This is a collection of bibles, most of which are from Albany's earliest settlers.

This is a created collection incorporated by the staff of the Albany Institute of History & Art. The collection consists primarily of deeds with some additional legal documents and other materials.

The Schuyler Family was a prominent Dutch family in New York and New Jersey, with Philip Pieterse Schuyler immigrating to New Netherland and settling in Beverwyck before 1650. The family was connected by marriages to many of the other original settlers of New Netherland, and several members played important roles in the development of the new country. This collection contains correspondence, wills, estate records, and other documents.

The Hun family were descendants of 17th century Dutch settlers who became prominent and acquired property in and around the Albany area. This collection includes family papers.

This collection contains Rand’s personal papers including family correspondence, household bills and receipts, certificate of his marriage, and correspondence of Isaac McConihe.

The Pruyn Family Papers contains documents relating to three consecutive generations of the John Pruyn Family, along with genealogies and personal papers of more distant family relations. An autograph collection of presidents, statesmen, and local historic figures is included. The ownership of 43-45 North Pearl Street is documented from the first sale in 1679 to the last in 1968. The estates of Eleanor Erving, Justine Bayard Erving and Van Rensselaer Pruyn are also documented.

When Stephen van Rensselaer inherited the rights to the Manor of Rensselaerswyck in 1785, a survey of the holdings was made. The holdings were divided into two parts: the East Manor and the West Manor. The East Manor consisted of the areas known as Elizabethtown (Brunswick), Phillipstown (Nassau), Roxborough (Grafton), Greenbush, Schodack, Stephentown, Middletown, and Little Hoosick. This collection contains correspondence, financial records, reports, advertisements, troop rosters, property records, inventories, and other related materials.

This collection contains the research files of Florence Christoph. Research notes are on various Albany families such as Winne, Schuyler and the Van Rensselaers. There are no specific dates for when the research was undertaken, but the estimated dates are from the 1960s through the early 2000s. The researched information dates as far back as the late 1600s through the early 1900s.

William Law Learned Peltz (1882-1961) was an avid collector of Albany memorabilia and a philatelist. He had a lifelong interest in postage stamps and postal history and was a founding member of the Fort Orange Stamp Club in 1926. His stamps document postal history from the pre-stamp through stamp periods. This collection includes correspondence, scrapbooks, and stamps.

The subjects of the collection are the letters and communications of Former Mayors of the City of Albany to others. This collection contains receipts, licenses, property deeds, supply queries, and correspondence.

Miscellaneous papers dating from the 1700s.

The earliest reference to the Winne family in the Albany area is Adam Winne, son of Peter, who, according to Records of the People of the Town of Bethlehem, was a farmer who owned a parcel of property in Rensselaerwyck. This collection contains legal documents, financial records, personal papers, and ephemera.

Harmen Harmanse was the patriarch of the Gansevoort family in Albany, New York, arriving in the area by 1657. Although not the first Ten Eyck in America, Jacob C. Ten Eyck was the first to come to Albany, moving from Manhattan after 1654. The two families intermarried several times over the years, along with other Dutch families in the area. This collection includes correspondence, financial records, estate records, and other family-related information.

Papers and records of the Ten Eyck and Ten Broeck families, business records of Johannes Beekman, business and political correspondence of Leonard Gansevoort and business records of Cuyler-Gansevoort firm as well as other records relating to the military, land transactions, the Watervliet Turnpike Company and other topics.

The Lansing/Townsend/Spenser Family Papers contain the records of twenty individuals from more than three families connected by marriage. The Lansing/Townsend/Spencer Family Papers span the period from 1717-1889 and contain correspondence, diaries, financial documents, and photographs relating to family life.

Papers of the Abraham and other members of the Ten Eyck and Cuyler families and businesses in the City of Albany and surrounding region.

Business and legal papers of Stephen Lush, Albany financier and politician, and Richard Lush, Albany merchant and civil servant, including agreements, receipts, property records, notes, bills, maps, correspondence, and leases. Some concern land owned in central and western New York which they had purchased from Revolutionary War veterans.

The Fonda Family were some of the early Dutch settlers in Albany, New York. Fonda relatives were also found in Schenectady and Saratoga counties, as well as some members becoming tenants of the Rensselaerswyck Patroon. This collection includes deeds, personal correspondence, bonds, and other legal documents.

An almanac is an annual publication that lists current information about one or more subjects. This collection includes almanacs.

Thomas Worth Olcott (1795-1880) was born in Hudson, Columbia County, New York, to Josiah and Carolina Worth Olcott. Olcott eventually became president of the Mechanics and Farmer Bank in Albany, New York, and served on the boards of the Albany Law School and the Dudley Observatory, among others. This collection contains estate records, correspondence, newspaper clippings, bills, account books, photographs, scrapbooks, and genealogical information.

Bayard Urquhart Livingston, Jr. (1881-1962) was born to Bayard Urquhart and Margaret L. Morris Livingston in Albany, New York. Livingston was related to a number of prominent Albany families, including the Patterson, Morris, and Schuyler families, and collected genealogical material related to them. Livingston was buried in New Vernon Cemetery in Morris County, New Jersey. This collection contains correspondence, genealogical information, deeds, and wills. The bulk of the collection is from 1741-1800.

The Ludlows were a prominent New York family with branches in New York City and Claverack. The bulk of the collection is comprised of the papers of William H. Ludlow and his son, William B. Ludlow, but also documents four generations of the Ludlow family. This collection contains correspondence, documents, business records, legal papers, and a small amount of prints, drawings, and photographs.

Papers of several families related to John and Abigail Adams, including the families of Reverend William Smith, Richard Cranch, William Cranch, Christopher Pearse Cranch, Daniel Greenleaf, and John Greenleaf. This collection contains correspondence, bills of sale, maps, estate records, and property records.

The Bleecker Family Papers found in this collection primarily concern John Bleecker and his immediate family from 1751-1838. The collection contains bills, correspondence, deeds, and indentures.

Robert B. Rutgers was the husband of Cornelia Van Rensselaer. The materials include correspondence regarding their (at the time) proposed marriage. Other papers include a bond and indentures.

The Ten Eyck/Bronk Family Papers contain the records of the descendants of Jacob C. Ten Eyck (1705-1793), and primarily contain documents relating to family property and financial concerns.

This collection includes a variety of Albany-related ephemera such as invitations, tickets, notices, trade cards, currency, greeting cards and envelopes.

The Ten Broeck family was one of the most prominent and oldest families in Albany, New York, and were of Dutch descent. Wessel Ten Broeck came to the colony of New Netherland in 1626. His children were Wesselse, Dirck, Hendrick and Cornelia. Dirck would be one of the first aldermen of Albany. This collection contains correspondence, wills, inventories, certificates, promissory notes, land estate records, and genealogical records.

The initial inventory of this collection indicates that the collection contains deeds, diaries, property records, receipts, and wills. The family name is also spelled Bogert, Burgert, Borghart, and Burghardt in some records.

Papers, land records, of the Ten Eyck Family chiefly re: to the Coeymans Patent, Town of Coeymans, Albany County, New York

Jonas Hapgood Brooks (1848-) was a banker in Albany, New York, and was associated with the National Albany Exchange Bank, the National Exchange Bank of Albany, the Albany City National Bank, the Albany City Savings Institution, and the Albany Exchange Savings Bank. This collection includes correspondence, invitations, and other family-related materials.

Papers of the family of Augustine Prevost III (1744-1821), a British soldier in the French and Indian War and the Revolution, who remained in New York after the war and settled on land in Greene County. He was married twice, to Susannah Croghan and to Ann Bogardus; the first family was brought up in Britain and the second in America. Papers include letters between the British and American sides of the family, between the American Prevosts and their neighbors, the Thomas Cole family, and with Sir William Johnson, George Croghan, Sir Frederick Haldimand, Colonel Henry Bouquet, General Morgan Lewis, and the Duke of Kent. Other items include memorandum book of the 3rd Battalion, 60th Foot, Royal American Regiment, from St. Augustine, Florida, 1777-78, which contains an inventory of the estate of George Croghan, 1783; map of Prevost lands in Greene County; and miscellaneous receipts, bills, deeds, wills, and genealogical records.

Leonard Gansevoort, Jr. (1754-1834) was a lawyer, served the American cause during the Revolutionary War, was a member and later secretary of the Albany Commissioners for Detecting and Defeating Conspiracies, and served on Albany Council Committees for many years.

George William Featherstonhaugh (1780-1866) was a British-American geologist and geographer. Featherstonhaugh served as the first geologist to the U.S. government and was one of the proposers of the Albany and Schenectady Railroad. This collection includes correspondence and other family-related documents.

This collection includes family papers for the Bedlow, Corpron, and McRae families, who were related through marriage and adoption. The Bedlow family was originally from Massachusetts before settling in Plattsburgh, then Champlain, New York. The collection contains correspondence, legal documents, financial documents, personal papers, ephemera, and photographs.

The Posters and Broadsides Collection is a created collection compiled by Albany Institute of History & Art staff and volunteers.

This is a collection of broadsides collected by former governor and mayor of New York City, DeWitt Clinton, mainly relating to public and government affairs in New York State, but also including a few from neighboring states.

This collection includes manuscripts, letters, correspondences, compilations, circulars, and photographs relate to Edmond Charles Genet and his diverse career as diplomat, inventor, farmer, and correspondent with the leaders of American government, society, and scientific thought.

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in 1890 by women who had strong patriotic feelings, but were frustrated by their exclusion from organizations allowing only men to honor their patriotic ancestors. Eligibility in this organization is open to any woman age eighteen and older who can prove lineal descent from a patriot of the American Revolution. The charter for the Mohawk Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution was granted in April, 1895. Fifteen prominent women in Albany, New York began the organization. One of 126 chapters across New York State, the Mohawk Chapter NSDAR continues to be active in the Capital District and includes over seventy members. This collection contains historical information, membership lists and yearbooks, correspondence, printed materials, a few photographs, subject files, and scrapbooks.

William Paterson Van Rensselaer (1805-1872) was born to General Stephen and Cornelia Paterson Van Rensselaer in the Manor House in Albany, New York. Van Rensselaer became an attorney, and married twice, having nine children. This collection includes correspondence, property records, financial records, and estate records.

Elisha Dorr (1764-1843), was born to Matthew and Elizabeth (Palmer) Dorr in Lyme, Connecticut. He was the first member of the Dorr family to reside in Albany, New York, where he arrived as a young man and dealt in the fur trade. Dorr was also involved with the First Presbyterian Church, alongside his wife, Elizabeth Brouer (1776-1837). This collection contains correspondence, legal documents, clippings, and receipts.

Organized in 1832, the New York State Agricultural Society was formed to bring farmers together to share their ideas, techniques, and experiences. At that time, New York was an agrarian state, leading the nation in agricultural production. One of the predecessors of this society formed in 1791, was The Society for the Promotion of Agriculture, Arts, and Manufactures, which eventually became the Albany Institute of History & Art. The New York State Agricultural Society has played a vital role in New York. Among other initiatives, the society played an instrumental role in establishing the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in the 1860s, established and managed the New York State Fair for nearly sixty years, and promoted and formed numerous food and agriculture-related organizations. This collection contains essays on topics including terrestrial magnetism, whitewash, French agricultural techniques, dyes and paints, machines, and hat making, 1795-1840; and letters discussing agricultural processes, machines, and animal medicine, 1792-1810, from James Wight, John Watkins, Reuben Hopkins, Samuel Mitchell, Robert Johnston, and Andrew Billings.

Calendar records are listings of particular cases held on a certain date. The Albany County Court Calendar Records here list cases according to date. This collection contains calendar records.

This consists of several collections consisting primarily or wholly of scrapbooks.

This collection contains the records of the Albany Hardware and Iron Co., a wholesale hardware distributor in Albany, New York. The collection contains administrative records, photographs, catalogs, and scrapbooks, along with newspapers ads and articles on the company and the men who ran it.

This collection contains correspondence addressed to Charles R. Webster, and his twin brother, George Webster, printers and founders of the Albany Gazette. The collection also contains letters written by their children and other family members, as well as fifty letters either addressed to or written by the son of Charles R. Webster, Matthew H. Webster, who served as Chairman of the Albany Institute.

The Banks Family Papers collection consists of personal and legal papers of Robert Lenox Banks and his family, primarily his daughter, Mary Decamp Banks Moore. These include correspondence to and from the Banks Family by local businessmen, politicians, such as New York Governor, John T. Hoffman, and William Vanderbilt, President of the Hudson River Railroad. The documents are mostly personal in nature, describing the private life of a prominent local family of the 19th Century. Also in this collection are photographs, genealogical information, and other items relating to the Banks, Lenox, and Corning families.

The Ashley/Van Alstyne/Fitch/Hull Family Papers contain the records of more than twenty-seven members of seven families connected by marriage over six generations whose lives were centered in Schodack Landing, a village along the Hudson River in Rensselaer County, New York. This collection contains correspondence, personal papers, financial papers, photographs, and scrapbooks.

The subject vertical files contain varied information on specific subjects or topics in and around Albany, New York. Folders may include such material as clippings, photocopies, pamphlets, etc., and are arranged by subject headings.

John Quincy Adams Ward was born on June 29, 1830, in Urbana, Ohio. The fourth of eight children born to John Anderson (1783-1855) and Eleanor Macbeth Ward (1795-1856), one of his younger brothers was the artist, Edgar Melville Ward (1839-1915). Encouraged in his early art by local potter, Miles Chatfield, Ward became discouraged after attending a sculpture exhibition in Cincinnati in 1847. While living with his older sister Eliza (1824-1904) and her husband in Brooklyn, New York, Ward began training under sculptor Henry Kirke Brown (1814-1886), under whose tutelage he would remain from 1849-1856. In 1857 he set out on his own, making busts of men in public life. In 1861, Ward set up his own studio in New York City, where he dedicated himself to developing an American school of sculpture. Left a widower twice, Ward eventually married Rachel Smith (1849-1933) in 1906. She was instrumental in helping to get his work and papers placed in numerous institutions. During his lifetime, Ward created numerous public sculptures, including one of General Phillip Sheridan in Albany, New York, and he participated in and served on numerous boards. Ward died in New York City in 1910, and was buried in Oakdale Cemetery in Urbana, Ohio. This collection contains correspondence, business records, organizational records, photographs, clippings, sculpture plans, sketches, speeches, and a scrapbook.