Early Legislators’ Biographical Data: Manuscripts 138 & 151

Memorandum filled out by Senator Moody Merrill of the
1st Norfolk District in 1874.

The State Library is home to a collection of documents that provides important insight into the personal and political lives of mid-to-late 19th century Massachusetts legislators.  From 1868 through 1892 the editors of the Boston Journal compiled what they called “memoranda” as part of an effort to collect data about contemporary state legislators. Also known as Manuscript 138, the collection consists of sheets of questions that were originally mailed out to the House and Senate members annually in order to gather information about their lives, occupations, political views, past offices they held, and military service—among others.  What makes this collection so interesting and unique is that each of the memoranda is filled out by the legislators themselves during their terms in office. They were subsequently returned to the Journal editors, and then at some point were bound together by year.  In the letters that were distributed by the Journal in Nov. of 1868 it states:

Our object is to obtain statistical tables for present use, assuring you that no publicity will be given to the information, offensive in the slightest degree to you personally. 

Such information, when properly presented, is of great value to the officers of the two branches, and facilitates public business, by making members acquainted with the antecedents of their legislative associates.

Memorandum filled out by Representative
Henry Cabot Lodge of the 10th Essex
District in 1880.

The responses (or lack thereof), and how legislators chose to respond, are fascinating to look at.  Some answers are short and concise; others required additional pages to fit everything they wanted to say.  Some political platform-based questions were answered confidently and with long explanations; other legislators refrained from answering them altogether. It’s also not uncommon to find additional materials inserted with the memoranda, such as legislators’ business cards or newspaper clippings, which may have been included by either the legislators themselves or the Journal employees.

Although the Journal’s collection does not extend past 1892 (with 1874 being incomplete), it’s important to note that this was not the only effort undertaken to gather information about members of the Massachusetts General Court.

State Librarian Caleb Benjamin Tillinghast was driven to collect as much biographical information about as many past and contemporary Massachusetts state legislators as possible.  From 1884 to 1909, he mailed letters out to anyone he felt might be able to give him the information he was seeking:  town clerks, librarians, legislators and their relatives, etc.  In fact, he estimated that he had sent out more than 75,000 letters and questionnaires total.  This 35-box collection of correspondence, also known as Manuscript 151, is the prime source for our “Legislators’ Biographical File”—a index file that continues to be updated today.

For more information about our collection of legislative memoranda and correspondence, please contact our Special Collections Department at 617-727-2595.  The library is open 9am-5pm Monday through Friday.


Kaitlin Connolly
Reference Librarian

State Librarian Caleb Tillinghast and his Encounters with Charles J. Guiteau

The State Library recently came across an interesting article in the 6/17/1886 issue of the Boston Daily Globe titled “Theft and mutilation: dangers to which all libraries are subject.”  We were pleasantly surprised to find that one of our own long-running State Librarians, Caleb Tillinghast (1879-1893, Acting Librarian; 1893-1909, State Librarian), whose bust is prominently displayed behind our reference desk in room 341 of the State House, was interviewed for a portion of the article.

Tillinghast, while patient and reasonable, was a no-nonsense librarian devoted to the library and its collections. When a volume of citations from Supreme Court decisions went missing, a book that he describes as “not very valuable” and “easily replaced,” he saw it as an opportunity to make an example of the theft. He made unceasing efforts to recover the book and, after some months, Tillinghast’s persistence paid off; the missing volume was retrieved from a lawyer’s personal library—a lawyer who fled Massachusetts soon after. Unfortunately, the book was defaced with new stamps and the culprit’s signature in multiple spots, but Tillinghast kept the book and considered it a “memento” of the experience.

Charles Julius Guiteau
(image from Wikipedia)

The reminiscences of his encounters with Charles J. Guiteau are easily the most fascinating section of this article.  Guiteau, who assassinated President James A. Garfield in 1881, visited Boston briefly around 1880 and frequented some of the libraries in the area—including the State Library.  Tillinghast was immediately wary of this new patron, whom he describes as sometimes using the room as a “loafing place.”  Guiteau was generally left undisturbed unless he fell asleep, which “Mr. Tillinghast would not tolerate.”  It wasn’t until the patron removed his “dirty pair of culls and placed them on the table” that the librarian privately questioned Guiteau about his intentions.

…Guiteau took the inquisition pleasantly, and, producing a card that announced his profession as law and his experience as ten years, said that he was studying “government and politics, with a view to entering the field in the coming campaign.”  As the future assassin seemed sincere the librarian told him that he was welcome to the privileges of the library on three conditions, i.e.: He must not loaf there, not lodge there, and not perform his toilet there.  Guiteau promised to comply, and took no offence, but his visits soon ceased.

The State Library has a large collection of Massachusetts historical newspapers, including the Boston Daily Globe, which covers the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.  For further information regarding newspaper accessibility, you can contact us by phone at 617-727-2590 or via email at reference.department@state.ma.us.  We are open 9:00am until 5:00pm, Mondays through Fridays.

Kaitlin Connolly
Reference Department

Sculpted to Inspire: Caleb Tillinghast

Caleb Tillinghast was born on April 3, 1843. When he was a child, the family moved to Windham County, Connecticut where Caleb worked on a farm when he was not attending the rural school. He walked five miles on Saturdays to get books from an association library to augment the instruction in the school room. His ancestors were Quakers.

At one time he held the office of school visitor in the town of Killingly, Connecticut. Similar to a school committee member, his job was to make rules and buy books. He held other minor offices. On Aug. 10, 1862 he married Ardelia Martin Wood. Their son, Linwood Morton Tillinghast, was born on July 4, 1865. In the spring of 1870, they moved to Boston, where Tillinghast found a position as a reporter on the Boston Journal. He soon rose to the position of editor.

In 1849, the legislature passed an act that made the Secretary of the Board of Education the State Librarian with the power to appoint an assistant librarian and clerk. This changed in 1893 when the legislature passed a statute that allowed the Governor to make the appointment of the Librarian. Tillinghast was appointed acting librarian by John W. Dickinson, who was secretary of the State Board of Education and State Librarian. In 1893, Governor Russell appointed Tillinghast State Librarian when the Office of the State Librarian was created.

Tillinghast was interested in methods of instruction for the "deaf, blind and feeble minded" and that those in country towns desiring to become teachers receive a suitable teacher's education. He had many friends who inspired him to belong to many societies including the Worcester Antiquarian Society, American Antiquarian Society, Old Colony Historical Society, Boston Art Club, the Appalachian Mountain Club, the General Theological Library and the Massachusetts Total Abstinence Club.

He also devoted time to the New England Historic Genealogical Society. As Vice-President for Massachusetts and chairman of the Committee on Publications, he encouraged plans to develop the Society's usefulness.

One passion of his was to search for biographical materials for the members of Massachusetts state government. He estimated he had written more than 75,000 letters in this quest. This collection of index cards in the State Library is known as the Legislative Biographical file.

His main interests were promoting education, creating libraries and advising officials in many subject areas. He received only a salary as a librarian even though he was offered other library jobs that paid better, such as the head of the Boston Public Library. He received an honorary degree of Master of Arts from Harvard University in June, 1897 and a Doctor of Literature from Tufts College in 1905.

Come view the sculpture of the state's first State Librarian in the main reading room, room 341, through April 15, 2011.

The Sculpted to Inspire series is sponsored by the Friends of the State Library.

Sculpted to Inspire: Caleb Tillinghast

FROM NEWSPAPERS TO BOOKS!

What city editor of the Boston Journal became the first State Librarian?

Caleb B. Tillinghast was the Acting State Librarian starting in 1879.
In 1893 the Office of the State Librarian was created.
Mr. Tillinghast was appointed.

Please visit the Library in room 341 between
March 7, 2011-April 15, 2011
to see the State Library’s first State Librarian.

The “Sculpted to Inspire” series is sponsored by the Friends of the State Library.