New York State Assembly Petitions, Correspondence, and Reports Relating to Forfeited Estates

Series is arranged roughly chronologically.

In 1779, the State Legislature authorized confiscation of lands belonging to loyalists and provided for commissioners of forfeitures to sell or otherwise dispose of the lands. The commissioners of forfeitures were abolished in 1788 and the surveyor general assumed responsibility for disposing of estates forfeited by loyalists. Assembly committees approved transactions relating to land confiscated from loyalists or suspected loyalists. The committees approved sale of the land, considered requests to restore land to its original owner, reviewed creditors' claims for payment, and considered various other compensation requests.

Various types of records were reviewed by the committees in conducting business related to forfeited estates: petitions to purchase forfeited lands; petitions for deeds to forfeited lands purchased; returns of sales listing purchasers, forfeitor, and prices; inventories of personal property sold from confiscated estates; maps showing lots on forfeited estates; petitions from suspected loyalists and supporting depositions affirming their support for the American cause and requesting restoration of their forfeited estates; petitions from creditors of forfeitors requesting payment of debts; and opinions of committee members concerning compensation due to petitioners.

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

A4016 Records of Surveys and Maps of State Lands, [ca. 1686-1892], contains records pertaining to loyalists and the sale of land confiscated from loyalists during and after the Revolutionary War.

Alphabetical name indexes were compiled for the first three volumes when these records comprised Volumes 25, 26, 27, and 28 of the "Assembly Papers."

On April 20, 1830, the Legislative Assembly resolved that Azariah C. Flagg and others be employed to examine the assembly archives, to select from such original papers and documents as judged to be proper, and to deposit the papers in the office of the Secretary of State. In June and July, 1831, the papers selected were deposited and bound in 45 volumes designated as "Assembly Papers." This series was originally bound as Volumes 25, 26, 27, and 28 of the "Assembly Papers." The records suffered minor burn damage in the State Capitol fire of 1911 and were disbound.

These records suffered minor burn damage in the State Capitol fire of 1911. Microfilm copy of series should be consulted initially and original records used under supervision if necessary.