New York State Governor Blotters of Governors' Actions and Decisions

Chronological by date of action or decision.

These blotters served as a preliminary record of actions and decisions as they were made by the governor. Information was transcribed from this preliminary record into the journals comprising series A0607, Journals of Governors' Actions and Decisions, which served as the permanent record of these activities. These records were kept pursuant to Laws of 1858, Chapter 64, which required the governor to record in books all applications made to him for appointments, pardons, commutations of sentences, or other gubernatorial actions, and to keep on file the original documentation relating to each application.

The blotters generally provide information on the following: appointments and nominations of civil, judicial, and military officers; names of applicants for appointments, pardons, commutations of sentences, or restoration of citizenship rights; resignations accepted by the governor; grants or refusals of extradition requests ("requisitions") from governors of other states; titles or introductory numbers of legislative bills received, signed, or vetoed, often accompanied (for vetoes) by transcriptions of the governor's veto message to the legislature; and expenditures approved.

The first few blotters contain handwritten entries similar to those in the journals. However, most of the volumes contain pasted-in copies of original documents recording the actions and decisions. For instance, many volumes are comprised of certificates of appointment or veto messages. Also found less frequently in these blotters are documents such as approval messages for legislation; special messages to the legislature; incoming correspondence; reports; and determinations after special investigations. Information from these documents was later extracted for entry into the journals, and the blotter documents were then crossed out or checked off. For this reason, the blotters often contain more complete information than do the journals (in addition to covering a broader time span). However, the blotters often lack entries which are present in the journals (e.g., transcriptions of the governors' annual messages to the legislature). In addition, blotters for 1897-1904 are missing.

A0599Series A0599, Extradition Requisition and Mandate Registers and Blotters

A0607Series A0607, Journals of Governor's Actions and Decisions and

A0622Series A0622, Ledgers of Governors' Actions and Decisions, contain related records regarding requisitions and mandates.

Two volumes (1861 and 1908) were reintegrated with this series after previously having been misfiled as Volumes 3 and 4 (mislabeled as Volumes 1 and 4) of Series A0625 (old collection #625).

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