POTSDAM – Several scrapbooks, photographs and programs from the cache of old documents in the estate of the late Chris Fay have been donated to the Potsdam Public Museum.

One item in particular has been put forward by the museum as an example of the unique flavor of this gift.

A receipt of payment, signed by well-known Potsdam businessman and Clarkson University benefactor Thomas S. Clarkson and made out to E.D. Brooks, shows the course of a transaction between the two men for the purchase of tiles by Brooks from Clarkson.

It specifies 150 tiles, 2-by-13 inches. The tiles were ordered on May 9, 1890. The delivery date is unknown, but it shows that Brooks paid Clarkson $7.31 for the tiles on Aug. 27, 1890. It is marked and signed, “Received Payment, Tho S. Clarkson.”

E.D. (Erasmus) Brooks, was born March 6, 1818, place unknown, according to Potsdam Public Museum Director and Curator Mimi VanDeusen. Brooks was a merchant in Parishville and records show he moved to Potsdam in 1858 with his wife Permelia Sanford Brooks of Hopkinton. They were married in 1841. Brooks was also a member of the state Assembly in 1857, supervisor of Town of Potsdam, and a Collector of Internal Revenue from 1862 to 1876. Brooks died in Potsdam on Nov. 13, 1897.

More documents have been donated to the St. Lawrence County Historical Association, and the bulk of Chris Fay’s estate, antiques from the restaurant owner’s extensive collection, is being handled by Blanchard’s Auction Service in Potsdam.

For more information about the museum visit www.PotsdamPublicMuseum.org or call 265-6910.

The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.