ANNUAL MEETING, NOVEMBER, 1923

    THE Annual Meeting of the Society was held at the Algonquin Club, No. 217 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, on Wednesday, 21 November, 1923, at half-past six o’clock in the evening, the President, Fred Norris Robinson, Ph.D., in the chair.

    The Records of the last Stated Meeting were read and approved.

    The Corresponding Secretary reported the death, on the seventh and fourteenth of September respectively, of William Roscoe Thayer and Charles Warren Clifford, both Resident Members.

    The Annual Report of the Council was read by the Rev. Dr. Charles Edwards Park.

    REPORT OF THE COUNCIL

    It is a favorite American fallacy to measure growth by mere physical enlargement, and to ignore the intensive growth of an institution which does its work year by year in the same unobtrusive way, within the same limitations of resources and purpose.

    Your Council is not in the least ashamed to report that the past year has been one of customary activity, unmarked by any change in bulk or physical extent. The usual stated meetings have been held, in the usual place. The usual debt of gratitude to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for their hospitality is hereby acknowledged. The April meeting was held at the home of Dr. Alfred Johnson, whose cordial hospitality wanmed the hearts of all. The usual papers and communications have been presented and have gone to swell our growing library of Transactions. In other words, we have kept the even tenor of our way, which is precisely what we were meant to do.

    In view of the death of Henry Herbert Edes, who for thirty years had been the mainspring of our existence, it is no small boast to be able to say that we have carried on as usual. We have missed him more than words can say, but we have discovered that, thanks to his fostering care, the Society is firmly rooted in our interests and affections.

    During the year a memorial has been erected to Mr. Edes in the First Church. This memorial, which was first viewed on October seventh, is in the form of a rail around the reading desk. It is the design of our associate Mr. R. Clipston Sturgis, was executed by Mr. Angelo Lualdi in American walnut, hand carved, and will bear the following inscription:

    in memory of

    HENRY HERBERT EDES

    29 march 1849

    13 october 1922

    new england antiquarian and annalist

    accurate reproducer of a reverenced past”

    a covenanted member of this church

    to his pride in her honorable history

    many of the surrounding memorials

    owe their existence

    erected by his associates in the

    colonial society of massachusetts

    1923

    In addition to this memorial the Society has further honored the memory of its founder by creating, through the free-will offerings of our members and others, the Henry Herbert Edes Memorial Fund, which now amounts to about $3,000. This fund will be kept open, so that those wishing to add to it by gift or will may be sure of the opportunity.

    The Editor reports that during the year encouraging progress has been made in the publication work of the Society. Of the five volumes that were going through the press in the spring, two have been completed. Volume XXIII, containing the second half of the Plymouth Church Records, is about to be distributed to members; and Volume XXIV, containing Transactions, will follow in a few weeks. With those two volumes off his hands, the Editor is free to carry to completion Volumes XV and XVI, containing the Harvard College Records, and these may be expected toward the end of 1924. Volume XXV, the current Volume of Transactions, has reached page 237, and will probably be completed during 1924. Work on the Index to Volumes I–XXV is being steadily carried on.

    During the year the following Resident Members have been elected:

    • Arthur Stanwood Pier,
    • James Melville Hunnewell,
    • Kenneth Ballard Murdock.

    There have been five deaths during the year, as follows: John Lowell: Born of a family of jurists, he was himself a lawyer of the highest standing, having won by his learning and integrity an international recognition. A man of intellectual honesty and great natural dignity, his breadth of interests and his lifelong devotion to his Alma Mater made him one of the best known Harvard men of his time.

    George Lincoln Goodale, Fisher Professor of Natural History and Honorary Curator of the Botanical Museum: A thorough scientist, a born teacher and lecturer, a great traveller, a man of extraordinary industry, tactful, sensitive, refined. He had the gift of imparting to others his own clean and generous enthusiasms. He lived a long, happy, richly productive life, and died mourned by a host of friends and admirers.

    James Madison Morton, Associate Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts: A man of marked ability, learning, and sound judgment, he was utterly free of pedantry, and maintained throughout his life a quick human sympathy and a warm interest in human affairs. Leader of the Bar in his section of the Commonwealth, a devoted member of his Church, and the foremost citizen of his city.

    William Roscoe Thayer, historian and biographer: A temperament that found its most congenial expression in ardent hero-worship; a character that saw moral values in strong contrast, feeling little patience for the neutral shades between right and wrong; and a mind of exceptional power, made him a vivid and sympathetic interpreter of men of destiny. A Knight of the Order of the Crown of Italy, and of the Order of Saints Maurizio and Lazaro, he yet remained a passionate lover of his country and a simple-hearted, whole-souled friend.

    Charles Warren Clifford: A lawyer who understood the law he practised. A generous, high-minded citizen, who won for himself a foremost place in the love and respect of his fellow townsmen. Blunt, open, frank, and hearty, he trod a straight path, and brightened it with clean laughter and unfailing helpfulness.

    The Treasurer submitted his Annual Report, as follows:

    REPORT OF THE TREASURER

    In accordance with the requirements of the By-Laws the Treasurer submits his Annual Report for the year ending November 16th, 1923.

    CASH ACCOUNT

    RECIEPTS

    Balance, November 16, 1922, Principal cash

    $2,488.25

    Less Income overspent

    419.34

    $2,068.91

    Receipts of Principal:

    Mortgages, discharged

    $2,500.00

    Subscriptions to Editor’s Salary Fund

    800.00

    Subscriptions to Henry Herbert Edes Memorial Fund

    3,744.60

    Horace Everett Ware Fund, income transferred to principal

    195.18

    Income transferred to principal

    662.00

    Commutation from one member

    100.00

    Contributions

    28.00

    Admission Fees

    20.00

    Interest on Provident Institution for Savings account

    1.98

    Total Principal receipts

    $8,051.76

    Receipts of Income:

    Interest

    $7,309.14

    Annual Assessments

    600.00

    Sales of the Society’s Publications

    63.00

    Contributions to defray portion of cost of publications

    232.00

    Total Income receipts

    8,204.14

    16,255.90

    $18,324.81

    DISBURSEMENTS

    Disbursements of Principal:

    Payment on account of loan

    $500.00

    Editor’s Salary, paid from Salary Fund

    1,000.00

    First Church, paid from Henry Herbert Edes Memorial Fund

    750.00

    Interest on Provident Institution for Savings added to Principal

    1.98

    Total Principal disbursements

    $2,251.98

    Disbursements of Income:

    University Press

    $3,521.92

    A. W. Elson & Company

    552.59

    Folsom Engraving Company

    62.00

    Boston Storage Warehouse Company

    40.50

    Union Safe Deposit Vaults

    20.00

    Stewart, Watts & Bollong, auditing services

    285.00

    American Academy of Arts and Sciences, fuel, lights, and janitor service

    29.00

    State Street Trust Company, interest on loan, etc.

    211.51

    J. Franklin Jameson, annual subscription toward the Bibliography of American Historical Writings

    50.00

    Annual dinner

    420.75

    Clerk hire

    223.05

    Thomas F. Galvin

    25.00

    Essex Institute

    3.50

    Thomas S. Longridge, insurance

    241.25

    S. D. Warren Company, paper

    1,070.95

    Mary A. Tenney, Index to Volume 24

    125.00

    Miscellaneous

    98.28

    Amount transferred to Principal account, interest on Horace E. Ware Fund

    195.18

    Amount of income transferred to Principal

    662.00

    Total Income disbursements

    7,837.48

    $10,089.46

    Balance, November 16, 1923, Principal cash

    $5,293.43

    Less Income cash overspent

    52.68

    $5,240.75

    Cash, Henry Herbert Edes Memorial Fund

    2,994.60

    8,235.35

    Total

    $18,324.81

    The funds of the Society are invested as follows:

    • $28,750.00 in first mortgages payable in gold coin on improved property in Greater Boston
    • 85,892.50 in bonds elsewhere described in this report having a face value of $95,000
    • 26.98 on deposit in the Provident Institution for Savings in the Town of Boston
      • $114,669.48

    The investments of the Society yield an average annual income of approximately 6½%.

    A Trial Balance of the accounts as of November 16th, 1923, is hereto annexed and made a part of this report.

    William C. Endicott

    Treasurer

    TRIAL BALANCE

    DEBITS

    Cash, Principal

    $5,293.43

    Less Income overspent

    52.68

    $5,240.75

    Cash, Henry Herbert Edes Memorial Fund

    2,994.60

    $8,235.35

    Provident Institution for Savings

    26.98

    Income

    52.68

    Mortgages

    28,750.00

    Bonds:

    $5,000

    Chicago Junction Railways and Union Stock Yards Company, Mortgage and Collateral Trust Refunding 5’s, due 1940

    $3,762.50

    5,000

    Cedar Rapids Mfg. & Power Co., 1st Mtge. S. F. 5’s, due 1953

    4,450.00

    5,000

    Cleveland Union Terminal Co., 1st S. F. 5½’s, Series A, due 1972

    4,980.00

    5,000

    Detroit Edison Company, 1st Mtge. Ref. 6’s, due 1940

    4,400.00

    5,000

    Oregon-Wash. R. R. & Navigation Co., 1st Mtge. Ref. 4’s, Series A, due 1961

    4,105.00

    5,000

    New England Tel. & Tel. Co., 1st Mtge. 5’s, Series A, due 1952

    4,875.00

    5,000

    New York Edison Company, 1st Mtge. Ref. 6½’s, Series A, due 1941

    5,000.00

    5,000

    Northwestern Bell Telephone Co., 1st Mtge. 7’s, Series A, due 1941

    4,862.50

    5,000

    Philadelphia Company, 1st Ref. & Coll. Trust Mortgage 6’s, Series A, due 1944

    4,350.00

    5,000

    Pennsylvania Railroad Equipment Trust 6’s, due 1935

    5,000.00

    5,000

    United Electric Securities Corp. Coll. Trust S. F. 5’s, due 1935–1942

    3,750.00

    5,000

    Union Pacific Railroad Equip. Trust 7’s, Series A, due 1932

    5,000.00

    5,000

    Wickwire-Spencer Steel Corp., 1st Mtge. S. F. 7’s, due 1935

    5,000.00

    5,000

    Detroit Edison Company, 1st Mtge. Ref. 5’s, Series A, due 1940

    4,397.50

    5,000

    Minneapolis, St. Paul & S. S. Marie, 1st Mtge. Ref. 6’s, Series A, due 1946

    $5,000.00

    20,000

    Western Tel. & Tel. Co., Coll. Trust 5’s, due 1932

    16,960.00

    $85,892.50

    $95,000

    $122,957.51

    CREDITS

    State Street Trust Company, loan

    $4,000.00

    Editor’s Salary Fund

    $800.00

    Publications Fund

    10,000.00

    Benjamin Apthorp Gould Memorial Fund

    10,000.00

    Edward Wheelwright Fund

    20,000.00

    Robert Charles Billings Fund

    10,000.00

    Robert Noxon Toppan Fund

    5,000.00

    Robert Charles Winthrop, Jr., Fund

    3,000.00

    Andrew McFarland Davis Fund

    2,000.00

    William Watson Fund

    1,000.00

    Horace Everett Ware Fund

    3,448.18

    General Fund

    20,714.73

    George Vasmer Leverett Fund

    30,000.00

    Henry Herbert Edes Memorial Fund:

    Subscribed

    $3,744.60

    Paid First Church

    750.00

    2,994.60

    118,957.51

    $122,957.51

    Boston, 16 November, 1923

    REPORT OF THE AUDITING COMMITTEE

    The undersigned, a Committee appointed to examine the Accounts of the Treasurer for the year ending 16 November, 1923, have attended to their duty, and report that they find the Accounts correctly kept and properly vouched, and that proper evidence of the investments and of the balance of cash on hand has been shown to them.

    This Report is based on the examination of Stewart, Watts & Bollong, Public Accountants and Auditors.

    Stephen W. Phillips

    Morris Gray

    Auditing Committee

    Boston, 21 November, 1923

    The several Reports were accepted and referred to the Committee of Publication.

    On behalf of the Committee appointed to nominate officers for the ensuing year, the following list was presented; and, a ballot having been taken, these gentlemen were unanimously elected:

    president

    • FRED NORRIS ROBINSON

    vice-presidents

    • ARTHUR PRENTICE RUGG
    • GEORGE FOOT MOORE

    recording secretary

    • HENRY WINCHESTER CUNNINGHAM

    corresponding secretary

    • CHARLES EDWARDS PARK

    treasurer

    • WILLIAM CROWNINSHIELD ENDICOTT

    registrar

    • ALFRED JOHNSON

    member of the council for three years

    • STEPHEN WILLARD PHILLIPS

    After the meeting was dissolved, dinner was served. The guests of the Society were Professor Albert Feuillerat of the University of Rennes, the Rev. Dr. Kirsopp Lake, the Rev. Henry Knox Sherrill, and Messrs. Frank Brewer Bemis, James Williams Bowen, John Henry Edmonds, Charles Burton Gulick, Nelson Case Metcalf, William Otis Sawtelle, and Harry Walter Tyler. The President presided.