FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4th, 1820. […]
The petition of Aaron Noble & Son, and others, of the town of Lansingburgh, and the cities of Troy and Albany, manufacturers of hats, praying for the passage of an act to prohibit the killing of muskrats, at certain seasons of the year, was read and refered to a select committee, consisting of Mr. [Ebenezer W.] Walbridge, Mr. [Cornelius] Heeney and Mr. [Marinus] Willet.
Journal of the Assembly of the State of New-York: At Their Forty-Third Session. Albany, NY: J. Buel, 1820. 328-329.
AN ACT
To prevent the killing of Muskrats.
Passed April 13, 1820.
Be it enacted by the people of the state of New-York, represented in Senate and Assembly, That if any person shall kill or destroy any muskrat between the first day of May and the first day of November, in any one year, after the passing of this act, he shall forfeit and pay the sum of one dollar, for every such offence, one moiety thereof to the person who shall prosecute for the same, and the other moiety to the use of the poor of the town in which the said offence shall be committed; which said penalty shall be recovered in an action of debt, before any court having cognizance thereof, with cost of suit: Provided always, That this act shall not extend to the killing of any muskrat, within the time aforesaid, along the line of any canal or artificial dam or embankments whatsoever.
Laws of the State of New York, In Relation to the Erie and Champlain Canals. Vol. 1. Albany, NY: E. & E. Hosford, 1825. 528-529.