Scope and Content: Pursuant to St 1837, c 56, each corporation in Massachusetts was to publish every five years a list of its dividends and balances unclaimed for two years or more, in a Boston newspaper and in a newspaper of the county in which the corporation was established.  Corporation secretaries sent returns to the state secretary to show compliance with the law.
Notes:  Formerly part of:  Miscellaneous collection, box 57. Fragmentary series.  Publication requirement still stands in amended form (MGLA c 155, s 47)
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Scope and Content: An order of the General Court dated November 19, 1754 (Massachusetts archives collection ((M-Ar)45X), v. 9, p. 330a)) directed assessors of towns and districts in the Province of Massachusetts Bay to send to the secretary of the General Court the exact numbers of negro slaves, male and female, who were sixteen years of age or older.  Returns, signed and dated by local assessors, enumerate exact numbers of male and female slaves as required by order but do not record personal information such as name, age, or marital status.
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Scope and Content: Department heads and other Massachusetts state officials making estimates for appropriations needed for the coming calendar year were required by St 1872, c 349 to report them to the state secretary on or before Dec. 15 of each year, as filed in this series.  The secretary would embody these estimates and his own in a document presented to the General Court in January (H 1)
Notes:  Formerly part of: Miscellaneous collection, box 65. Files included for 1875, 1877-1885 (1883 fragmentary) –Appendix included with series: H 1, 1875, 1877-1880, 1880 annotated for 1881 and first nine months of 1882, 1884-1885; photocopies with some originals included. –Box 1: 1875-1880.  Box 2: 1881-1885, appendix
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Scope and Content: Per order of the Massachusetts Senate (120 S 1874), the state secretary was to determine from clerks of the superior, municipal, district, and police courts, and from trial justices in the counties, the amount of expenditures, costs, and fees paid or incurred in prosecutions instituted or conducted by the state police (i.e., the local constabulary collectively; cf. GS 1860, c 18, ss 60-70) during 1873.  Series consists of printed forms containing responses from judicial officials to the secretary’s request for that information.
Notes: Formerly part of: Miscellaneous collection, box 46
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Scope and Content: Per St 1845, c 171, the Massachusetts General Court required municipal assessors to respond to printed forms distributed by the state secretary to report the number of establishments engaged in various categories of manufacture or other industrial processes, along with statistics of production, production value, capital invested, and persons employed.  Original returns have been lost, but data has been preserved in the published abstract required of the secretary (s 3): Statistics of the condition and products of certain branches of industry in Massachusetts, for the year ending April 1, 1845 : prepared from the returns of the assessors.  Boston : 1846.
Arrangement: Arranged by county, thereunder alphabetically by municipality
Notes: Formerly part of: Miscellaneous collection, box 84
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Scope and Content: The state secretary collected laws of the various states concerning the pursuit of a person committing a felony in one state into another state, as part of an interstate effort to promote cooperation and to write uniform legislation in this area.
Notes: Formerly part of: Miscellaneous collection, box 97
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Scope and Content: In 1869 the state secretary polled colleagues in other states as to the length of legislative session, compensation received by legislators, and date legislature convened.  Series consists of letters in response to those questions, signed by each state secretary.
Notes: Formerly part of: Miscellaneous collection, box 57
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Scope and Content: St 1832, c 166 authorized county commissioners in Massachusetts to grant liquor licenses to innholders and retailers. St 1852, c 322 (revised by St 1855, c 215) established state-wide prohibition, forbidding the sale of all liquor except for medicinal, chemical, or mechanical purposes. This was changed by St 1868, c 141, passed in April of that year, which authorized county commissioners (in Suffolk County specially-elected license commissioners) to issue licenses for the sale of liquor in their respective counties. Commissioners were required by the act to issue bimonthly returns to the state secretary, indicating name, residence, type of license issued and fee paid. St 1869, c 191 (Apr. 24) repealed such licensing. St 1869, c 415 (June 19) again severely limited liquor sales, but St 1875, c 99 reinstated the sale of liquor and the license system, with responsibility for issuing licenses given to municipal authorities.
Arrangement: Arranged by county, thereunder chronologically, and then by license no
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Scope and Content: On February 26, 1829, the House of Representatives of the General Court ordered a commission of three to examine the possibility of establishing an asylum to house the mentally ill.  The state secretary printed forms used in the survey, which was sent to the selectmen of each town.  The completed returns provided the secretary with information concerning residents eligible for residential care and treatment.
Arrangement: In three subseries: (1) Returns; (2) Reports  (3) Schedules. Arranged alphabetically by town
Notes: Formerly part of: Miscellaneous collection, box 44
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Scope and Content: St 1885, c 379, s 3 required that certified copies of records of deaths investigated by medical examiners be filed with the secretary of the Commonwealth.  This act was repealed by St 1962, c 413.  The secretary’s office bound returns of the medical examiners yearly and created a name index. –Appendix: Record of medical examiner, Worcester County, 9th district, 1885-1897.
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically by year, thereunder alphabetically by county, and then by district
Notes: 1919-1960 in 2 v. each; 1958-1960 units not permanently bound
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