New York State Institution for the Blind Ledger Accounts of Counties

Chronological by year, then roughly alphabetical by county name.

Chapter 587 of the Laws of 1865 authorized placement of indigent pupils from counties proportionally, according to the ratio of each county's blind population to the total blind population of the state. The county paid an annual sum toward the support of each person sent to the institution from that county. In addition, Chapter 744 of the Laws of 1867 and Chapter 463 of the Laws of 1873 provided for the institution's management and handling of county support payments for indigent students.

This series is a ledger of accounts of counties held by the institution. It comprises the bulk of a volume entitled "Old County Accounts" which also includes scattered unrelated information on supply payments, inventories, and weekly support costs. The accounts appear to record charges to and payments by counties, in cash or by county orders, for expenses of students at the institution from 1873-1880.

The format for the accounts is that of separate listings for each county giving dates, students' names, and amounts credited or debited. Sometimes a town or city name appears as part of the county heading. For later years (1879-1880) lists appear headed as "County Orders Received" and entries left or deposited "at the First National Bank for Collection".

Pages at the end of the volume contain information unrelated to this series but dated from the years immediately following it. The information falls roughly into two groups. The first, on pages 194-200, includes: payments made to individuals (1882-1885) for supplies (handles, wires, nails) apparently related to the broom industry; provisions and annual maintenance inventories (1886); and one summary statement of groceries, dated October 4, 1886. The second section, on pages 235-241, includes penciled mathematical calculations under an initial note: "Average Weekly Costs of Support..." that apparently represent attempts to calculate support costs of students. Headings appear giving "corrected figures" on the advice of the State Board of Charities, and for the years 1883 and 1884; 1879 and 1880; and 1877 and 1878. The penciled notations are sparsely labeled and difficult to follow, indicating that these blank ending pages of the volume were used as work sheets to prepare figures, perhaps for an administrative report.

Microfilm is available for use at the New York State Archives or through interlibrary loan.

An alphabetical index at the fore of the volume gives page numbers for some, but not all, of the county listings for various years.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this material.