![Geographicus Rare Antique Maps Geographicus Rare Antique Maps](graphics/00000001/Geo_logo-RARE-WHITE_2.gif)
This copy is copyright protected.
Copyright © 2024 Geographicus Rare Antique Maps
1867 Holmes Map of Murray Hill Farm, Midtown Manhattan, New York City
MurrayHillNewYork-holmes-1867John Bute Holmes (March 31, 1822 - May 21, 1887) was an Irish civil engineer, city surveyor, and mapmaker based in New York City in the middle to latter 19th century. Holmes was described as a 'short, stout man, with curly gray hair, a smooth face, and a short, thick neck.' Holmes' father-in-law supplied funds for him to immigrate to America in 1840 and shortly thereafter, in 1844, he established himself in New York City. He briefly returned to Europe before once again settling in New York City in 1848. Apparently, according to several New York Times articles dating to the 1870s, Holmes was a man of dubious personal and moral character. He was involved in several legal disputes most of which were associated with his outrageous - even by modern standards - womanizing. In 1857 he was convicted of forgery of a marriage document and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor at Sing Sing, of which he served 5 before wealthy associates interceded on his behalf for an early release. Holmes seems to have been married to several different women at the same time and to have had an unfortunate attraction to exceptionally young women - one of whom, 16 year old May Chamberlayne claimed to be his wife and sued him for 50,000 USD. On another occasion he was found guilty of killing Brooklyn policeman David Gourly with whose wife he 'had been intimate.' Another woman, Miss Abrams, who he hired as a housekeeper, was repeatedly attacked by Holmes and ultimately driven to madness and was consigned to Bellevue Hospital, where she died. Although he attempted to flee the country rather than face conviction for 4th degree manslaughter, he was ultimately arrested and served one year in prison. During the American Civil War he ran for Alderman of the First Ward, in New York. Despite his legal issues, Holmes was a man of considerable means, with a personal fortune estimated between 100,000 and 500,000 USD - a significant sum in the late 19th century. Much of his wealth is associated with a series of important cadastral maps produced between 1867 and 1875 while he was employed as a surveyor and civil engineer under the corrupt Tweed regime. When Holmes died of an 'apoplectic fit' there was considerable wrangling over his estate among his 7 heirs and 11 children. The cream of his estate where his maps, some of which were valued at more than 30,000 USD in 1887. Holmes lived on a large farm-estate in Fanwood New Jersey. More by this mapmaker...
Arthur A. Brown (July 7, 1827 - June 1, 1895) was a New York lithographer active in the mid to late 19th century. Brown was born in Ireland and emigrated to New York in 1849. At the time of immigration, his occupation was listed as a tailor. By 1855 he appears in the New York State Census as a lithographer. In the 1869s he printed extensively for the City Clerk's office both in Manhattan and Brooklyn. His firm, A. Brown and Company was established around 1860. His office was initially located at 179 Broadway, then 47 Nassau (1863 - 1865), 9 and 11 Thames Street (1866 - 1874), 306 Broadway (1875 - 1881), and 116 Duane Street (1882 - 1894). Brown died in 1895 and is interred in Cyprus Hills Cemetery, Brooklyn. Learn More...
Copyright © 2024 Geographicus Rare Antique Maps | Geographicus Rare Antique Maps
This copy is copyright protected.
Copyright © 2024 Geographicus Rare Antique Maps