Scope and Content: Any citizen or group of citizens in Massachusetts may petition the General Court for legislative action on any subject.  Such a petition is endorsed by a member of the legislature for presentation to the General Court, where through the legislative process it is unpassed or passed, subject to the governor’s approval or veto.  Bills that fail to pass in the Senate are filed with the Senate clerk for one year. –Senate unpassed legislation includes bills, amendments and substitutions, and constitutional amendments.  Series also includes resolutions and orders (whether or not passed); also petitions, gubernatorial messages, annual reports, special reports, communications, recommendations, and authorizations for wire taps.  Documents are those with final Senate disposition, even when of House origin.  Vetoed bills not overridden are included; pocket vetoes are included for 1965-1969 only–for others see record for: Massachusetts. Governor’s Legislative Office. Pocket vetoes ((M-Ar)459X) –Earlier and additional Revolutionary files are found in: Massachusetts archives collection ((M-Ar)45X), especially v. 180-188: Revolution petitions, 1775-1783. –Bill packets for proposed legislation containing petitions relating to slavery removed from original sequence for digitization and now stored separately.
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically by legislative year (biennially since 1995- 1996), thereunder by disposition
Restrictions: Some access restrictions apply
Notes: St 1939, c 508, s 3 (amending St 1844, c 153) places custody of clerk’s files with the state secretary after the legislative year
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Scope and Content: Ship journals or logbooks were deposited with the state secretary for vessels having a known or presumed connection to military defense of Massachusetts during or after the Revolutionary War.
Notes: Items (1)-(3) listed in state secretary’s inventory of 1831
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Scope and Content: On July 4, 1795, the cornerstone for the newly commissioned  Massachusetts State House being designed by Charles Bulfinch was brought to the new site in a ceremonial  parade from what is now known as the Old State House, and laid by Gov. Samuel Adams and Masonic Grand Master Paul Revere.   In 1995 the bicentennial of the cornerstone laying was observed by a parade once again from the Old State House to the steps of the Bulfinch State House, in a ceremony presided over by Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin and Masonic Grand Master Daniel Lovering to reenact the 1795 cornerstone laying.    (The cornerstone originally contained what is today known as a time capsule, replaced in a new container with enhanced contents in 1855, and with yet further enhancements  placed with the others in an additional container in 2015 (see: State House  time capsule files, 2014-2015 ((M-Ar)2658X); also: Bulfinch State House bicentennial files, 1998 ((M-Ar)2308X)).
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Scope and Content: The governor (Argeo Paul Cellucci), lieutenant governor (Jane Swift), and secretary of the Commonwealth (William Francis Galvin) served as hosts for an open house at the Massachusetts State House on New Year’s Eve, 1999.  Signatures with identifying town were collected from each of the first 2000 guests, who also rang a bell to celebrate initiation of the year 2000.
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Scope and Content: On July 4, 1795, the cornerstone of  the new Massachusetts State House was laid by Gov. Samuel Adams and Masonic Grand Master Paul Revere, in which was deposited a medal, an engraved silver plate, a selection of state and federal coins, and a silver plaque, between two sheets of lead. (See: State House cornerstone bicentennial files, 1995 ((M-Ar)2307X).  On Aug. 11, 1855, the contents having been previously removed in connection with enlargement of the State House, they were enhanced with further coins, a few newspapers and other publications, with a new inscription added to the reverse side of the plaque, and replaced in the cornerstone in a new lidded brass box, by Gov. Henry Gardner and Grand Master Winslow Lewis. –In Dec. 2014, water infiltration of the State House caused the removal of the cornerstone contents yet again. After opening (Jan. 6, 2015), conservation, and public exhibition (Mar. 2015) of the items by the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) and addition of several new coins and a new silver plaque, the contents of what in modern terms is called a time capsule were once more placed in the cornerstone in a stainless steel container to sit aside the original brass box. As in 1855, an elaborate replacement ceremony took place on June 17, 2015 at the main entrance to the State House, involving Masonic Grand Master Harvey Waugh, Gov. Charles Baker, and Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin, whose office organized the event.
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Scope and Content: Register listing visitors to the Massachusetts State House in Boston was compiled under the supervision of Henry G. Weston, State House guide.
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically
Notes:  Received in Archives from sergeant-at-arms, General Court, Apr, 30, 1951; originally presented by Harriet Otis Boone, niece of Henry G. Weston.  Letter of transfer attached inside front cover. Program for Port Hudson Day, May 27, 1904, dedication of statue of William Francis Bartlett, laid in, with photograph of James Dwight Francis, who unveiled the statue. P. 6 mutilated, p. 7-10 missing, p. 11 detached. No entries for 1907-1909
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Scope and Content: Resolves 1829, c 83 (1830) authorized the governor of Massachusetts to purchase land for the construction of a lunatic hospital and to appoint a three-person board of commissioners to oversee its construction.  (The institution was established as the State Lunatic Hospital per St 1832, c 163, and is presently known as Worcester State Hospital.)  The commissioners, empowered to make contracts and to appoint agents to superintend construction, were to present their accounts to governor and council for auditing and payment.
Notes: Formerly part of: Miscellaneous collection, box 2
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Scope and Content: The state secretary received summaries of the activities of the Massachusetts State Police.  These monthly and year-to-date summaries document type and number of offenses and numbers and status of those charged.
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically by month
Notes: Formerly part of: Miscellaneous collection, box 46. Summaries are from June 1929-June 1931, but file is incomplete
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Scope and Content: The state secretary, serving as the governor’s secretary, kept a record of testimony taken before a federal commission to examine Massachusetts’s claims for funds expended for coastal defense, pursuant to a Congressional resolution of July 26, 1866.  Testimony investigates expenditures of funds for purchase or manufacture of ordnance, building and equipping of steamers, and erection of fortifications required for coastal defense pursuant to St 1863, c 118, which authorized the governor to enter into arrangements with the federal government for reimbursement of such expended sums.
Notes: Provenance unclear; item stamped: Third Auditor’s Office, State & House Claims Division, Nov. 8, 1883
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Scope and Content: In 1979 the state secretary surveyed municipal clerks of Massachusetts for information to be submitted to the state archivist regarding time capsules in each locality of the Commonwealth, to ensure that such capsules and their contents were not overlooked when stated removal time occurred.  Series has been created to tabulate survey and later pertinent reports.
Arrangement: In two subseries: (1) Affirmative (2) Negative; arranged within each subseries alphabetically by locality
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