Agriculture

For reference queries contact Grenander Department Reference staff or (518)–437–3935.

BELL, ABRAHAM, AND SON
Records, 1809–1917, 22 ft. (MSS–035)
Includes thirty–one letterpress copybooks kept daily by Abraham Bell and Son, a New York City merchant shipping firm specializing in the export of Southern cotton to the British Isles, 1837–54; thirty–nine volumes of account books, journals, correspondence, and other business records, 1809–1888; a record book of Irish immigrants and other passengers to the United States from Derry and Belfast, 1832–1857. There are also correspondence, diaries, and financial records of other members of this Quaker family, James W. Bell and James C. Bell, 1832–1917; record books of Elizabeth Bell, 1858; and records of Bell Brothers, a money–lending business in Yonkers, New York, 1889–1895.

BOSTWICK, GILBERT, farmer
Account Book, 1834–1848, 1 vol. (MSS–044)
Kept by a farmer from the vicinity of Port Henry (on Lake Champlain), New York, who operated a sawmill producing pine boards and mined ore for the local iron industry.

COLONEY, THOMAS D., farmer
Account Book, 1827–1852, 1 vol. (MSS–056)
Kept by a farmer in Farmington, Connecticut.

CROUNSE, JOHANNES, farmer
Manuscript, 1796, 1 vol. (MSS–058)
"Pferdts Arzney Buchlein," a manuscript including 78 treatments for ailments of horses, written in German by Johannes Crounse, a farmer living west of Albany, New York.

DEY, PIERSON, farmer
Record Book, 1810–1816, 1 vol. (MSS–061)
Includes a diary kept by Pierson Dey, a farmer and rural laborer in Passaic County, New Jersey, 1810–1816; day book entries, 1812–1816; an account of money expended on building, 1816. Later entries in the volume record purchases by H. K. Dey, 1864.

DICKINSON, JOHN DEAN (1767–1841), U.S. Congressman, attorney
Papers, 1796–1834, 1 ft. (MSS–062)
Letters, deeds, and retained copies of legal documents kept as an attorney and landowner. Dickinson practiced law in Lansingburg and Troy, New York, from the 1790s; was president of the Farmers Bank of Troy, 1801–1841; served in the New York State Assembly, 1816–1817; and was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives as a Federalist, 1819–1823, and a Whig, 1827–1831.

ENVIRONMENTAL ADVOCATES OF NEW YORK
Records, 1970–2000 (APAP–104)
Environmental Advocates is a nonprofit, nonpartisan alliance of individuals and organizations working to protect New York's environment. The organization's activities include advocacy, coalition building, citizen education and policy development. Membership includes thousands of individual members and over 130 organizational members. It was established as the Environmental Planning Lobby (EPL) in Rye, New York in 1969 under the leadership of David Sive. The bulk of the records document the legislative activities of the organization from the 1980s through the late 1990s. The records consist of correspondence, notes, meeting minutes, reports, memorandums, publications, news clippings, promotional material, as well as the administrative files of Lee Wasserman, Val Washington, and Loretta Simon. The strength of the collection lies in the Legislative Issues series, which documents in detail the organization's position on issues, including acid rain, New York's Bottle Bill, energy, hazardous waste, pesticides, solid waste, sustainable agriculture, and water, among others.

HARLOW ESTATE
Record Book, 1685–1694, 1 vol. (MSS–015)
Includes proceedings of manorial courts and records of quit rents, tithes, and other income received by estate managers William Janes and James Taylor for Harlow Estate (including Lindsell and Beamond), Essex, England.

LESER, PAUL
Papers, 1920–1984, 50 ft. (GER–058).
Biographical materials, 1920–1951; diaries and notebooks, 1920–1938; interviews, 1951–1980; correspondence with Paul Goodman, Albert Lestoque, Will Schaber, Hans Staudinger, and others, 1920–1984; research notes pertaining to the history of the plough, undated; family papers and photographs; materials pertaining to his lawsuit against anthropologist Julius Lips; and papers of German anthropologist Fritz Graebner (1877–1934). Leser had a lifelong interest in the German Youth Movement, lived in Denmark and Sweden from 1934 to 1938, and taught at Black Mountain College and at the Hartford Theological Seminary.

MANLEY, HENRY S.
Papers, 1849-1960, 2.26 cubic ft. (APAP-178)
Henry S. Manley practiced law in Jamestown, NY, served as an attorney in the Office of the Attorney General of New York State, and was Counsel to the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. While Counsel he defended the milk control system in the U.S. Supreme Court in Nebbia v. New York (1934). From 1943 to early 1955 Manley was an Assistant Attorney General in the Appeals and Opinions Bureau of the New York State Department of Law. From early 1955 until his retirement later that year, he served as Solicitor General of the Department. Manley published a book, The Treaty of Fort Stanwix, and a number of articles regarding Native Americans and the law. The collection includes Manley's writings, pamphlets, as well as briefs and case files. Manley's cases covered in the collection are mostly from his years in private practice and include Indian land rights, the Attica Central School District, and other issues mostly in western New York.

NEW YORK COALITION FOR ALTERNATIVES TO PESTICIDES
Records, 1908–2002, Bulk Dates, 1988-1995, 23.89 cubic ft. (APAP–151)
In 1989, Tracy Frisch, an etymologist who had suffered from pesticide poisoning, formed a non-profit citizens' organization committed to reducing hazardous chemical pesticides use through education and advocacy called the New York Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NYCAP). The early issues that NYCAP championed included: safe pest control for schools, hospitals, and public places; reducing work exposure to chemicals; farm worker protection; prevention of groundwater pollution; environmentally sound farming; and strict regulation of pesticides. NYCAP also sought to provide leadership on these issues to other organizations such as parent teacher associations, labor unions, and general environmental groups. This collection documents the activities of NYCAP from its creation in 1989 through 2002. It contains administrative files such as committee and meeting minutes, fundraising campaigns, by-laws, correspondence, annual telemarketing campaigns, grant proposals and funding, invoices, prepaid sales receipts, and technical assistance logs. Mailing and membership lists for NYCAP and some related organizations are also included, along with: state and national legislation; government reports and publications; conference planning, programs, and attendance; information requests, news clippings and journal articles on pesticide-related topics; pesticide fact sheets; brochures and pamphlets; pesticide labels; and copies of newsletters, magazines, journals, and other publications of related groups received through a newsletter exchange.

NICHOLS, HUMPHRY, farmer
Account Book, 1834–1847, 1 vol. (MSS–098)
Kept by a farmer from the vicinity of Waterbury, Connecticut.

OTSEGO COUNTY CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION (APAP-158)
Records, 1967-2001, 6.4 cubic ft. (APAP-158)
The Otsego County Conservation Association (OCCA) was organized in 1968 and has dedicated itself to the protection, appreciation, and enhancement of natural resources in and around Otsego County. The group is concerned about numerous issues including the preservation of the Otsego Lake watershed, solid waste management, land-use planning, and water quality. The OCCA has been actively involved in education, advocacy, and preservation through the production of materials for teachers and the public including trail and nature maps, assisting in the implementation of Otsego Lake's management plan, and providing financial resources to farmers to help clean up threats to water quality. The OCCA has also confronted issues stretching outside of the county's borders, most prominently in solid waste issue battles with the Montgomery Otsego Schoharie Solid Waste Authority (MOSA). OCCA's records include meeting minutes, financial documents, correspondence, newsletters, educational brochures, and project files. The OCCA's records document the growth and influence of a community service and advocacy organization.

SANGERFIELD AND MARSHALL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY
Record Book, 1857–1883, 1 vol. (MSS–110)
Includes board minutes and bylaws of the agricultural society of the Central New York towns of Sangerfield and Marshall; the group usually met in the neighboring town of Waterville.

WUNDERLICH, FRIEDA (b. 1884), social welfare
Papers, 1920–1941, 1 cubic ft. (GER–101)
Wunderlich taught at the New School for Social Research and was an authority on farm labor in Germany and the Soviet Union. The bulk of the collection consists of publications of Frieda Wunderlich, primarily in the anti-Hitler periodical Soziale Praxis, which she edited from 1923 until she emigrated to the United States in 1933. In addition, there are several typescripts of speeches delivered by Wunderlich in Germany during the years 1927-1933. The collection contains only a few letters (primarily concerned with speeches delivered by Dr. Wunderlich), but does contain numerous clippings documenting Dr. Wunderlich's activities during the years 1927-1931.