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Recent Reference to Property Comm Minutes from 1861

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Dear Friends,

On 2015-03-08, in a Meeting for Worship for Business of 15th Street MM, Friends heard a call for a Special Called Meeting from three Friends. There was a history-related item in the charge provided by the three Friends: "Consideration of the New York Monthly Meeting Property Committee Minutes of First Month, 1861." Here is a link to the minutes from 2015-03-08. (A how-to for registering on the Quaker Cloud is here.)

As Historian, I felt led to respect the call by making the relevant source documents accessible to the Meeting. Toward this end, I reviewed the text of NYMM Property Comm minutes for much of 1860 and 1861.

Unfortunately, we do not yet have available the NYMM meeting minutes for those same years - nor most of the subsequent years - as they are not yet digitized. Although I am encouraged that we are making progress on this front.

But, still I present the following for Friends' convenience:

1  A PDF of Property Comm Minutes from 7th Month 1860 through 1st Month 1861.
      -Link to 10-page cursive PDF: Conception of Three Buildings
2  Links to our current Quaker Cloud repository containing additional historic documents
      -Documents Batch 1, contains these and other Property Committee Minutes from its era
      -Documents Batch 2
      -Link showing how to register on the Quaker Cloud
3  Selected content from the attached PDF file:
      -Screenshot of a poignant day of minutes from 8th Month, 17 1860, mentioning the "Compromise Plan". (see side panel to right)
      -My own transcription of the minutes from 1st Month, 1, 1861, as mentioned in the 2nd call for a Called Meeting in 2015 (see below).

Respectfully,
Steven Bhardwaj - 15thStMM Historian - 2015-03-16

Transcription:
1 Month 1, 1861
At a meeting of the Property Committee held at 24 Lafayette Place 1 Month 1, 1861, present (...)
The Subject of disposing of our property on Hester Street & Elizabeth Streets claimed the attention of the Committee it was concluded to authorize the Committee having it in charge to Sell the Same if they can obtain $55,000 equal to cash **, 1st possession to be given the 1st of 5th Month next, our reserving the Seats *** *** in the Meeting House and the School furniture.
The following Report was adopted and decided to be forwarded

To the Monthly Meeting
The Property Committee Report that they have attended to the duties of their appointment the past year.
In Seventh Month last we made the purchase as directed by the meeting of the Plot of ground for the better accomodation of this and the Yearly Meeting containing 158ft 10in on 15th Street, 206.6 on Rutherford Place on Stuyvesant Square and 124.6 on 16th Street for the sum of $65,000 Subject to a Mortgage of $50,000. We have paid $15,000 in cash and the ground has been conveyed to the Trustees who hold the Titles to our Property.
A Meeting House 60 feet wide by 90 feet deep has been erected on the ground near 15th Street and is expected to be finished and ready to be occupied by the first of 5th Month next, another Building 60 feet wide by 70ft deep is in progress on Rutherford Place the first floor of which is to be occupied by the Mens Yearly, Quarterly & Monthly meetings the upper part by Schools for Boys & Girls to this building there is an addition three Stories high *6 feet wide by 52ft 6in deep extending through to 16th Street intended for a Primary School and Class Rooms for the Boys and Girls Shools and as a dwelling for a caretaker of the whole property.
The Treasurer of the Monthly Meeting has received $15,000 the Amount of the Mortgage on our old Meeting House & Ground on Rose Street, and has received $5000 from the "Religious Society of Friends" for the Preparative Meeting of Brooklyn for one undivided third part of our Burial ground at Brooklyn out of hich he will shortly pay the mortgage of $16,000 due on 27th Street Meeting House and ground, There is due to the Treasurer eof the Yearly Meeting $4906.51.
The Committee have had under consideration the propriety of removing the remains from our old Burial grounds on Houston Street, and were invited in the opinion that it would be expedient to have them removed at an early period while thos of us are here who feel an interest in thos whose remains were interred there and would give the Subject their personal attention. On behalf of the **** Then adjourned, **H Macy, clerk

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