List of Canal Commissioners
The number of commissioners varied over the times:
- The original bi-partisan commission had 7 members (1810–1811).
- 9 members, the original ones, Fulton and Livingston (1811–1813)
- 8 members after the death of Livingston (1813–1816)
- The new commission had 5 members (1816–1821)
- 6 members after Bouck was added (1821–1824)
- 5 members after Holley resigned (March–April 1824)
- 4 members after Clinton was removed (1824–1833)
- 5 members after Hoffman was added (1833–1836)
- 6 members after Baker was added (1836–1844)
- 4 members after Clark and Hooker were legislated out of office (1844–1847)
- 3 members under the Constitution of 1846 (1848–1877)
- 2 members remained in office pending the appointment of a Superintendent of Public Works (1878)
Until 1844 the term of the commissioners was indefinite, the Act of May 6, 1844, established a four-year term, the Constitution of 1846, a three-year term.
Until 1844, vacancies were filled by concurrent resolution of both houses of the State Legislature, or - during the recess of the Legislature - temporarily by the Governor.
From 1845 on, vacancies were filled temporarily by the State Legislature or, during the recess, by the Governor, and a substitute was elected at the next State election if there was a remainder of the term.
| Name | Took office | Left office | Party | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gouverneur Morris | March 15, 1810 | April 17, 1816 | Federalist | |
| William North | March 15, 1810 | April 17, 1816 | Federalist | |
| Simeon De Witt | March 15, 1810 | April 17, 1816 | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Thomas Eddy | March 15, 1810 | April 17, 1816 | Federalist | |
| Peter Buell Porter | March 15, 1810 | April 17, 1816 | Dem.-Rep. | |
| DeWitt Clinton | March 15, 1810 | April 12, 1824 | Dem.-Rep. | removed by State Legislature |
| Stephen Van Rensselaer | March 15, 1810 | January 26, 1839 | Federalist/Clintonian | became a Clintonian when the Federalist Party disbanded; died in office; longest-serving Canal Commissioner (almost 29 years) |
| Robert R. Livingston | April 8, 1811 | February 26, 1813 | Dem.-Rep. | died in office |
| Robert Fulton | April 8, 1811 | February 24, 1815 | Dem.-Rep. | died in office |
| Charles D. Cooper | 1815 | April 17, 1816 | Dem.-Rep. | |
| Joseph Ellicott | April 17, 1816 | 1818 | resigned | |
| Myron Holley | April 17, 1816 | March 30, 1824 | Dem.-Rep./Clintonian | resigned |
| Samuel Young | April 17, 1816 | February 22, 1840 | Dem.-Rep./Bucktails | |
| Ephraim Hart | June 18, 1818 | March 24, 1819 | Dem.-Rep./Clintonian | appointed by the Governor in place of Ellicott until the election of a successor by the State Legislature |
| Henry Seymour | March 24, 1819 | May 1831 | Dem.-Rep./Bucktails | succeeding Hart, elected by the State Legislature in place of Ellicott; then resigned |
| William C. Bouck | March 21, 1821 | February 22, 1840 | Dem.-Rep./Bucktails/Dem. | |
| Jonas Earll, Jr. | May 1831 | February 22, 1840 | Democratic | appointed by the Governor in place of Seymour, then elected by the State Legislature on January 9, 1832, to succeed himself |
| Michael Hoffman | April 4, 1833 | May 6, 1835 | Democratic | resigned |
| Heman Judd Redfield | May 9, 1835 | Democratic | elected by the State Legislature in place of Hoffman, but declined to take office | |
| John Bowman | May 1835 | February 22, 1840 | Democratic | appointed by the Governor in place of Redfield, then elected by the State Legislature on January 9, 1836 to succeed himself |
| William Baker | May 25, 1836 | February 22, 1840 | Democratic | |
| Samuel B. Ruggles | February 18, 1839 | February 8, 1842 | Whig | elected by the State Legislature in place of Van Rensselaer |
| David Hudson | February 22, 1840 | February 8, 1842 | Whig | |
| Simon Newton Dexter | February 22, 1840 | February 8, 1842 | Whig | |
| Henry Hamilton | February 22, 1840 | February 8, 1842 | Whig | |
| George H. Boughton | February 22, 1840 | February 8, 1842 | Whig | |
| Asa Whitney | February 22, 1840 | February 8, 1842 | Whig | |
| Stephen Clark | February 8, 1842 | May 6, 1844 | Democratic | legislated out of office by Act of May 6, 1844 |
| James Hooker | February 8, 1842 | May 6, 1844 | Democratic | legislated out of office by Act of May 6, 1844 |
| Benjamin Enos | February 8, 1842 | February 3, 1845 | Democratic | legislated out of office by Act of May 6, 1844 |
| George W. Little | February 8, 1842 | February 3, 1845 | Democratic | legislated out of office by Act of May 6, 1844 |
| Jonas Earll, Jr. | February 8, 1842 | October 28, 1846 | Democratic | second term; legislated out of office by Act of May 6, 1844, re-elected to a two-year term; died in office |
| Daniel P. Bissell | February 8, 1842 | December 31, 1847 | Democratic | legislated out of office by Act of May 6, 1844, then re-elected to a four-year term, then legislated out of office by the Constitution of 1846 |
| Nathaniel Jones | February 3, 1845 | November 1, 1847 | Democratic | elected in November 1844 to a two-year term; the Constitution of 1846 extended his term until December 31, 1847; then resigned |
| Stephen Clark | February 3, 1845 | December 31, 1847 | Democratic | second term; elected in November 1844 to a four-year term; legislated out of office by the Constitution of 1846 |
| John T. Hudson | December 3, 1846 | December 31, 1847 | Democratic | appointed by the Governor in place of Earll to fill the vacancy |
| Thomas Clowes | November 15, 1847 | December 31, 1847 | Whig | elected by the State Legislature in place of Jones to fill the vacancy |
| Nelson J. Beach | January 1, 1848 | December 31, 1849 | Whig/Anti-Rent | elected in November 1847, drew the two-year term |
| Jacob Hinds | January 1, 1848 | December 31, 1850 | Whig/Anti-Rent | elected in November 1847, drew the three-year term |
| Charles Cook | January 1, 1848 | December 31, 1851 | Whig | elected in November 1847, drew the one-year term; then re-elected to a full term |
| Frederick Follett | January 1, 1850 | December 31, 1855 | Democratic | two terms |
| John C. Mather | January 1, 1851 | December 31, 1853 | Democratic | impeached by the State Assembly in 1853, acquitted by the New York Court for the Trial of Impeachments |
| Henry Fitzhugh | January 1, 1852 | December 31, 1857 | Whig | two terms |
| Cornelius Gardinier | January 1, 1854 | December 31, 1856 | Whig | |
| Samuel S. Whallon | January 1, 1856 | July 6, 1858 | American | died in office |
| Charles H. Sherrill | January 1, 1857 | December 31, 1859 | Republican | |
| John M. Jaycox | January 1, 1858 | December 31, 1860 | Democratic | |
| Samuel B. Ruggles | July 1858 | December 31, 1858 | Republican | appointed by the Governor in place of Whallon to fill vacancy |
| Hiram Gardner | January 1, 1859 | December 31, 1861 | Republican | |
| William I. Skinner | January 1, 1860 | December 31, 1865 | Democratic | two terms |
| Benjamin F. Bruce | January 16, 1861 | December 31, 1861 | Republican | elected by the State Legislature to fill vacancy caused by the death of Samuel H. Barnes who had been elected on November 6, 1860, but died on November 13 |
| William W. Wright | January 1, 1862 | December 31, 1863 | Democratic | succeeding Bruce, elected for the remainder of Barnes's term |
| Franklin A. Alberger | January 1, 1862 | December 31, 1867 | Union | two terms |
| Benjamin F. Bruce | January 1, 1864 | December 31, 1866 | Union | second term |
| Robert C. Dorn | January 1, 1866 | December 31, 1868 | Republican | impeached by the State Assembly in 1868, acquitted by the New York Court for the Trial of Impeachments |
| Stephen T. Hayt | January 1, 1867 | December 31, 1869 | Republican | |
| John D. Fay | January 1, 1868 | December 31, 1873 | Democratic | two terms |
| Oliver Bascom | January 1, 1869 | November 7, 1869 | Democratic | died in office |
| George W. Chapman | November 1869 | December 31, 1871 | Democratic | appointed by the Governor in place of Bascom to fill vacancy, then elected for the remainder of Bascom's term |
| William W. Wright | January 1, 1870 | December 31, 1872 | Democratic | second term |
| Alexander Barkley | January 1, 1872 | December 31, 1874 | Republican | |
| Reuben W. Stroud | January 1, 1873 | December 2, 1875 | Republican | died in office; son-in-law of Benjamin F. Bruce |
| James Jackson, Jr. | January 1, 1874 | December 31, 1876 | Democratic | |
| Adin Thayer | January 1, 1875 | December 31, 1877 | Democratic | No successor was elected at the previous State Election, but Thayer's term was deemed to have expired, and he was not holding over until the appointment of a Superintendent of Public Works. |
| Christopher A. Walrath | December 1875 | February 8, 1878 | Democratic | appointed by the Governor in place of Stroud to fill the vacancy, then took office for his elected term, then legislated out of office, office abolished and responsibilities taken over by Superintendent of Public Works |
| Darius A. Ogden | January 1, 1877 | February 8, 1878 | Democratic | legislated out of office, office abolished and responsibilities taken over by Superintendent of Public Works |
Read more about this topic: Erie Canal Commission
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