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Lists
of missing records
Ethical Standards for archivists and table of returned
public records
The missing or alienated
original documents listed in the pages linked below are public records
of the State of New Jersey defined by New Jersey Statutes 47:3-16
as follows:
“public
records” means any paper, written or printed book, document or
drawing, map or plan, photograph, microfilm, sound-recording or similar
device, or any copy thereof which has been made or is required by law
to be received for filing, indexing, or reproducing by any officer,
commission, agency or authority of the State or of any political subdivision
thereof, including subordinate boards thereof, or that has been received
by any such officer, commission, agency or authority of the State or
of any political subdivision thereof, including subordinate boards thereof,
in connection with the transaction of public business …
As such, they are
classified and protected by law and subject to demand by the State of
New Jersey, through judicial process if necessary, as stipulated by New Jersey Statutes 47:3-27 & 28:
The
[Division of Archives and Records Management] is empowered to demand
and receive from any person any public record in private possession
belonging to this State, or to any county, municipality or school
district thereof.
Any
person who is entitled by law to the custody of public records shall
demand the same from any person in whose possession they may be, and
such records forthwith shall be delivered to the officer charged by
law with their custody.
This law was and
is retrospective, retroactive and founded in common law and colonial
and early state statutes regarding the preservation of public records.
Through the New Jersey State Constitution of 2 July 1776, which adopted
the full extent of colonial law then in place, and subsequent constitutions
and legislation, Title 47 of New Jersey Statutes is applicable
and enforceable with respect to official records of both the Colony
and State of New Jersey and respective subdivisions.
By law, the State
of New Jersey retains ownership of any and all public records regardless
of the circumstances of custody, alienation or provenance. New Jersey
public records cannot be legally held by another party without a
depository agreement duly executed by, or with the approval of, the
New Jersey Division of Archives and Records Management.
Please be advised
that New Jersey State Archives has reported the theft of the documents
listed in the pages linked below to both the New Jersey State Police
and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). One or both of these
agencies will be notified should any of these documents be advertised
for sale or auction, or discovered to be in the custody of any person,
corporation, organization or agency other than New Jersey State Archives,
which is the legal owner.
Be further advised
that New Jersey State Archives invites the voluntary return of
any such documents to the State of New Jersey. In such instances, the
State Archives will suspend formal demand and legal process to recover
such documents and will, upon receipt of them, acknowledge the same
as a donation to the State Archives. The State may also exercise its
discretion in negotiating mutually beneficial terms for the return of
such documents and/or the formal acknowledgement of their legal ownership
by the State. This may include planned public and/or media events, such
as our celebration of the Bernstein
and Sang Donations, and/or relative to institutions, a scheduled,
eventual records transfer.
Please contact:
archives.collections@sos.state.nj.us or call 609-292-9507 (Joseph Klett),
609-984-3299 (Karl Niederer) or 609-292-1570 (Ellen Callahan) should
you have questions, would like to report the whereabouts of alienated
public records of New Jersey, or would like to arrange for the donation
of records.
Lists of Missing Records
Public records known
to be alienated from the State include, but are not limited to, the
following:
Enrolled Laws of the Royal Colony of New Jersey:
1703 – 1711
1714 – 1716
1717 – 1725
1728 – 1740
1741 – 1749
1751 – 1756
1757 – 1761
1762 – 1764
1765
1766 – 1768
1769 – 1772
1774 – 1775
Enrolled
Laws of the State of New Jersey:
1776 – 1777
1778
1779
1780 – 1782
1783 – 1786
1787 – 1804
Correspondence
of Governor William Livingston
1776
1777
1778-1779
1780-1785
Miscellaneous
Filings of the Office of the Secretary of State
1758-1900
Legislative
Filings
(list in development)
Military
Papers
(list in development)
County
and Municipal Records
(list in development)
Ethical
Standards for Archivists and Table of Returned Public Records
Note that the State
of New Jersey has recovered alienated public records from private individuals,
manuscript dealers, auction houses and institutional collections as
far back as the 1860s. In most cases, this has occurred through direct
donation of alienated public records to the State Archives. Various
historical repositories have returned alienated public records to the
State, such acquisitions typically having been accessioned by the repository
prior to the recognition of ethical standards for archivists. Specifically,
the Society of American Archivists (SAA) has promulgated the following:
“Archivists’
Code of Ethics” (1992):
III. Collecting
Policies
...
[Archivists] do not compete for acquisitions when competition would
endanger the integrity or safety of documentary materials of long-term
value, or solicit the records of an institution that has an established
archives ..
“Archivists’
Code of Ethics” (2005):
II. Professional
Relationships
...
Archivists cooperate, collaborate, and respect each institution and
its mission and collecting policy. Respect and cooperation form the
basis of all professional relationships with colleagues and users.
IX. Law
Archivists
must uphold all federal, state, and local laws.
In some cases formal
action under NJS Title 47 (cited above) preceded the recovery
of the alienated records. This was done in the form of notice by the
Division of Archives and Records Management or the Attorney General’s
Office, investigation by law enforcement, judicial complaint, court
injunction, or a combination of these. As the table below demonstrates,
since its founding the State Archives has responded to known advertisements
and reports as to the location of alienated public records. In all cases
where a legal claim was formally asserted, the State’s statutory
ownership and prior filing of the alienated documents were thoroughly
researched and proven to the satisfaction of executive, legal and/or
judicial authorities. In cases where the party notified complied without
adjudication of the State’s claim, the return of the document(s)
was acknowledged as a charitable donation.
New Jersey State
Archives gratefully recognizes the return of the public records listed
in the table below, dating from the establishment of the former Bureau
of Archives and History (predecessor of the Division of Archives and
Records Management) to the present. Again, most were direct donations
by civic-minded individuals and institutions in support of the democratic
and legal principles of public access to government records and the
rightful ownership of them by the people, and nationally accepted ethical
standards for archivists.
In some cases formal
action under NJS Title 47 (cited above) preceded the recovery
of the alienated records. This was done in the form of notice by the
Division of Archives and Records Management or the Attorney General’s
Office, investigation by law enforcement, judicial complaint, court
injunction, or a combination of these. As the table below demonstrates,
since its founding the State Archives has responded to known advertisements
and reports as to the location of alienated public records. In all cases
where a legal claim was formally asserted, the State’s statutory
ownership and prior filing of the alienated documents were thoroughly
researched and proven to the satisfaction of executive, legal and/or
judicial authorities. In cases where the party notified complied without
adjudication of the State’s claim, the return of the document(s)
was acknowledged as a charitable donation.
New Jersey State
Archives gratefully recognizes the return of the public records listed
in the table below, dating from the establishment of the former Bureau
of Archives and History (predecessor of the Division of Archives and
Records Management) to the present. Again, most were direct donations
by civic-minded individuals and institutions in support of the democratic
and legal principles of public access to government records and the
rightful ownership of them by the people, and nationally accepted ethical
standards for archivists.
Year
Received |
Description
of Records |
Received
From |
1946 |
Somerset County
Loan Office mortgage ledger, 1786-1799 |
Private Individual |
1956 |
Last will and
testament of John Hart, 1779 |
Manuscript/Book
Dealer |
1956 |
Several missing
enrolled laws, 1911-13 |
Manuscript/Book
Dealer |
1958 |
Estate inventory
of John Hart, 1779 |
Private Individual |
1959 |
Civil War muster
roll, 1862-63 |
Private Individual |
1960 |
State Treasurer
accounts current (vouchers), 1865 |
Private Individual |
1962 |
Little Egg
Harbor Township minute book, 1877-99 |
Private Individual |
1978 |
Minutes
of the Board of Managers of the Geological Survey of New Jersey,
1864-1904 |
Historical
Repository |
1980 |
“An Act
for the Support of Government …,” 1763 |
Private Individual |
1982 |
Civil War muster
roll, 1863 |
Private Individual |
1982 |
Millham Township
minutes and vital records, 1882-90 |
Private Individual |
1983 |
New Jersey’s
original Treaty of Paris (preliminary articles), 1783 |
Historical
Repository |
1986 |
Civil War muster-out
rolls, 1865 |
Historical
Repository |
1987 |
Ratification
of the United States Constitution, 1787 |
Historical
Repository |
1988
etc. |
Day
books, accounts, U.S. Loan Office journal and receipts of the
State Treasurer, 1791-1869 |
Private
Individual |
1989 |
Seven original
enrolled laws, 1755-86 |
Private Individual
through
Manuscript/Book Dealer |
1989
etc. |
Records of
the New Jersey State Reformatory for Women,
1915-1974 |
Historical
Repository |
1990 |
Legislative
and governors’ papers, 1752-1798 |
Private Individual |
1990 |
Seventeen original
enrolled laws, 1762-1865 |
Manuscript/Book
Dealer |
1992 |
“An Act
concerning trespassing on lands for the purpose of gunning and fishing,”
1912 |
Historical
Repository |
1992 |
“An Act
for Raising a Number of Men … for the Ensueing
Campaign,” 1764 |
Manuscript/Book
Dealer |
1993 |
Military records
of Lt. Col. Henry Hartford, 8th Regiment,
New Jersey Volunteer Infantry, 1862-65 |
Private Individual |
1994 |
Various court
and military records, 1761-1830 |
Private Individual |
1994 |
Records of
Mercer County Sheriff Samuel T. Atchley, 1899-1903 |
Private Individual |
1994 |
Records of
the New Jersey State Reformatory for Women,
1920-1960s |
Private Individual |
1995 |
“A Supplement
to an act entitled ‘An Act to incorporate the New Jersey Patent
Ship Bread Company’,” 1842 |
Private Individual |
1996 |
Records of
Governor Robert B. Meyner, 1954-58 |
Historical
Repository |
1996 |
Essex County
court records, 1804-05 |
Private Individual |
1996 |
Papers of Capt.
Thomas H. Ford, 1st Regiment, New Jersey Cavalry, 1862-65 |
Private Individual |
1998 |
“An Act
to regulate Waggons & other Wheel Carriages …,”
1787 |
Private Individual
through
Manuscript/Book Dealer |
1999 |
“An Act
to raise a Fund for defraying Damages done by Dogs …,”
1763 |
Private Individual
through
Manuscript/Book Dealer |
2001 |
Elizabethtown
Survey Book C, 1736-57 |
Manuscript/Book
Dealer |
2001 |
Burlington
County Deed Book A, 1785-88 |
Private Individual
through
Manuscript/Book Dealer |
2002 |
Monmouth County
Clerk’s Office, Miscellaneous Book B, 1780-1816 |
Private Individual |
2002 |
Ewing Township
minute book and vital statistics register, 1834-78 |
Private Individual |
2002 |
Four
original colonial laws and one colonial passed bill, 1760-67 –
see Bernstein
and Sang Donations event |
Private Individual |
2002 |
Twenty-two manuscripts, 1749-92 (mostly docketed correspondence
of Governor William Livingston) |
Private
Individual through
Manuscript/Book Dealer |
2003 |
Thirty
original enrolled laws, 1677-1862 – see Bernstein
and Sang Donations event |
Historical
Repository |
2003 |
Burlington
County court minutes, indictments, etc., 1709-1950 |
Historical
Repository |
2003
etc. |
Five
original enrolled laws relating to currency, 1723-87 |
Private
Individual through
Manuscript/Book Dealer |
2003
etc. |
Nineteen
original enrolled laws, 1772-89; letter from Thomas Henderson to
Gov. William Livingston, 1792 |
Historical
Repository |
2004 |
Legislative
and court papers, 1761-1901 |
Private
Individual |
2004 |
“An
Act for defraying Sundry Incidental Charges,” 1782 |
Private
Individual through
Manuscript/Book Dealer |
2004 |
Bergen County
Jail commitment register, 1894-1904 |
Manuscript/Book
Dealer |
2004 |
“A Supplementary
Act … Appointing Commissioners for finally Settling …
Claims to the Common Lands of the Township of Bergen …’,”
1769 |
Private Individual
through
Manuscript/Book Dealer |
2005 |
Two original
enrolled laws, 1783 & 1790 |
Private Individual |
2006
etc. |
Miscellaneous
official records of Gov. Brendan T. Byrne, 1979-81 |
Historical
Repository |
2006
etc. |
Accounts and
receipts of Burlington County Tax Collector John Black, 1785-1813;
Burlington County militia records, 1797-1804 |
Private Individual |
2006 |
Assembly Joint
Resolution No. 2 “relative to the soldiers’ National
Cemetery at Gettysburg,” 1864 |
Historical
Repository |
2007
etc. |
Ten original
enrolled laws, 1778-87; Amwell Township election notification, 1777 |
Private Individual |
2007 |
Mercer County
Circuit Court minute book, 1844-47;
Cape Island/Cape May City oaths and bonds of public officials, 1851-87 |
Private Individual |
2008 |
Four original
enrolled laws, 1779-82 |
Private Individual
through
Manuscript/Book Dealer |
2008 |
Hunterdon County
militia muster roll, 1840 |
Private Individual |
2008 |
State Treasurer
pay records and attendance certificates, 1783-98 |
Private Individual |
2010 |
"An Act
to enable Ann Pemberton ...to fulfil[l] certain contracts ...,"
1786. |
Private Individual
through Manuscript/Book Dealer |
2010 |
Records of
Washington Township, Mercer County, 1860-1918 |
Private Individual |
2010 |
Birth, marriage,
death and Civil War orphanage returns of East Amwell Township, Hunterdon
County, 1862-1865 |
Historical
Repository |
2010 |
Burlington
County Courts of Common Pleas and General Quarter Sessions, Minute
Book B, Part 2, 1717-1733 |
Private Individual
through Historical Repository |
2010 |
Two original
enrolled laws and one original law extract, 1757-1785 |
Manuscript/Book
Dealer |
2010 |
"An Act
to secure the Profits of Lands upon the Frontiers of the State ...,"
1781 |
Manuscript/Book
Dealer |
2010 |
Petition of
the Reformed Dutch congregations of Hackensack and Schralenburgh
to the New Jersey Legislature, 1783 |
Private Individual |
| 2011 |
An Act for the better laying out, Regulating and Preserving Publick Roads and High-ways thro'-out this Province, 1716/1717 |
College Library |
| 2012 |
A Supplementary Act to several former Acts of this Province, for enabling Owners, Proprietors and Possessors of the Meadows on Burlington Creek, including Christopher Wetherill's, Joseph Noble's, and such Part of Daniel Smith's as formerly belonged to his Father Daniel Smith, deceased, and extending from thence to the Lower-Sluice Bank, called and known by the Name of the Lower-Sluice Company, to support and maintain the Banks, Sluices, and Flood-Gates already made, erect and make such new Ones as may be necessary for draining the said Meadow. |
Private Individual
through Manuscript/Book Dealer |
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Updated
March 7, 2012
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