New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Archives

RECORD GROUP 1: SECRETARY RECORDS

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This record group documents the responsibilities and activities of the Corporate Secretary. The by-laws of the New Haven Railroad charge the Corporate Secretary to:

In addition to maintaining New Haven records, the Secretary also maintained the organizational records of the eleven subsidiary companies. Stock and bond transfers were also supervised by the Secretary.

The Corporate Secretary used a numeric filing system, with the letter "A" followed by the document number. In general, the practice was to assign the incoming document a number and index the document. Indexing points usually included document type (e.g. agreement), location (e.g. Pomfret, CT), and correspondent, leasee, or company (e.g. Boston Terminal Co.).

This record group is divided into nine series:

I OLD COMPANY SECRETARY FILES
II NEW COMPANY SECRETARY FILES III AGREEMENTS
IV APPROPRIATIONS
V LEGAL RECORDS
VI REAL ESTATE
VII FIRST REORGANIZATION
VIII STOCKS
IX SUBSIDIARY COMPANIES

Series I, OLD COMPANY SECRETARY FILES, l840-l947 [bulk dates 1930-45], concern the administrative and financial running of the company for the Trustees, the Board of Directors and the Stockholders before the 1947 reorganization. The OLD COMPANY SECRETARY FILES include (but are not limited to) the meeting minutes of the Board of Directors, Trustees and Stockholders, information about pensions, Grand Central Terminal, equipment, subsidiary companies, financial and statistical statements and real estate records. Document types in the OLD COMPANY SECRETARY FILES include meeting minutes, reports, agreements, and correspondence. It is speculated that these records were removed from the Secretary's files for study during the first bankruptcy and reorganization; the bulk of these records are dated prior to the reorganization of the railroad in 1947. The "A"-series numbers are given on the left margin of the listings for this series. A partial set of index cards which access the records is available.

Series II, NEW COMPANY SECRETARY FILES, 1935-71 [1947-61], are the files of the Corporate Secretary during the "New Company" period following the 1947 reorganization. This series is organized and indexed in the same structure as the OLD COMPANY SECRETARY FILES. It, too, contains the meeting minutes of the Stockholders, Trustees, and Directors, information on employee relations and labor practices, real estate, insurance and finance. This series also contains information on wartime employment, the second reorganization and bankruptcy. Of particular interest are the "Historical Files"--reference files of the early days of the New Haven and its predecessors. This series, like the OLD COMPANY SECRETARY FILES, was retained in the original order used by the Secretary's office; the A numbers are similar to but do not mirror the Old Company A numbers. The series is best accessed by the index cards in conjunction with the listings.

Series III, AGREEMENTS, 1870-1971, are the legal agreements and other legally binding papers between the New Haven and other companies for the use of realty. The AGREEMENTS are arranged in chronological order and are numbered sequentially from 260 to 19520. A partial card index is available to access these agreements. The index is arranged alphabetically by name of the city or town of the property, the name of the property (where one exists), and the company with whom the agreement exists. Additional agreements concerning Grand Central Terminal (1848-1959), Mail, Baggage and Carriage (1889-1964), and Park Square property (1895-1959) are arranged at the end of this series. These agreements are not indexed in the card index.

Series IV, APPROPRIATIONS, 1916-48, document the expenditures and acquisitions which improved the railroad. This series contains information on purchases, repairs to and extensions of rails, retirement of equipment, and agreements with other companies. Examples include increasing ton rating for electric locomotives (1917), the purchase of 20 Russian locomotives (1920) and eliminating rail crossings. These are numbered A-5. to 5.719. Listed with the APPROPRIATIONS are script agreements, agreements- equipment trust, and listings of the New Haven's securities. For documents on land acquisition see Series VI, REAL ESTATE; see also records from the COMPTROLLER'S DEPARTMENT and the ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT for documents relating to the day-to-day financial expenditures.

Series V, LEGAL RECORDS, 1760-1961 [1840-1940], are divided into three subseries: Charters and By-Laws, Legal Agreements and Mortgages and Leases. These records are apparently duplicates of documents found in other series and include documents that do not fit the "A" number scheme. The Charters and By-Laws, 1846-1953, contain materials relating to the incorporation and history of the New Haven and some of its subsidiary companies. The majority of charters and by-laws are from the late 19th and early 20th centuries only. The New Haven charters are listed first, followed by subsidiary companies, listed in alphabetical order by name of the company. The corporate histories, also in this subseries, are arranged separately from the corporate charters and by-laws.

The Legal Agreements are mostly nineteenth century documents; these are arranged by type of document. The Mortgages and Leases document the leasing of track and facilities by and from other railroad companies such as the Berkshire Street Railway Company, New York Connecting Railway and the Stamford Railway Company. Documents include leases, agreements and indentures. In addition to the leases, there are records relating to various mortgage bonds and securities issued. The Mortgages and Leases are arranged alphabetically by name of the company.

Series VI, REAL ESTATE, 1917-68, contains documents on real estate holdings and transactions of the New Haven. Included in this series are maps, property descriptions, deeds, valuations, easements (rights to use crossings), and some title claims. The REAL ESTATE documents are filed chronologically by date of transaction. Each document was assigned an "A-12" number by the Secretary's office, A-12. to 12.7675. The documents are accessed by a card index which is arranged alphabetically by location; the card index is not complete.

Series VII, FIRST REORGANIZATION, 1935-47, documents the company's first bankruptcy and reorganization which was completed in 1947. It is divided into three subseries: President's Files, Proceedings and Plans, and Reference Files. The President's Files contain examiners' reports, Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) finance dockets, drafts of reorganization plans, and correspondence on the preparation of the plans. The Proceedings and Plans include drafts, proceedings, files of the Plan Committee, ICC hearing transcripts and proceedings, and forecasts of revenue. The bulk of the documents contain information on the court proceedings and amendments to the reorganization plans. These are numbered A-643. The Reference Files contain copies of agreements, leases, mortgages, reports, and legal briefs. Additional records of the First Reorganization are located in Series VI in the ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT record group. First and Second Reorganization records are located in the TRUSTEES RECORDS (Record Group 2).

Series VIII, STOCKS, 1872-1951 [1943-47], concerns the company's stock and debentures before and during the first bankruptcy and reorganization. The series is divided into three subseries: Stockholders, New England Stockholders, and Ledger Cards of Stockholders. Stockholders contains correspondence, lists of stockholders, and vouchers about the company stock; these are numbered A-79 to 79.2. New England Stockholders is listings of individuals who held either Preferred Stock, Common Stock, Convertible Indentures and General Mortgage Income Bonds; the listing covers only the New England area. Ledger Cards contains information on who owned Preferred Stock, Convertible Debentures, and Common Stock; brokers are also listed. The cards document when stocks were bought, their value, and when due. Most of the Ledger Cards date 1943-48 and were due in either 1947 or 1948.

Series IX, SUBSIDIARY COMPANIES, 1883-1961, contains documents relating to subsidiary companies of the New Haven. The records are for the following companies:

Railroads:

Central New England Railway
Hartford Connecticut Western Railroad
New York Connecting Railroad
Providence, Warren Bristol Railroad
Western Shore Railway

Other Companies:

These represent only a few of the subsidiaries owned by the New Haven. The SUBSIDIARY COMPANIES series contains the organization records of those companies listed. The documents include: bylaws, meeting minutes, legal papers, reorganization plans, reports to the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), and other types of documents. The records are arranged by type of operation (railroad, street railway/motor coaches, marine and airline), and within that, alphabetically by company name. See Appendix C for a detailed listing of this series. See also the BOUND VOLUMES (RG 7) and the ANNUAL REPORTS (RG 3) for additional records of New Haven Railroad subsidiary, predecessor and successor companies, as well as Series VII, SUBSIDIARY COMPANIES, in the ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT (RG 5).