Research

Scope and Content Note

This fragmentary series is comprised of documents removed from, or never filed into, other series of governor's records. There is no indication of when the documents were brought together, by whom, or for what purpose. Although the series was transferred from the State Comptroller's Office, there is no apparent connection between the records and that office and no indication of when, how, or why that office acquired the records.

Much of the series consists of routine appointment records, including: letters recommending that specified persons be appointed or not be appointed; letters of application for positions; letters tendering resignations from positions; and commission certificates. Appointment records relate to positions such as: commissioner of deeds; New York State Supreme Court justice; New York State Court of Appeals judge; loan commissioner; tax commissioner; excise commissioner; manager or trustee of a state institution; and notary public. Some of the correspondence is similar to that found in series A0612, Appointment Correspondence Files, and may have been removed from that series and never refiled.

The series also includes other records such as: documents regarding charges of misconduct and malfeasance in office against county district attorneys, similar to records found in series A0531, Investigation Case Files of Charges and Complaints Against Public Officials and Agencies; extradition documents regarding fugitives from other states; and copies or drafts of proclamations, e.g. Thanksgiving Day, France Day (April 1917 "day of welcome" for French delegation arriving after United States entry into World War I), American Indian Day (draft - May 13, 1917), and a military census (June 6, 1917) (record copies of governors' proclamations are in series 13035, Department of State, Proclamations by the Governor).

Among the more interesting documents in this series are: letter written and signed by Jacob A. Riis to Governor Charles E. Hughes (1910) congratulating him on his appointment to the United States Supreme Court bench and making a recommendation for appointment to the position of Adjutant General; letter to Governor Hughes from Daniel E. Sickles (1910), Civil War general and chairman of the New York Monuments Commission for the Battlefields of Gettysburg and Chattanooga, regarding a New York monument dedication ceremony on Lookout Mountain, Tennessee; letter from Sickles to Governor John Dix (1912) recommending a legislative appropriation of funds to send New York veterans of Gettysburg to visit the battlefield in 1913 for the 50-year anniversary observance; signed oath of office of Governor Martin H. Glynn, 1913; and letters from New York Times publisher Adolph S. Ochs and U.S. Senator Elihu Root to Governor Glynn accepting appointment to the Committee of Mercy "formed to care for the women and children made destitute" by the World War (1914).

A0197-97: This accretion includes documents pertaining to applications for appointments to commissions; regulation of oleo margarine production; and requests from governors of other states for extradition of fugitives.