Mr. George Rex, “The Last Slave”

Recently, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) asked the Municipal Archives to participate in a panel discussion The Birth of Identity: Race, Racism, and Personhood in New York City Health Records. Organized by Dr. Michelle Morse, Acting Commissioner and Chief Medical Officer of the DOHMH, the panelists explored the importance of birth certificates and how they record essential facts about a person’s identity. The panel also addressed how race data on birth records informs DOHMH work in pre-natal, maternal wellness, and health outcomes.

Dr. Morse extended the invitation when she learned about the Archives collection of records that document the births of enslaved children. They consist of more than 1,300 entries in local government records throughout the five Boroughs of New York City. These records had been created in response to the 1799 Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery in New York State. The Law stated that children born to enslaved women after July 4, 1799, would be legally freed after 25 years for women, and 28 years for men. In most instances, enslavers reported births of the children in recorded statements before Town clerks or other officials.

To prepare for the panel discussion, City archivists considered whether the Historical Vital Records (HVR) and related vital record ledger collections could potentially augment information about the enslaved children documented in the manumission records. Although vital records for the towns and villages in Brooklyn and Queens, where most of the manumissions took place, only date back to the early 1880s, research in the series is now significantly easier thanks to a completed digitization and indexing project.

View fullsize

Town of Newtown, Queens death ledger, 1881-1897. Historical Vital Record collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

To test their theory, City archivists began reviewing the Town of Newtown, Queens, death ledger (1881-1897), and soon came across a startling entry: No. 982; date of death: March 2, 1885; name of deceased: George Rex; age: 89. In the column for “Occupation,” the clerk wrote, very clearly, “The Last Slave.” Oh!

Apparently, the clerk somehow knew that Mr. George Rex had been born enslaved and was described in his community as the last person with that background. The research journey that led to Mr. Rex was conveyed at the DOHMH panel, with a suggestion that further research in the Archives might provide “The Last Slave” with a greater sense of identity and dignity.

Subsequent to the panel discussion, City archivists began building a family tree for Mr. Rex. Based on his apparent renown in the community, it seemed possible that his death may have resulted in a local news article. And indeed it did. In fact, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspaper (digitized and available on-line via the Brooklyn Public Library) published several articles about Mr. Rex. “Frozen to Death,” ran on March 3, 1885. The subhead added, “George Recks, the Missing Negro, Found after Three Weeks’ Searching the Woodside, L.I. Woods.”

The story related that Recks is the “. . . aged negro who mysteriously disappeared from his home on Quincy Street, near Lewis Avenue [Brooklyn], about three weeks ago.” The story stated that he had been owned by the Rapelye family of Brooklyn and “. . . was believed to have been the last negro slave freed on Long Island.” It also added that George Reck’s father was named George Rex, after the then King of England, but the spelling of the family name had been changed to Recks.

View fullsize

Marriage certificate for Phoebe Ricks and Joseph Trower, 1879. Historical Vital Record collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Would the Historical Vital Record (HVR) collection provide a greater identity and more information about Mr. George Rex/Recks? The answer is yes. The newspaper article stated that Recks had been the father-in-law of “J. C. Trower.” With that clue, archivists quickly located the 1879 marriage of Phoebe Ricks to Mr. Joseph Trower. The marriage certificate confirmed Pheobe’s parents, George Ricks and Isabella Crips. (The name was variously spelled as Ricks or Recks in the vital records.)

Continuing to search in the HVR, looking for death records indexed as Recks/Ricks resulted in the death certificate of George’s wife Isabella Crips, on July 4, 1871. According to the certificate, she had been born in Virginia in 1809, and her place of death, Quincy Street, near Stuyvesant Avenue, matched George’s residence. The certificate also indicated that Isabella was buried at the “Weekesville” Cemetery. One of the largest free Black communities in pre-Civil War America, Weekesville is currently an historic site and cultural center in Central Brooklyn.

The HVR index also led to information about George and Isabella’s other children. In addition to Phoebe, they had at least two other daughters, Margaret and Jane. Their sons William, Thomas and Peter all died at a young age. 

Death certificate for George’s son, Thomas Rix, 1862. Historical Vital Record collection, NYC Municipal Archives.

Continuing research on Phoebe and James Trower, revealed that they had at least two sons, Walter and Herbert. Both lived, married and died in Brooklyn; their records consistently stated Mother’s name Phoebe Ricks, and Father’s Name Joseph A. Trower. Further research will focus on whether either of their sons had children. Perhaps these inquiries will lead to descendants of George Rex/Recks/Ricks alive today. 

Other Municipal Archives collections have proved useful in confirming additional information about George Rex/Recks/Ricks, in particular his residence on Quincy Street in Brooklyn. On March 4, 1885, the Eagle published a follow-up article. The story related that “The deceased... was born on the farm where he died. Alderman Collins, for whom Recks worked as a gardener... will see that his body is given a proper burial.”  The article added that “Mr. Collins’ wife is a daughter of Jeremiah J. Rapelye, who built for Recks a house on Quincy Street when that populous neighborhood was almost as lonely as Montauk Point.”   

View fullsize

Annals of Newtown, 1852. Courtesy NYPL.

The Town of Newtown death ledger entry for George Rex’ death indicated his place of birth as “Trains Meadows on the Rapelye-Purdy Farm.” Seeking to know more about this reference led to a volume, Annals of Newtown, in the Municipal Library. The book included a map insert that showed the exact location of Trains Meadows, and that it bordered both the Rapelye and Purdy farms.     

The Municipal Archives map collections and the Assessed Valuation of Real Estate ledgers confirmed the newspaper story about the Quincy Street house. The 1886 atlas of Brooklyn (Robinson’s) showed that the residence was clearly within the boundaries of what had been the Rapelye farmland in Brooklyn. The assessed valuation of real estate ledgers for Brooklyn also corroborated the news account. The Brooklyn 19th century assessment records are arranged by Ward number and further by block and lot numbers. The related series of Ward Maps helped identify the necessary numbers for the Quincy Street property: Ward 9 (later Ward 21), block 192, lot 18.   

View fullsize

Robinson’s Atlas of Brooklyn, 1886. NYC Municipal Archives.

Unlike the Manhattan annual assessment ledgers, each Brooklyn book spans several years. The Ward 21 ledger for 1869 through 1873, lists “J. Rapelye” as the “owner” of block 192, lot 8. Under “description of property” the clerk scribbled what looks like the number “2” indicating a two-story structure. According to later assessment records, within a few years after the death of George Rex, his property had been divided into lots and sold for residences.       

View fullsize

Record of Assessed Valuation, Brooklyn, Ward 21 for 1869 through 1873. NYC Municipal Archives.

View fullsize

George Rex’s house, lot 18, sat in the corner of what had been the Rapelye farm. Robinson’s Atlas of Brooklyn, 1886. NYC Municipal Archives.

Returning to information in the Newtown death ledger, under “cause of death” the clerk wrote “Inquest Pending” by medical attendant Coroner O’Connell. The Archives Old Town Records collection, recently processed with support from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, includes several ledgers created by town coroners including O’Connell. Regrettably, the oldest surviving ledger maintained by Coroner O’Connell only dates back to November 1885; several months after the death of George Rex. However, on March 4, 1885, the Brooklyn newspaper reported that the cause of death had been confirmed as exposure.

View fullsize

Record of Assessed Valuation, Brooklyn, Ward 9 Atlas, 1863. NYC Municipal Archives.

The Municipal Archives recently launched a transcription project that will greatly enhance access to the manumission records. Born before enactment of New York State’s law for gradual emancipation in 1799, George Rex’ name will not appear in that series.  Using the Old Town records, vital records and other collections, it may be possible to identify and develop fuller histories of other member of the Rex family.

The research will continue. Mr. George Rex, “The Last Slave” will not be forgotten! 

How to Research the Vital Records Collection

This is the first ‘how to conduct research’ blog in On the Record. It provides essential information about the vital records collections at the Municipal Archives. This blog is adapted from a program Marcia. Kirk recently recorded for a genealogy seminar. A subsequent blog will take us “beyond the basics.” Future blogs by subject-matter experts will provide instructions on how to research other Municipal Archives collections. 

What are vital records, and why are they important? Vital records document major events in a person’s life: people are born, sometimes they get married, and unfortunately, they die.

Historical records of births, deaths and marriages that occurred in New York City are maintained in the Municipal Archives. If the event occurred outside the five boroughs, the record would be on file at the New York State Department of Health in Albany, or in some instances, with the clerk of the local town. Births reported after 1910, and deaths reported after 1948 are available from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and marriages reported after 1949 are available from the Office of the City Clerk.

The holdings of the Municipal Archives include all extant vital records for the five boroughs as well as the towns and villages that were consolidated into the Greater City of New York in 1898. Municipal Archives Genealogy Collections

Researching the records

The birth, death and marriage records are filed and indexed according to the Borough where the event took place.

Most of the vital records are in a certificate format. The certificates are numbered consecutively beginning with certificate number one on January 1 of each year. The records of each Borough are filed separately.

To find a certificate, it is necessary to search an index to identify the Borough, year filed, and the certificate number.

Where are the indexes? 

Most of the indexes are available online. They are available on the local Italian and German genealogy organization website; at www.Ancestry.com; and at www.Familysearch.org. Most online indexes were created by people transcribing and/or machines reading the original hard-copy indexes which means there are mistakes in the online versions.

At the Municipal Archives researchers can view the online indexes as well as the original indexes. Sometimes it is necessary to go to the original indexes when a mistake is found in the on-line version.

Locating a certificate requires the researcher to use an index to search for the Borough, year filed and the certificate number.

Births records:

It is important to note that about 25% of births during the time correlated with the Municipal Archives holdings (prior to 1910) were not reported to City government. Children were born at home and sometimes the family or persons assisting at the birth did not know the requirement or perhaps were not literate in English. More consistent birth registrations began when new legislation was enacted in 1913. (The Municipal Archives birth holdings date prior to 1910.)

When conducting a search in the indexes it is really important to keep the search terms as broad as possible. Sometimes a person’s first name is not what it is thought to be.

I came across an unfamiliar name when researching my own family. I asked my Aunt who said, “oh, that’s cousin Dolly!” Another problem is one I encountered when researching my McCabe ancestors. McCabe is a common name and there are hundreds of people with the same name.

The Municipal Archives collection of birth records totals more than 2 million certificates.  All of them have been digitized. 

This is an unusual example.  The birth certificate documents twins; most of the time there would be two separate certificates numbered consecutively, but in this case, there is one certificate, with two numbers. 

Birth certificates contain lots of good information: the name of the person making the report – usually a doctor, but sometimes a midwife or perhaps a neighbor. There are the basics – name, race, date of birth, father’s name, age, occupation and birthplace. And most important, the mother’s name and her name before marriage, the number of children were born to her previously and the number still living.

Here is another example.

This is the actor Humphrey Bogart’s birth certificate. He was born at the Sloane Maternity Hospital on December 25, 1899. His original name was Bogart de Forest. But his mother’s name was Maude Humphrey. 

Special and Delayed birth certificates. 

They are not what you think. Sometimes, when searching in the birth index there is an “S” or a “D” after the certificate number. “S” means “Special,” and “D” means “Delayed.”

The “Special” and “Delayed” births were called that because the birth was reported to the Health Department long after the child was born, or in some instances, the record was amended (father’s name added, etc.) at a later date.

By the way, the Archives does not correct information on vital records – even if there is an obvious misspelling of a name. If a certificate must be amended for some legal purpose, the Archives staff will not make the change, but will instead provide an official letter stating that any vital record in the Municipal Archives cannot be amended.

In this example, Rosa was born April 2, 1900; however, the record was not filed until 1906. 

This is an example of a birth ledger.  Records for Manhattan and Brooklyn prior to 1866 and the other Boroughs prior to 1898 exist in this format.  The information recorded is essentially the same as would appear on a certificate.   

Geographic Birth Indexes

The standard birth index is arranged by last name. However, we also have another type of index for births – the ‘geographic’ index.  In this index the births are listed by place of birth.

In this example, these card lists all the births that took place at 410 and 411 West 54th Street, in Manhattan between 1880 and 1883.

There are geographic indexes for births from 1880 through 1909 for Manhattan, and from 1898 through 1909 for the other four Boroughs. 

Marriage Records

Marriage records are more complicated because there are two completely separate series:  The Health Department marriage certificates (1866-1937), and the City Clerk “licenses,” (1908-1949). When researching a marriage index, it is important to notice whether the index is for the Health Department certificates, or the City Clerk licenses.

For marriages prior to 1908, the only record is the Health Department certificate. In 1908, New York State passed a law that required any couple wishing to get married to first obtain a license. In New York City, the City Clerk issues these licenses.

The license record consists of three documents: 1) “affidavit,” filled out by the couple; 2) “license” issued by the Clerk; and 3) “certificate” filled out by person who performed the wedding ceremony.

The Health Department certificate series continued through 1937 which means that from 1908 to 1937, there are potentially two marriage records: the Health Department certificate and the City Clerk affidavit, license, and certificate. The basic information on each is the same except the City Clerk license series lists the country of birth of the parents of the bride and groom, and the bride’s occupation.

This is the Health Department record of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt’s 1905 marriage (Eleanor was a distant cousin of Franklin). The marriage was witnessed by Eleanor’s Uncle (and sitting President) Theodore Roosevelt and his wife Edith.

All of the Health Department marriage records have been digitized.

Marriage licenses

The index to the license series is available at www.Ancestry.com and on microfilm at the Municipal Archives. There are more than three million records in this series; digitization is underway. The list below shows the records currently available in digital format.

This is the affidavit F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre filled out for the license to marry at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in 1920.

As noted in the above affidavit from F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre, there are three documents. The first is the affidavit filled out by the couple. It shows where they were living – in this case, both F. Scott and Zelda were residing at the same hotel in Manhattan. F. Scott was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. and was 23 years old. His parents’ names and their birthplaces are also recorded, along with his mother’s maiden name. It was his first marriage. Zelda was 19. She did not list an occupation; she was born in Montgomery Alabama.

The next document is the license, which is confusing as the document is titled: “New York State Department of Health.” The license contains essentially the same information as the affidavit.

The third document is the “certificate.  It was filled-out by the officiant and signed by the officiant and witnesses. It’s always a good idea to pay attention to the witnesses; you might find out about other family members and close friends.

F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre’s marriage license.

The next document is the license, and this is where it gets confusing as the document is titled: “New York State Department of Health.”  The license contains essentially the same information as the affidavit. 

F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre’s marriage certificate.

The third document is the “certificate. It was filled-out by the officiant and signed by the officiant and witnesses. It’s always a good idea to pay attention to the witnesses; you might find out about other family members and close friends.

Death records.

Information on the death certificate was not provided by the person in question, for obvious reasons. The information was supplied by someone other than the deceased, usually a family member. But because the information is supplied by someone other than the deceased, there can be mistakes. It’s best to keep that in mind when using information on death certificates. Another important point is that death certificates were filed according to the place of death, not the place of usual residence, or the burial place. 

Death certificates always indicate the place of burial. If the place is listed as “City Cemetery,” that means the “Potter’s Field” on Hart Island. The Archives has the burial records for the City Cemetery, in ledger format, on microfilm, dating from 1872 to the 1980s, but there are big gaps from the late 1950s through the 1970s due to loss of records from water damage from flooding on the Island. Also, note that the City Cemetery burial records are not indexed; names are listed by date of burial.  We suggest using the death certificate indexes to identify the date.

There are more than five million death certificates in the Municipal Archives collection. All death certificates filed in The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island have been digitized. The Manhattan certificates are partially digitized. The list below provides the description of what is currently available in digital format.

George Herman Ruth’s death certificate.

In this example, the deceased had been living at 110 Riverside Drive in Manhattan for 26 years. He was married. George Herman Ruth is of course the famous baseball player, Babe Ruth. He died in 1948 of natural causes and is buried in Gate of Heaven Cemetery which is in Westchester County.

Going back to the City Cemetery for a minute, we do have the burial records, in ledger format, on microfilm, dating from 1872 to the 1980s, but there are big gaps from the late 1950s through the 1970s due to loss of records from water damage due to floods on the Island. Also, note that the City Cemetery burial records are not indexed; names are listed by date of burial. We suggest using the death certificate indexes to identify the date.   

How to Access Vital Records

Although the Municipal Archives facilities remain closed to the public, copies of records may be ordered online or via regular mail. If the record has been digitized and you would like a PDF copy, we can email the record within about five days. PDF copies are not certified, however. If you request a record that has not been digitized, or if you need a certified hard copy, the current processing time can be eight weeks or longer.

Here are the certificates that are available in digital format:

We look forward to helping our patrons research their New York City roots and providing more in-depth ‘how-to’ guides to our rich collections.