By Susan L. Conklin, County Historian

Genesee County has had 36 Treasurers since 1803. The first to serve was Joseph Ellicott who was employed by the Holland Land Company as their Resident-Agent in charge of selling of their holdings. The Land Company owned approximately three-fourths of all the lands in Genesee County and it was to the Company's advantage to have Joseph Ellicott instrumental in the organization of the County. Once legislation was passed in Albany on March 30, 1802 a government was needed for the County. The first step in establishing the County was the construction of a courthouse and County jail which had to be completed before appointments could be made and elections held. It was not an easy task as a tornado caused the saw-mill to brake down. Within a year the first Courthouse west of the Genesee River was completed and appointments were then made.

The appointments of officials to transact County business were the responsibility of the Council of Appointment. Under the New York State Constitution, the governor nominated candidates for state, county, town, city and village positions, but the council had the power to approve or disapprove the nominations. The first officers appointed were James W. Stevens as County Clerk and Richard M. Stoddard as Sheriff.

The first County Clerk was a graduate from Princeton College and was noted for his sense of humor. The law required the Clerk to record all deeds, mortgages and wills. He also was responsible for keeping the minutes for the Board of Supervisors' meetings. Sheriff Stoddard had worked as a surveyor and assisted Ellicott with surveying Western New York between 1798 and 1800. He was considered competent, generous and noted for his integrity. Once these two positions were appointed the first elections were held and the first Board of Supervisors were elected to office.

In 1803 Genesee County had only four supervisors, one form each of the towns which were Batavia, Northhampton, Southhampton and Leicester. This new Board offered the position of Treasurer to Ellicott. In the past he had rejected political office and had refused to take on another job which would interfere with his responsibilities as Resident-Agent. However, being the County Treasurer would reveal to him all the budgetary operations of the County and would bring his into regular contact with all the supervisors. By becoming the County Treasurer, Ellicott would gain power over the allocation of funds for road construction which was a major concern of the Holland land Company (his employer) Better roads equaled increased land sales and as the company owned 3.3 million acres, the construction of roads was vital to their profits.

Ellicott's appointment was also profitable for the County. Upon leaning that Ellicott had accepted the appointment the Company paid Genesee County nearly $5,000 in back taxes. This payment was done to send a message to the newly established County government that the Holland land Company was willing to cooperate with their new Treasurer.

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