MINNESOTA TERRITORIAL ARCHIVES: TERRITORIAL SECRETARY:

An Inventory of Its Records at the Minnesota Historical Society

Government Records

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Creator: Minnesota. Territorial Secretary.
Title:Records.
Dates:1849-1857.
Language:Materials in English.
Abstract:Miscellaneous records of the territorial secretary, including bonds and oaths for notaries public, territorial officers, commissioners of deeds, and county officers (1849-1857); letters from the U.S. Treasury Department concerning the annual federal appropriation to Minnesota (1852-1857); documents relating to internal improvements and business growth in the territory (1850-1857); records concerning appointments (1849-1857) and finance, particularly expenditures of the legislative assembly (1850-1856), territorial prison (1854), and territorial librarian (1857); handwritten censuses of the territory (1849), Washington County (1853), Stillwater (1853), and Wabasha County, with tax assessment roll (1852); and the formal protest of the Dakota Chiefs repudiating the settlement of claims under the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux (photocopy; December 1852). A ledger also contains accounting records of the secretary of state's office (post-1857).
Quantity:1.8 cubic feet (4 partial boxes).
Location: See Detailed Description for shelf locations.

Expand/CollapseADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Minnesota. Territorial Secretary. Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Location of Originals:

The original of the Dakota Chiefs' 1852 protest is housed in the Minnesota Historical Society's Reserve Collection (Reserve 15).

Accession Information:

Accession numbers: None; 984-67; 985-143

Processing Information:

Catalog ID number: 001713244

Digitization by Jason Onerheim, January 2024.


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DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Location
115.I.19.9BNotarial Bonds and Oaths, 1849-1857. 16 folders.
Bonds and oaths of office for notaries public.
Location
115.I.19.10FNotarial Bonds and Oaths, 1857-1858. 2 folders.
Bonds and Oaths, 1851-1857. 5 folders.
Bonds and oaths of office for territorial officers, commissioners of deeds, and county officers, including justices of the peace, sheriffs, county commissioners, coroners, district court clerks, and registers of deeds.
Letters Received, [U.S.] Treasury Department, 1852-1857.
Mainly concerns use of the annual federal legislative and capital building appropriations, especially regarding legislative expenses, and printing and publishing costs.
Miscellaneous Letters Received, 1851-1857.
Mainly requests for information and copies of laws.
Letters Sent (copies), 1849-1857.
They concern printing costs, including a request to the U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs for a copy of the 1850 treaty with the Ojibwa.
Miscellaneous Documents, 1850-1857.
Assorted documents relating to internal improvements and business growth in the territory, including articles of incorporation, deeds, ferry bonds, and acts concerning territorial roads. Also a militia roll of assessor’s district no. 1, Ramsey County (1853), the St. Peter Company’s bond to supply a capital building in St. Peter (1857), and inventories of the secretary’s office furnishings (1853, 1857).
Records Relating to Appointments, 1849-1857.
Petitions supporting justice of the peace candidates, resignations, appointment announcements, and refilings of notaries’ official seals with the secretary.
Legislative Accounts, undated and 1850-1856. 9 folders.
Accounts, abstracts, and vouchers covering Legislative Assembly expenditures.
Miscellaneous Accounting Records, 1851-1857.
They cover surveying expenses, requests for session laws, expenditures at Stillwater Prison (1854), and the territorial librarian’s account (1857).
Census of Minnesota Territory, 1849.
A note included in the folder discusses discrepancies between this handwritten copy and the printed census.
Census of Washington County, 1850.
Pencilled, handwritten copy.
Census of Stillwater, June 1853.
Location
Reserve 15Protest of Dakota Chiefs and Accompanying Certifications, December 1852.
Formal protest addressed to the President of the United States, repudiating a settlement of claims under the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux and demanding a scrutiny of claims. Apparently the territorial government’s official copy.
Transcriptions are available in the Alexander Ramsey Papers, held in the MHS manuscript collections, and in William Watts Folwell, A History of Minnesota, Volume 1, page 464.
Protest of Dakota Chiefs and Accompanying Certifications, December 1852 Digital version
Location
115.I.19.10FProtest of Dakota Chiefs and Accompanying Certifications, December 1852.
Public use photocopy.
Location
108.J.13.7B-1Requisitions, 1848-1858. 1 volume.
Letters to the U.S. Treasury Department requesting monies from the annual federal appropriations for legislative expenses, particularly legislators’ compensation and mileage reimbursement.
Ledger, [U.S.] Treasury Department, 1849-1867. 1 partial volume.
Contains secretary and contingent funds and the accounts of individual legislative assembly officers, members, and employees (1849-1853). The volume also contains accounts of the Secretary of State’s office (post-1857).
Location
115.I.19.11BWabasha County: Territorial Tax Assessment Roll and Census Return, 1852. 1 folder.
Assessment roll includes names of persons taxed, residence, dollar valuation of personal property, total valuation of all property, and amount of tax. Census roll lists heads of families, residence, number of children (male or female), and those men eligible for military duty.

Expand/CollapseCATALOG HEADINGS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:
Business enterprises -- Minnesota.
Commissioners of deeds -- Minnesota.
County officials and employees -- Minnesota -- Registers.
Dakota Indians -- Government relations -- 1789-1860.
Dakota Indians -- Treaties
Government librarians -- Minnesota.
Intergovernmental fiscal relations -- Minnesota.
Notaries -- Minnesota.
Prisons -- Minnesota -- Finance.
Tax assessment -- Minnesota -- Wabasha County.
Organizations:
Minnesota. Legislative Assembly -- Appropriations and expenditures.
United States. Department of the Treasury.
Places:
Minnesota -- Census, 1849.
Minnesota -- Officials and employees -- Bonding.
Minnesota -- Officials and employees -- Registers.
Minnesota -- Politics and government -- 1849-1858.
Minnesota Territory.
Stillwater (Minn.) -- Census, 1853.
United States -- Appropriations and expenditures.
Wabasha County (Minn.) -- Census, 1852.
Washington County (Minn.) -- Census, 1853.
Document Types:
Territorial records -- Minnesota.
Titles:
Traverse des Sioux, Treaty of, 1851.

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