Research


Scope and Content Note

This series consists of documentation used as the basis for many council actions and decisions as recorded in the Council Minutes. It reflects the council's administration of land settlement, economic development, Indian affairs, litigation, and military affairs. Records include correspondence, reports, petitions, orders and warrants created by government officials and by private citizens.

Most of the records are in English and date from the period after 1690. There are scattered documents in Dutch dating from 1666-1690 and, rarely, documents in French. These documents were not recorded in the series of Council Minutes (which record only decisions and actions taken) but were filed for reference.

Specific administrative matters included are: 1) land - instructions to colonial officials regarding land settlement, laws and orders of the governor and council regarding land settlement, and petitions to the governor for land; 2) military affairs - laws and orders of the governor and council regarding military actions, appointments of military officers, petitions to the governor for payments due from soldiers who had received no compensation for service, petitions to the governor for protection from the French and their Indian allies, petitions to the governor for commissions to command ships of war against the French during the French and Indian War, correspondence and orders concerning mobilization of the militia in the French and Indian War, printed proclamations of the king, including the declaration of war against the French in 1756, and reports concerning Jacob Leisler's rebellion and claim to the lieutenant governorship of New York; 3) Indian affairs - instructions to colonial officials and laws and orders of the governor and council regarding trade and relations with Indians, reports and correspondence from inhabitants of Albany regarding their relations with Indians and their fear of attack by the French and Indians, and minutes and reports of the Commissioners of Indian Affairs concerning discussions with and concerns of Indian allies, often in regard to conflicts with the French and their Indian allies;

4) trade and finance - laws and orders of the governor and council regarding taxes, overseas trade restrictions and regulations, regulation and value of coins used, and sale of liquor, petitions to the governor for claimed inheritances, payments due, or trade privileges, and accounts of officials and expenses of the government, e.g. for rebuilding forts at Albany and Schenectady; 5) legal matters - laws and orders of the governor and council regarding jurisdiction and procedures of courts and escaped criminals and servants, and arrest warrants, indictments, arguments of plaintiffs and defendants, verdicts, and punishments of those found guilty; and 6) other matters, such as appointments of administrative officials and records of events preceding and during the Revolution, including depositions of victims or witnesses of assaults on loyalists or suspected loyalists by supporters of the Revolution.

Notable items include: an order of the House of Representatives (April 9, 1691) for the Speaker to address the Council on the rights and privileges of the House; a petition by coopers of South and East Hampton, Long Island (October 13, 1675), for protection against unfair competition from Boston coopers who came in for the winter season (an early effort to confine work of a particular trade to local craftsmen); an order of the New York Executive Council (December 5, 1679) abolishing Indian slavery and servitude; and a directive from the Directors of the Dutch West India Company to Governor Peter Stuyvesant (March 13, 1656) allowing Jews to settle in New Netherland and granting them all civil and political liberties (Jews came from Holland, Brazil, and elsewhere).

A1894-98: This accretion consists of a small number of badly burned parchment documents that strayed from the bulk of the series. Most of the documents are charred or warped beyond all but fragmentary recognition. There are three processing labels referencing three separate documents in the group; only one of the parchments is directly matched with a label.

The one parchment matched with a label is a commission from May 16, 1711 for "Sampson Broughton, to be naval officer, in place of William Chambers" (55.21). The two other labels refer to a commission from May 23, 1709 for "Francis Nicholson to be commander-in- chief of the forces to be sent against Canada" (53-60?); and a "Muster roll of the governor's company in New York, from February 24 to April 24, 1711" (54:158-163).