Pennsylvania State Archives
RG-4
Records of the OFFICE OF THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL
The Office of the Comptroller General was created in 1782 to audit, liquidate and adjust Commonwealth accounts. After settlement, all public accounts were submitted to the Supreme Executive Council for approval. If satisfied, the Council drew warrants upon the State Treasurer for their payment. In 1785 appeals were allowed to the Supreme Court from the settlement of accounts by the Comptroller General after the settlement had been transmitted to the Supreme Executive Council.
In 1789 the Comptroller General was required to submit for inspection and examination all accounts to be adjusted to the newly created Register General's Office and to take his advice and assistance in settling these accounts. The following year the duties of the two offices were reversed in that all accounts, except those specifically assigned for examination by the State Treasurer, were to be examined and adjusted by the Register General and then submitted to the Comptroller General for his advice and approval. Under specific legislation passed in 1791 all responsibilities not inconsistent with the Constitution of 1790 for the final settlement of accounts, previously assigned to the Supreme Executive Council, were transferred to the Governor. Changes were also made in 1791 in the procedures for adjusting accounts so that the Comptroller General and Register General had to submit accounts to the Governor for final approval where they differed in opinion. Where they agreed, only the balance due on each account had to be certified to the Governor. Though further modifications in the methods of adjusting and settling accounts were made, it was not until 1809 that the Office of the Comptroller General was abolished and its duties transferred to the Auditor General and State Treasurer.
- Account of the United States to the State of Pennsylvania, circa 1775-1788.
(1 folder) {#4.1} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Alphabetical (Old) Index to Continental Ledgers Nos. 1 and, 1775-1785. (1
volume) {#4.2} [Description] [Holdings]
- Alphabetical List of Accounts, undated. (1 volume) {#4.3} [Description]
[Holdings]
- An Alphabetical List of Those Who Received Money of the State and For Whom
No Account was Raised, Taken from the Books of J. (John) N. (Nicholson), Late
Comptroller, circa 1790. (1 volume) {#4.4} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Boundary Survey Accounts, 1782-1810. (2 boxes) {#4.5} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Commissary Accounts, 1775-1792. (2 boxes) {#4.6} [Holdings]
- Commissioners of Purchases Accounts, 1780-1783. (6 boxes) {#4.7}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Continental and State Money Account Book, 1783-1784. (1 volume) {#4.8}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Continental Day Book and Waste Book, 1775-1783. (1 volume) {#4.9}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Continental Journals, 1775-1785. (2 volumes) {#4.10} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Continental Ledgers, circa 1775-1785. (2 volumes) {#4.11} [Description]
[Holdings]
- County Officers' Accounts, 1782-1809. (17 boxes) {#4.12} [Description]
[Holdings]
- County Tax Accounts, 1781-1808. (12 boxes) {#4.13} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Court of Admiralty Accounts, 1779-1786. (1 folder) {#4.14} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Day Book of General Benedict Arnold, 1777-1779. (1 volume) {#4.15}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Delaware River Fortification Accounts, 1775-1798. (1 box) {#4.16}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Depreciation Certificate Accounts, 1781-1792. (16 boxes, 9 volumes) {#4.17}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Forfeited Estate Accounts, 1777-1809. (3 boxes) {#4.19} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Funded and Unfunded Debt Accounts, 1790-1809. (3 boxes) {#4.20} [Description]
[Holdings]
- General Correspondence, 1776-1809. (15 boxes) {#4.21} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Index to Ledger AA, 1777-1788. (1 volume) {#4.22} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Indexes to Ledgers, 1775-circa 1889. (3 volumes) {#4.18} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Indian Commissioners' Account Book, 1784-1785. (1 volume) {#4.94}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Indian Commissioners' Accounts, 1784-1792. (1 box) {#4.23} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Internal Improvements File, Consisting of Accounts and Papers Relating to
Canal and Navigation Companies, Roads and Turnpikes, River Improvements, Public
Buildings, and Bridge Companies, 1777-1809. (3 boxes){#4.24} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Journals, 1799-1808. (2 volumes) {#4.25} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Journals A-AAA, 1775-1790. (3 volumes) {#4.26} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Ledgers A-AA, 1775-1788. (2 volumes) {#4.27} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Letter Books and Indexes, 1782-1786, 1788-1803. (6 volumes) {#4.28}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Letter Book, Accounts, and Related Records of the Auditors
of Accounts for the State, 1777-1784. (4 boxes) {#4.29} [Description]
[Holdings]
- List of Printed Accounts in the Comptroller General's Office, undated. (1
volume) {#4.30} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Memoranda of Account Book, 1791. (1 volume) {#4.31} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Memoranda Book, 1791. (1 volume) {#4.32} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Memoranda Book of Old Accounts Not to Be Found in the New Alphabet, undated.
(1 volume) {#4.33} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Militia Absentee Return Record for Philadelphia City, 1777-1791. (4 volumes,
2 boxes) {#4.34} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Militia Exemption Books, 1801-1813. (1 box) {#4.35} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Militia Fine Exoneration Records, 1777-1793. (5 boxes) {#4.36} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Militia Loan Accounts, 1781-1792. (12 volumes, 11 boxes) {#4.37}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Miscellaneous Accounts, Including Records of Transactions
Involving the Commonwealth and the United States, 1782-1809. (28 boxes, 3
volumes) {#4.38} [Description]
[Holdings]
- New Loan Accounts, 1776-1795. (17 volumes, 16 boxes) {#4.39} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Officers' Claim Book for Arrears in Clothing, 1778-1791. (1 volume) {#4.40}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Officers' Clothing Account Book, 1791. (1 volume) {#4.41} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Philadelphia City General Muster Roll Books, 1777-1784. (2 volumes) {#4.42}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Philadelphia City Lieutenant's Office General Return Book of Militia Called
into Actual Service, 1777-1782. (1 volume) {#4.43} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Pierce's Certificate Accounts, Consisting of Pay Roll Books, Voucher Indexes,
Ownership Certificates, and an Account of Certificates Loaned to the United
States, Signed by John Pierce and Relating to the Issuance of Interest Bearing
Certificates to the Pennsylvania Line, circa 1784-1793. (3 volumes, 1 box)
{#4.44} [Description] [Holdings]
- Register of Accounts Received from the Register General, 1790-1792. (1 volume)
{#4.45} [Description] [Holdings]
- Register of Executive Accounts, 1784-1791. (4 volumes) {#4.46} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Report Book of the State Treasurer, 1783. (1 volume) {#4.47} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Report Books of the Committee of the Assembly on the State of the Public
Accounts, 1778-1780. (2 volumes) {#4.48} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Return Book of Officers and Soldiers to Whom Patents Were Not Issued, undated.
(1 volume) {#4.49} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Return Book of the Pennsylvania Line Entitled to Donation Lands, undated.
(1 volume) {#4.50} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Revolutionary War Associators, Line, Militia, and Navy Accounts, and Miscellaneous
Records Relating to Military Service, 1775-1809. (99 boxes) {#4.51}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Revolutionary War Pension Files And Related Accounts,
1785-1809. [*series continues in RG-2, #2.53]
(8 boxes, 5 volumes) {#4.52} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Specie Day Book and Waste Books, 1775-1790. (2 volumes) {#4.53} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Specie Journals, 1775-1790. (2 volumes) {#4.54} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Specie Ledger, 1775-1790. (1 volume) {#4.55} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Specie Ledger's Balance Books, 1775-1790. (2 volumes) {#4.56} [Description]
[Holdings]
- State Departmental Accounts, 1782-1809. (13 boxes) {#4.57} [Description]
[Holdings]
- A State of the Finances of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by John Nicholson,
1787. (1 volume) {#4.58} [Description]
[Holdings]
- State Treasurer's Reports, 1790-1798, 1800-1809. (4 boxes) {#4.59}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Statement of Public Accounts Book, 1790-1791. (1 folder) {#4.60}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Tax and Exoneration Lists, 1762-1794. (47 boxes) {#4.61} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Tryal Balance Book, undated. (1 volume) {#4.62} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Unidentified Indexes, undated. (2 boxes) {#4.63} [Description]
[Holdings]
- United States Lottery Stub Book, 1776. (1 volume) {#4.64} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Warrant Books, 1791-1808. (6 volumes) {#4.65} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Warrant Counterpart Records, 1792-1799, 1806-1808. (6 boxes) {#4.66}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Warrant Registers and Index, 1782-1807. (8 volumes) {#4.67} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Warrants, 1778-1809. (16 cartons) {#4.68} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Waste Book Indexes, 1776-1792. (2 volumes) {#4.69} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Waste Books, 1776-1792. (3 volumes) {#4.70} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Western Expedition (Whiskey Rebellion) Accounts, 1794-1804. (2 boxes) {#4.71}
[Description] [Holdings]
Port of Philadelphia Records
- Abstracts of Duties and Drawbacks, 1784-1789. (1 folder) {#4.72}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Account of Duties and Drawbacks, 1783. (1 folder) {#4.73} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Accounts and Certificates of the Collector of Head Money, 1791-1808. (1
folder) {#4.74} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Accounts and Receipts of the Tonnage Office, 1783-1789. (1 folder) {#4.75}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Accounts Current of the Collector's Office, 1784-1789. (1 folder) {#4.76}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Bonds and Papers Relating to Duties on Negro and Mulatto Slaves, 1720-1788.
(1 folder) {#4.77} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Cargo Manifests, Inventories, and Bills of Lading, 1733-1833. (1 folder)
{#4.78} [Description] [Holdings]
- Coasting Permits, 1796, 1806. (1 folder) {#4.79} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Drawbacks and Vouchers Paid by the Collector of Duties, 1784-1789. (1 folder)
{#4.80} [Description] [Holdings]
- Expenditures and Receipts of the Collector's Office, 1784-1789. (1 folder)
{#4.81} [Description] [Holdings]
- Lists of Bonds, 1774-1775. (3 volumes) {#4.82} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Lists of Bonds Cancelled, 1774-1775. (3 volumes) {#4.83} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Miscellaneous Records, 1782-1834. (1 folder) {#4.84} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Record Books of Bonds Due the Custom House, 1785-1788. (2 volumes) {#4.85}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Records of the Health Office, 1783-1798. (6 folders) {#4.86} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Records of the Wardens of the Port, 1776-1809. (2 boxes) {#4.87}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Register of Drawbacks on Goods Exported, 1785-1786. (1 volume) {#4.88}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Registers of Tonnage Duties, 1775-1776, 1784-1789. (10 volumes) {#4.89}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Registers of Duties Paid on Imported Goods, 1781-1787. (6 volumes) {#4.90}
[Description] [Holdings]
- Registry Statements of Cargo Contents, Duties Paid, and Drawbacks, 1782-1785,
1788. (7 folders) {#4.91} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Reports of Imposts Due, 1783-1788. (1 folder) {#4.92} [Description]
[Holdings]
- Vessel Registry Vouchers, 1781-1782. (1 folder) {#4.93} [Description]
[Holdings]