John Romeyn Brodhead
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John Romeyn Brodhead (January 2, 1814 – May 6, 1873) was an American historical scholar. During his service in the diplomatic corps, he transcribed many rare documents related to the colonial history of
Biography
Early life
John Romeyn Brodhead was born in
He was descended from one Captain Daniel Brodhead, a soldier from Yorkshire, who, after the English acquired New Netherland, was in command of the garrison at Esopus.[2] His grandfather was Captain Charles W. Brodhead, who was present at the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga in 1777.[1]
The family moved to New York City when he was twelve years old. Brodhead graduated from
The Hague
President
On arriving at his post, Bleeker discovered that he was not provided with a secretary to assist with correspondence and scheduling. As he was related to Brodhead's mother, he offered the position to John. Bleeker was not allocated any funds for a clerk but apart from a small salary, an attaché of the legation would be in society and have the opportunity of learning German, Dutch, and French. Bleecker was also a highly regarded teacher in the law, and offered instruction in general law and jurisprudence.[2]
With his father's approval, Brodhead accepted. He booked a passage on the steamer President but was unable to arrive in time for boarding. The ship sailed without him and was never heard of again. Thereafter, Brodhead preferred sailing ships.[2]
He learned that in 1818, the old records of the Dutch West India company for the period prior to 1700 had been sold as scrap to paper mills. Nonetheless, his research in various European archives discovered a good deal material on the early history of New York. After diligent search he found many official documents preserved in other archives, such as the minutes of the States General.[5]
The year 1809 had seen Washington Irving's satirical A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, by Diedrich Knickerbocker. In 1829, the New York Historical Society published William Smith Jr.'s The History of the Province of New York: From Its Discovery to the Appointment of Governor Colden in 1762. Smith was a New Yorker, who did not consult Dutch-language sources directly, but did use some translations. According to historian Joseph Meany, Smith's presentation of the Dutch was not a balanced one.[6]
The Board of Trustees of New York Historical Society included members of some of New York' s most prominent old Dutch families. At the urging of the
These transcriptions were subsequently edited by Edward O'Callaghan (vols. i.-xi., md.) and by Berthold Fernow (vols xii.-xv., md.), and published by the state under the title Documents relating to the Colonial History of New York (15 vols., 1853–1883).[2] Together they produced "...the single most important collection of primary documents on New York's colonial period."[5]
London
In 1846, President James K. Polk appointed George Bancroft as minister to London. Gansevoort Melville, older brother of author Herman Melville, was secretary of the American legation in London, where he also served as his brother's literary agent. When Gansevoort died in May 1846, his boyhood friend John Brodhead, was appointed to succeed him, and also took on the role of Herman Melville's literary representative.[9] During the unrest of the Chartist demonstrations, Brodhead was among many gentlemen sworn in as special constables.[1] While posted to Great Britain, he also took the opportunity to take in performances on the London stage. With the election of Zachary Taylor as president, Bancroft's political appointment ended, and he and Brodhead returned to the United States in 1849.
Later life
From 1853 to 1857, he was naval officer of the port of New York. In 1855 he was asked by President Franklin Pierce to become Ambassador to Japan, a position he declined because he preferred to remain in New York.[1]
He was an active member of both the New York Historical Society and the St. Nicholas Society, and a trustee of Rutgers College from 1853 to 1873.[10] on November 27, 1856 he married Eugenia Bloodgood at Grace Church (Manhattan). In 1867 he was appointed a Trustee of the Astor Library.
He published several addresses and a scholarly History of the State of New York (2 vols., 1853–1871), generally considered the best for the brief period covered (1609-1690). When the first volume, which covers New Netherland, was published, George Bancroft wrote, "It is so full, so accurate, so marked by research and an honest love for historic truth, that we have only to bid him go and finish what he has so worthily begun."[11]
He died of pneumonia in New York City on 6 May 1873 and was interred in the Trinity Church Cemetery in Upper Manhattan.
Legacy
"The Jacob Brodhead Prize" is a prize of $100 from a fund given by Reverend Jacob Brodhead, D.D., and his son J. Romyn Brodhead, LL.D., awarded annually to a Rutgers student in her or his junior or senior year who displays all-around excellence in Classics.[12]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e Chambers, T. W., "John Romeyn Brodhead", The Century Magazine, February, 1877
- ^ a b c d Barnouw, Adriaan J., "John Romeyn Brodhead, 1814 - 1873", de Halve Maen, The Holland Society of New York, October 1964
- ^ Spencer, J.A., History of the United States, 1858
- ^ Four Centuries of Dutch-American Relations: 1609-2009, (Hans Krabbendam, Cornelis Abraham van Minnen, Giles Scott-Smith, editors), 2009]
- ^ ISBN 9780801489914
- ^ Meany Jr., Joseph F., "The History of the State Historian", New York State Museum
- ^ "John Romeyn Brodhead", The American Cyclopaedia, (George Riplay and Charles A. Dana, eds.), vol. 6, D. Appleton and Company, 1873
- ^ Jameson, John. Narratives of New Netherland, Charles Scribner & Sons, New York, 1909]
- ^ "Letter of Herman Melville to John Romeyn Brodhead, 31 March 1847", Christies
- ^ Potter, David. "The Brodhead Diaries 1846 - 1849", Rutgers University Library
- ^ Howard, Ronald W. "John R. Brodhead (2 January 1814-6 May 1873)," in Clyde N. Wilson (ed.), American Historians, 1607-1865, Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 30, Detroit: Gale Research, 1984, 48.
- ^ "The Jacob Brodhead Prize", Rutgers University Archived 2015-02-24 at the Wayback Machine
Bibliography
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Brodhead, John Romeyn". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- Malone, Dumas (1932). Dictionary of American biography. Vol. III. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.