Bankruptcy

This collection contains personal corresponences and legal documents created by and pertaining to the Lazarus family.

Collection consists of microfilm and bound photocopies of all insolvent debtors cases, now deposited in the Hall of Records, New York City, in which Jews or Jewish-sounding names appear, arranged alphabetically.

Included are public notices, lists of debts and assets of each debtor, and the disposition of each case. The entire collection has been indexed by last name.

Collection contains the surviving briefs (cases and points) of the City Court (until 1883, the Marine Court) of the City of New York, a statutory court of inferior civil jurisdiction within the County of New York and with limited maritime jurisdiction. The briefs were randomly selected from archives which were subsequently destroyed and represent primarily 1872-1881, 1884-1901, and 1904-1907, with some examples 1860-1871 and 1882. A sampling suggests that Jews were involved in 20-30 percent of these cases.