Information Sheet

 

 

R         Potosi (Mo.).  Board of Trustees.

186                  Minute book, 1826-1851.

                                    One volume.

 

MICROFILM

 

 

 

These are the minutes of meetings of the Board of Trustees of Potosi in Washington County, Missouri, 8 May 1826--7 March 1851.  The minutes include resolutions and ordinances re­garding taxes, public nuisances, streets, slave meetings, and theatrical performances.

 

Potosi and the original mining settlement of Mine ŕ Breton were incorporated on 8 May 1826, the new town being named Potosi.  The trustees, appointed by the county court, were John Brickey, Abraham Brinker, James Bruffee, Daniel Dunklin, and Henry Shurlds.  Dunklin was named chairman.  Within the month, the trustees had drafted and approved ordi­nances governing the board and the town.  Indicative, perhaps, of the town’s growing impor­tance as a regional trade center, only one ordinance was enacted which concerned lead mining, the source of the area’s early prominence.  The regulation prohibited damming Breton Creek or washing lead ashes in it.  The single ordinance concerning mining was far outnumbered by those regarding street repair and poll taxes, public nuisances, and licenses for grocery shops, taverns, and dram shops.  Licenses were also required of the proprietors of “theatrical amuse­ments,” many of whom are mentioned in the minutes.  A detailed ordinance restraining slave meetings was passed, but was later repealed with­out replacement.

 

Although it had a strong start, Potosi’s first attempt at incorporation failed.  There is an eight-year hiatus in the minutes from 1830 to 1838, after which another petition to incorpo­rate was pre­sented to the county court.  It was accepted.  The new trustees began their work by ap­proving a se­ries of ordinances very similar to those enacted in the 1820s.

 

Municipal government survived after the second attempt, although the trustees felt con­strained to call a special meeting of the citizens in 1847 to determine “the propriety and impro­pri­ety” of continuing the corporation.  There are no minutes of this meeting, but the board did con­tinue to meet.  The last session recorded in this volume was held on 7 March 1851.

 

The minutes are in chronological order.  A collection guide is available, consisting of a list of selected contents and an index to surnames.

 

 

Index cards for this collection
Shelf List for this collection
Questions? Use our Researcher Registration Form
Return to WHMC-Rolla's home page.