Search

Back to top

Search Constraints

Start Over You searched for: Formats Minutes. Remove constraint Formats: Minutes. Date range Unknown Remove constraint Date range: Unknown
Number of results to display per page
View results as:

Search Results

Collection

Joseph Foster correspondence, 1835

6 items

This collection is made up of correspondence and documents concerning a dispute between Joseph Foster of Warner, New Hampshire, and the Warner Congregational Church. Foster exchanged letters and signed statements with the church's pastor, Jubilee Wellman, about his attempts to atone for (unspecified) improper financial conduct.

This collection contains 6 incoming and outgoing letters and documents (20 pages) concerning a dispute between Joseph Foster of Warner, New Hampshire, and the Warner Congregational Church. Foster exchanged letters and signed statements with the church's pastor, Jubilee Wellman, about his attempts to atone for (unspecified) improper financial conduct.

The first item in the collection is Foster's signed statement confessing to financial transgressions (January 17, 1835), and the remaining 5 items relate to allegations later lodged by James Straw, a fellow church member, concerning Foster's atonement. Straw believed that Foster had not fulfilled the terms of his official confession. Reverend Jubilee Wellman later presented Foster with a formal list of charges and provided minutes from a meeting that had convened to discuss Foster's actions. After being found guilty by a unanimous vote, Foster wrote to Wellman, expressing his sadness at being estranged from the congregation (September 1, 1835). The final letter is Wellman's response to Foster, in which he gave further information about the charges and evidence against Foster and encouraged him to seek repentance (8 pages, September 21, 1835).

Collection

Milton Sacred Musical Society constitution and minutes and Levi Jones estate accounts, 1817, 1847-1848 (majority within 1817)

1 volume

Levi Jones of Milton, New Hampshire, recorded the Milton Sacred Musical Society's constitution, monthly meeting minutes, and membership fines in this volume between January and December 1817. Also included are financial records pertaining to Jones's estate after his death in 1847.

This volume (34 pages) contains minutes and other records related to the Milton Sacred Musical Society of Milton, New Hampshire, and financial accounts related to the estate of Levi Jones, the society's first secretary. The first section (22 pages) pertains to the Milton Sacred Musical Society. Its founding members adopted a constitution on January 1, 1817, outlining the group's internal organization and some of its formal procedures (pp. 5-10). Officers included a president, vice president, account auditors, secretary, and librarian, and members paid dues and additional fees for missing meetings or disobeying the president. The constitution also described procedures for admitting new members. The document is accompanied by a membership list and 3 pages of brief monthly meeting minutes for the year 1817 (pp. 19-22). The society cancelled their July and September meetings because of funerals. A piece of paper laid into the volume after the minutes contains a note certifying the publication of marriage banns for Stephen B. Stacey and Joanna Door, signed by Levi Jones in his capacity as town clerk (February 3, 1817). The second section of the book, which begins from the opposite cover, contains 11 pages of accounts between the Milton Sacred Musical Society and individual members. These accounts primarily reflect fees assessed after members failed to attend monthly meetings, and most charges are between 20 and 40 cents. None are recorded as having been paid.

The final 12 pages have financial accounts pertaining to the estate of Levi Jones, recorded between September 2, 1847, and April 13, 1848. Two pages of running accounts document expenditures and income, and the following 10 pages are comprised of notes regarding payments to specific individuals. The volume's interior covers were also used for unidentified mathematical calculations.

Collection

Montgomery (N.Y.) Farmers & Mechanicks Debating Society and Good-Will Debating Society record book, 1823-1825, 1840-1846

1 volume

Two debating societies based in Montgomery, New York, recorded their constitutions and meeting minutes in this volume in the early to mid-19th century. At weekly meetings, members debated questions related to politics, morality, and other subjects, though religious topics were banned.

Two debating societies based in Montgomery, New York, recorded their constitutions and meeting minutes in this volume (approximately 180 pp.) in the early to mid-19th century. At weekly meetings, members discussed political issues and moral questions.

The title page has an unattributed epigram taken from verses written by Robert Burns for the Freemasons. Following this, the Farmers & Mechanicks Debating Society of Montgomery recorded its first minutes (February 4, 1823), which pre-date its constitution (February 11, 1823). The 4-page constitution and 2-page list of members' signatures are followed by about 70 pages of minutes from the society's weekly meetings. Every week, the group discussed a member's question, posed and chosen the week before, with members arguing in the negative and affirmative. Questions covered a range of moral and political subjects such as quality of life, wealth, women's rights, punishment for crimes, and finances, though religious topics were banned. The minutes record the names of members presenting either side of the question and occasionally concern administrative affairs such as officer elections. The final dated entry appears on January 26, 1825, with one last entry from "Saturday evening Feb 28" of an unknown year.

The second section (approximately 90 pages) contains the minutes and constitution of the Farmers & Mechanicks Debating Society's successor, the Good-Will Debating Society, in the Town of Montgomery. Its constitution, which has later annotations and alterations, is largely similar to the earlier document. Weekly meeting minutes cover December 11, 1840-January 30, 1846, though some dates are missing or appear out of chronological sequence. The society's debate topics were similar to its predecessor's, though some related to contemporary political issues such as the annexation of Texas. A group of loosely tied newspaper clippings laid into the volume (dated 1846) pertain to the Mexican-American War and topics related to mechanics and manufacturing.