Research

Scope and Content Note

This series consists of the surviving fragment of correspondence received by the secretary of state in his capacity as ex officio superintendent of common schools. Most of the letters are from local school officials and concern a monthly publication called the "District School Journal," apparently published under the auspices of the secretary of state.

Included are the following kinds of correspondence relating to the Journal: lists of town supervisors of schools sent to the secretary as the result of a printed request in the Journal; letters from publishers concerning advertisements for school texts that appeared in the Journal; and letters requesting cancellation or renewal of subscriptions.

Several other items in the series include: a letter concerning the school on the Onondaga Indian Reservation; a narrative report on schools by the superintendent of schools for the western portion of Oneida County; and an anecdotal, unsigned account of a school master entitled, "Extracts from the Diary of a School Master".