The Comptroller of the Treasury was an official of the United States Department of the Treasury from 1781 to 1921. The Comptroller's office was established by resolution of the Continental Congress in 1778.[1] According to section III of the Act of Congress establishing the Treasury Department, it is the comptroller's duty to

superintend the adjustment and preservation of the public accounts; to examine all accounts settled by the Auditor, and certify the balances arising thereon to the Register; to countersign all warrants drawn by the Secretary of the Treasury, which shall be warranted by law; to report to the Secretary the official forms of all papers to be issued in the different offices for collecting the public revenue, and the manner and form of keeping and stating the accounts of the several persons employed therein. He shall moreover provide for the regular and punctual payment of all monies which may be collected, and shall direct prosecutions for all delinquencies of officers of the revenue, and for debts that are, or shall be due to the United States.

The first person to hold this office was Nicholas Eveleigh.[2][3] It was also held for a time by Gabriel Duvall, who would later serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. The office was originally known as the First Comptroller of the Treasury until it was abolished and replaced with the office of the Comptroller of the Treasury in 1894.[4] The office of the Comptroller of the Treasury was abolished in 1921, with many of its duties transferring to the Comptroller General.[5]

List of officeholders

No. Portrait Name

(born–died)

 Term of office Appointing president Ref.
Took office Left office Time in office
1 Nicholas Eveleigh
(c. 1748–1791)		 September 11, 1789 April 16, 1791 1 year, 218 days George Washington [6]
2 Oliver Wolcott Jr.
(1760–1833)		 1791 1795 4 years
3 John Davis

(1761–1847)

 1795 1796
4 John Steele
(1764–1815)		 July 1, 1796 December 15, 1802 6 years, 168 days
5 Gabriel Duvall
(1752–1844)		 1802 1811 9 years Thomas Jefferson [7]
6 Richard Rush
(1780–1859)		 November 1811 1812 1 year James Madison [8]
Ezekiel Bacon

(1776–1870)

 February 11, 1814 February 28, 1815 1 year, 17 days [9]
Joseph Anderson
(1757–1837)		 1815 1836 21 years
George Wolf
(1777–1840)		 1836 Andrew Jackson
James Nelson Barker
(1784–1858)		 1838 ? Martin Van Buren
Walter Forward
(1786–1852)		 March 6, 1841 September 13, 1841 192 days William Henry Harrison
Elisha Whittlesey (1st appt)
(1783–1863)		 May 31, 1849 March 26, 1857 Zachary Taylor
William Medill

(1802-1865)

 1857 1861 James Buchanan
Elisha Whittlesey (2nd appt)
(1783–1863)		 April 10, 1861 January 7, 1863 Abraham Lincoln
Robert Walker Taylor Sr.
(1812–1878)		 January 14, 1863 February 25, 1878 15 years, 47 days
Albert G. Porter
(1824–1897)		 1878 1880 2 years Rutherford B. Hayes
? William Lawrence
(1819–1899)		 1880 March 24, 1885 5 years [10]
Milton J. Durham
(1824–1911)		 1885 1889 4 years Grover Cleveland
Asa C. Matthews 1889 Benjamin Harrison
? Robert Tracewell
(1852–1922)		 March 4, 1897 June 15, 1914 17 years, 107 days William McKinley
George Eddy Downey 1913 1915 Woodrow Wilson
Walter W. Warwick 1915? 1921 [11][12][13]

References

  1. ↑ Hotchkiss, Eugene (1911). The Judicial Work of the Comptroller of the Treasury as Compared with Similar Functions in the Governments of France and Germany. ISBN 978-1248885246. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  2. ↑ Decisions of the Comptroller General of the United States United States. Vol. 20. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1941, p. V.
  3. ↑ Heidler, David S. and Jeanne T. Washington’s Circle: The Creation of the President. New York: Random House, 2015.
  4. ↑ 28 Stat. 162, 205 (1894)
  5. ↑ Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, Sec. 301
  6. ↑ "EVELEIGH, Nicholas | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives". history.house.gov. Retrieved 2026-03-16.
  7. ↑ Christopher L. Tomlins, The United States Supreme Court: The Pursuit of Justice 476–77 (2005).
  8. ↑ "Richard Rush". Britannica.
  9. ↑ "Bioguide Search". bioguide.congress.gov. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  10. ↑ Decisions of the First Comptroller in the Department of the Treasury of the United States. Vol. VI. Government Printing Office (published March 24, 1885). 1885.
  11. ↑ United States. Civil service commission. [from old catalog]; United States. Bureau of the census. [from old catalog] (1907). Official register of the United States . The Library of Congress. Washington, U.S. Govt. print. off.
  12. ↑ Commission, United States Civil Service (1915). Official Register of the United States ... U.S. Government Printing Office.
  13. ↑ United States. Official Register of the United States 1919. Internet Archive. Superintendent of Government Documents. 1919.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)


Eveleigh's biographic note on the web page for the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress 1774 - Present https://bioguideretro.congress.gov/Home/MemberDetails?memIndex=E000263

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comptroller_of_the_Treasury