xt79gh9b8p4h https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt79gh9b8p4h/data/mets.xml Historical Records Survey (N. H.) United States. Works Progress Administration. Division of Women's and Professional Projects New Hampshire Historical Records Survey (N. H.) United States. Works Progress Administration. Division of Women's and Professional Projects 1938 64 l.: ill., maps 27 cm. UK holds archival copy for ASERL Collaborative Federal Depository Program libraries. Call Number: Y 3.W 89/2:43/N 42h/no.1 books  English Manchester, N.H.: the Survey  This digital resource may be freely searched and displayed in accordance with U. S. copyright laws. New Hampshire Works Progress Administration Publications Archives -- New Hampshire -- Belknap County -- Catalogs Belknap County (N.H.) -- Archives Belknap County (N.H.) -- History -- Sources Genealogy -- Sources -- New Hampshire -- Belknap County Inventory of the County Archives of New Hampshire. No. 1, Belknap County, 1938 text Inventory of the County Archives of New Hampshire. No. 1, Belknap County, 1938 1938 1938 2021 true xt79gh9b8p4h section xt79gh9b8p4h SITY OF KENTU

\LH‘UI‘T‘“MEMBER“!

ES

@4434" , A V

v

7§5KEN?UCK

E 4”.er la"-
“ a ‘I i“ “5.3%; A»? .‘

NVan—A- L.,..-,e«‘

 

 INVENTORY OF THE COUNTY ARCHIVES

OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

Prepared by

The Historical Records Survey
Division of Women‘s and Professional Projects
Works Progress Administration

N0. 1. BELKNAP COUNTY

*****

Manchester, New Hampshire
The Historical Records Survey
June 1938

 

  

1' i,._,._...,..:.‘.lvm fir-T — , ..

 

 

The Historical Records Survey

Luther H. Evans, National Director
Richard G. Wood, State Director

Division of Women's and Professional Projects

Ellen S. Woodward, Assistant Administrator
Mary H. Head, State Director

WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION

Henry L. Hopkins, Administrator
William P. Fahey, State Administrator

gSIJNr‘LLn-

  

strator

tor

F O R E W O R D

The Inventory of County Archives of New Hampshige is one of a
number of bibliographies of historical materials prepared throughout the
United States by Workers on the Historical Records Survey of the Works
Progress Administration. The publication herewith presented, an inven«
tory of the archives of Belknap County, is number 1 of the New Hampshire
series.

The Historical Records Survey was undertaken in the winter of
1935—36 for the purpose of providing useful employment to needy unemployed
historians, lawyers, teachers, and research and clerical workers. In
carrying out this objective, the project was organized to compile inven-
tories of historical materials, particularly the unpublished government
documents and records which are basic in the administration of local
government, and which provide invaluable data for students of political,
economic, and social history. The archival guide herewith presented is
intended to meet the requirements of day-to—day administration by the
officials of the county, and also the needs of lawyers, business men and
other citizens who require facts from the public records for the proper
conduct of their affairs. The volume is so designed that it can be used
by the historian in his research in unprinted sources in the same way he
uses the library card catalog for printed sources.

The inventories produced by the Historical Records Survey
attempt to do more than give merely a list of records _ they attempt
further to sketch in the historical background of the County or other
unit of government, and to describe precisely and in detail the organi-
zation and functions of the government agencies whose records they list.
The county, toWn, and other local inventories for the entire country
will, when completed, constitute an encyclopedia of local government as
well as a bibliography of local archives.

The successful conclusion of the work of the Historical Records
Survey, even in a single county, would not be possible without the support
or pUblic officials, historical and legal specialists, and many other
groups in the community. Their cooperation is gratefully acknowledged.

The Survey was organized and has been directed by Luther H.
Evans, and operates as a nation—wide project in the Division of Women's
and Professional Projects, of which Mrs. Ellen S. Woodward, Assistant
Administrator, is in charge.

HARRY L. HOPKINS
Administrator

 

  

- ii~~

P R E F A C E

The Historical Records Survey was initiated in January 1936 as a
nationdwide undertaking of the works Progress Administration, but did not
begin operations in New Hampshire until April 7. The Survey was a part of
the Federal Writers' Project until November 20 when it was set up as a
separate unit. The purpose of the Survey is to make accessible to lawyers,
historians, and students of government the records of state, county, mu-
nicipal, and town offices. In conjunction with this listing of public
records, the church records (including those of defunct organizations) will
be inventoried so that the ground work may be laid for research in this
neglected field of social history. An integral part of this endeavor will
necessitate recommendations to the custodians to encourage a more orderly
arrangement and the better care and preservation of public records.

This volume is one in a series of publications by the Historical
Records Survey concerning the local archives of New Hampshire, A volume
on church records has already appeared and volumes on the tOWn records will
be published by county units. The Historical Records Survey did the field

work on Belknap County in the spring of 1936. The recheck was made in the
summer of 1937.

The Survey wishes to express its appreciation for the cooperation
received from Belknap County officials and the Secretary of State. The
Survey is further indebted to the New Hampshire Works Progress Administration
for assistance received. At various times the State Director has consulted
Professors Herbert W. Hill, Allen R. Foley and wayne E. Stevens of Dartmouth
College; Professors Allen B. Partridge and William Yale of the University of
New Hampshire, and Major Otis G. Hammond.

Requests for information concerning publications should be ad-

dressed to the state director, Hoyt Administration Building, Manchester,
New Hampshire.

Richard G; Wood
State Director
June 22, 1938 The Historical Records Survey

 

  

- 1 i

TABLE or CONTENTS

A. The Development of County Offices in New Hampshire

Introduction..............°.............a.......................fl.
County Convention.}.o.....,.........¢.s.oo.................:....e.
County Commissioners..........................,....°......¢.......
Clerk of the Superior Court.......¢......u......u..........¢......
Justice of the Peace (Trial Justice).o..o...o....................o
Register of Deeds...................¢..........................,..
Register of Probate......................u........................
Sheriff...o..u.......................».o.e........o..aa..a......ua
medical Referees (Coroners).......................................
Solicitor........,..q...........a...................,........,..s.
Treasurer....................,....o.......a.......................
Auditors....................................9.....................
Superintendent of the County Farm..a.......................,....o.
Defunct-~Sealer of Weights and Measures.a...............o.........
Establishment of the New Hampshire Counties...........,.........1¢
Chart of Present County Offices.........e...........‘.........Q...
Chart of the County Offices as Recommended by the Brookings
Institution of Washington, D. C. in l932.....................
Original Counties of New Hampshire 1771 (After Jeremy Belknap)....
Present Counties of New Hampshire 1937 (Including Repositories)...
County Expenditures in New Hampshire 1935.........a.........,.....

B. Belknap County and its Records System

1. Historical Sketch...................».........................
2. Governmental Organization and Records System.....no...........
Settlement Map of Belknap County...aa....................
Chart of Belknap County Offices in 1842...............o..
Chart of Present Belknap County Offices................,.
3. Housing, Care, and Accessibility of the Records...............
Recommendations..............,......,,...................
4. List of Abbreviations, Symbols, and Explanatory Notes"........

C. County Offices and Their Records

I. County Convention..................,.........,.......o........
l. Belknap County (Delegation Records)
II; County Commissioners.n..,...................a....,............
Minutes and Reports;;................,..L................
2. Belknap County Reperts
Welfare........u..........;..........n....o..............
3. Active Cases (Direct Relief)
4. Inactive Cases (Direct Relief)
5. Belknap County--Open and Closed Cases
(Relief Applications, Case Histories,
Social Service Records)
6. (Financial Records of Belief Cases)
7. (Old Age Assistance and Aid to the Blind)
8. Aid to Dependent Soldiers and Blind

Page

‘OKOCDQ

10
ll
11
12
12
13
13
13
14
15
16

17
18
19
20

22
22
24
25
26
27
29
30

31

31
31

31

 

  

Table of Contents Page

9. Dependent Children
10. (Rent and Milk File)
11. (Pauper Records, Miscellaneous)
Welfare (financial)..................................... 33
12. (Relief Orders)
13. (Relief Orders and Bills from Vendors)
14. Record of Paupers (Notes due on the County
Farm)
Property................................. ...... .a....... 34
15. Inventory of Property at County Farm
16. (Inventory and Account Book-County Farm)
Financial................................ ..... .......... 34
17. (General Ledger)
18. Ledger (Financial and Case Records of Poor Off
Farm)
19. Journal (Record of Payments)
20. Journal (Record of Orders Drawn on the
Treasurer)
21. (Record of Notes)

III. Clerk Of the SuperiOI‘ Cour-t0...tenet-IcoopoIo-II-uouDolooao 35

Judicial................................................ 36
22. (General) Index, Equity-State-Civileession-
Law Term Cases (Plaintiff and Defendant)
23. (Official) Docket
24. (waste) Docket
25. Judge(e)ments
26. Civil Cases
27. State Cases
28. Equity Cases
29. Session Cases
30. Venires
Bl. Jury Lists
32. (Special Jury)
33. Municipal Court Appeals
34. Menicipal Court Appeals, Non-Entry
35. (Appeals)
36. ERecognizance)
37. 'Summons)
38. (Subpoena)
39. Complaint and Warrant)
4o. (Mittimus)
41. (Indictments)
42. (Verdicts)
43. (Damage Awards)
44. (Amendments)
45. (Bills in Equity)
46. (Libel for Divorce)
47. (Trustees' Depositions)
48. (Affidavits)
49. (Plaintiffs' and Defendants‘ Exhibits)
._ 5-0.. (Inquiry, ” Contest, and Adjustment of Title)

 

 Table of Contents

51.
52.
53.
54.
Write....
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
welfare..
61.

 

Page

(Mortgage Foreclosures)

(Auction Sale of Attached Property)

(Adjustment of Partnership Accounts)

(Disputed Wills and Codicils)
eon-Cueeoouaoo-ooonIt.Dooonaoeococoo-oesopaooeic 4:0
(Writs of Possession)

(Capias writ)

(writ of Injunction)

(Writs of Attachment)

(Writs of Execution)

(Writs of Replevin)
.occ-o-oseo-eooooanooouunon-ooeo-op-oqo'qooo-ooo 4:1

(Pauper Status)

NaturalizationoolCID-0000's.nIucuoosaylouooaiosoconcoction 4'].

62°
63.
64.
65.

Petitions
66.

67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.

74.

75.
76.
77.
78.
79.

80.
Elections
81.
82.
83°
84.
85.
86.
87.
88.
89.

Naturalization

Record (Index to Naturalization Records)
Declaration of Intention (Naturalization)
Department of Commerce and Labor e Division
of Naturalization - Petition and Record

and Licenses................................... 42
Petition for Permission for Persons Below
Age of Consent to Contract Marriage

(Five Day Marriage Waiver)

(Petitions for Highways)

(Petition for Continuance of HighWays)
(Petitions for Damages Against Towns)
(Petitions for Right of Eminent Domain)
(Petitions for Laying out Railroads)
Petition for Discharge and Order (House

of Correction)

(Petitions to Allow Prisoner to Attend
Funeral of Relative)

Petition for Security

(Petition for Bail Commissioners)
(Petitions for Information)

(Nuisance Petition)

Belknap Record - Deputy Sheriffs and
Peddlers - From January 1841

(Peddlers' Licenses)

and Appointments............................... 44
Return of Votes

Record of Votes, Belknap County
(Certifications of Election)

Appointments - Court Orders (County Officers)
(Appointment of Ballot Inspectors)
(Appointment of Referees)

(Appointment of Receiver)

(Assignment of Justices)

Official Oaths

 

 Table of Contents

 

Page

Finan01a1a...-..aoo.ono...oon.uoa..a...................4. 45

90.

91.
92.
93.
94.
95.

Clerks' Vouchers - Bills Paid by Clerk
(Receipted Bills and Jury Payrolls)
Account Book

(Payrolls)

Record of Notes ~ Belknap County
Commissioners Bills

(Witness Fees)

RoadSo-atooo-ouuunoasoonunsoc-o«telecast-pat.ioblsoboocbc 45

96.

Belknap Records, Road From January 1841

certificatGSQvonoooootonaoQOCassesses-noose.ssae}osslnioo 46

97.

98.
99.
101.
102.

Attorneys' Oaths - Student Certificates -
Resolutions

(Attorney's Oaths)

(Student Certificates)

(Bar Admittances)

(Character Certificates)

(Attorney's Appearance Slips)

Administrationolloooulooactioolao-Onooloso;-Iocuooniojeul 46

103.
104.
105.
106.
107.

108.
109 .
110.
111.
112.
113 .
11.4.
115.
1160
117.

Official Bonds

(Bail Bonds)

(Resignations)

(Copies of Court Trials)

Belknap Records (Authorization to Borrow
Money — Peddlers' Licenses - Record of Votes —
County Convention Minutes)

Coroners' Inquests, Railroad, Miscellaneous
(Coronere' Inquest)

(Parole from Asylum)

(Orders for AlloWance)

(Railroad Damages)

Power of Attorney - Revocation

Jailor's Report

(Agreements)

(Appraisals)

Letters (Correspondence - Clerk of Court)

Iv. Justices of the Peace-oosoooolOIbonoon.In'o’ooeodpvulotoocltfi 48
V: Register of Deeds.nicolace-oIonoolsinucotclloboonlosOQUOI-Ic. 48

DeedSOOIQIIIAOCOOOOQOICIOICI.I...’II.O.".C.I.OOII.B....O 48

118.'

119.
120.
121.
Write...
122.
123.
124.
Plans...
125.
125.

Belknap Records (Deeds, Leases)
Index to Records, Grantor, Grantee
(Index to Deeds Granted By) Banks /
Entry (Book)

0‘I!bongo...ouncosooootoctoaootUnlosw900I001onoa. 49

(Index to Writs of) Attachments
Writs (of) Attachment
Attachments Discharged

I00.0oholooloQooooloicllnmgnaOno-IOCOIIOIIoon“. 49

Belknap Records (Plans)
‘ (Index of) Plans

 

 

 Table of Contents Page

Taxation......u...-.s..a....9n...”..............ouuw 50
127. (Records of) Tax (Sales)
128. Tax Collector's Redemptions-Tax Collector's
Papers
129. Belknap Records (Army, Navy, and Marine
Discharges)
130. (Index to Army, Navy, and Marine
Discharges)
VI. Register of Probate..............,.......................... 50
PrObate RecordSooocéo-aunot.unonvuoooocctnassnoacne-econ 50
131. (General) Index-Belknap County Records
132. Probate Records—~Docket--Belknap County
133. (Original Probate Papers)
134. Probate Records--Dower, Homestead, Partition,
Division (Assignment of Real Estate, waiver of
Wills, Widows' Allowances)
135. (Divisions and Partitions)
136. (Release of Dewar (Curtsey) and Homestead)
137. (Assignment of Real Estate)
138. (Waiver of Wills)
139. (Widows' Allowances)
140. (Adoption and Change of Name)
141. (Bonds)
Reports................................................. 52
142. Probate Records—Commissioners‘ Reports-
Widows' Allowances
143. (Commissioners' Reports)
Property11....w......................................... 52
144. Probate Records Inventories--Belknap County
145. (Real Estate Transfer Record)
Wills-qccoo-a.on.o-o-ooo‘.¢t'oooc-this:enact-anuooooo-oooga 53
146. Probate Records-~Wills--Belknap County
Financial............................................... 53
147. Probate Records-Administrators, Executors,
Guardians, and Insolvent Accounts
148. Probate Records-Legatees Receipts~Belknap
County
Licenses and Petitions.................................. 54
149. Probate Records-~Guardians, Administrators,
and Executors Licenses to Sell and Mortgage
Real Estate (Real and Personal Estates)
150. (Miscellaneous) Probate Records-~Belknap

County
VII. Sheriff...................................... ..;......... 54
151. Appointment of Deputy Sheriffs, Belknap
County

152. (Belknap County Sheriff's Accounts)
153. Belknap Docket (Sheriff's Copy)
VIII; Medical Refereevoo....a..a.-.¢u........................... 55
154. (Index to Reports of Medical Referees)
155. Co. Solicitor, Belknap County (Records of
Medical Referees)

 

 Table of Contents Page

IX. SoliCi-borooneonate-etaaololevoannooootIo-ooaoollolocooo-IOOQO 56
x. Treasurer..o................................................. 56
Financial....._..........'................a...oeon.....u.» 56
156. Belknap County-Treasurer‘s Cash Book
157. Belknap County Payments
158. (Account Book)
159. (Record of Indebtedness) .
Miscellaneous..xo..3......a..........;...............s¢.. 57
160. (Cancelled Checks)
161. (Check Stubs)'
XI. AuditorSUcoouunoooo'Oonudoqu-ooooaotaonooocnoviootoo.3-50.00 57
162. Auditor's Reports
XII! Superintendent of the County Farms......g............g...... 58
' Judicialaoo.....o.....-.....¢....a.-.p...-...n.o...--..oo 58
163. Mittimus
Administrations..vuvcn....eo.gm...on...co.............. 58
164. Prisoners Admitted - Belknap County
165. Paupers Admitted - County Alms House
166. (Prisoners and Inmates - Admitted and
Discharged)
167. (wood Book)
Financial-un-qIna-ucoca.coonoadoeoolvoonope-ooowcouoovnuu 59
168. (Account Book - County Farm)
169. (Cash Book)
Miscellaneous..........“nu...““u-u...“nun...“ 60
170. (Visitors' Register)
XIII. Sealer of Weights and Measures............................. 60

Chronological Index to Records......g.....................a 61

 

  

07-:

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTY OFFICES
Introduction

New Hampshire was without county organization for almost a century
and a half after the first settlement. For many years there was no need
for a division of the Province since the population was clustered about
Portsmouth, the colonial capital. As the settlements began to reach the
Merrimack River, the inconvenience of journeying to Portsmouth for court
sessions became more and more of a burden. About 1755, an agitation be—
gan for the division of the Province into counties. At that time the
chief justice was ready to resign because of the low salary. When the
Governor requested that the chief justice be granted an adequate salary,
the Assembly refused unless the Governor and Council Would consent to a
law for the erection of counties. Since neither of the contending par—
ties would give Way, the controversy continued until 1769.1 In this year
a compromise was arranged so that the chief justice could have his salary
and the Assembly could have its counties. The element of compromise lay
in the fact that five counties Were created, three of which were to be
established immediately and the two remaining counties wore to be estab-
lished when the Governor deemed the population to be sufficient.2 Hills-
borough, Rockingham, and Cheshire wore created at once. Strafford and
Grafton Counties were not created until 1773.3 Royal consent to the act
of 1769 was not received until 1771,4hence the county records begin in
that year.

In some ways the Province was the pattern for the county. Formerly,
there had been one court; now there were county courts. The sheriff and
the treasurer5had been provincial officers; now one appeared in each
county. The same situation obtained for the registers of deeds and of
probate.'7

As a political unit, the county stands at the half-way station be-
twaen the state and the tOWn. In some ways, the county represents an
advantage of centralization over the town. The county, for instanca,
represents a more economical unit for the administration of relief as
shown by the abolition of town poor farms and the growth of the county
farms. The county represents a convenient unit for a division of the
superior court and it is a centralized depository for land records as
manifested in the office of the register of deeds. On the other hand,
the tOWns frequently owe allegiance directly to the state and not

 

1' Fry, W- H., New Hampshire as a Royal Province (New York, 1908),
$59—465; Upton, R. H., Revolutionary New Hampshire (Hanover, 1936),
0—11.

2. laws of New Hampshire, 3:524—530 (1769).

3- 113141., 3:587-588 (1773).

4. New Hampshire State Papers, 7:274.

5° Fry, W. H., 92. 933., 471-472.

6. Richard martyn was appointed the first treasurer under the Commission
of 1690. See Belknap, J., History of New—Hampshire (Dover, 1831), 91.

79 Laws of New Hampshire, 3:604—605 (1773).

 

  

_"Each county is a body corporate for the purpose of suing and being

County Convention

through the county. Roads are rarely a county concern. Education is

not a county function, and a though+ nowns are combined for educational
efficiency, the unit is the supervisory union which frequently cuts across
county lines. Vital statistics are kept by the towu clerks and not by

the county clerk who is merely one of the county commissioners.

The counties are not unifor-m in size since the area of the three
northern counties (Coos, Gra€ton, and Carroll) is almost er actly the
same as the seven southel n counties. The number of political ::ubdivi—
sions (towns and cities) varies from eleven (Belknap) to thirty-nine
(Grafton). In addition, Coos County contains a score of unorganized
areas which have no town government. Hillsborough (140,165) is the
most populous; Carroll (34, 277), the least populous county. Strafford
County contains three cities; Hillsborough and Merrimack, two each;
Belknap, Cheshire, Coos, and Rockingham, one each. Carroll,.Grafton
and Sullivan contain no cities, but in Sullivan County the town of
Claremont (12, 577) is larger than the two smallest cities of the state.

Like the town and the city, the county is a separate legal entity.

sued, purchasing, holding and conveying real and personal estate for
county purposes, making all necessary contracts, and doing other neces—
sary acts relating to the property and concerns of the county."8 other
general powers and duties include the maintenance of certain buildings
and fireproof vaults, condemnation of land for county uses, the filing

of bonds by county officers, the recopying of public records, and publi-
cation of annual reports of which one copy must be sent to the town clerk
of each town within the county and twenty copies to the Secretary of
State who deposits bound copies in the State Library.9

County Convention

Sometimes called the count y delegation, this body is composed of
the members in the lower house of the legislature. Unless a special
session is cal.lcd, the members meet only during the legislative session
each biennium. The convention is charged with making the county budget
but, in practice, the County authorities exert consiiexable control.
Prior to 1877 the records were kept by the clerk of the court of common
Pleas or his succBSSor.lOSince that date the records of the convention
are deposited With inc Secretary of State. The clerk of the .conventiopl
is supposed to sen.d copies of proceedings to the county commi561oners.
Apparently this is not done in all counties.

 

     
 

fl

3- Public law: ”fl_11‘g\},
90 Ibidc, Chil§+€l qlg

10. Revised Sta: up 3 oE ch $1
11 Public Lows‘ 01‘ Ne:J

 
  
 
 
 

'- -:

“1:3, Chapter 23, Section 3 (1842).
Chapter 35.

 

 - 9 -
County Commissioners

This board originated as county road commissioners, established in
1828. There Were five for each county and were appointed by the Governor
and Council for five year terms. Their duties consisted in laying out
highways when tWO or more towxs were involved,123y 1842 the commissioneig
appear as a three member board elected with the other county officials.
Petitions concerning roads were referred to the commissioners by the coun-
ty court,l4Their records were deposited with the clerk of court.

A transition from the road commissioners to the forebears of the
present county commissioners began in the next decade. In 1855, a board
of three commissioners was created to take over the duties of the road
commissioners, to be custodians of county property, and to review all
claims for the support of county paupers.l In 1860, the commissioners had
their powers over county paupers increased.15Three years later, the board
was obliged to share its financial authority with the county convention.17
In 1875, they began to send copies of their printed annual reports to the
Secretary of State.l8The powers of the commissioners have steadily in-
creased. 9At present the three commissioners are elected each biennium
by popular vote.20They are the chief executive authority in the county
and their duties are prescribed by law. They make an annual report to
the State Tax Commission; appoint a superintendent of the county farm
and house of correction; and have general authority over these insti-
tutions. Moreover, they have general authority over outdoor relief.

They are in charge of county property and make repairs up to $1,000 with—
out consulting the county convention. No member of the board may be
appointed superintendent of the county farm during his incumbenc as
commissioner. The board designates one of its members as clerk. In
Carroll and Coos Counties the commissioners are paid on a per diem basis;
in the remaining counties they have salariesug In six counties (Carroll,
Cheshire, Grafton, Merrimack, Rockingham, and Strafford) the commissioners
are elected at large but in Belknap, Coos Hillsborough, and Sullivan
Counties, they are elected by districts.2éThere seems to be a trend in
the latter direction as the district system assures the towns of a com-
missioner as against the cities. "

Clerk of the Superior Court

Although justice was provided for in Massachusetts courts when New
Hampshire was under the jurisdiction of that colony, and although the
Governor and his Council constituted a court of justice for a period,
it Was not until the end of the seventeenth century that the Province
had a court which was a separate entity.24

12. Laws of Newmflggnps'hiiq, 9:915-923 (1828).,

13- Revised §I§£E£§§“$&_jfiflijkgn shire, Chapter 20 (1842),

l4.' Ibid., Chapter 50 (1842).

15. New Hampshire Laws of 1855, Chapter 1659, Sections 37, 38.

16. New Hampshire_§awg_2£_qug, Chapter 2349.

17. New Hampghigeééawe of ' '3, Chapter 2735.

18-. New Ham 51.8Li_