Department. ALBANY, October 1, 1910. Hon. FRANK M. WILLIAMS, State Engineer and Surveyor: Sir. I have the honor to present herewith a report on the various matters pertaining to the Land Bureau of your Department for the fiscal year ended September 30, 1910. The Commissioners of the Land Office have applications for grants of land under water which are referred to this Department for examination and report; as are also a large number of miscellaneous matters relating to State lands. These matters require careful inspection and naturally consume a great deal of time. The maps are examined to determine their correctness and proper form, both from an engineering standpoint and to insure their conformity to the rules and regulations of the Land Office. In some cases it is also necessary to visit and inspect the locations of the proposed grants to decide as to the advisability of making the grants on the lines of the application, or, if necessary, to have them modified. It is also at times deemed advisable to deny some of these applications on account of interference with navigation or with the rights of the public. Some applications were contested or had remonstrances filed against them, and hearings have been necessary to determine the rights of the several interested parties and report the outcome to the Commissioners of the Land Office. There have been made in this Department, for the use of the State Engineer and Surveyor and the Commissioners of the Land Office, maps showing the lands under water granted by the Commissioners adjacent to the shores of Albany, Columbia, Clinton, Dutchess, Erie, Greene, Jefferson, Kings, Nassau, Niagara, Onondaga, Orange, Otsego, Queens, Rensselaer, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, Ulster and Westchester counties. These maps are brought up to date and are of great value for reference in adjusting land grants. Thirty-four applications for grants of land under water were considered by this Department during the year. Two were for commerce, one for railroad purposes and the remainder for restricted beneficial enjoyment. The lands were in the following counties: Dutchess, Erie, Jefferson, Kings, New York, Nassau, Putnam, Richmond, Rensselaer, Suffolk and Westchester. The State Engineer and Surveyor has sold at public auction all of those unappropriated lands of the State which have been ordered to be sold by the Commissioners of the Land Office. The records of the office show that there were held during the year seventeen public auctions, at which twenty-three parcels of land were sold. The sum of $18,534.62 was realized therefrom. Of these lands fifteen parcels were acquired through the Comptroller's tax sales, six from foreclosure of loan mortgages and two from other sources. The lands are located in the following counties: Albany, Clinton, Essex, Kings, Monroe, Niagara, Richmond, Oneida, Rockland, Seneca, Tioga and Ulster. There has been the usual amount of correspondence and answering of inquiries from surveyors, lawyers and others on matters pertaining to the original maps and descriptions of the Colonial and early State surveys filed in this office. The answering of such inquiries often requires much time and study, as there are frequently more than one survey of the same land made at different times by various surveyors, and none should be overlooked. These maps become more valuable as time passes; and as a large part of them are very old and describe lines of tracts of land which have become, in many instances, the boundaries of towns and counties, the value of those records become still greater. For better preserving these records they have been rearranged, placed in bound volumes and indexed for convenience of reference. That it is the proper method for the care of these valuable papers, and that it affords greater facility for finding particular papers with the certainty that none have been overlooked, has already been fully demonstrated. A catalogue of the maps and papers on file in this Bureau is appended to this report. In 1859 the Legislature published a catalogue of maps and surveys in the offices of several State officials, compiled by David E. E. Mix, which included a part of the appended list. Not since 1859 has anything of this character been issued. Respectfully, MERRITT PECKHAM, JR., Assistant Engineer in charge of Land Bureau. CATALOGUE OF MAPS AND PAPERS IN THE LAND BUREAU OF THE STATE ENGINEER'S DEPARTMENT. Compiled by Merritt Peckham, Jr., Assistant Engineer in charge of Land Bureau. No. 1 MISCELLANEOUS MAPS. Map of the North Tier of lots in the Massachusetts, or Boston Ten 2 Map of subdivision of STATE LANDS in Otsego county, lying on Crumhorn mountain; by B. Gilbert, 1813. 3 Map of unappropriated land in town of Fort Ann, Washington Co. Laid into 21 lots by S. D. Kellogg. June, 1815. 4 Map of lots in Fifth Ward, city of Albany, Arsenal lot. (Copy from an old map of John R. Bleecker.) 5 Map of two tracts of land in Warren county. TONGUE MOUNTAIN Tract, 52 lots, towns of Bolton and Hague; WARRENSBURG Tract, 22 lots, town of Warrensburg; by S. D. Kellogg, 1815. 6 Totten & Crossfield's Purchase Township No. 42, Hamilton and Herkimer counties; also Township No. 43, Herkimer Co.; surveyed by John Richards, Jan. and Feb, 1816. 7 Map of the village of LEWISTON, Niagara Co.; by Lemuel Foster, 1816. 8 Plan of village of LEWISTON, Niagara Co.; 1798, by act of Legislature. 9 Map of water front, village of TROY, Rensselaer Co.; 1803, by John E. Van Alen. 10 Totten & Crossfield's Purchase, Township No. 23 and triangle adjacent, Hamilton county; January, 1817, by John Richards. 11 Unappropriated land in Essex county, called ROARING BROOK Tract; towns of Elizabethtown and Keene; by S. D. Kellogg, 1817. 12 Map of PUTNAM CREEK Tract, Essex county, town of Crown Point; October, 1818, by George Webster; also BULWAGGA BAY Tract, Essex county, town of Moriah and Crown Point; 13 Map of the village of BLACK ROCK, Erie county; by Lemuel Foster, 1816. 14 Lands ceded by the St. Regis Indians, 1816-18, Franklin Co.; surveyed September, 1818, by Charles C. Brodhead. 15 Totten & Crossfield's Purchase, Township No. 6, Hamilton Co.; filed 1817. 16 Maps of forts Crown Point, Ticonderoga and Fort George; 1801, by George Webster, for the Regents of the University. 17 Map of SCHNEYDER'S Patent, called Mapletown, Rensselaer county, town of Hoosic and part in Vermont; by Alex. Colden. No. 18 MISCELLANEOUS MAPS - Continued Map of the Southwest tract in NEW STOCKBRIDGE, Madison county, purchased from Indians June, 1819; by C. C. Brodhead; also Map of the Northeast tract in NEW STOCKBRIDGE, Oneida county; purchased from Indians, July, 1819. 19 Map of three tracts of STATE LAND in town of Windsor, Broome county and adjacent tracts; by Wm. Macclure, 1819. 20 21 OLD MILITARY Tract, Townships 11 and 12, Essex Co., Thorn's survey; Part of FISH CREEK Reservation, Lots 1 to 12, purchased from Oneida 22 Map of FISH CREEK lands belonging to the STATE, Oneida county; surveyed 1809, by Benjamin Wright. 23 24 Part of FISH CREEK Reservation, Lots 37 to 57 both sides, Oneida Part of FISH CREEK Reservation, called Indian Meadows, reserved for 25 Township of SOLON, Lots Nos. 9 and 73, Cortland county; escheated 1821. 26 Township of POMPEY, Lot No. 79, Onondaga county; 1821. 27 Township of POMPEY, Lot No. 63, Onondaga county; 1821. 28 Township of FABIUS, Lot No. 12, Onondaga county; 1821. 29 Township of FABIUS, Lot No. 20, Onondaga county. 30 Map of HOUTTON'S BUSH, Washington county, town of Westfield; surveyed 1798, run into lots in 1801 by James Cockburn. 31 Map of levels along SENECA river, June, 1812. 32 Map of THORN'S SURVEY Tract, Essex county, town of Chesterfield; surveyed 1805, by Stephen Thorn. 33 Map of MORRIS Patent, Otsego county, town of Butternuts, between Susquehanna and Unadilla rivers. 34 Totten & Crossfield's Purchase, Township No. 51, being a triangle north of No. 38, in Herkimer and Hamilton counties; by John Richards, 1821. 35 Totten & Crossfield's Purchase, Township No. 37, Hamilton county; by John Richards, 1821. 36 Totten & Crossfield's Purchase, Township No. 39, Hamilton county; by John Richards, 1821. 37 Map of MOOSE RIVER Tract, Hamilton and Herkimer counties; surveyed by John Richards, Deputy Surveyor, 1820. 38 Map of MOOSE RIVER Tract, Townships 1, 2, and 3, Hamilton and 39 Map of MoOSE RIVER Tract, Township No. 1, Herkimer county; surveyed 1821, by Samuel B. Anderson. 40 Map of MoOSE RIVER Tract. Township No. 2, Herkimer county; surveyed 1821, by Samuel B. Anderson. 41 Map of MOOSE RIVER Tract, Township No. 3, Hamilton and Herkimer counties; surveyed 1821, by San.uel B. Anderson. 42 Map of MOOSE RIVER Tract, Township No. 9, Hamilton county; surveyed 1820, by John Richards. No. 43 MISCELLANEOUS MAPS Continued OLD MILITARY Tract, part of Township No. 12, Essex county; surveyed 1805, by Stephen Thorn. 44 Map of FIRST PAGAN Purchase from Oneida Indians, Oneida county, town of Verona; 1809, by James Geddes. 45 46 47 GORE in the division of PITTSTOWN, Rensselaer county; surveyed in 1807 by John Kiersted. Map of unappropriated lands, being Township No. 1 of the Old Mili- Map of SOUTH BAY Tract, Washington county, town of Dresden; laid 48 Map of STATE LAND, Essex county, town of Ticonderoga; surveyed 1808, by John Kiersted. 49 Map of SCHROON Tract, Essex county, town of Schroon; also BRANT LAKE Tract, Washington county, town of Bolton; surveyed 1803, by George Webster, Deputy Surveyor. 50 Map of WESTFIELD Tract, Washington county, town of Fort Ann; surveyed 1803, by Stephen Thorn. 51 CLINTON township, easternmost range of lots, Chenango county; also confluence of Unadilla and Susquehanna rivers; surveyed Nov., 1787, by John Cox. 52 Map of COXEBOROUGH, or CoxE's Patent, Oneida county. 53 Map of ONTARIO and STEUBEN counties; includes what is now Yates and part of Livingston, Monroe, Schuyler and Wayne counties. (Prior to 1829.) 54 Map of the ORISKANY, or Oriskary Patent, Oneida county; by G. Lansing, surveyor, June, 1785. 55 56 Part of GLEN's Purchase and part of ROYAL Grant, First Allotment, Lands under water of Hudson river opposite Albany, N. Y., estate of 57 Map of LAKE GEORGE Tract, Washington county, towns of Dresden and Fort Ann; surveyed by S. D. Kellogg, 1811-12. 58 PERU BAY Tract, Essex county, towns of Willsboro, Lewis and Chesterfield; surveyed into 130 lots in 1811 by George Webster, Deputy Surveyor. 59 IRON ORE Tract, Essex county, towns of Moriah, Westport and Elizabethtown; surveyed 1810-11, by S. D. Kellogg. 60 Map of the GORE in Clinton county, town of Plattsburg, adjoining Duer's Patent; laid into 10 lots, by G. Webster, 1819; also Map of GORE adjoining Scaroon lake, Warren county; surveyed October, 1819, by George Webster. 61 Map of SPLIT ROCK Tract, Essex county, town of Westport; also four pieces of Platt Rogers, Robert Lewis and James Judd; surveyed in 1811 by George Webster. |