Call Number:

C1558

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 4 boxes
• 2.4 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Title of Collection, Box and Folder Number; Manuscripts Division, Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

circa 1864-2007 (inclusive)

Creator:

Flayderman, Norm and Aubery, James M. (James Madison)

Form:

Correspondence -- 19th century, Correspondence -- 20th century, and Diaries -- 19th century

Abstract:

Consists primarily of United States Army officer George E. Albee's correspondence along with other papers, including a diary documenting his service with the 41st Infantry Regiment during the Indian Wars of 1869, which earned him the Medal of Honor. Some research files on Albee and his antiquean arms collection are also included.

E. Norman Flayderman (1928-2013) was an antique arms and militaria dealer, historian, and author, perhaps best known for his landmark book, Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Firearms and Their Values (1980). Flayderman began his firm, N. Flayderman & Co., Inc. in 1952 and became renowned in the trade for swords, bayonets, Colts, Bowie knives, naval dirks and edged weapons. He had a store in Greenwich, Connecticut, from 1958 to 1962 and then changed his business to a strictly catalog enterprise out of his Squash Hollow Estate in New Milford, Connecticut, from 1963 to 1986. He relocated in 1986 to Fort Lauderdale. During his time as a collector, Flayerman procured several significant collections, including the Philip Medicus collection of more than 600 Civil War swords, the largest collection of its kind sold, a collection of Lincoln documents and personal effects, the largest private collection of Kentucky rifles, the largest private collection of scrimshaw, and an extensive collection of historical American Judaica dating back to Jamestown.

Flayderman purchased George E. Albee's collection, which included weaponry and manuscripts, from descendants of Albee in 1979 and 1997 respectively.

The bulk of this collection consists of the papers of U.S. Army officer George E. Albee, primarily consists of correspondence with friends and associates, most of them military personnel. Of special interest is Albee's diary dating from 1869, which documents his time as 1st Lieutenant with the 41st Infantry Regiment at Fort Concho, Texas, including battles with the Comanche and Kiowas in October of that year for which he earned the Medal of Honor. Also included in the collection are some of Flayderman's research files related to Albee and Albee's collection of antique arms, as well as information regarding Flayderman's acquisition of Albee's collection.

George Emerson Albee (1845-1918) began his service with the U.S. Army during the Civil War where he fought with several Wisconsin infantry units, including Company G, 1st United States Sharpshooters (or Berdan's Sharpshooters), the 3rd Independent Battery Wisconsin Light Artillery, and the 36th Regiment Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. Company F. He was held at Libby Prison as a prisoner of war for some time in 1864. After the war, Albee accepted a commission in the regular service first as a 2nd lieutenant and then 1st lieutenant in several African American regiments, including the 36th, 41st, and 24th U.S. infantries. He served in the West until 1878; and his involvement in the Indian Wars earned him the Medal of Honor. Albee retired from the Army and became captain of the "National Blues" Co. D, 2nd Regiment Connecticut National Guard in 1891. Shortly thereafter, the governor promoted him to major and Brigade Inspector of Rifle Practice of the Connecticut National Guard. Albee was also a professional shooter, arms collector, and designer for Winchester Firearms Company in New Haven, Connecticut; and is known to have received at least two rifle patents. Albee and his first wife, Mary Hawes Albee (1848-1907), are buried at Arlington National Cemetery.