£7 E67 ■li, l! \l\^^/):" -^^^ ^ *-'V.»' •^AO^ » 4 o 0* , " „*^ 3^ oo--.^. ^-^^ .. ■r % -; \: ' o > *"'.•- 'bv" cV.^^:^°o /\*;^%% c<>\.^^/-o ,^^ .0 -% • '^^ .^ /^^^/ko V C'^^ -^^ » t^.'-ifT'-y %/^"'\o> S" ■^*o< •1 o X ^0^S■ O < ^'^^ *\ ^^^ -n^o^ ESSEX INCORPORATED JUNE 11, 1821. Your petitioners therefore pray, that they may, lor the more orderly conducting of their affairs, be made a corporation, with all necessary powers for carrying into effect the design of their association ; and as in duty bound will ever pray, EDWARD AUGUSTUS HOLYOKE, JOSEPH STORY, JOHN PRINCE, BENJAMIN PICKMAN, JACOB ASHTON, NATHANIEL BOWDITCH, NATHANIEL SILSBEE, JOHN PICKERING, ICHABOD TUCKER, JOHN S. APPLETON, LEVERETT SALTONSTALL, GEORGE CLEVELAND, BENJAMIN MERRILL, FREDERIC HOWES, THOMAS CARLILE, JOHN BRAZER, DANIEL A. WHITE, JOHN GLEN KING, GIDEON BARSTOW, WILLIAM GIBBS, CHARLES C. CLARKE, JOSEPH A. PEABODY, THOMAS P. BANCROFT, BENJAMIN R NICHOLS, STEPHEN WHITE and GEORGE A. WARD ^^c% Vm/jc 3, 182-L COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. TO IWCORPOBATE THE ESSEX HISTORICAL SOCIETY. Sect. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Represen- tatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That Edward Augustus Holyoke, of Salem, in the county of Essex, doctor of medicine, and such other persons as have associated or may hereafter associate themselves with him for the purpose of collecting and preserving materials for the civil and natural history of the said county of Essex, be, and they hereby are, made a body corporate and politic by the name of the Essex Historical Society ; and by that name they and their successors may sue and be sued, and shall be capable in law to take and hold in fee simple, or otherwise, lands, tene- ments, rents, and hereditaments, not exceeding in the whole the yearly value of two thousand dollars, exclusive of the building or buildings which may be actually occupied for the purposes of the said corporation ; and they shall also be capable in law to take, receive, and hold personal estate, to an amount, the yearly value of which shall not exceed the smn of two thousand dollars, exclusive of the books, papers, memorials, and other articles composing the library and cabinet of the said corpora- tion ; and they shall also have power to sell, demise, exchange, or otherwise dispose of, all or any part of their lands, tenements, rents, hereditaments, and other property aforesaid, for the bene- fit of the said corporation ; and shall also have a common seal, which they may break, alter, and renew at their pleasure ;■ and shall also have power to make by-laws, with suitable penalties, and not repugnant to the laws of this commonwealth. Sect. 2. Be it further enacted, That the said corporation shall have power, from time to time, as they may think fit, to elect a president and such other officers as they shall judge necessary ; and at their first meeting they may agree upon the manner of calling future meetings, and proceed to execute all or any of the powers vested in them by this act. Sect. 3. Be it further enacted. That the library and cab- inet of the said corporation shall be kept in the town of Saleia aforesaid. Sect. 4. Be it further enacted. That the said Edward Au- gustus Holyoke be and hereby is authorized to notify the said first meeting of the said corporation by an advertisement thereof under liis hand for seven days before such meeting, in anjr ne^vspaper printed in Salem aforesaid. Approved hy the Governor i June 11, 183i. CONSTITUTION ^s>m^ msimmsA'iL mmm-^^ Art. I. The Society shall be called The Essex Historical Society, and shall consist of resident and honorary members, the former of whom shall be persons residing within the county of Essex. Art. II. The object of the society shall be, to procure and preserve whatever relates to the topography, antiquities, and natural, civil, and ecclesiastical history of the county of Essex. Art. III. The officers of the society shall be a president, a vice president, a recording secretary, a corresponding secretary, a treasurer, a librarian and cabinet-keeper, and nine trustees, of which the president and vice president shall ex officio be two ; and all the officers shall be chosen by ballot, at the annual meeting of the society, on the sixth day of September. Art. IV. It shall be the duty of the trustees to receive do- nations, and to manage and superintend all the concerns of the society ; they shall hold meetings as often as occasion shall re- quire, and at the annual meeting on the sixth day of September they shall make a report in writing of the transactions of the preceding year. Art. V. Four meetings of the society shall be held at Salem in every year ; the first meeting, at which the officers shall be chosen, shall be on the sixth day of September, being the day of the landing of Gov. Endicott at Salem, A. D. 1628 ; provided Iwwever, that when that day shall happen on Sunday, the meet- 6 ing shall be holden on the Tuesday following ; the other meet- ings on the first Tuesdays of December, March and June ; ajid special meetings may be called at the same place by the Presi- dent, or in his absence the Vice President, on the application of the trustees, by publishing a notification in some newspaper printed in Salem. The President, and in his absence the Vice President, shall preside at all meetings. Art. VI. Each resident member shall, upon his admission, pay the sum of ten dollars. Art. VII. The members of the society shall be chosen by ballot, at a stated meeting of the society ; but no person shall be admitted as a member, unless he has been nominated at some stated meeting precedmg that at which the vote shall be taken for his admission. Art. VIII. Five members shall be a quorum for holding my meeting. CIRCULAR. The object of the Essex Historical Society is, as stated in the 2d article of the constitution, " to procure and preserve what- ever relates to the topography, antiquities, and natural, civil, and ecclesiastical history of the county of Essex." Members of the society, and other persons who feel a desire to promote these interesting and important purposes, will gratify the society by aiding in collections, for its use, of the following : 1. Topographical sketches of the towns and pai'ishes Avhere they reside, or with which they are particidarly acquainted ; including an account of the soil, agriculture, manufactures, commerce, remarkable buildings, natural curiosities, and statis- tics of such places. 2. Sketches of the history, civil and ecclesiastical, of such towns and parishes, and as far as may be with minute refer- ences to dates, and biographical notices of the ministers, lawyers, physicians, and other most distinguished men, who were born or have resided therein. 3. Oi-iginal letters, documents, and papers illustrating any of these subjects, particularly such as were written by distin- guished men at home or abroad, which shew the private habits, manners or pursuits of our ancestors, or are connected with the public history of this county, or of this commonwealth. 4. Portraits of distinguished persons who were born or have resided in this county, or were connected with the history of the commonwealth, particularly the portraits of our ancestors- and of distinguished persons in England, of the same age. 5. Sermons, orations, occasional discourses and addresses, books and pamphlets, printed in the commonwealth, and espe* cially such as have been written by persons born or residing within the commonwealth. 6. Besides these the society will receive donations of any other books, pamphlets, portraits, manuscripts, and printed documents, with which any gentleman may please to favor them ; and in all cases, unless otherwise requested, the donor's name will be entered in the records of the donations of th« society. Salcmy June 27, 1821. Ut ^^ LBJL'04 5^ y-:^^. <=>o . T • A <>. *'^"* ^^ e ^'P -^^0^ ^^. '■■' .n' "^.^^^ 'bv^^ ^^-n^. V v^-