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
Annual Meeting Ohio Valley Historical
Association. 405
aroused in many Kentucky families in the
plan for hunting
possible manuscript material. He spoke
of a number of Ken-
tucky collections that had recently been
transferred to the Li-
brary of Congress in Washington. While
they were thus re-
moved from the scene of immediate local
interest, they were
probably deposited in the place where
they would be rendered
most available for historical students
and most generally used.
In the absence of a strong local
sentiment for retaining a given
collection and where no fire proof
repository is available he
would favor the giving of valuable
manuscripts to the Library
of Congress, our recognized public
repository. Mr. Mackoy
also suggested a method of describing
and indexing a manu-
script collection, the significant
features of which are embodied
in the blank form in Appendix F.
At the conclusion of Mr. Mackoy's
remarks a motion was
made to recommend that at the business
session on Saturday
morning a permanent committee be
appointed to take up the task
of locating and rendering more available
for the use of his-
torical students the manuscript
collections of this region which
were still in private possession, and
where feasible to direct the
attention of owners of such collections
to the advantage of de-
positing the material in the most
available safe local repository.
SECOND SESSION.
President E. O. Randall was in the chair
at the second
session, held in the First
Congregational Church--a historic
spot, for upon its site was built the
first Protestant house of
worship in the Old Northwest if we
except the Moravian mis-
sions. The meeting was a general public
session and was well
attended. President Perry, of Marietta
College, delivered a
brief address of welcome. Then followed
the numbers of the
program introduced by a paper on
"The Relation between His-
tory and Geography" by Miss Ellen
Churchill Semple, of Louis-
ville, Kentucky, which paper is not here
reproduced as it was
published not only in the complete
proceedings of the meeting,
at which it was read, but also in the Bulletin
of the American
Geographical Society, Vol. XLI, No. 7 (July, 1909), pp. 422-439.