Research


Scope and Content Note

This series consists of certified copies of awards by the Canal Appraisers (through 1883) and the Board of Claims (1883-1897), and of judgments of the Court of Claims (1897-1953).

These awards were made for damages to lands adjacent to state canals. Many of these damages were sustained by private persons when their lands were appropriated temporarily or permanently for repairs or enlargement of the Erie Canal, for the so-called $9,000,000 improvement at the turn of the century, and for construction of the Barge Canal system, including terminals. There are also awards for flood damages to private property and some for back wages owed to canal employees, the latter dating from the late nineteenth century.

Files before 1849 generally consist of only the claimant's receipt to the Canal Commissioners acknowledging payment for land appropriated for the Erie Canal Enlargement or for other damages to lands. The receipt states the town where the damaged property was situated but does not describe the property in detail. On the back of the receipt is the signed certificate of one of the Canal Commissioners that the land has been occupied and appropriated temporarily or permanently for enlargement or repair of the Erie or one of the branch canals. Occasionally a power of attorney or an assignment of claim accompanies the receipt. When the claimant was deceased, there are copies of his will, the proof of will, and other documents identifying his heirs. A few files include abstracts of title and maps. After 1849, the filed documents include a certified copy of the award of the Canal Appraisers.

After the Board of Claims took over the judicial functions of the Board of Canal Appraisers in 1883, the typical file contains a certified copy of the award (including a finding of facts), the claimant's receipt for money paid to him by the Superintendent of Public Works, the Attorney General's certificate that no court appeal will be taken, and the county treasurer's certificate that the damaged parcel has no tax lien against it. Some of the awards were made for back wages owed to canal employees. Other documents found occasionally are abstracts of title, copies of documents relating to a deceased claimant's estate, and the record and brief filed in a case appealed to the General Term of the Supreme Court.

The files after 1897 contain certified copies of the judgment of the new Court of Claims, releases of further claims against the state, and assignments of judgments to banks for collection, as well as the same documents as those filed with the predecesor Board of Claims.

The filed documents for the Erie and Barge Canals are numbered sequentially by date of award, from 1 to 12945. There are separate numbering sequences for the Champlain, Oswego, Black River, and Chenango canals. Many files are missing, and there are none present for the other branch canals.

B0602-06: This accretion consists of one volume (1917-1948) listing claims by private citizens or businesses who suffered damages in the creation of the Erie, Champlain, Oswego, Cayuga and Seneca, and Black River Canals. The volume is divided into five sections: Erie, Champlain, Oswego, Cayuga and Seneca, and Black River Canals with an index in the front of the book. Each section lists the claim number, name of person or company, cost of damages, canal name, and date.