State of New York Comptroller's Office stock certificate 1842 

Interesting  vignette of  an early New York state seal.  Smaller certificate measuring  7.5" x 9.5".  Issued and cancelled. Dated November 1842.

Uncommon early New York issuance for $1000 signed by A.C. Flagg (bio below). Issued to Elizabeth Eights from Albany NY.

European discovery of New York was led by the French in 1524 and the first land claim came in 1609 by the Dutch. As part of New Netherland, the colony was important in the fur trade and eventually became an agricultural resource thanks to the patroon system. In 1626 the Dutch bought the island of Manhattan from Native Americans. In 1664, England renamed the colony New York, after the Duke of York (later James II & VII.) New York City gained prominence in the 18th century as a major trading port in the Thirteen Colonies. New York played a pivotal role during the American Revolution and subsequent war. The Stamp Act Congress in 1765 brought together representatives from across the Thirteen Colonies to form a unified response to British policies.

Azariah C. Flagg

He was the son of Ebenezer Flagg (1756–1828) and Elizabeth Cutting Flagg (d. 1838). He fought in the War of 1812. From 1813 to 1826, he was the publisher of the Plattsburgh Republican at Plattsburgh, New York. He was a member from Clinton County of the New York State Assembly in 1823 and 1824.

He was elected Secretary of State of New York in 1826, and re-elected in 1829 and 1832. He was elected New York State Comptroller in 1833, and re-elected in 1836, 1842 and 1845. He was one of the leading members of the Albany Regency. His final political office was New York City Comptroller, a post he held from 1853 to 1859.

Flagg began as a member of the Bucktails faction of the Democratic-Republican Party, then became a Jacksonian, a Democrat and Barnburner, then joined the Free Soilers in the late 1840s, and finally the nascent Republican Party in the mid-1850s. He was buried at the Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn.