My gr gr grandfather was a Port Warden for New York Harbor, appointed by
Governor Cornell in 1880 and reappointed by successive Governors till he
retired in 1899. I have been to the South Street Seaport Library, The City
Archives and have been in contact with the NYS Arcives in Albany.  There
are no known records for the Port Wardens for New York Harbor. Supposedly
over 30 letters of recommendation were received by Gov Cornell regarding
the appointment.  To date I have not been able to locate any record of the
appointment.  The only place I have not checked with is Cornell University.
 They apparently have some of Gov. Cornell's records.  I seek any
information anyone can provide regarding the Port Wardens.
There were apparently about 5(five) Wardens who worked for a fee inspecting
ship's cargo into and out of the port of New York.These fees were accounted
for and split five ways at the end of the year or month  etc. The State
didn't even get a cut...very interesting.

Can anyone help?

Jerry Reed - Whitesboro, NY
Otsego County NYGENweb Page at http://www.rootsweb.com/~nyotsego
Lewis County NYGENweb Page at http://www.rootsweb.com/~nylewis