About This Collection
A record of accounts for the following state departments: the Council of Censors, the General Assembly, the Master of the Rolls, the Adjutant General, the Comptroller General, the Receiver General, the Register General, the State Treasurer, the Surveyor General, the Secretary of the Commonwealth, the Land Office, and the Secretary of the Supreme Executive Council. Included in this series are accounts of expenditures of the various commonwealth departments, as well as cash vouchers, and receipts. These accounts detail the day to day function of each department. Recorded expenses might include: translating laws into German and distributing copies of bills and government reports; the daily pay and mileage pay of members of the General Assembly; expenditures by the Master of the Rolls relating to elections and the enrolling of acts passed by the Assembly; fees charged by the Secretary of the Commonwealth for such things as marriage licenses, certificates of bankruptcy, use of the great seal, pardons and other certificates; expenses of the Secretary of the Supreme Executive Council for government payroll; and collection of revenue for licenses, petitions and passes. Many of the receipts and vouchers relate to expenditures for writing supplies, paper, and printing copies. For these tasks and similar ones, the names of men employed and contracted merchants are listed. Also included in this series is a volume from the Secretary of the Supreme Executive Council which provides a detailed list of all fees received in the secretary's office between 1783 and 1790. Images are grouped by department and thereunder according to year the record was kept. This collection is part of the Office of the Comptroller General which was created in 1782.
