RAMSEY COUNTY: SAINT PAUL: MAYOR:
An Inventory of Its Records Relating to Police at the Minnesota Historical Society
Government Records
OVERVIEW
| Creator: | Saint Paul (Minn.). Office of the Mayor. | |
| Title: | Records Relating to Police. | |
| Dates: | 1851-1900. | |
| Language: | Materials in English. | |
| Abstract: | Includes applications for police force, complaints against police, applications for promotion and special appointment, correspondence and reports. | |
| Quantity: | 2.2 cubic feet (2 boxes and 1 partial box) | |
| Location: | See Detailed Description for shelf locations. |
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Saint Paul (Minn.). Office of the Mayor. Records Relating to Police. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession number: none
Processing Information:
Catalog ID number: 001708289
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| 105.G.7.6F | Applications for regular police, 1883-1900. | ||||||||||
| A regular policeman was paid by the City of St. Paul. The applications include written endorsements from such persons as Henry Sibley, Charles Flandrau, and others. Applications were handwritten by the applicants as a means to ensure they could write reports that would be readable. Information includes address, date and place of birth, height and weight, and a general physical description. The applications often include personal narratives noting ethnic heritage, a desire to be a policeman, and endorsements. Not all of the applications indicate, whether or not, the individual was appointed to the police department. In earlier years, the police chief was sometimes asked for an opinion. Also, the mayor had a police commission he could call on for information. Support letters typically spoke of industrious, dependable, limited use of alcohol, hard-working men. Arranged in rough chronological order by year. | |||||||||||
| 105.G.7.7B | Applications for special police, 1887-1900. 6 folders. | ||||||||||
| A special policeman was subsidized by a business, church, park board or neighborhood to provide protection to that specific place. They were not paid by the city, but were given a star and authority to make arrests. Others were appointed for special tasks, such as taking the census or working at the St. Paul Winter Carnival. Includes primarily correspondence regarding the appointment of special policemen. The applications do not include biographical information, but do provide names of the people responsible for the property the special policeman would protect. Arranged in rough chronological order by year. | |||||||||||
| Complaints against police officers, 1883-1893. 7 folders. | |||||||||||
| Most of the complaints concern falling asleep on the job, drunkenness or similar failures. Two concern the officer in charge of the morgue, James Conway. In some cases, a fine was levied and the officer returned to service. In others, they were removed from the force and their stars and certificates of service revoked. Include a few handwritten proceedings of disciplinary hearings. Arranged in rough chronological order by year. | |||||||||||
| Applications for promotion of police officers, 1890-1900. | |||||||||||
| Letters of support for promoting officers already on the force. | |||||||||||
| Special appointments for the Lowertown Bridge construction, 1881. | |||||||||||
| The City of St. Paul Common Council was required by legislation to appoint a commission for the construction of a new bridge in Lowertown. Among the commission’s first duties was to select the specific location of the bridge. | |||||||||||
| Appointments for smallpox epidemic, 1899-1900. | |||||||||||
| Concerning appointments of special police officers and medical staff appointed at the request of city’s Department of Health to enforce a quarantine. | |||||||||||
| Correspondence and reports, 1851-1894. 3 folders. | |||||||||||
| Correspondence, narrative and financial reports, lists, and petitions sent to the mayor concerning the public libraries and other facilities, information about houses of ill repute, liquor license revocations, who provides police uniforms in other cities, and many other topics. Also, city attorney opinions on various matters plus financial information on the “St. Paul Bridge”. Lists include cases in district court in which St. Paul may have an interest, and claims against the city. Includes reports about law suits from the city attorney; reports from city officers; getting title for property owned by Vital Guerin, Louis Robert and others; setting up the fire department; juvenile offenders at the House of Refuge, and more. Also, information on the planning, expense and insurance for the St. Paul Bridge spanning the Mississippi River and connecting Wabasha Street and the Owatonna Road. Arranged in rough chronological order by year. | |||||||||||
| 114.G.4.2F-2 | Revoked certificates of appointment for special policemen, 1890. 1 oversize folder. | ||||||||||
| When a special policeman’s appointment was revoked, the certificate of appointment was returned to the city and marked “revoked”. | |||||||||||
CATALOG 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:
- Applications for positions.
- Mayors -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.
- Police -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul.
- Police -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul -- Complaints against.
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