Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History
Benson Lossing, Ed.

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Brodhead, John Romeyn, 1814-1873

Historian; born in Philadelphia, Pa., Jan. 2, 1814. He graduated at Rutgers College in 1831; admitted to the bar in 1835; was attached to the American legation at the Hague in 1839, and was appointed by the legislature of New York its agent to procure and transcribe original documents concerning the history of the State. He spent three years in searching the archives of Holland. England, and France, and obtained copies of more than 5,000 separate papers, comprising the reports of home and colonial authorities. They have been published in 11 quarto volumes by the State of New York, edited by E. B. O'Callaghan, Ll.D. Mr. Brodhead was secretary of the American legation in London from 1846 till 1849. On his return he began the preparation of a History of the State of New York. The first volume was published in 1853, and the second in 1871. He was naval officer of New York from 1853 till 1857. Mr. Brodhead left his History of the State of New York unfinished. He died in New York City, May 6, 1873.