Can you help decode this 19th-century document? Bookplate from the Underhill Bible. Last month we posted pictures of a bible offered on eBay, bearing the bookplate of Abraham I. Underhill, one of the three Underhill brothers who started the flour

mill on the Croton River in 1792. We were thrilled (and proud) when the Westchester County Historical Society immediately purchased this treasure, after we alerted them that it was available. In addition to a handwritten page recording Abraham

Underhill’s marriage “in a publick Meeting of the people called Quakers at Croton in the Town of Cortlandt, the 19th day of the 12th month, 1805 . . . ,” the bible also contained something unusual, which the seller described as “a folded paper in an

unknown hand, possibly shorthand.” What does it say? Is it simply a mundane document, slipped into the family bible? The minutes of a Quaker meeting in Croton? A document relating to the long-running legal battle between the Underhill and Van

Cortlandt families over the Croton River mill? If you happen to have expertise in 19th-century shorthand please contact me . Below are high-resolution black-and-white scans of the pages. Click to enlarge them. Thanks to Patrick Raftery, Librarian of

the Westchester County Historical Society , for providing these images. Page 1 Page 2 Share this: Print (Opens in new window) Print Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Share on X

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Underhill family Underhill flour mill Van Cortlandt family Published January 8, 2014