Government Records
They include bills, notes, and petitions on county creation and boundaries and regarding the location of state roads; autographs of the members of the first state legislature (December 1857); certificates of election and oaths of office for members of the first state legislature; testimony before a committee investigating charges of bribery against legislators in connection with land grant railroad chartering (1860); governor's messages and other miscellany regarding railroad bonds and land grants; petitions regarding liquor sales, ferries, and miscellaneous internal improvements; a draft bill to define nomenclature of the Itascan sources of the Mississippi River (1887); petitions for and against woman suffrage (undated and circa 1869); House of Representatives and Senate seating charts (1859-1860, 1949-1955, 1971-1987); and an act providing for the adoption of the state flag (1893).
Access to and use of reserve materials requires the permission of the State Archives staff.
Accession numbers: None; 1802E; 5016 (mss.); 2006-22; 2014-25; 2017-69
Processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with a Basic Project
grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission
Digitized by: Christopher G. Welter, December 2011.
Digitization of reserve material was made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the vote of Minnesotans on November 4, 2008.
Catalog ID number: 001704745
Handwritten bills from the 1850s to create new counties, encourage the cultivation of lands in Minnesota Territory, and relating to the Minneapolis and Lake Minnetonka Road Company.
Portions of text of unidentified printed laws; annotated to possibly pertain to the State of Minnesota.
Relating to adoption of a state seal and coat of arms, road and railroad construction, various probate and fiscal matters, and establishment of joint and Senate rules.
Pertaining to laying out roads and assessing and collecting taxes; annotated to possibly pertain to the State of Minnesota.
Regarding tax collection in Hennepin County.
Draft.
Regarding the United States 14th amendment; draft.
Some handwritten; some filled-in forms.
Handwritten and signed.
Proceedings [incomplete?] of and testimony before a special committee appointed by the State Senate to investigate charges of fraud and corruption against members of preceding legislatures, who were accused of having received bribes apparently in connection with the chartering and financing of land grant railroads.
Notes on geographical and other errors in laws in force at the commencement of the second session of the state legislature.
One handwritten and one printed newspaper clipping message, both relating to railroad bonds and state lands.
Several unnumbered texts of miscellaneous bills and resolutions (1858); a proposal by F. R. Delano and W. B. Litchfield to purchase 500,000 acres of internal improvement lands and to pay for them with state railroad bonds, [undated]; act to establish the county of Beltrami [handwritten, incomplete, undated]; petition by residents of Minneapolis opposing the expansion of areas within which liquor could be sold [undated, possibly 1891]; amendment to land grant railroad law [1860]; draft amendment regarding issuance and sale of corporate stock [1867]; draft bill to define nomenclature of the Itascan sources of the Mississippi River [1887]; petition by North St. Paul resident for annexation to St. Paul [1891]; and comments [incomplete] on bill relating to liquor sales [1891].
Most concern county and municipal organization and road construction. Others deal with ferries and other internal improvements, the legislature's organization and actions, liquor sale, debtors, and a land claim and publication of legal notices.
A petition by 605 men and women to amend the state constitution by removing the word male as a requisite qualification for voting or holding office, circa 1869, and a petition by 128 women opposing S.F. No. 59, a bill to extend the franchise to women.
Digital version
House (1949, 1951, 1953, 1955), Senate (1951, 1955), and both (1971, 1973-1974, 1980, 1987).
The document is signed by Governor Knute Nelson and Secretary of State Frederick P. Brown. The act appoints a commission to adopt a design for a Minnesota State Flag (1893 Session Laws, Chapter 16).
Digital version