OF THE COUNCIL OF APPOINTMENT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, 1783-1821. COMPILED AND EDITED BY HUGH HASTINGS, State Historian. HENRY HARMON NOBLE, Chief Clerk. PUBLISHED BY THE STATE OF NEW YORK. Volume I. Albany: JAMES B. LYON, STATE PRINTER. 1901. FORNIA REPORT. Hon. S. F. NIXON, Speaker of the Assembly, Albany, N. Y.: IR-I herewith submit the annual report of the State His torian. While the business of the office has steadily and healthily increased in many respects, the office force remains substantially as it was during the second year of its existence. Not only has the correspondence increased to an inordinate extent, but the queries that have been submitted and answered, from all parts of the country, have in themselves formed no inconsiderable part of the work of the department. The nature of the questions submitted for decision, ranging from those of a purely genealogical nature to those of an important historical character, indicates not only the growing interest of the people all over the country in historical studies and historical pursuits, but has resulted practically in the maintenance of a bureau of information for the dissemination of historical knowledge of all kinds and character. In other respects the department has expanded. The mere work of transcribing official records is in itself comparatively an easy task, but the real labor is involved in preparing and editing the work for the printer, in reading proofs, guarding against inaccuracies of any description, in transcription, in composition and in typographical corrections, and in distributing the volumes after they are printed and bound. During the year 1900 this office printed and distributed three volumes of the Public Papers of George Clinton, and delivered to the state printer two volumes of 886222 iv ANNUAL REPORT OF THE STATE HISTORIAN. the Ecclesiastical History of the State of New York, under authority of the provision made in the supply bill of 1899 and 1900. The number of volumes distributed by this office during that period aggregates 10,490. In addition to the varied nature of this work, the correspondence of the office was scrupulously maintained, and every query that was submitted was answered without unnecessary delay. The report on the work of the Dutch Records Department was transmitted to the Senate January 9th. The present report embraces the military appointments of the Council of Appointment, covering the period from the signing of the treaty of Paris in 1783 to 1821, when, under the action of the Constitutional Convention of that year, the Council of Appointment ceased to exist. Properly to elucidate this matter, it was deemed essential to prepare chapters on the constitutional history of New York during the colonial period, and on the conditions that existed at the time of the adoption of the first constitution of this State. What originally had been intended as a brief outline has expanded into a lengthy treatise, covering the period from the earliest Dutch times to the separation. of the province from the mother country. I remain, Very respectfully, HUGH HASTINGS, STATE HISTORIAN. STATE CAPITOL, ALBANY, April 20, 1901. |