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Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly January 1637/8-September 1664
Volume 1, Preface 6   View pdf image (64K)
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vi Report of the Committee.

books are concerned his report is definite enough; but the meagre
description of the large accumulation of loose papers makes it almost
useless as a guide to what he recovered. The books and papers
gathered by Mr. Ridgely from the various rooms of the State House,
from disused offices, cupboards, underneath the staircases, from the lofts,
the cellars, and even the stairway leading to the dome, were not after-
wards kept in one repository, but were again distributed to offices where
they were supposed to belong. The State owes largely to Mr. Ridgely
for his recovery of many papers which would have in a few years been
irretrievably lost; not only for the recovery are we under obligation,
but for the prompt copying of many that were in very bad condition,
and are not now to be found.

Subsequently John Henry Alexander, LL. D., the Rev. Ethan Alien,
D. D., and Colonel Brantz Mayer made reports, the two former on the
Proprietary, Council and Assembly Records (of a few of which they
made a very useful calendar), and the latter upon the Miscellaneous
correspondence and loose papers. These reports are both useful and
interesting.

The Assembly has never been unmindful of the value of the State
records, but the papers were scattered through many offices and inse-
cure places, unarranged and, apparently, without responsibility attach-
ing to any one for their safekeeping; the loss of many valuable papers
would indicate that free access could be readily obtained.

After several efforts made at various times both by the Society and
by individuals to obtain from the State an appropriation for publishing
the early records, your Society, through a committee, obtained from the
General Assembly of 1882 the temporary custody of all the early records
for the purpose of arranging, cataloguing and making them more gener-
ally accessible, under proper safeguards, to historical students and inves-
tigators. With the deposit came also an annual grant of one thousand
dollars for two years to have such documents as were of historical
importance copied and printed.

When the Act of 1882 was passed there was not in our building a
suitable fire proof repository for the papers to be deposited with us, and
the Society was compelled to ask its members and friends to raise a
large sum of money to make one of the rooms on the main floor abso-
lutely fire-proof. While this room was being prepared, several visits
were made to Annapolis, and the various offices connected with the State
government were examined for such papers as came within the Act of
1882. A large collection of Manuscripts, bound and unbound, was
found, carefully packed, and sent to the Society's rooms, where they
were immediately placed in the fire-proof.

The largest and most valuable collection was found in the Land
Office, which has been for several years the official custodian of the
Archives. From the State Library a few bound and unbound volumes
were received, and from the office of the Clerk of the Court of Appeals
four volumes of the laws. Receipts were given in the Society's name


 

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Proceedings and Acts of the General Assembly January 1637/8-September 1664
Volume 1, Preface 6   View pdf image (33K)   << PREVIOUS  NEXT >>


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