Ohio History Journal

Annual Meeting Ohio Valley Historical Association. 403

 

faded manuscripts for you and put the same into type-written form, so

that editors will readily accept them; or you may not have historic mat

ter so much at heart, as the writer of these lines has; nor have been

taught by an honored historian, a dear husband, how to handle historic

facts.

The leaders of the morning's conference then reported

briefly upon their correspondence preparatory to the meeting and

outlined the following proposed scheme for the work of a com-

mittee on Historical Manuscripts.

 

 

 

METHODS OF LOCATING HISTORICAL MANUSCRIPTS.

I. J. Cox,

University of Cincinnati.

In my estimation, the first point to be determined is, Who are the

historical personages of the valley? Among the methods for preparing

lists of such persons we may suggest the following:-

1. The comparatively brief list that can be obtained from the gen-

eral histories of the United States.

2. This list should be supplemented by state, county, and city his-

tories.

3. From family and genealogical records published.

4. From the files of historical magazines.

5. From lists of members of historical societies, who by corres-

pondence will report from their localities.

6. As a sort of final resort, by advertising in the papers.

Having thus determined the question, who are historical personages

in the Valley, and prepared tentative lists of such, the next point to

determine is the question, did they leave manuscript collections, and if

so, what is the present place of deposit of such? In pursuing this phase

of our subject, one would naturally first make a thorough search of the

printed reports of well known manuscript collections, such as the Library

of Congress, the Wisconsin Historical Society, and the larger eastern

state societies.  (Some letters of Senator John Smith of Ohio are to

be found in the Pickering Papers in the Massachusetts Historical So-

ciety.)  In pursuing this search one should, if possible, also secure the

names of those corresponding with the individual searched for, for these

in turn will serve to locate other historical personages of the Valley.

In a search of the manuscript collections one should undertake to

find if a given historical character has left descendants in the locality

in which he lived. It is usually possible to ascertain this fact by cor-

• 1
 

404        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

 

respondence with local authorities, compilers of family histories, con-

tributors to historical magazines, and members of historical and patri-

otic societies. If this somewhat lengthy list be exhausted without re-

sult, we may at last resort obtain some information from present day

officials of the locality, especially those connected with the County Clerk's

or Recorder's offices. The latter, at least, will be able to suggest some

clue that may lead to the discovery of those sought for. Correspondence

with these will frequently reveal new names and unexpected collections.

The correspondence will frequently show removal on the part of de-

scendants to other states. This will naturally lead to a correspondence

with historical societies of those states and will thus emphasize the

spirit of co-operation.

Having thus determined who are the historical personages, and

whether or not they left manuscripts, we may suggest a possible organ-

ization for facilitating the acquisition of information of this sort. The

plan that seems to suggest itself more readily, is that of a general com-

mittee composed of one representative from  each state in the Ohio

Valley. This general committee should divide up the work along state

lines, each individual being responsible for his own particular state. The

state representatives in turn should endeavor to secure as many corres-

ponding members of this committee as possible. It seems hardly neces-

sary to have a separate correspondent in every county, and in some

counties it may be advisable to have more than one, so I would suggest

no definite unit for sub-dividing the state, but would emphasize the

necessity of using all who may be in the least serviceable.

 

 

 

 

INDEXING MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS.

HARRY BRENT MACKOY,

Member of the Filson Club of Kentucky.

Mr. Mackoy prefixed his remarks by stating that three

classes of persons should be interested in the work of an or-

ganization such as ours; makers of history, writers of history,

and preservers of history. While comparatively few could hope

to belong to the first two classes, there was opportunity for many

to participate in the work of the third class and it was the hope

of those who were in charge of the Ohio Valley Historical As-

sociation to secure the active co-operation of such persons and

thus give them an opportunity to enroll themselves among the

"preservers of history."   He read extracts showing the interest

• 2