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Guide to the La Crosse, Wisconsin, Office of the City Clerk, Reports of City Officers, 1857-1932 La Crosse Series 022

Guide to the La Crosse, Wisconsin, Office of the City Clerk, Reports of City Officers, 1857-1932

La Crosse Series 022

Summary Information

Abstract
Reports written by city officers to the Common Council, 1857-1932. The materials are arranged by office; therein chronologically. There isn’t any further indexing to this collection at this time other than what the City Clerk has on index cards. The reports are mostly financial in nature, and are generally a record of monthly and/or annual expenditures of the following departments/offices: Attorney (1895-1899), Clerk (1858-1905), Comptroller (1887-1932), Education/Superintendent (1866-1931), Fire (1861-1932), Health (1875-1932), Justice of the Peace at Large (1874-1901), Mayor (1858-1929), Parks (1905-1932), Police [includes Police Justice and City Marshall] (1857-1932), Poor (1872-1894), Public Library (1915-1930), Public Works/Engineer (1878-1932), Street Commissioner (1857-1887; 1919; 1930-1932), Surveyor (1857-1886), Toll [Bridge] Collector (1896-1899), Treasurer (1858-1911), Weed Commissioner (1891; 1911), Weights & Measures (1868-1932). A few miscellaneous files include employment office reports, financial and tax statistics, and social service and charity reports to Council. Although the reports generally consist of financial statistics to the Common Council, a number of offices wrote narrative summaries which help to document change in La Crosse’s city government and community life over time. The reports of the Police Justice are particularly fascinating as each individual arrested, the charge, and the fine or other punishment exacted was documented well into the 1900s.
Collection Title
La Crosse, Wisconsin, Office of the City Clerk, Reports of City Officers
Date of Materials
1857-1932
Creator
La Crosse (Wis.). Office of the City Clerk.
Call Number
La Crosse Series 022
Amount
8.8 cubic feet
Physical Description
22 archives boxes
Language of Materials
English
Repository
La Crosse Public Library Archives

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], La Crosse, Wisconsin, Office of the City Clerk, Reports of City Officers, La Crosse Series 022, La Crosse Public Library Archives, La Crosse, WI

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Scope and Contents

Common Council resolutions and reports began to be organized by a numbering system in Dec. 1932. Before that time the resolutions were kept folded up in chronological order, roughly by subject or Council committee (such as Parks, Judiciary, Fire, Police, etc.). This set of pre-1932 resolutions represents those labeled as Reports of Officers, and date from almost the beginning of city government in 1856.

The original order of these reports was not maintained, although we encountered pockets of reports that were somewhat grouped by department and roughly by date. In arranging this series, the reports have been grouped together by office or department, therein chronologically. Currently, the only subject access to those is through the City Clerk who maintains a card file.

The reports are mostly financial in nature, and are generally a record of monthly and/or annual expenditures of the following departments/offices: Attorney (1895-1899), Clerk (1858-1905), Comptroller (1887-1932), Education/Superintendent (1866-1931), Fire (1861-1932), Health (1875-1932), Justice of the Peace at Large (1874-1901), Mayor (1858-1929), Parks (1905-1932), Police [includes Police Justice and City Marshall] (1857-1932), Poor (1872-1894), Public Library (1915-1930), Public Works/Engineer (1878-1932), Street Commissioner (1857-1887; 1919; 1930-1932), Surveyor (1857-1886), Toll [Bridge] Collector (1896-1899), Treasurer (1858-1911), Weed Commissioner (1891; 1911), Weights & Measures (1868-1932). A few miscellaneous files include employment office reports, financial and tax statistics, and social service and charity reports to Council.

Although the reports consist generally of financial statistics to the Common Council, a number of offices wrote narrative summaries which help to document change in La Crosse’s city government and community life over time. These departments are: Attorney, Education/Superintendent, Fire, Health, Mayor, Police [includes Police Justice], Poor, and Public Works/Engineer. The Justice of the Peace at Large reports list court cases, dates and costs only. The Police Justice (filed under Police) recorded every month each individual arrested, the charge and the fine or other punishment exacted well into the 1900s.

Offices that are not well represented in the series include: Attorney, Mayor, Poor, Public Library, Street Commissioner, Surveyor (after 1886), Treasurer (after 1911), and Weed Commissioner.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

La Crosse Public Library Archives 1998 January

800 Main St.
La Crosse, Wisconsin, 54601
(608) 789-7136
archives@lacrosselibrary.org

Access to Materials

Materials in this collection are available for patron use.

Acquisitions Information

(Accession No. 1996.004) Resolutions were located in the City Clerk's basement area of City Hall; came to the Archives as part of the Mayor's Special Committee on Historic Records, Dec. 1996

Processing Information

Processed by Anita Taylor Doering with assistance from Jaime Dechant, Jan. 1998

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Controlled Access Headings

Geographic Name(s)

  • La Crosse (Wis.)--Appropriations and expenditures

Subject(s)

  • Finance, Public--Wisconsin--La Crosse
  • Municipal government--Wisconsin--La Crosse
  • Public records--Wisconsin--La Crosse

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OCLC Number

45254022

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Collection Inventory

Box Folder

Attorney, 1895-1899 

1 1

Clerk, 1858-1889 

1 2-4

Comptroller 

Box Folder

 1887-1897 

2 1-3

 1898-1913 

3 1-3

 1914-1926 

4 1-3

 1927-1932 

5 1
Box Folder

Education/Superintendent, 1866-1931 

5 2-4
Box

Fire, 1861-1932 

6

Health/City Physician 

Box Folder

 1875-1926 

7 1-4

 1927-1932 

8 1-3
Box Folder

Justice of the Peace at Large, 1874-1901 

9 1-3

Mayor 

Box Folder

 1858-1895 

9 4

 1896-1926 

10 1

Parks 

Box Folder

 1905-1928 

10 2-3

 1929-1932 

11 1

Police 

Box Folder

 1857-1889 

11 2-3

 1890-1905 

12 1-3

 1906-1919 

13 1-3

 1920-1932 

14 1-3
Box Folder

Poor, 1872-1894 

14 4

Public library, 1915-1930 

15 1

Public Works/Engineer 

Box Folder

 1878-1899 

15 2-4

 1900-1916 

16 1-3

 1917-1932 

17 1-3
Box Folder

Street Commissioner, 1857-1932 

17 4

Surveyor, 1857-1886 

17 5

Toll Collector, 1896-1899 

17 6

Treasurer 

Box Folder

 1858-1894 

18 1-4

 1895-1899 

19 1-4

 1900-1904 

20 1-5

 1905-1911 

21 1
Box Folder

Weed Commissioner, 1891, 1911 

21 2

Weights and Measures 

Box Folder

 1868-1918 

21 3-5

 1919-1932 

22 1-3

Miscellaneous 

Box Folder

General, 1919-1926 

22 4

Employment office related, 1919-1932 

22 5-6

Financial and tax statistics, 1922-1925 

22 7

Social services and charity, 1919-1931 

22 8