Milton Penn Collection (MS267)

Access and use

Location of collection:
Alexandria Library
Alexandria Library
Local History/Special Collections
717 Queen Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Patricia Walker, Branch Manager
Phone: (703) 746-1719
Phone: (703) 838-4577
Fax: (703) 706-3912
Preferred citation:

[Item identification], Milton Penn Collection, MS267, Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections, Alexandria, Va.

Summary

Extent:
.46 Cubic Feet 2 boxes
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Item identification], Milton Penn Collection, MS267, Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections, Alexandria, Va.

Background

Scope and content:

The papers in this collection cover all of the Alexandria Fire Department's business and legal transactions over a span of one hundred years. The canceled checks show the many expenditures necessary to outfit, maintain, and operate the volunteer fire companies. There are also many receipts from commercial firms who provisioned, repaired, serviced and supplied the volunteer fire companies. The Alexandria Common Council appropriated money each year to cover the entire Fire Department.

Many reports to the Common Council are included. These contain appropriations for the fire companies, fire warden appointees and resignations, construction and repair of fire houses, minutes of Fire Department meetings, the establishment of a Fire Department Board of Directors and the enactment of laws covering fire house bells and assembly at fire houses.

One report from the Fire Department, dated May 8, 1860, describes how much usable hose each fire company has on-hand and requests purchase of more hose, in linear feet. A quarterly report dated August 15, 1851 lists the number of members in each fire company: The Sun had 111; the Relief, 63; the Friendship, 76; the Star, 47; and the Hydraulion, 52.

Arrangement:

The material is arranged chronologically by type of correspondence or business-related transaction. Arrangement repeated for Box 2 added in 1995.

Accruals:

Additional materials donated in 1995

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard