Research: Topics: Transportation: Guide to Canal Records
Guide to Canal Records
Comptroller's Office
Canal Board
A0868. Minutes, 1833-1855. 1 cu. ft. (4 volumes)
Arrangement: Chronological.
Four volumes of minutes document the Canal Board's administration of the canals in accordance with legislation of 1826 (Chapter 314). The records consist mostly of resolutions and financial statements concerning the canals and provide date; names of persons present; names of persons making motions; resolutions; and votes.
Indexes: Volume 1 ("B") contains a rough alphabetical name and location index in front. Series A0859, Index to Rough Minutes of the Canal Board and to Petitions and Appeals to the Canal Board (page 58), can also serve as an index to this series from 1845 to 1855.
A0856. Rough minutes, 1832-1926. 82 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Volumes contain written and typed rough minutes documenting the Canal Board's administration of the canals in accordance with legislation of 1826 (Chapter 314, Section 4) and 1870 (Chapter 55). The series is comprised mainly of resolutions (both written and, later, printed) and financial statements concerning issuing of stock; transfer of bank accounts; purchase of real estate; settlement of wages; estimates of canal repairs; and approval for the payment of monies to contractors for work performed.
Finding aids: Volume list.
A1140. Petitions and appeals to the Canal Board ("Canal Board papers"), 1828-1926. 70 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Chronological by year, then by assigned document number.
This series consists mostly of filed petitions and appeals to the Board along with minutes of hearings, testimony, and other related documents and a few miscellaneous items. These records document the Board's responsibilities for hearing damage claims and appeals, directing special repairs, and other canal-related administrative matters.
Petitions of individuals, firms, or local governments request leases of water rights and other canal property; extra allowances on contracts; abandonment (cancellation) of contracts; reimbursement for damages to land and other property; improvements such as new culverts, docks, bridges, and other structures; abandonment and sale of unused canal lands; refund of tolls; and other actions by the Board.
The series also contains appeals from decisions of the Board of Appraisers (1829-1857), Canal Appraisers (1857-1883), and Board of Claims (1883-1897), with accompanying exhibits, testimony, and correspondence; resignations of canal employees; complaints about the conduct of employees, including depositions charging corruption and fraud; construction proposals, maps, plans, and cost estimates from canal engineers, often with signed approvals of the Canal Commissioners; construction contracts; and check rolls and vouchers submitted by Superintendents of Repairs during the 1860s. After 1900 most of the records concern construction of the Barge Canal and its terminals.
Finding aids: Container list.
Indexes: Series A1434, Index to Petitions and Appeals to the Canal Board (see below), indexes this series from 1828-1832. Series A0859, Index to Minutes of the Canal Board and to Petitions and Appeals to the Canal Board (see below), indexes this series from 1845-1925.
Available on microfilm.
A0859. Index to rough minutes of the Canal Board and to petitions and appeals to the Canal Board, 1845-1925. 2.7 cu. ft. (16 volumes)
Arrangement: Alphabetical by name or subject, then chronological by date of Canal Board action.
This series provides access to two central Canal Board record series: Rough Minutes (Series A0856) and Petitions and Appeals to the Canal Board (Series A1140); it also serves as an index to part of the surviving Canal Board Minutes (Series A0868).
Each entry provides a brief statement of the subject or name; date; document number assigned in Petitions and Appeals (A1140) (sometimes); and a phrase summarizing the document and/or Board action. Most entries are under names of persons (e.g. canal officers; petitioners), places, or canals or canal sections. Examples of subjects listed are: appeals from decisions of Canal Appraisers; abandonment of canals or land; aqueducts; bridges; banks handling canal deposits; contracts for repairs; dams; dredging; excavation; grade crossings; highways adjacent to canals; inspectors appointed; maps and plans of construction; navigation; piers; reservoirs; salt duties; steam vessels; terminals (e.g. construction); tolls; and weigh masters appointed.
Finding aids: Volume list.
Available on microfilm.
A1434. Index to petitions and appeals to the Canal Board, 1828-1832. 0.1 cu. ft. (1 volume)
Arrangement: Rough alphabetical by first letter of name, location, or subject, then chronological.
This index provides access to numbered documents in the first five years of Series A1140, Petitions and Appeals to the Canal Board ("Canal Board Papers"). The index contains entries by name, place, or subject; date of document; filing number of document; and a brief statement of the purpose or subject of the document.
Available on microfilm.
A1086. Account of expenditures for constructing Champlain Canal, 1818-1824. 0.5 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Chronological.
This account book lists expenditures for construction of the Champlain Canal from the Hudson River to Whitehall. Each entry provides contractor's name; brief description of work performed; rate of pay; and amount of pay. Included are accounts relating to excavation, masonry and carpentry work, repairs, and damages to adjoining property. A running total is kept at the bottom of each page and a grand total at the end. Also at the end is a certification by William Jerome, principal-engineer, stating that entries in the book were made from certificates given by himself and James Geddes to persons who performed the work at agreed prices. The book presumably came into the possession of the Comptroller in his capacity as a member of the Canal Board.
A1438. Canal operating and administrative files, 1827-1833. 0.2 cu. ft.
Arrangement: None.
The documents in this series are apparently part of a larger series of filed documents of the Canal Board, now lost. The records were labelled "Miscellaneous Canal Board Papers, 1827-1833." They include draft circulars to canal employees; tables of distances on canals; abstracts of blanks furnished to toll collectors; statements of tolls collected (including totals for packet boats, which are named); and draft reports on canal affairs.
Available on microfilm.
A1160. Financial and legal records filed with the Canal Department, 1841-1885. 0.5 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Rough chronological.
Records relating to canals include powers of attorney filed with the Canal Auditor or the Comptroller for many different purposes. Most furnish evidence of assignment of contracts for work on canals by the original contractor to another party; assignments of State canal stock; transfers of claims against the State; and chattel mortgages on canal boats.
A1088. Sample form book compiled by Canal Department, 1850-1883. 1 volume
Arrangement: Rough chronological order.
This series consists of sample printed forms mounted in a blank book. The forms contained are 1) circular letters from the Canal Department to Superintendents of Canal Repairs and Collectors of Canal Tolls, and 2) resolutions of the Canal Board regarding routine management of the canal, canal toll rates, and other canal business. A few late forms were issued by the Superintendent of Public Works, an office established in 1878 to succeed the Canal Commissioners.
A1468. Testimony and brief in case of Black River claims heard by Canal Appraisers, 1869-1871. 0.2 cu. ft. (2 volumes)
Printed testimony heard by the Canal Appraisers at Utica in 1869 concerns claims against the State for damages incurred by the rupture of the dam at the North Lake Reservoir on the Black River in the winter of 1869. The Canal Appraisers conducted their inquiry pursuant to legislation of 1869. The testimony includes extensive hydrologic and engineering data concerning the dam and reservoir and the flood which followed the bursting of the dam. The testimony also provides considerable information about mills, bridges, and other property damaged by the flood. Accompanying the testimony is a brief on behalf of the State, printed in 1871.
A1278. Register of dates of occupation on lands appropriated for the Barge Canal, 1906-1916. 0.2 cu. ft. (1 volume)
Arrangement: Chronological; also numerical by contract number.
This register lists parcels of land appropriated for use on each contract. Legislation of 1903 (Chapter 147) identifies procedures for appropriation of lands for the Barge Canal. The volume provides land parcel number, reputed owner, and date occupied by the State, and also includes accompanying correspondence from the Special Deputy State Engineer to the Secretary of the Canal Board.
A1274. Barge Canal construction monthly reports, 1910-1916. 0.3 cu. ft. (2 volumes)
Arrangement: Chronological.
These are volumes of monthly reports and cover letters from the State Engineer and Surveyor to the Secretary of the Canal Board (1910-1914) and to the Comptroller (1915-1916). The reports contain contract number; location of construction; names of contractors; summary of work done; and percentage of work done. The reports are signed by a deputy State engineer. Legislation of 1903-1909 provided for construction and improvements on canals, specified contracting procedures, and outlined the duties of the State Engineer and Surveyor in regard to such construction.
