Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Alphabetical Register of Voters |
Collection Name |
Richmond County Public Records |
Date |
October 1868 |
Description |
This is an individual item contained within archival collection MS236. This document is a register of voters in the third election district of the Town of Middletown, in Richmond County (Staten Island), New York. It is handwritten on a long sheet of off-white paper folded in half at the upper edge to form four pages; a small additional piece of paper is attached to the last page. It lists the names of voters registered in the district in October 1868; they are written in two columns, grouped by the first letter of the last name. A handwritten inscription between the columns on the first page relates to the filing of the document. |
Biography and History |
After New York State adopted a new constitution in 1846, laws were passed establishing rules for registering voters. Voters were required to register in person on specific days, which were published in local newspapers. This document lists names of registered voters in the third election district in Middletown, Staten Island, in October 1868, a month before the first presidential election in which formerly enslaved Americans had the right to vote. Middletown included the village of Stapleton, which was home to both German immigrant and African American communities. The name of George Bechtel, a local brewer who immigrated to Staten Island from Germany, can be found in the left-hand column of this register. It is not currently known whether any of the people listed here were African American. |
Legal Status |
Items represented here are from the collections of the Staten Island Historical Society. Materials reproduced for personal non-commercial use must credit the Staten Island Historical Society. Commercial licensing is available. |
Physical Extent |
12.625" H x 8" W (folded) |
Catalog Number |
X20.0025 |
Object Name |
Document |
Archival Description Level |
Item |
Parent Record |
MS236.000 |
Subjects |
Voting Political elections |
Earliest Date |
1868 |
Latest Date |
1868 |
Lexicon Sub-category |
Documentary Artifact |
Associated People |
Butler, Henry L. Bechtel, George |
Support Acknowledgment |
Online Collections Database record made possible by the Staten Island Historical Society, August 2020. |