Cambridge History of American Literature: volume 3
Trent, William Peterfield, 1862-1939., Erskine, John, 1879-1951., Sherman, Stuart Pratt, 1881-1926., Van Doren, Carl, 1885-1950., Ed.

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[179] Francis (1789-861), genial friend of letters and literary men and last of a series of literary doctors which included Cadwallader Colden,¹ David Hosack, Hugh Williamson, and Samuel L. Mitchill,² not to mention Benjamin Rush and David Ramsay,³ who lived elsewhere. Francis's Old New York (1858) is a charming description of the city under a generation then vanishing. Others of the group were: Henry Onderdonck, Jr. (1804-86), who wrote Annals of Hempstead (1878), Queens County in olden times (1865), and other books on Long Island history; Gabriel Furman (1800-53), who left a most accurate book in his Notes . . . relating to the town of Brooklyn (1824); Rev. Francis Lister Hawks (1789-1866), best remembered for his History of North Carolina (1857-58) and his documents relating to the Anglican Church in the colonies; and Henry Barton Dawson (1821-1889), a turbulent spirit who served history best as editor of The historical magazine. John Romeyn Brodhead (1814-73), whose transcripts have been mentioned, wrote an excellent History of New York, 1609–;1691 (1853-71). He was one of the best esteemed members of the New York group.

Two Catholic historians added much to its efficiency: Edward Bailey O'Callaghan (1797-1873) and John Dawson Gilmary Shea (1824-92). The first was an educated Irishman, an agitator in the Canadian rebellion of 1837 who fled for safety to Albany when the uprising collapsed, and a historian of good ability. His History of New Netherland (1846-48) and the Documentary history of New York (1849-51) introduced him to the reading public. He became connected with the office of Secretary of State in Albany, edited the ten volumes of Brodhead's transcripts, and brought out many other documents and reprints, always working hard and conscientiously. Shea, who was educated to be a Jesuit priest but withdrew from his novitiate before taking final vows, was most interested in church history. His largest work was a History of the Catholic Church in the United States (1886-92), in four volumes; but he is best known in secular history for his studies in the French history of North America. His Cramoisy edition of the Jesuit relations (1857-66) and his editions of Charlevoix's History of New France (1866-72),