Associated Gas and Electric Company records, 1902-1954.
Collection Number: 4261

The Associated Gas and Electric Company (AGEC) was a utility holding company which went bankrupt in the 1930s. It was reorganized under the supervision of the courts and was broken down into smaller companies by government order. The company originated as the Ithaca Gas Light Company of Ithaca, N.Y. in 1852. Soon after 1900, its owners began securing control of surrounding properties and the company was incorporated in 1906. There were fourteen subsidiary companies, all but two of which were located in New York; the largest and most important were the Ithaca Gas Light Company and the Homer and Cortland Gas Light Company. Through mergers among its operating companies, the numbers were reduced to four - the Homer and Cortland Gas Light Company, the Ithaca Gas Light Company, the Ithaca Electric Light and Power Company, and the Norwich Gas and Electric Company. These companies were consolidated in 1916 under the name of the New York State Electric and Gas Corporation.

Records of AGEC include articles of incorporation; contract agreements between AGEC and its subsidiaries and banks regarding corporate stock, bonds, and debentures, mergers, real estate and facilities transactions, and electricity distribution; annual financial reports to securities holders; Federal Trade Commission accounting reports; 211 volumes of stock and bond ownership certificates; AGEC audits, 1906-1939; indentures; Board of Directors and Executive Committee minute books of operating companies, service companies, holding companies, and trusts; 88 volumes of scrapbooks, including letters, circulars, sales brochures, clippings, and reports; U.S. District Court records of litigation concerning the reorganization of AGEC, including testimony, proceedings, judges' opinions and rulings, and reports of court-appointed trustees, 1930s; histories of AGEC and its associated properties, and biographical information on Howard C. Hopson; lists of companies and mergers, 1919-1933; Securities and Exchange Commission legal forms and hearings, 1941-1944; copies of and AGEC company magazine, 1927-1938; and related records. Also included are journals, ledgers, cashbooks, payroll vouchers, stock certificate books, and other items concerning Howard C. Hopson's business interests, including trusts, service companies, and investment and management firms; also, records concerning the Rural Electrification Administration. Includes Manila Electric Company records on microfilm.

Associated Gas and Electric Company records, #4261. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

Collection may not be photocopied, since many of the items are bound volumes, but digital photography is permitted.