officers served as the enumerators) was saved and accessioned by the Municipal Archives in the 1960s. 

The 1890 census lists the name, age, and gender of each person at a particular address. The information was recorded by a police officer in small lined notebooks; each book enumerated the residents of one election district.  A street address index available at the Archives provides the census ‘book’ number.  The 17 residents of 50 West 13th Street are listed in book number 198, including five people with the surname Day. Unlike the federal and state census records, the 1890 census does not indicate the relationship of one person to another.  Based on their ages, it appears the Day family consisted of Katherine Day, age 65, and four adult children.  And from the tax assessment ledgers we know that a Jacob Day purchased the house around 1860. He does not appear in the 1890 census and is presumed deceased.  Perhaps there are other records in the Archives that could help confirm this assumption.

Vital Records.

Which brings us to the vital record collection. The name and age information recorded in the 1890 census provides a good foundation for researching the vital record collection to learn more about the Day family and other persons in the building. Totaling more than 9 million items, the birth, death and marriage records are an essential resource.  The index transcription and automation projects conducted by members of the Long Island Genealogy Federation several years ago, and the Archives recent vital record digitization project, has greatly facilitated researching the collection.

Starting with the names and ages of the residents of 50 West 13th Street as recorded in the 1890 census, several relevant records quickly popped up in vital record search results. One possible match was a Jacob Day, who died at age 56 in 1905.  The certificate confirmed his membership in the Day clan: father, Jacob; mother, Catherine E. Pease; and the clincher—his occupation—“caterer.”  According to the certificate his residence and place of death was 451 Halsey Street, in Brooklyn. Jacob’s brother, Charles Day, a caterer, also came up in the search results.  He, too, died at 451 Halsey Street, on April 24, 1918, of pneumonia. It is tempting to speculate whether his death was related to the 1918 flu epidemic.  The property card record described in last week’s blog noted that “J. Day” sold 50 West 13th Street in 1896. Based on these death certificates it appeared that at least some members of the Day family moved to Brooklyn after sale of the 13th Street house.

But what happened to Jacob Day, Sr.?  Using the age data from the 1890 census, the search for Jacob Day’s wife, Catherine, also proved fairly easy.  Her 1892 death certificate shows she died at 50 West 13th Street and her ‘widow’ status confirmed that the family patriarch, Jacob, had indeed likely died before 1890. With that knowledge, the vital record search for Jacob Day’s death certificate led to Manhattan cert. no. 488230 filed in 1884.  And once again, the occupation ‘caterer’ and place of death, 50 West 50th Street confirmed the record.  According to the certificate, Jacob Day was a life-long New Yorker and his occupation was “caterer.”

A somewhat lesser known resource in the vital records collection that proves useful in identifying people in a specific location is the ‘geographic’ index to births, 1880-1909.  It is believed to have been created by Department of Health as an alternative to the name-based indexes at a time when names were often mis-interpreted or mis-spelled.  Presumably address information was more accurately recorded.  Searching the 50 West 13th Street address in the geographic index brought up a birth certificate for William Johnson, born April 4, 1884. On the certificate, his parents are listed as Arabella Turner and William Whitfield Johnson, both Maryland-born. Although the 1890 census does not list the Johnson family as residents of 50 West 13th Street, the 1884 birth certificate records William’s occupation as ‘caterer’ establishing a likely connection with the Day family.

Property Cards.

In the search for ‘names’ associated with a particular place property cards can supply useful information. Conveyance data recorded on the property card for 50 West 13th Street stated that “J. Day” had sold the property to “M. Lawson” on March 30, 1896.  It also recorded a second conveyance, on March 17, 1951 involving an “R. S. Lawson.” 

Building Records Collection.

One of the most relevant collections for information about buildings and their occupants are the several series from the Manhattan Department of Buildings (DOB). Although the application folders and associated architectural drawings in the collection include only buildings in Manhattan below 34th Street, the docket book series records at least basic information about buildings throughout the entire Borough. Fortunately for our purposes, 50 West 13th Street is located in Lower Manhattan and the collection does include a folder of alteration applications.

Folders in the DOB collection are arranged by block and lot number. 50 West 13th Street corresponds to Block 576, Lot 15. The earliest documents in the permit folder for Block 576, Lot 15 date from 1899 when the property owner, Mary E. Lawson, a resident of E. 11th Street, applied to build a shed at the rear of the property to be used for “modeling and plaster casting,” at an estimated cost of $250. From the property card we know that “M. Lawson” acquired the property in 1896, but based on her E. 11th Street address in the DOB application, it appears the building was an investment property.

The folder also contains another two minor alteration applications submitted in 1927 and 1941. Interestingly, in 1941 the owner submitting the application was “Mary Mallory of Douglaston, Queens, and Edith and Randolph Lawson, 400 Riverside Drive.” Again referring back to the property card notation involving “R. S. Lawson, administrator for G. L. Mallory,” it looks like the Lawson family had retained ownership from 1896 to 1951.

The most recent application in the DOB folder dates from 1958. It is for an alteration to “…legalize present occupancy (Theatrical Club) on basement and first floors.”  The application specifications indicate the building was used as a “clubroom, auditorium and theatre,” with an apartment on the upper floor.  The listed owner was the 50 West 13th Street Corporation, John J. Repetti, President, and Laura Repetti, Secretary. The lessee of the space was Jack Jaglum, of the Washington Players Studio. The Greenwich Village Society had described the building as housing one of New York’s oldest off-off-Broadway theaters and the DOB collection in the Municipal Archives confirms this use at least as far back as 1958.

Do you wonder who lived at your address in New York City?  You can use the information in this blog to figure that out. The 1890 census is available on microfilm at the Municipal Archives. The property cards and DOB application folders are hard-copy materials. The Municipal Archives is open by appointment and you are welcome to contact research@records.nyc.gov for further guidance.