Henry Clay Williams seems to have had a favorite block on Henry Street in Brooklyn Heights. It is the first place where he is recorded as living in Brooklyn, and after moving away from it he returned, not once but twice. Perhaps he felt a particular affinity for the street's name. It is certainly a nice block, and was convenient to his work on Wall Street (accessible in those days by ferry).
Henry had moved from Ohio to New York, living in Manhattan for a few years and then serving in the Union Army. In 1866, he was listed in the Brooklyn city directory for the first time - at 101 Henry St. This was just a few doors down from the Zion Lutheran Church (where the Concert Hall is on the map below), and almost directly across from the First Presbyterian Church - both of which still stand today.
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| Henry St, from an 1855 map |
In October of 1866, Henry C. Williams and Mary E. Harrison were married at her parents' home at 28 Lafayette Ave. Not long after that, they moved several blocks further up Lafayette Ave, at what has been listed as either number 148 or 152 (I'll say more on that in a future post). It was there that their first child, Frederick, was born in February 1868. They moved again - roughly two blocks away to number 130 Carlton Ave - and there they welcomed their second child, Henry Jr, in December 1869.
In the 1870-71 city directory they appear at 116 Henry St, which is at the location shown on the 1855 map above. The directories for the six following years show them living at 138 Henry St. I had been curious about this apparent double move. Now I know that a major renumbering campaign was carried out in Brooklyn around 1870. As I shared in my last post, there is an excellent online New York Times article which covers the details of that change.
Armed with that information, I decided to make this my first real foray into using AI to augment my research. I used a tool called Claude to process details from the 1869, 1870, and 1871 city directories. This showed me a consistency in address numbering between the first two years, and then a clear pattern of renumbering between the 1870 and 1871 publications. Buildings to the north of the two churches on this block had their numbers increased by 14 on the even side of the street and by 16 on the odd side. Those south of the churches had their numbers increased by 22 and 24, respectively. Similar changes were taking place throughout Brooklyn.
What's even better... the building at 138 (formerly 116) Henry St is still there! I included it in my photo survey last year:
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138 (left) to 132 Henry St, in 2025 |
The buildings from 132 to 138 Henry St were constructed around 1843 (first listed in the city directory for that year), and all four still stand today. Numbers 138 and 136 have had their third story windows enlarged - they would have originally been closer in size to those of 134 and 132.
Mary and Henry welcomed three more children in that home - Francis, George, and William. Sadly, all three died young. Francis passed away in Morrisania, The Bronx (possibly where they were summering), George passed away at 138 Henry St, and William passed away at 126 St. James Pl - a new home to which they had moved in 1877.
In 1878, the family returned to Henry St, this time moving into number 134... just two doors down from where they had been - and a nearly identical building, at least from the outside! Sadly, Mary Ellen Harrison Williams passed away there in October 1878. This precipitated another move. Henry C. Williams doesn't appear in the city directory for 1879-80, but likely moved into 28 Lafayette Ave. Mary's father, Frederick H. Harrison, passed away there in December 1878. The Williams family would remain at 28 Lafayette Ave for twenty more years.
We are left with two very nice brick buildings still standing on this block of Henry Street with family ties. Nearby, number 117 (formerly 101) has been replaced since Henry C. Williams first lived there.
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