Hi Rebecca,

In a message dated 11/13/97 10:16:34 PM, [log in to unmask] wrote:

>Hi! I recently wrote to the NYC Chambers St. archives, looking for info
>about a small business named White & Howard which became Leonard & O'Neill.
>Business was operated approx from late 1800's to 1934.
>
>I received a letter back from an archivist at NY County Courthouse, Centre
>St., NYC, stating that there were no records of a registered bsns indexed
>under these names. They did list a few supreme court proceedings for Delia
>Leonard (who owned the business in later years), but these may not be
>business related.
>
>Questions:
>1-What is the significance of there being no bsns records? I know the names
>are correct, and there are city directory records, showing the bsns.
>2-What were the rules of the time for sm. bsns registrations?
>3-Is there somewhere else to look, or something that I haven't thought of?
>
>Thanks,
>Rebecca
>Rebecca, [log in to unmask]

The NY County Clerk's Office/Hall of Old Records, 31 Chambers St, 7 Fl, NY,
NY 10007 is the depository for Manhattan business records into the 1940's. It
sounds like those are the folks you first contacted, yes? I wonder why you
got a response from Centre Street...

Here are the types of business records you'll find at the NY County Clerk's
Office:

Registered business names of single proprietorships/trade names (1900-1924)
Incorporations (1804-1946)
Limited partnerships (1822-1948)

I'm probably not telling you anything you don't already know, am I? Here are
some other thoughts:

The searches for these records can be tricky, as the indexes are VERY exact.
Say, for instance, the official name of the business was actually H. White &
K. Howard. You'd need to look under "H" to find them.

Are you certain that the business was located in Manhattan? If it was in
another borough, it's possible that the business records are located in the
County Clerk's Office in that borough.

Re the laws of the time for registration... Someone else could better answer
that, but, as far as I know, businesses operated all the time without being
registered or incorporated.

It's not a bad idea to check the judgments that were found for the owner of
the business. It's true that these may not be business-related. But maybe
they are in some way. Sometimes these types of records can give you insights
into what happened to a business--especially to one that might not have been
registered.

And, finally, I'd suggest doing a full run of directories, both Trow's NYC
Directory and their Business Directory, from the year the business first
appears to after it vanishes. Often, using that sort of search through time,
clues can appear that lead you to some answers about the nature and fate of
the business.

Best,

Leslie

Leslie Corn
NYC Research & Genealogy
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