On motion of Chancellor Andrews the
above named persons were duly elected. An adjourned meeting of the board of
directors was held at the office of the Society, December
12, 1908, present, Dr. George L. Miller, Prof. H. W.
Caldwell, Chancellor E. B. Andrews, Robert Harvey, S. L.
Geisthardt, the secretary, and Mr. A. E. Sheldon of the
building committee. |
To the Honorable the Board of Directors of the
Nebraska That paragraph 2 of the by-laws be
amended to read as follows: |
government and to prescribe their duties and compensation. The superintendent and all other employees shall hold office at the pleasure of the board. The secretary may be appointed superintendent. (c) Only members of this Society shall be entitled to draw books from the library. No manuscripts or articles in the museum shall be withdrawn from the custody of the proper officers. For the purpose of eliminating in the
future, as far as practicable, all questions as to the
authority and effective power of the board and officers,
your committee recommends as follows: |
The secretary and treasurer may each receive such salary as the board of directors may determine. No other member of the board shall receive any remuneration for his services, but he may be allowed his actual expenses in performing the duties of his office. Any officer may be removed at any meeting of the Society by a two-thirds vote of those present. Officers pro tempore may be chosen by the Society at any meeting in the absence of the regular officers. (b) That Article VI of the constitution be amended to read as follows: The board of directors shall consist of the governor of the state, the chancellor of the state university, the head of the department of American history in the state university, and the president of the Nebraska State Press Association, ex officio, and five members elected by the Society at its annual meeting. The board of directors shall be the governing body of the Society, with power to manage, administer and control the disposition of its moneys, property, effects and affairs, subject to the constitution and by-laws. They shall elect the officers of the Society; they shall have power to elect a superintendent as the chief administrative head of the Society, and such other employees as they may deem necessary, and to prescribe their powers, duties and compensation. They may adopt such rules for the administration of the Society's affairs as they see fit, consistent with the constitution and by-laws. Regular meetings of the board of directors shall be held on the first Tuesday after the second Monday in January and quarterly thereafter during the year. At such meetings they shall receive reports from the secretary and other officers and employees, act on applications for membership, and transact such other business as shall seem to the Society's best interests. Special meetings of the board may be called by the president or secretary upon five days notice to each member, specifying the object of such special meeting. Five shall constitute a quorum of the board. The order of business at a meeting of the board of directors shall be the same as that of the Society's meeting. The board shall report through the secretary of the Society at its meetings. Your committee is doubtful of the
wisdom of perpetuating the office of treasurer. There is no
good reason why the state treasurer should not receive and
disburse all the funds of the |
Society. However, inasmuch as some auditor or state treasurer might deem the membership fees included in the state appropriation, and therefore practically reduce the income of the Society in that amount, we have let the provision in regard to the treasurer stand as it is at present. Dated this 12th day of December, 1908.  S.
L. GEISTHARDT,H. H. WILSON, A. J. SAWYER, Committee. After some informal discussion the secretary moved that the report of the committee be accepted, that it be recommended to the annual meeting with the approval of this board, and that the committee be asked to perfect the proposed plan of reorganization in any way thought proper. Seconded by Mr. Geisthardt. Carried. The secretary then presented the following names of persons for election to active membership.
Mr. Geisthardt moved that the secretary
be instructed to cast the ballot of the members of the board
present for the election of the persons named. Seconded by
Chancellor Andrews. Carried. |
LINCOLN,
NEBRASKA, December 12, 1908.MR. C. S. PAINE, Secretary State Historical Society, Lincoln, Neb. DEAR SIR: At a special meeting of the board held January 15, 1908, when the question of my going to Washington, D. C., to look up and procure copies of missing letters of the commissioner of the general land office to complete the historical record of the correspondence of the commissioner with the surveyor general of the surveying district of which Nebraska was a part, was under consideration, I made the proposition that, inasmuch as I contemplated making a visit to Ashland, Ashland county, Ohio, in the future, I would bear my own expense to that point and return, if the Society would pay the expense from said town to Washington and return; this was informally agreed to. I made the trip in February and March, 1908, and spent six days in examination of the records and making an index of all the letters and parts of letters pertaining to Nebraska surveys required to complete the files. These letters are 49 in number, 46 of which cover the organization of the office and the first year's operations, and the last three, the closing of the office and turning over the archives of surveys to the state of Nebraska in 1889. Certified copies of these have been received, indexed and placed chronologically in volumes I and X, and are now at the bindery and will soon be on the shelves. The other eight volumes have been doing service for nearly a year. I may add that I hunted out the original field notes of the first survey made within the limits of Nebraska Territory, by Rev. Isaac McCoy in 1837, consisting of twenty-seven pages of descriptive notes of surveys of the half-breed Indian reserve. I have searched for more than five years for these notes, hoping to find them among the archives, or in the office of the custodian of the government records of Kansas surveys, so as to have the original record of this ancient Nebraska survey. In the meanwhile I had corresponded with the commissioner of the general land office, and with the commissioner of Indian affairs to procure copies, but they could hot be found in either office. I spent nearly two days at this work and procured a certified copy, which has been bound and filed with the notes of Nebraska surveys. During the search I found the notes of the general description of McCoy's survey, consisting of one page of a folio sheet, so we have at least one page of original manuscript of this early survey. With the aid of the war department I was also able to find General Richard C. Drum, a surviving officer who played a |
prominent part in the battle of Ash Hollow, from whom I obtained valuable information as to the location of the battle ground and history of the battle. I enclose herewith my expense account from Ashland, Ohio, to Washington and return and one half of my expense during the six days engaged at work on records. As the trip was made over different roads, I have computed the expense over the B. & 0. to Washington, from Athens, Ohio, which is approximately in the same longitude as Ashland. Very
respectfully,ROBERT
HARVEY.The bill for the expense of Mr. Harvey, amounting to $34.22, was then presented by the secretary, and, on motion of Mr. Geisthardt, was allowed and ordered paid. The secretary then presented the report of the building committee, that bids for the construction of the proposed library and museum building of the Nebraska State Historical Society had been received, opened and tabulated as follows:
It appearing that Olson & Lawrence, of Lincoln, Nebraska, had also bid on Concord granite, at a price of $4,300 less than their bid on gray Bashaw granite, and that such bid could not be accepted under the specifications, Chancellor Andrews moved that all bids be rejected and that the secretary and architect, readvertise for new bids, specifying several varieties of granite, and ask |
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for bids upon each. Motion seconded by Mr. Geisthardt and carried. The secretary then reported that the committee appointed to consider the amount which should be asked of the next legislature for the expense of the biennium had agreed that $20,000 should be asked for. On motion of Mr. Geisthardt the report was adopted. The secretary then moved that the president be authorized to appoint a committee of five citizens, members of the Society selected from the state at large, to assist in presenting to the members of the legislature the financial needs of this Society, especially with reference to a building. Seconded by Mr. Geisthardt. Carried. The president appointed as such committee, William J. Bryan, Lincoln; George L. Loomis, Fremont; Andrew J. Sawyer, Lincoln; Otoe Morton, Nebraska City; Lysle 1. Abbott, Omaha. On motion of the secretary, seconded by Chancellor Andrews, adjournment was taken until 1:30 P. M., Tuesday, December 22, 1908.
Approved December 31, 1908. An adjourned meeting of the board of
directors was held at the office of the Society, in Lincoln,
Nebraska, at 1:30 P. M., December 22, 1908, present, Robert
Harvey, vice president, presiding, Professor H. W. Caldwell,
Chancellor E. B. Andrews, S. L. Geisthardt, the secretary,
Mr. A. E. Sheldon, of the building committee, and George A.
Berlinghof, architect. |
base of the proposed Historical Society building were then opened. Three bidders were represented as follows: George A. Shaul Construction Company, Louis Jensen, and George E. Tobin. The bid of George E. Tobin, as it was not accompanied with a certified check, was not considered. The bid of Louis Jensen was accompanied with a check which was not certified, neither did the bid of Mr. Jensen include a bid upon gray Bashaw granite, one of the varieties specified, but did include a bid of $18,120 on Barre (Vermont) granite, polished, which was not specified. Mr. Joseph B. Reinhalter, an expert, was called before the board and discussed at length the various kinds of granite. Mr. Louis Jensen was then called before the board to explain his bids. Chancellor Andrews then moved That the president and secretary of the board be authorized to enter into a contract with the George A. Shaul Construction Company, in accordance with their bids of this date, to construct the foundation and one half of the base of the proposed Historical Society building, in accordance with the plans and specifications of the architect, at their bid of $19,000, using for said base gray Bashaw granite, polished finish. Provided, however, that such contract shall not be entered into until the building committe has received from the Woodbury Granite Company a written guaranty to furnish, at any time inside of five years, the same quality of gray Bashaw granite for the completion of the base of the whole building, approaches and steps, at a price satisfactory to the building committee. Seconded by the secretary. Carried. Professor H. W. Caldwell then presented for active membership the name of Professor Samuel Avery, and the secretary presented the name of Ancil L. Funk. Chancellor Andrews moved that the secretary be instructed to cast the ballot of the members of the board present for. the election of the gentlemen named to active 5 |
membership. Seconded by Professor Caldwell. Carried. The secretary then presented the contract with the architect, George A. Berlinghof, as prepared by Mr. Geisthardt, in accordance with the instructions of the board. Chancellor Andrews moved that the president and secretary be authorized to execute the said contract with George A. Berlinghof as architect and superintendent. Seconded by Professor Caldwell. Carried. The secretary then moved to adjourn until December 31, 1908. Seconded and carried. CLARENCE
S. PAINE, Secretary.Approved December 31, 1908. This agreement, made this 19th day of
May, 1908, by and between the Nebraska State Historical
Society, hereinafter called the first party, and George A.
Berlinghof, of the city of Lincoln, county of Lancaster and
state of Nebraska, hereinafter called the second party,
witnesseth: |
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