Virginia. Office of the Second Auditor. Literary Fund Records, 1785-1927

Access and use

Location of collection:
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Archives Reference Services
Phone: (804) 692-3888
Restrictions:

There are no restrictions.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Virginia Office of the Second Auditor. Literary Fund Records, 1785-1927. Accession SAI 30, State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Summary

Extent:
12 cu. ft. (25 boxes)
Creator:
Virginia. Office of the Second Auditor.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Virginia Office of the Second Auditor. Literary Fund Records, 1785-1927. Accession SAI 30, State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

Records, 1785-1927, including accounts, bonds, clippings, correspondence, court records, deeds, forms, lists, minutes, reports, treasurer receipts, and vouchers of the Second Auditor Literary Fund. This collection provides a broad overview of how the monies were collected and spent throughout the Commonwealth to support education for the state's poor children. Also as the Literary Fund was financed by money from fines, land and property forfeitures, penalties, confiscations, and escheats, this collection documents the financial histories of Virginians across various localities.

The correspondence, 1811-1927 (bulk 1811-1862 and 1903-1914), is arranged chronologically into eight boxes. The correspondence, 1811-1862, includes letters from people who were appointed as agents for the Literary Fund; counties asking for loans to build schools; requests for copies of legislation; and payments of debt, among other topics. Of note is the correspondence, 1833-1842, relating to the estate of Burk[e] Freeman and Adam Waterford, free men of Washington County, Virginia. At issue was whether a slave can inherit from an estate or whether the money from his estate would go to the Literary Fund. Also of note are letters, 10 April and 13 August 1820, from Thomas Jefferson, regarding funds sent to the University of Virginia from the Literary Fund. There is also a drawing of an addition to the University of Virginia gymnasium, 1835, located in the Correspondence, Schools, University of Virginia.

The Correspondence, Schools, 1835-1853, includes information on money that was sent to schools and academies across Virginia and is arranged alphabetically by school name. Included are accounts, annual reports, bonds for teachers, minutes, and resolutions. Many local academies were included as well as some colleges and universities such as the Medical College of Richmond, University of Virginia, and Virginia Military Institute, among others. The correspondence, 1903-1914, relates to salaries of superintendants; repayment of loans schools had taken; submitting money the county had gathered for teacher pensions/retired teachers fund; asking for copies of school insurance policies; investment of literary funds into bonds and stock; and correspondence to and from the Second Auditor.

Included are deeds, 1816-1847, for the sale of James River Company shares to the Literary Fund. Also included are papers relating to escheated lands, 1785-1851, including correspondence, court records, deeds, reports, and wills regarding land that was sold with the proceeds going to the Literary Fund. The deeds and escheated lands records contain some useful genealogical information. Included are lists of academies to which surplus quotas have been appropriated and lists of fines collected by counties.

Included are papers, 1884-1927, relating to the Miller Manual Labor School in Albemarle County, Virginia. The Miller School is one of several legacies of Samuel Miller, a native of Albemarle County who grew up in poverty but went on to become a wealthy investor in Lynchburg. He established The Miller School in Albemarle County to provide a first-rate education for children from Albemarle County and the surrounding area, regardless of financial condition. Included are accounts, clippings, correspondence, receipts, and reports. Also included are Lists of fines and penalties returned as insolvents, 1810-1822, which contain oversize forms listing the defendants names, amount, and date of judgments. These are only available for a few counties.

The Reports, School Superintendents and Boards of School Commissioners, 1860-1868, contain forms detailing annual expenditures spent on tuition, books, clerks, number of schools and children, and school salaries, per county. Also included are bonds for those appointed superintendent of schools; annual reports; and accounts and finances. Some of the annual reports list teachers names and number of students and what courses were taught.

Also included are treasurers receipts, 1823-1863, containing the names of people paying fines and why, sent in from local county authorities (such as the clerk, sheriff, or treasurer). The vouchers for warrants, 1823-1857, include bonds, payments made to presidents and directors of the literary fund, and payments made to counties (also the University of Virginia) for the amount of surplus school quota due.

Biographical / historical:

The history of the second auditor's office began in 1823 when the office was created by the General Assembly as part of an act to improve the navigation of the James and Kanawha rivers. Under the act, the second auditor was given responsibility for the Fund for Internal Improvements and for acting as secretary to the Board of Public Works. He was also appointed clerk and accountant to the directors of the Literary Fund. An act passed in 1829 made him the superintendent of the fund, and he assumed the responsibilities formerly held by the president and directors. In 1835 an act authorized the commissioners of the newly created Sinking Fund to redeem the state's debt, and the second auditor was appointed a commissioner with the responsibility, together with the state treasurer, for keeping the accounts of this fund.

Prior to the Civil War, the duties of the second auditor were fairly simple and straightforward, as were the duties of the treasurer. After the war, however, the devastation of the state's economy resulted in the creation of more numerous and complicated records concerning the redemption of the state debt. The office of the second auditor suffered from inadequate procedures for maintaining accurate records on the state's finances. By 1874, neither office had a complete or accurate account of the public debt, and between 1874 and 1877 major scandals were disclosed involving both offices and that of the sergeant at arms of the House of Delegates. Although a complete revision of the accounting methods used by both financial offices, especially the second auditor's, was called for, only minor changes were made.

In 1906 a legislative committee made periodic inspections of the finance offices. Finding that the situation in the second auditor's office remained almost as chaotic as it had been in 1874, the committee recommended that the office be abolished and its duties taken over by the first auditor. Although the committee's recommendations were not followed, its members continued to call for reform. Action was taken only after the election of Governor Harry F. Byrd, Sr., in 1926. Byrd hired a group of consultants from New York to study the finance offices, and the resulting report brought about a complete reorganization of state government in 1928. The offices of first and second auditor were abolished and replaced by a newly created office of comptroller. The second auditor's office closed its books on February 29, 1928.

The Literary Fund, which is still in existence, was established by an act passed by the General Assembly on 12 February 1811. Revenues derived from fines (except militia fines) and the sale of land escheated for unpaid taxes were deposited in the Literary Fund and the money was used to build schools and educate the state's poor children. The Fund provides services such as low-interest loans for school construction, grants under the interest rate subsidy program, debt service for technology funding, and support for the state's share of teacher retirement required by the Standards of Quality. The responsibility for keeping the accounts of the Literary Fund was shifted from the auditor to the second auditor when the latter office was created on 24 February 1823.

Acquisition information:
Transfer information unknown.
Arrangement:

This collection is arranged alphabetically by folder title, with oversized materials arranged to the rear.