The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1893-07-19
THE Old CITY RECORDS.
The Third Volume Of the Work Is Now
Nearly Ready.
KEPT FROM FIRE AND WATER
Through Indian Wars and Careiessness
These Documents Have tome Into
the tity's Possession-1he Process OF
Preserving and Copying Them.

Two flights up and turn to the left
will br ng the low IT OF C rios 10 door
which, though powise peculiar. conceals
v, ritable curiosity shop.
Through it's portals only seven people
are allowed 10 p,ss. They are the four
young ladies who do Inc work aud receive
pay anl the three commissioners WI o
suDerintend The work and receive no pa :.
The commi sioners are they or the
Early Town Records" The work done
there i, he resurrection AMI revivicttion
of an immense mass OF old doc
uments aud recoris relating TO
all periods of the city's history.
The earliest OF these date back TO l642
six years after Ro er Williams landed on
the western ba k OF the Seekonk, ana
cover therefor. perio Of 25l years.
Tnev have been col ected In the by-
ways aud heiges of the state. The
old families dpuuil less have today bo xes
and trunks full of just such papers
Whose yalu, is now alDo,t pricele IS 10
the hist orcal stufent. Juok shops ana
ash barrels have contributed To the store.
The la @ John lIowland in a qcantily OF
papers tn rown into he street recovered
several letters
Written by Roger Williams.
In 1916 during the Indian war the town
of Providence was nearly destroyed by fire.
Mr. Smith was then town clerk and had
the town records in his possession. They
w re thrown from his burning house into
a mill pond, aud To this day they bear
evidence # both the fire they
VIII cn they suffered. They, were
ter ward taken from the mill pond
aud car red TO Newport, where they were
returned To Providence after the war
was over In 1888 when the Aldrich
house was burned the Proprietor's records
~ Drnv vi am
scores vicissitudes just such AS thes.
and despite the carele e,sness of
their owners these documents have
come down to the present date.
The attic OF the Old market house was a
veritable storehouse. The city records,
since it was built in 1773, had been laid
away in complete disorder The
present comm ssion was appointel In
1891 and consists OF Judge Rogers. Judge
Carpenter and Edward Field. There
had been mauy spaspodic attempts TO
preserve these records before, but they
di ed a-borning.
Interesting Documents.
That the collection includes papers OF
great value and throws great light on
many interesting events in the history of
the town i'll be readily believed when IL
Is known that here are papers relating to
the yellow fever epidemic. mall pox ep-
idemics, the building OF the
mari e. house, the binding of
apprentices, enlistments and purchases
OF arms, building Of Notifications and
beacons and payment OF bounties during
the revolutionary war, besides hundreds
of other topi 8 OF interest. They furnish
evidence OF q eds. lavouts, wills and
many other documents which are OF In
c,lculable C Importance as material for
history of the city.
Tue papers themselves which have
49,. T.. rs.1 IA la1
bundled up, aud in all conditions Of
preservation for the loRible and well pre-
served record OF recent date to that OF
two centuries ago whose edges have been
worI OF by usage or fallen OF by aye.
Some OF them are only patches OF their
by being pasted between two sheets OF
transpare u paper
The Process Of Preserving.
The preparation Of the papers is an In
teresting process. They are frst laid
out on board and soaked
in water They are put thro ough
three processes of drying in presses and
then placed in the hands OF the repairing
experts. BY means Of mucilaGe and paste
they are deftly fastened together.
trimmed aud edged with paper tape, and
books by q flying edge. Accurate copies
are made of every one OF them. Indexes
by cards are also made. TIL ese indexes not
only contain the u bject OF each paper but
every proper name OF place or pers on is
placed on a separate card. Thus in u tax
book of 1779 the name OF every tax payer
assessed will be found In the card index.
So that every event noted In them, and
every name of every person mentioned
eau De readily found when the records
shall be finished.
Two volumes have already been issued.
aud another will soon be ready for the
print er's hands.