New York State Comptroller's Office Documents Relating to Canal Claims

Documents relate to claims against the state, mostly for money owed on contracts and for damages to property adjacent to the canal. The series includes: minutes of testimony in cases heard by the Canal Appraisers, the Canal Commissioners, or the Canal Board; notices of awards by the Canal Appraisers, and list of awards for the years 1843-1849; scattered affidavits, notices of appeals, opinions, and briefs relating to canal claims (including a few documents from the Supreme Court and the Court of Chancery); a few chattel mortgages on canal boats; and other documents. The documents are apparently fragments of a larger series now lost. It is unclear whether they were originally filed by the Canal Appraisers, by the Chief Clerk of the Canal Department, or by the Comptroller. Laws of 1817 and 1829 provided for appraisal of damages.

Series A1442, Maps and Plans of Canal Structures, includes some maps which may have originally been used as exhibits in cases heard by the Canal Appraisers.

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