Manuscript letters addressed to the General Council by the Mayor over his signature. These communications served more or less as official messages to the Council, although there does not appear to be any statutory basis for the practice. The messages contain a wealth of sometimes detailed information on the problems facing the city and the manner in which those problems were addressed. Typically, the Mayor would notify the Council of the existence of a problem requiring attention, possibly suggesting a solution of his own. Also included are notices of the Mayor's approval or disapproval of Council ordinances and resolutions. In some instances communications addressed to the Mayor, or copies of such communications, were included for the information of the Council. A reading of the proceedings of prior and/or subsequent Council meetings along with the individual letters should provide a fuller understanding of the processes at work.

The May 2, 1836-December 26, 1845 volume is also available as part of a WPA translation of the Mayor's messages to the Conseil de Ville. These typewritten translations also include tables of contents compiled by the translators to indicate the topics covered in each of the messages.

These, and additional messages, may also be transcribed in the proceedings of the General Council and may also be included with the published proceedings of General Council meetings in the newspapers and elsewhere.