Register of the Treasury

Transcription

Introductory Speaker: Hello everyone. Welcome to another installment of the Know Your Records lecture program that the Customer Services division began back in September of last year. We’ve had an average of about two to four speakers per month, and this week’s guest speaker is John Deeben from the Customer Support branch at the National Archives building downtown. He holds a B.A. degree and an M.A. degree in history from Gettysburg College and Penn State University, respectively. Although at the moment he’s with the Research Support branch, he is performing cross-training with legislative records for a little while. And the title of his presentation today, which is his second that he’s done for us, is The Official Register of the United States, 1816-1959. So if you would, let’s give a nice round of applause to John Deeben. John Deeben: Thank you very much. We’re talking this morning about the Official Register of the United States. And let me first say that generally, government publications overall are probably one of the more underutilized types of resources in relation to genealogy research. Most researchers that I’ve assisted downtown barely know that they exist unless we point them out. Some obviously are more savvy than others, but for the most part they aren’t aware that these publications exist. Which is unfortunate, because the Official Register of the United States represents probably one of the best research tools for genealogy, particularly if you’re looking for someone who worked for the federal government. It essentially comprises a national directory of federal employees, and it spans a significant period of American history: 1816-1959. So in this respect, if you don’t know where else to begin, often times the Official Register can offer a starting point for research. Let me just give you an overview of the history of the register and how it evolved over the years. And then from this, hopefully, you will begin to see how it becomes valuable as a resource for genealogy research. The Official Register was authorized by an act of Congress on April 27th, 1816. It was to be published every two years in conjunction with the sitting of each new Congress, and for that reason early on it was often referred to as the Biannual Register. And in fact I believe the actual title of Official Register didn’t begin appearing on the title page of the publication until around the 1860’s. Before then it was actually referred to as the Biannual Register. The register was intended to provide Congress with general information about the federal government in order to hold it more accountable to Congress and, by extension, to the American people. In that respect the register was ordered to maintain a comprehensive listing of all civilian, military, and naval employees, officers, and agents in federal employ. The lists were arranged by department, and there under by agency, bureau, or office. There was also a requirement for the Secretary of the Navy to provide the names, armament, and condition of all ships and vessels owned by the United States, including where and when they were built. Oversight of the Official Register passed through several hands down through the years. From the very beginning up until about 1859 it was under the Secretary of State. Then from about 1861-1875, the Secretary of the Interior held supervision of the register. A congressional act of December 15th, 1877 gave immediate supervision to the Superintendent of Public Documents, who still remained under the general supervision of the Interior Secretary. Then in 1906, Congress reassigned the register to the Director of the Census. And then from that point until 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt transferred the register to the Civil Service Commission. And it stayed under that agency until the end of its publication life. The scope and content of the register evolved over the years. Obviously departments were added as they were created by the government. Other special acts of Congress added additional categories of information as well. A couple examples: An act of July 14th, 1842 required the insertion of all the names of government printers – which as you can probably imagine was quite substantial – a statement of monetary allowances for mail contractors, and a list of all presidents, cashiers, and directors of the Bank of the United States and its branches. In 1893, it was required to include summary statements of the total numbers of officers and employees in each executive department, in the judiciary, in the government printing office, and also in the government of the District of Columbia. It was to include in addition to their salaries any other type of compensation they may have received. Then in 1902, another statute added the employees of the Controller of the Currency as well. The organization of the Official Register and the type of information presented makes it particularly useful for genealogy research. From 1817-1905 it was arranged in a tabular format. The tables include such information as the employee’s name, job title, the state or country in which they were born, the location of their post, and their annual salary. And if you look at page one of the handout you'll see an example of the table format from the 1837 volume for the Treasury Department. Did everybody get a handout? Okay. Military listings for this time period also provided the names for the officers, their rank, and place of birth. The naval lists, in addition, provided the dates of commissions for the officers and their current duty stations. In 1851 an additional column was inserted showing the state or territory from which each employee was appointed. The early volumes of the register from about 1817-1875 did not contain a specific index of names, but included a table of contents that was arranged alphabetically by department, office, or position. But then from 1877-1905 an alphabetical name index did appear at the end of each volume. Then in 1907 a major format change takes place. The Director of the Census at that time, Dexter North, determined that the register was becoming too large and costly. In comparison, the very first edition that came out in 1817 had comprised 176 pages and contained just over about 6,300 names. However over the years the register grew by approximately 50% every decade so that by 1905 when that edition came out, it contained over 4,200 pages and 349,000 names. The total cost of producing that volume in 1905 was $70,000. In relation to all this, Director North estimated that the upcoming 1907 edition would include over 4,500 pages and cost $78,000. Therefore he recommended that the register be changed to a directory format consisting of one line entries for all federal employees, arranged alphabetically by surname. If you take a look at page two of your handout, there’s an example of the first page of that directory that came out in 1907. The directory entries still contained all the pertinent information that was required by law for each employee, but you’ll see on the handout that it employed an extensive system of abbreviations in relation to the information that was presented. And in doing that, it achieved a noticeable economy of space. The Printing Commission of Congress approved these changes, and so the 1907 edition was produced at a modest cost of $25,600 and contained a mere 1,500 pages. The switch to the directory format also eliminated the need for a comprehensive name index. So after this change, other cost-saving steps were gradually implemented as well. As the federal government continued to expand, attempts were made to streamline information in the register. Gradually most non-administrative federal employees were eliminated from the lists as well as any temporary employees with less than six months of service and all substitute mail carriers. Then in 1913 on December 22nd, Congress passed the Urgent Deficiencies Act which eliminated many government non-essential publications. As part of this legislation all information regarding the postal service that was in the register, including the mail contractor allowances was removed from the register as well. And also the list of ships and vessels that belonged to the U.S. Now regarding the postal service, that elimination was actually more significant than it sounds at the moment, and we’ll see why in a few seconds. In 1917 all of the U.S. military listings for the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps – the officers, cadets, and midshipmen – were also omitted from the register because this information was also being published by annual registers in the War and Navy Departments. There was a duplication of information, so in that respect they eliminated it from the Official Register. In fact only military officers who were detailed for administrative service in the District of Columbia were listed by name and their official designation. Other classes of employees not holding regular or full-time status were also eliminated. Then after 1921 the register removed the all name directory completely and reverted to lists in table format; only of administrators and supervisors in each executive and judicial department and the District of Columbia. The administrators listed were only those whose salaries were paid directly by the U.S. Treasury. If you take a look at page three of the handout, you’ll see an example from the 1925 edition which shows the reversion to the table format. Now I mentioned a few minute ago that the postal service was rather unique. It actually provided a unique situation in the whole publication history of the Official Register. The natural growth of the federal government over the years was most noticeable in the U.S. Post Office department and the postal service. As you can imagine, the postal department is one of the truly national department s in scope because it has such a presence in every state of the Union. By 1879, the Post Office department lists included not only the employees of the Office of the Postmaster General and all his Assistant Postmaster Generals, but also the money order system, the foreign mails, the Office of the Assistant Attorney General, post office supervisors, the Stamped Envelope Agency, the Postal Card Agency, and the Postage Stamp Agency. The size of the postal service was even more distinctive, as I just mentioned, because its vast network of post offices, services, and bureaus spanned every state in the Union. These included the Railway Mail Service, the Special Mail Service, the Mail Messenger Service, and the free delivery system comprised of letter carriers. Mail contractors expanded the postal service list even more. By 1911, mail contractors included almost every conceivable type of transportation service available from railway to electric and cable car, steamboat, and stage and wagon. In addition to that, the postal service also contracted foreign mail transfer services and pneumatic tube services. By 1879, this increasing size of the postal service finally created printing problems that required immediate attention. Obviously the mandated deadlines for the publication of the register were no longer being met. The register was therefore divided into two volumes for the first time in its history, with the postal service listings being published separately. If you look at page four of your handouts, you’ll see the first page of that separate volume that came out in 1879. The remaining employee statistics for the federal government still came out in the first volume and were still made available to Congress on time. It was determined that the postal service volume would follow as soon as it was practical to compile all of that information. So in this respect, the Official Register continued as a two-volume publication from 1879-1911. Each volume included a separate surname index until, as I mentioned previously, the directory format was introduced. By 1911, however, the Director of the Census – he’s on a roll now from the changes he made in 1907 – determined that the postal service volume was becoming too difficult and costly to produce in and of itself. The 1911 volume, for example, comprised over 700 pages on its own and cost $12,600 to produce. Page five of your handout has an example of the 1911 edition. Also, the complex task of preparing the postal volume alone further diminished its usefulness over time. The required statistics could only be obtained by corresponding directly with all 59,237 post offices that were across the nation. So the compilation of data became very time consuming, delaying publication of the volume and making its contents often obsolete by the time the volume actually came out. In fact, during this whole period that the post service was issued as a separate volume, only one time – in 1909 – did it come out on time according to the mandated deadlines. Every other year it was late. So as part of the 1913 Urgent Deficiencies Act that I mentioned previously, the names of all the postal service employees were removed and the Official Register once again became a single-volume publication. The Director of the Census – and this is the interesting part – Dexter North subsequently declared that the deletion of the postal information was apparently satisfactory to the public because he received absolutely no complaints about the omission of the information. So as I stated earlier, the Official Register of the United States offers a convenient starting point for genealogy research on civilian and military employees of the federal government. From everything I’ve described, one can readily see how researchers can discover at a glance whether or not an ancestor or even a more recent relative worked for the government in a given year, and also identify the department, bureau, or office that they served. A genealogist can readily identify the place of birth of most employees and the congressional district from which they were appointed. In many cases the breakdown of department listings by specific jobs, especially in the 19th century volumes, provides additional insight into the nature of the work that was performed by federal employees. A good example is the 1867 listings for the Office of Public Buildings, Grounds, and Works that was in the War Department. If you look through there you’re going to find personnel who served in such interesting jobs as lamp lighters, draw keepers for the public bridges in Washington City, and furnace keepers for the White House. Obviously these jobs sound quite archaic to our standards, but I think they also provide a colorful flavor and insight to understanding the times during which these employees worked. Also the lists of annual salaries and contractors allowances provide a general picture, as well, of the economic conditions under which federal employees labored throughout various periods of our history. Let me give you an example, Jacob Bloom, who was appointed Postmaster in a very rural township in Pennsylvania on September 17th, 1836. So his first entry in the register appears in the 1837 edition. At that time his annual salary was $4.32. Eight years later the post office closed temporarily in January of 1844, so his final entry appears in the 1843 edition. At that time his annual salary was $9.95, so at least he had received some kind of raise. But in this respect the Official Register offers not only a central research tool for genealogy, but an initial and often interesting snapshot of life as a federal employee from 1816-1959. To wrap up my remarks, let me just point out that most U.S. government depository libraries – as well as our own Archives Library and Information Center – contain sets of the register. Also you can find select portions of the register on the internet. For example, the navy and War Department listings for the Civil War period you can find on the America Hurrah website. Some volumes of the register are also included in other government publications such as the U.S. Congressional Serial Set. In that set you’ll find volumes of the register from 1883-1893. So with that, I’ll entertain any questions you might have about the register. Introductory Speaker: If you would, I’ve got a mic here so we can record you for posterity. Audience Member: Yes, thank you for your time. It’s very interesting. My father joined the federal service after World War II, so I was able to find him throughout the register up to ’59. But when I was doing that research several years ago, I had a thought. Has anyone ever done the research to see when women first started in the federal government? When they had secretaries that were females, rather than men in the 1880’s? John Deeben: Not that I know of. Audience Member: So there’s been no research done on it? John Deeben: Not that I know of. Audience Member: Any thought that this would ever be put in a database? That it would be scanned in and we could search by name? John Deeben: No, again I’ve heard nothing about that. Audience Member: You doubt it? John Deeben: I probably doubt that would happen any time soon. Audience Member: Alright, thank you. Audience Member: To answer maybe one of your questions, I have heard that Clara Barton, when she came to work as a clerk in the patent office in the 1850’s, was the first woman federal employee. That may not be true, though. John Deeben: It’s possible. As I mentioned the early volumes of the register – the 19th century volumes – listed everyone. So as female clerks started coming in, they should be listed there as far as I know. Audience Member: And I have a question. If you’re looking in the early ones – and perhaps you don’t know people’s names – but you want to know who the person in this area was? Who was the postmaster? I know there are postmaster records. But the agency listings before the name directory; are those arranged to show by state or anything like that? John Deeben: Yeah. In relation to the post office listings, once you go into the post office department and you get into the postmaster listings specifically, they are arranged by state. So if you know a specific location that you’re looking for you can go to the specific state. And then I believe under the state they’re listed by town. Audience Member: Am I remembering correctly that this is the publication that also includes home address for people? John Deeben: No, these don’t. Audience Member: For federal employees? I thought I’d seen that somewhere. From the 1950’s, that is. John Deeben: No, not for the Official Register. Audience Member: Among the records here that I’ve done some research in are weather reports which were done by contractors, I believe through the Smithsonian. I’m wondering if those people who were under contract to do weather would be listed in this. Do you know? John Deeben: I don’t know specifically, but I would guess that they probably should be because, as I mentioned, they wanted to make the government more accountable to Congress. So even though they focus specifically on mail contractors, I think contractors from other departments should be listed as well. Audience Member: I have two questions. The first question is: Did you say in the early 1920’s that the register did not list every federal employee, just officials? John Deeben: That’s correct. They just started listing administrative-level positions. Audience Member: And above. But not every single employee. Right. Okay. Then my other question was – and I think we’ve kind of answered this based on the other question: My great aunt worked for the military as a civilian, but she started in the early 1920’s and she was not an official, she was more of a regular employee. So she probably would not be in the Official Register. John Deeben: Yeah, by that time probably not. Audience Member: Yeah, because she started in the 1920’s and worked until the late 1950’s. So I thought she might be in there, but I had never looked. Where would someone like her be? She was a civilian in the military, in the Department of the Army and the Quartermaster. Because you said the military was publishing directories of its military personnel starting in 1917, but what about civilians in the military? John Deeben: I’m not familiar with the registers that the army put out, so I don’t know if they included civilian contractors as well. Audience Member: Yeah, she was a civilian employee. Okay, thank you. Audience Member: Two comments as a documents librarian here at the National Archives. I wish you had included the superintendent of documents classification numbers for the various time periods, because that makes it easier for people who are unfamiliar with the government publications to go to their local depositor library and find those government publications. Often those depository libraries do not catalog their government documents, so if you can walk in with the SuDoc number in hand it will make it a lot easier for you. John Deeben: Sure, that’s a very valid point. Audience Member: And a place to find civilian employees of agencies is the telephone directory. The telephone directories, as soon as they became available, listed everybody within the agency. Also there are separately-published registers for numerous departments that help fill in the gap for those people that got dropped from the Official Register. So you go from looking at one volume that answers your question for everyone, to those individual agencies. There are a number of government documents, depository libraries, which have listed genealogical resources in their government publications that are on the web. Introductory Speaker: I have a question. For the Official Register of the U.S., just for clarification, what’s downtown and what do we have out here at College Park? Audience Member: The full set of the library’s collection is downtown. Out here we have a few odd volumes within the library, but RG 287 is the GPO collection of government publications. And as long as it resides in College Park, we still have everything available to us. John Deeben: And the set that we do have downtown is also not complete. We’re missing the early volumes from 1819-1829. Audience Member: I was thinking it was ‘43 that we first began. And it’s interesting to note that the first volume we have is approximately the same physical size as the last volume issued in 1959 because they had dropped so many people. Audience Member: What succeeded the register? John Deeben: I’m not specifically sure what succeeded the register. Audience Member: When did the U.S. government manual come in that lists by agency? You know, the U.S. government manual that’s put out by GPO? In the 1930’s? So it was being published alongside with this one? The Official Register and the U.S. government manual were both – I see. Okay. Introductory Speaker: Any other questions? We’ve got almost thirty minutes. Audience Member: Just one more comment. The National Archives library collects publications that other libraries really don’t want. They don’t want annual reports; they don’t want telephone directories because they’re more interested in current information. But annual reports and telephone directories and those registers are the bread and butter of what we have here. It helps immeasurably in using the records, not just in genealogical research. Who signed that damned piece of correspondence that you can’t read? What were they doing there? Those registers and telephone directories answer that question for you. Introductory Speaker: Alright, going once. Twice. No more questions? Alright, then thank you very much for the presentation today.