New-York tribune., 1908-07-12
LEDGER NO l
ISeI-17o0-


LEDGER NO
1ssI-17o0-
=. The back are pasted printed labels. such as
,-s rs.d on the books Of to-day. They were put
= ne historic relic in 1853 in the administration
:. r.---o1ler Hawes One in green at the top
-. May 1871 10 Nov I7en-' Then comes one
!. -.s reading. u Ledger No. L. and another in
=. sane color with the words Corporation of the
c-v of New York" AT the bottom Is e black label
ytssins. "Charnberl'ns Office.
The hook Is made up Of about 3oo pages Of pure,
tssvy linen paper. such as now sometimes is used
!. .ocisl correspondence The paper is plain and
me bookkeeper-probably the treasurer himself
-glss # Of with red and black lines TO suit his
,r-zrrisnce and also numbered the pages. Every
,asA is intact. although some are badly yellowed
5, the edges by the hand Of Time
One Of the most remarkable things about this
---srksble volume is the way in which the Ink
t,s stood the test Of time There is not an entry
thst cannot be read. Some Of the ink has faxed
considerably but many OF the entries stand out as
hold srs clear as the day they were made. The
ouslrv Of the ink goes 10 show that in the making
s sne things We have not improved in the course
G. Two centuries
!, or5e- rroperlv 70 appreciate the records found
n. book Il might be well TO have brief
sEnrse e. the history of the period When lfls
r-c7noe Of New Netherlands passed from control
fHe Dutch and into the hands Of the English IN
~ the population Of the city Of New Amsterdam
his- rschrs,ened New York, was about hfteen
hundred -euls In 1855 the Dongan charter, which
declared that the city should comprise me Isialo
Of Manhattan placed the city government on
dssrre footing Under the charter the Governor
Of TIE province retained the power Of appointing
tts Nsvor Treasurer Recorder, Sheriff. Coroner
Eigh Constable and Town Clerk The Mayor was
Cne ot the three members Of the Governors Cabl-
In ls8 the fort and the government were selHeo
By Jacob LeisIer and two of the Governors Caol-
ns were thrown into prison. But Mayor Ste
Thanas Van Co-tlandt escaped TO Albany Inc
Lesser domination ended and its head was exc
CRED after the arrival Of Colonel Henry Sloughter
lhs new Governor Of The province, IN January ~
NJ Then il vas that an orderly system OF gov
s-nsnt was established and the prosperity OF the
cry began. i was not long before the nnanclai
s-lfs Of the city were systenlstized and recoros
f-s begun, as evidenced by the first ledger, oauhs
esk from May of that year.
Trs ledger covers the administrations Of Mayors
'am Lawrence Abraham DePeyster, Wiiiian
Esat Johannes DePeyster and David Provost
he latter was promoted from Treasurer to
Asyrt, while Ehenezer Wilson. who was Treas
n- f- most OF the period, became Mayor in IlV1'
sa1 served for tFlrea years
ne systern oS keeping ACCOUNTS in the ledger was
simple one. and no doubt the Commissioners OF
As1gzis who have to wrestle with the present
clz4oSted system u Vhich the Bureau OF Munlclpa1
AsSsIch IS trying to irnprove) wish that il were
pszos to keep such simple records to-day AT
0' ''p o. each page is pr1tten New Yorke-Anno
= with the year
'As hrSt account Is headed Cash in the HANDS
1enezer Wilson. Treasurer" To the rlgnt OF
Tens four columns the first evidently re-
ing 70 the page OF the journal from when the
- & taken, the second for pounds. the mira
= saaings and the fourth column for pence The
:" account reads as follows: