INDEX TO THE HISTORICAL ARCHIVES OF THE TOWN OF SALEM SALEM, NY WASHINGTON COUNTY HISTORIAN'S COLLECTION DR. ASA FITCH HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTION Revised January 2016 William Cormier, Historian The following lists contain the archival records of the village of Salem and represent only a part of all administrative records generated by the village. The archives contain those records, pictures, artifacts, correspondence, etc. which have and will have administrative, legal, research and historical value. Without these records much of our history would be lost forever. In 1992, a grant from the NYS Archives and Records Administration (SARA) enabled the town and village of Salem to begin the process of sorting, inventorying, preserving and cataloging the town and village records. In addition to the actual records, a growing microfilm collection, which consists of local newspapers, vital records, town minutes and the Dr. Asa Fitch Jr. Journals, was created. Microfilming was made possible through a Washington County SARA grant. In the 1994-95 year, a New York State LGRMIF grant made possible an historical archives indexing project. This project was completed through the efforts of William A. Cormier, historian and grant coordinator; Dorothy Shane, archival clerk; and Patricia Baltz, typist and proof reader, with the cooperation from Mary Kilpatrick, town clerk and Peg Culver, librarian. At present, Salem's village archives are housed in the History Room off the Bancroft Library in the Proudfit Building. Other village records, kept by the village clerk, village justice, and fire department, are found in the village office in the Proudfit Building. Inactive records are stored in the Inactive Record Storage Room in the Proudfit Building. Since access to these materials is limited to village office and Bancroft Library open hours, and because the use of archival materials is governed by our research application policy, the public is requested to call ahead for an appointment. Correspondingly, the village historian will meet with researches on an appointment basis. Most recently, William A. Cormier, historian, and Dolores Phaneuf, archival clerk, updated the village of Salem historical index, and through a 2004-2005 LRGMIF Historical Archive Project, created a new and separate index for the town of Salem historical archives located in the old Washington County Courthouse building. Researches are directed to check both indexes in their search for information. Thanks go to Mary Kilpatrick, town clerk, for her cooperation. The organization of materials and finding aids format for the archives was based on Guidelines for Arrangement and Description of Archives and Manuscripts: A Manual for Historical Records Programs in New York State, 1995. William A. Cormier Town Historian historian 2 Location and Provenance Town Records, Town Office and Town Historical Archives Steve Alexander, Town Supervisor Mary Kilpatrick, Town Clerk Town Office Main Street Salem, NY 12865 854-3277 Mon, Wed-Fri 8:30-1:30 Saturday, 9 a.m. to 12 noon Bancroft Library Collection, Proudfit Building Margaret "Peg" Culver, Librarian Bancroft Library Main Street Salem, NY 12865 854-7463 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 12:30 P.M. to 4:30 P. M. Tuesday and Thursday p.m. 6:30 P. M. to 8:30 P. M. Saturday 10 A. M. to 1 P. M. 3 Village Historian's Archival Collection Key to Locations TO = Town Office PR = Proudfit Building Inactive Storage Room VHA = Village Historical Archives, Bancroft Library THA= Town Historical Archives, Old Washington County Courthouse Key to Storage VF= Vertical file SC= Storage cabinet Key to Custodian of Records TCLK = Town Clerk TSUP = Town Supervisor TPB = Town Planning Board TAS = Town Assessor THS = Town Historian VHS= Village Historian Key to Format MF = Microfilm CFAB=Cubic foot Archival Box OAB= Other archival box Cabinet=Map cabinet VF=Vertical filing cabinet CD=Computer disk FD=Floppy disk 4 Table of Contents Bancroft Library Archival Box # Title Page # 1 Bancroft, Benjamin /Nat'l Bank of Salem 7 2 Bardwell/Smith genealogy 7 2A Tomb genealogy 7 3 Bicentennial, County 1984 7 4 Bicentennial, Federal Constitution 1987-91 8 5 A-D Bicentennial, Salem 1988 8 6 Businesses, Salem 8 7 A-B Chew, Vernon, local stories, WW II stories 9 8 Churches 9 9 Eaton, Louetta/DAR, history 10 10 Gibson, Honorable James--published writings 10 11 Historic District Survey, National Historic Register 11 12 Historic Homes & Buildings 11 13 History of Salem & County 11 14 A-B Ledgers and diary: town highway, cemetery, Thaddeus 12 Walker diary, feed store 15 Mahaffy/Reid Family: papers, documents, photographs 13 16 A Newspapers (Old) 14 16 B Newspaper, 1886 (Bound) 14 17 Orton Family Papers and Photographs 15 18 Railroad, Delaware and Hudson Railroad 15 19 A-E Smith, Sally (Rexleigh Bridge): slides and history of the 16 bridge restoration from 1980 to 1984 20 A-F Robert B Thompson collection: various historical materials about 17 Salem, Thompson family, Part 1 21 Wars: Revolutionary War, Civil War, WW I, WW II 20 22 A-B Washington Academy: history, papers, photographs of 21 old academy to present 23 Washington Academy Bicentennial Celebration of 1980 23 24 – 24A World War II papers; Rogers/Lytle letters, photographs, newspapers 23 25 A-G Miscellaneous: various materials covering Salem history 24 26 A-G Photographs & Postcards: old photos of Salem people, 29 places, events, photographer R. Cruikshank’s postcard collection 27 1-8 Slides: 1939-1984 Salem events 65 28 Scrapbook/Photo Album: 1984-1991 Salem events 66 29 A-C O'Donnell Family Collection: school events, news articles, 66 historical scrapbooks 30 A-D Railroad Maps & Plans, D&H RR 1852 on 68 31 1-15 Cleveland Ledgers, store accounts 68 32 Sanborn Fire Maps of Salem and Shushan, 1884-1931 69 33 A-C Artifacts: various items of Salem 69 34 Videotapes: Salem patriotic events of 1987, 1988, 1990 70 35 Telephone Directories, 1991-1999 70 36 Cruikshank Collection: Robert Cruikshank family, Civil War 70 documents, letters, photos 37 Collins Collection: family materials, obituary of Fred Collins 74 killed in WW II 38 A-D Asa Fitch Historical Society Collection: a variety of old and 74 new documents and photos of Salem 39 Town Justice Dockets, ledgers:1856-1863, 1871-1873 76 5 40 Town and village minutes (notes for finder's index) 76 41 Florence Sampson Collection: books about Salem and old 76 photos 42 Geological Survey Maps, New York and Vermont 77 43 Flood of January 18, 2000: newspaper clippings and photos 78 44 Daniel Decker Collection: local history and old photographs 78 45 Posters, broadsides, maps: school and community events 78 46 Ledger: Audits for the Town of Salem, 1849-1935 79 VF-47 Paper materials re. people, places, events of history, in 79 Bancroft Library Box 47 Robert Thompson Collection, Part 2, paper documents 80 VF-3 Robert Thompson history book collection 81 Box 48 Robert Thompson collection, photographs 83 Box 49 Robert Thompson collection, photographs 85 Box 50 Robert Thompson collection, Van Ness Papers 87 CF Box 51 Robert Thompson collection, soft bound books 88P Box 52 Robert Thompson collection, paper documents 90 Box 53 Robert Thompson framed pictures 93 Box 54 Salem Village Municipal Waterworks history 94 Box 55 Miscellaneous photos and clippings of Salem 94 Box 56 Salem Village Bicentennial, 2003 96 Box 57 Miscellaneous photos, postcard, journals, etc 97 Box 58 Salem Village Bicentennial Scrapbook 98 Box 59 Washington County Courthouse Restoration 98 Box 60 O’Donnell Family period clothing 98 Box 61 Jacquelyne Rich collection 98 Box 62 Robert Baird Family Collection of photographs 99 Box 63 Old newspapers 99 Box 64 Miscellaneous photos, paper goods 100 CF Box 65 Marjorie Flowers Collection 100 CF Boxes 66.1 – 66.5 19th Century Clothing –Meredith Wilson Family 105 Box 67 Dr. Asa Fitch Historical Society Collection 105 Box 68 Ruby Tyler, Nursing Artifacts 107 Box 69 Joanne LaTulippe Collection, WWI artifacts 107 Box 70 Village Police Uniforms 107 Box 71 James Tyler Collection 107 Box 72 Motor Vehicle Docket, Warren Bandel, 1/71 – 12/95 108 Box 73 Index to the Minutes of Salem, NY Fir Department, 1803-2005 108 Box 74 Kay Tomasi/Grace Sheldon Collection 108 Box 75 Richard Pekins 35 mm Slideshow, ca. 1938 108 Box 76 Glass Negatives of Salem People and Scenes, 1906 108 Name files Genealogy folders 109 Subject files Subject heading folders 119 Maps Geological quadrant maps, etc. 127 6 Box 1 Benjamin F. Bancroft/Nat'l Bank of Salem Miscellaneous banking correspondence 1850s, 1870s (loan requests, etc) Payment receipts Canceled checks 1850s, 1870s Bound book containing last will & testament of Bancroft 2/6/1883, inventory of estate 12/4/1886 & Executors' dispositions, payments to heirs, etc. Book also contains the will of Maria (Cleveland?) Obituary of Gen. Edward Bulkley, died 1878 (his daughter married to Bancroft) History & picture of Bancroft house published in Salem Press 1973 Old photo (1870s?) of First National Bank of Salem Biography of Gen. Edward Bulkley 21 engravings of photo portrait of Benjamin Bancroft Pages of Bancroft family records (births, deaths) Lithograph drawings of bank 1878 & Bancroft residence (and initial sketches) Letter 6/29/1876 from US Treasury Dept. to Bancroft advising him that the examiner was in error about recording mortgage loans and that Mr. Bancroft was right. Box 2 Bardwell /Smith Miscellaneous correspondence from "Robt. Bardwell Descendents' (sic) American Ancestry Ass'n" & various relatives of Jennie Bardwell regarding genealogy of family Genealogical charts