Scope and Content: Per St 1864, c 239, any person having charge of money or property, as trustee under act of incorporation by Massachusetts, or any corporation other than a bank having money or property in trust, was to make an annual report to the state secretary of the amount and condition of trust, with amount paid from or on account of such trust, such returns to be consolidated in a printed report from the secretary to the legislature.  St 1865, c 143 and c 271 regulated procedures and penalties for enforcing the act, which was repealed by St 1866, c 75.  Series was created to preserve such returns in preparation for the printed report.
Notes: Formerly part of: Miscellaneous collection, box 33
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Scope and Content: St 1837, c 128 authorized a decennial census of ratable polls (i.e., voters) to be used for apportioning membership in the Massachusetts House of Representatives (Const Amend Art 12), for applying laws relating to assessment and collection of state taxes (RS 1836, c 7), and in the election of town officers (RS 1836, c 15).  Series consists of completed printed forms for the 1837 census as taken by city censors (appointed by mayors and or aldermen) or towns assessors and sent to the state secretary.
Arrangement: Arranged alphabetically by county, thereunder by municipality
Notes: Formerly part of: Miscellaneous collection, box 13
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Scope and Content: In order to verify the authenticity of documents received from other states, the state secretary, as official record keeper of the Commonwealth, annually requested certified signatures from the governor and secretary of each state.
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically, thereunder alphabetically by state
Notes: Box 1: 1923-1928.  Box 2: 1930-1937.  Box 3: 1938-1949.  Box 4: 1953-1961
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Scope and Content: The state secretary hold constitutional and statutory responsibilities for elections. The secretary sent out questionnaires to the various states regarding their elections and salaries of their officials.
Notes: Formerly part of: Miscellaneous collection, box 93
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Scope and Content: In order to assist the legislature in assessing the need for education of blind residents of the Commonwealth, the mayor of Boston and town selectmen were required to report to the state secretary, the number of blind individuals in each municipality (Resolves 1828, c 74).
Arrangement: Arranged alphabetically by municipality
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Scope and Content: Censuses to ascertain the numbers of deaf residents in the Commonwealth were conducted by order of Resolves 1817, c 24 and again in 1827 by House Order dated June 11.  Returns of these surveys were required to be filed by town officials with the state secretary.
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically
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Scope and Content: From 1790 to 1837, population censuses in Massachusetts were limited to those taken decennially by the federal government under constitutional provision.  Starting in 1837 the General Court authorized state decennial censuses to supplement the federal ones, for determining representation in the legislature and other purposes.  These state censuses have been conducted by authority of constitutional and statutory provisions under the auspices of the secretary of the Commonwealth.  St 1865, c 146 provided for an additional decennial gathering of industrial statistics of cities and towns in the Commonwealth.  The secretary issued printed blank tables to city and town  officials for recording information.  The enumeration itself was made under the officials’ authority and these returns were sent to the secretary’s office where they were abstracted for use by the legislature.
Arrangement: Arranged alphabetically by municipality
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Scope and Content: The state secretary received an annual statement of the real estate, funds, and investments from a majority of the directors of the Massachusetts Hospital Life Insurance Company as prescribed by the act incorporating the company (St 1817, c 180 (1818)).
Notes:  Formerly part of: Miscellaneous collection, box 43. Returns dated following January, i.e., 1825-1882
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Scope and Content: The Commonwealth, pursuant to St 1828, c 113, s 7 as amended by Resolves 1833, c 28, was required to pay to the Trustees of the New England Asylum for the Blind (later known successively as the New England Institution for the Education of the Blind (1832), the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind (1839), the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind (1877), and the Perkins School for the Blind (1955)) an annual sum to provide for the tuition of up to twenty indigent children certified by a physician to be blind.  Returns of the supervisor of the school to the governor or the state secretary, acting as the governor’s secretary, are quarterly notifications of the name and number of beneficiaries.
Arrangement: Arranged chronologically
Notes: Formerly part of: Miscellaneous collection, box 106
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Scope and Content: The state secretary was ordered by the Massachusetts General Court, Mar. 9, 1870, to furnish the legislature with the appropriate mode of assessment of school taxes where school districts were abolished by St 1869, c 110, by obtaining answers from municipalities (not including any in Suffolk County) to five questions.  Series consists of completed printed forms so responding.
Arrangement: Arranged alphabetically by county, thereunder alphabetically by municipality
Notes: Formerly part of: Miscellaneous collection, box 30
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