Research: Topics: Transportation: Guide to Canal Records
Guide to Canal Records
Comptroller's Office
Commissioners of the Canal Fund
A1077. Engrossed minutes and index, 1817-1855. 0.6 cu. ft. (3 volumes)
Arrangement: Chronological by meeting date.
Created in 1817 (Chapter 262), the Commissioners of the Canal Fund were responsible for the management of the funds and debts of the State's canals. These engrossed minutes are transcriptions of the Rough Minutes in series A1076 (see below). Included are early minutes missing from the Rough Minutes covering the years 1817-1826. The minutes record deposits in and withdrawals from banks of canal funds; decisions and actions taken by the commissioners concerning canal funds; stock sales, purchases and redemptions; and resolutions adopted by the commissioners.
Indexes: Series B0316, Index to Minutes (page 75), idexes this series from 1817-1854.
A1076. Rough minutes, 1827-1926. 3 cu. ft. (11 volumes)
Arrangement: Chronological by meeting date.
These volumes mostly contain resolutions printed on sheets of paper and pasted onto the pages of the books. The records provide date, officers present, resolution, and vote.
Indexes: Series B0316, Index to Minutes (see below), indexes this series through 1854.
B0316. Index to minutes, 1817-1854. 0.3 cu. ft. (1 volume)
Arrangement: Alphabetical by first letter of name, subject, or agency, then chronological by date of action by commissioners.
This volume serves as an index to both the Engrossed Minutes, series A1077, and the Rough Minutes, series A1076 (page 74). Entries for names, subjects, or agencies usually include a brief remark concerning the nature of the action. Index volumes for minutes after 1854 are not extant.
A0905. Resolutions and reports of the commissioners, 1818,
1825, 1874. 0.5 cu. ft.
Arrangement: None.
These records document the activities of the Commissioners of the Canal Fund. A law of 1817 (Chapter 262) established the canal fund and commissioners and required the commissioners to present to the legislature an annual report on the state of the fund. This series contains the first of these reports (1818), listing receipts and payments and explaining certain aspects of the report. The records also contain resolutions passed by the commissioners (1825) regarding tolls, contracts, and other matters and providing the date and names of the commissioners present at the meeting. There is also an acknowledgment from the Library of Congress (1874) for receipt from the commissioners of a copy of the "Annual Report of the Canal Commissioners of the State of New York."
A1038. Canal Fund loan proposals, 1817-1857. 0.5 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Chronological, then alphabetical by name.
This series contains offers to lend money to the Canal Fund in return for stock. The 1817 law establishing the Canal Fund (Chapter 262) authorized the commissioners of the fund to borrow money from the people of the State at up to 6% interest. For the borrowed money, the comptroller would issue stock certificates payable at a time specified by the commissioners. The loan proposals usually provide date; name of lender; purpose of loan; amount of the loan; and per cent interest on stock.
A0883. Lists of stockholders of Million Dollar Loan and canal loans, 1815-1823. 0.5 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Some lists are alphabetical by name.
This series contains quarterly returns of stockholders of the State's "Million Dollar Loan" and of canal loans between 1817 and 1823. A law of 1815 (Chapter 141) required the Comptroller, as soon as was practicable, to borrow $1,300,000 and to issue stock certificates to shareholders in the loan, the stock to bear 6% interest per year, payable quarterly. The 1817 law establishing the Canal Fund (Chapter 262) authorized the Commissioners of the fund to borrow money at up to 6% interest and also required the Comptroller to issue stock certificates. The lists of stockholders include dates; names of stockholders; amount of stock held; and interest due.
A1012. Schedule of Erie and Champlain Canal stock redeemed by the Commissioners of the Canal Fund, 1838. 0.1 cu. ft. (1 item)
This schedule provides date of payment by Commissioners of the Canal Fund; date of surrender of stock; name of holder; description of stock (interest rate, issuing year); and amount of certificate. Stock was issued pursuant to a law of 1821 (Chapter 36).
A1395. Statements of proceeds from sales of Canal Fund
lands, 1826-1833. 0.5 cu. ft.
Arrangement: None.
The Commissioners of the Canal Fund invested in lands in various parts of the State. Proceeds of the Onondaga Salt Springs Reservation lands were appropriated for improvements to the Oswego River navigation by Chapter 279, Laws of 1824. Unsold and mortgaged lands granted to the State for canals were included in the Canal Fund, and the Commissioners of the Canal Fund had general powers to manage property of the fund.
Each statement of proceeds in this series provides year, proceeds from lands sold (location not given), and distribution of monies to the Erie and Champlain Canal Fund and the Oswego Canal Fund. There are also miscellaneous memoranda; a table of payments for individual lots in the Onondaga Salt Spring Reservation, 1822-1826; a statement of payments for lots in Canal Fund lands on Grand Island, to 1826; and a receipt signed by James Geddes, 1828.
A1388. Legal documentation relating to lands conveyed to Commissioners of the Canal Fund, 1861-1881. 0.5 cu. ft.
Arrangement: None.
This series consists of deeds, mortgages, bonds, assignments and traced maps of lots in Buffalo. The land was conveyed to the Commissioners of the Canal Fund as collateral for two judgments against Thadeus W. Patchin, who filed for bankruptcy in 1874. In 1881 the Commissioners of the Canal Fund empowered the State Treasurer to settle or cancel back taxes on the Buffalo lots; this series also contains tax searches, copies of resolutions of the Commissioners of the Canal fund, and other documents relating to this issue.
A1163. Documents relating to deposit of Canal Funds in banks, ca. 1831-1901. 8 cu. ft.
Arrangement: None.
Most of the documents are statements of deposit of Canal Fund monies in banks across the State. The statements vary in format because they were submitted on bank stationery, but they generally include date of statement, name of bank, and amounts deposited on various dates. Interfiled with the statements are receipts, canceled checks, certificates of deposit, lists of canal toll deposits, and resolutions of bank board of directors for deposit of funds by the Commissioners of the Canal Fund. Deposit of surplus monies of the Canal Fund in banks was authorized by a law of 1831 (Chapter 286).
A1094. List of contracts with banks for interest on canal money, 1831-1834. 0.1 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Chronological.
This series contains three pages listing contracts with banks allowing an interest on deposits of Canal moneys at sixty days for 4.5 or 5% interest. This list was probably generated by the Comptroller's Office since he was a member of the Commissioners of the Canal Fund. Each entry provides date of the contract; contract number; name of bank; and rate of interest.
A1097. Monthly balances of canal monies in banks, 1834-1844. 0.5 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Entries provide name of bank; amounts of money on loan and on deposit; amount remaining in each bank; and grand totals. Money was presumably receipts from tolls deposited by Commissioners of the Canal Fund as authorized by a law of 1817 (Chapter 262).
A1170. Bonds of banks holding deposits of Canal Fund monies, 1855-1867. 0.2 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Chronological.
Series consists of two principal types of documents. The first takes the form of articles of agreement made between the State of New York and a bank, specifying terms and conditions of deposit of monies of the Canal Fund, signed by officers of the bank and sworn to by them with seal of the bank impressed. The same form contains the bond of the officer of the bank to pay over all money deposited according to terms of agreement, and affidavits of the sureties (usually the bank officers) stating that they are worth a sum of money.
The second type of document is a printed form (supplied by the Canal Department) containing the text of the resolution of the bank directors accepting the terms and conditions of the agreement. Also found occasionally are letters, memoranda, and canceled checks, often bearing letterheads of the bank. Bank bonds in this series were posted for at least three different types of deposits: the Canal Fund Sinking Fund authorized by legislation of 1846 (Revised Statutes, Part I, Chapter 9, Title 2, Section 1); "Premium Loan" for canal enlargement, authorized by legislation of 1854 (Chapter 329, Section 6); and the "Canal Repair Trust Fund," authorized by legislation of 1861 (Chapter 177).
A0813. Bank book, 1839-1844. 0.1 cu. ft. (1 volume)
Arrangement: Chronological.
This series consists of entries of deposits and withdrawals (in ledger form) in the account of the Commissioners of the Canal Fund in the Canal Bank. The Commissioners of the Canal Fund were empowered to deposit moneys of the Canal Fund in banks by legislation of 1836 (Revised Statutes, Part I, Chapter 9, Title 2, Sections 11-12).
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