Clerk's office

“ Every district attorney, clerk of a district court, clerk of circuit court, and marshal, shall, on the first days of January and July, in each year, or within thirty days thereafter, make to the attorney general, in such form as he may prescribe, a written return for the half year ending on said days, respectively, of all the fees and emoluments of his office, of every name and character, and of all the necessary expenses of his office, including necessary clerk hire, together with the vouchers for the payment of the same for such last half year. ”

“ If so, he will know.”
“He” was a haven, for his office was labelled [50] Satisfaction—and he was satisfactory. After a fourth explanation of my desires, he answered me with the elaborately patient and compassionate politeness usually employed by men in business and public offices to a woman’s apparently useless inquiries. He said gently: “Only deeds and transfers are here in the Hall of Records; those records you wish to see are all in the County Clerk’s office, over there.” ”

“ It is not an easy matter to dismiss an undesirable clerk: it is almost as difficult as to disturb the parson's freehold; and unless the clerk be found guilty of grievous faults, he may laugh to scorn the malice of his enemies and retain his office while life lasts.
It may be useful, therefore, to devote a chapter to the laws relating to parish clerks--a chapter which some of my readers who have no liking for legal technicalities can well afford to skip. ”

“ If the office was derived from the President and Senate, the application had to be made to the President; but if the office applied for came from a Secretary, then he only was addressed, but it must be in writing. A story has been for some time past running around the whole Union, during the last year, in relation to the appointment of a clerk. ”

“ A clerk shall be appointed by the district judges of said district, who shall reside at Utica, and attend said court at the places aforesaid, and do all the duties of said office of clerk, which may accrue at or from the sessions of the court at said places, both in and out of court, and be allowed the same fees and compensation as by law is allowed to clerks of the district courts. ”

“ Then another person may be elected or appointed to the vacant office: "Provided always, that the exercise of such office by a sufficient deputy who shall duly and faithfully perform the duties thereof, and in all respects well and properly demean himself, shall not be deemed a wilful neglect of his office on the part of such church clerk, chapel clerk, or parish clerk, so as to render him liable, for such cause alone, to be suspended or removed therefrom." ”

“ The deputy clerk of this court, for example, is very efficient and faithful, and, if there should be a vacancy in the office of clerk of the court, it is not only possible, but very probable, that he would be appointed to fill the vacancy, thereby obtaining a much larger salary then he now receives ”

“ The other great officers are the four Tellers of the Exchequer, each of whom has his deputy, his first clerk, and four 286other clerks. Their office is to receive all moneys due to the King, and thereupon to throw down a bill through a pipe into the tally court, where it is received by the Auditor’s clerk, who there attends to write the words of the bill upon a tally, and then delivers the same to be entered by the Clerk of the Pells, or his under clerk, who attends to enter it in his book ”

“ Moreover, by the agreed statement of facts it appears that a deputy clerk, who became ex officio recorder, was appointed June 30, 1906, and opened his office for the transaction of business at Duncan on July 7, 1906. ”

“ We do not think it important to decide in this case whether such a clerkship is an office within the meaning of these sections of the law and the constitution, because sections 1764 and 1765 both include in their prohibition officers, clerks, and other persons. The proposition of the comptroller that the clerk is not an officer is made to meet his concession that a person who holds two distinct compatible offices may lawfully receive the salary of each. ”

“ If a complaint is made to the archdeacon, or other ordinary, with regard to the misconduct of a clerk, stating that he is an unfit and improper person to hold that office, the archdeacon may summon the clerk and call witnesses who shall be able to give evidence or information with regard to the charges made. ”

“ In the decretals of Gregory IX there is a reference to the clerk's office, and his duties obtain the sanction of canon law. Every incumbent is ordered to have a clerk who shall sing with him the service, read the epistle and lesson, teach in the school, and admonish the parishioners to send their children to the church to be instructed in the faith. It was thus in ancient days that the Church provided for the education of children, a duty which she has always endeavoured to perform. ”

“ An act of 20th December, 1836, after requiring all persons who claim lands, by deed, lien, or any other color of title, to record their instruments of title in the clerk's office of the county where the land lies within twelve months from the 1st April, makes it, by the thirty-fifth section, the duty of the clerk to record all deeds, conveyances, mortgages, and other liens, and all other instruments in writing, provided that one of the witnesses shall swear to the signature of the signer, or he, himself, shall acknowledge the same. ”

“ The chief clerk system as we know it to-day cannot long survive because it is too feudal in conception to reflect the spirit of a progressive age. We need a chief clerk to be a head clerk, a senior clerk, a foreman of the office forces, as it were. Much of the time on American railroads the chief clerk is in effect an acting official, acting trainmaster, acting superintendent, acting general manager, acting vice-president, and even acting president. As such he signs the name of his boss, the theory being that the latter, like a feudal baron or a king, is omnipresent within his own dominions. ”

“ Evidently the duties of her office had not worn out the stalwart old dame.
[pg 202]
Although legally a woman may not perform the duties of a parish clerk, there have been numerous instances of female holders of the office. ”

“ After remaining for about six years in the ‘parish property’ department, where his practical knowledge of law proved of great service, he was promoted in 1853 to the post of chief clerk, an office which he retained after the reorganisation of the commission under the name of the local government board until his retirement in November 1872. ”

“ Employment of extra clerks.Sec. 15. And be it further enacted, That no extra clerk shall be employed, in any department, bureau, or office, at the seat of Government, except during the session of Congress, or when indispensably necessary to enable such department, bureau, or office, to answer some call made by either House of Congress at one session, to be answered at another; and not then, except by order of the head of the department in which, or in some bureau or office which, such extra clerk shall be employed ”

“ Section 13 There shall be a clerk of the circuit court chosen in each county organized for judicial purposes, by the qualified electors therein, who shall hold his office for two years, subject to removal, as shall be provided by law. In case of vacancy, the judge of the circuit shall have the power to appoint a clerk until the vacancy shall be filled by an election. The clerk of the circuit court shall perform all the duties of the office of register of deeds. ”

“ Frequently the clerk could and did exercise great influence with the justices in the handling of legal matters. As the members of the court were laymen, it often occurred that the clerk was the only person who was learned in the law, and his advice must have been a determining factor in many situations. His tenure in office also strengthened his position of influence, for it was customary to retain clerks in office for long periods of time, during which they had daily contact with the workings of the law and events in the county. ”

“ One method of great utility was to appoint poor scholars to the office of parish clerk, by a due discharge of the duties of which they were trained to serve in church and in the parish, and might ultimately hope to attain to the ministry. This is borne out by the evidence of wills wherein some good incumbent, grateful for the faithful services of his clerk, bequeaths either books or money to him, in order to enable him to prepare himself for higher preferment. ”

“ A clerk from the head office of some limited company with branches in half the towns of England would walk in quickly through a swing-door, pass through an outer office without stopping, and approach a long table at which two or three men were seated side by side. ”

“ The continuity of the office is worthy of record. From the days of Augustine to the present time it has never ceased to exist. The clerk is the last representative of the minor orders which the ecclesiastical changes wrought in the sixteenth century have left us. Prior to the Reformation there were sub-deacons who wore alb and maniple, acolytes, the tokens of whose office were a taper staff and small pitcher, ostiaries or doorkeepers corresponding to our verger or clerk, readers, exorcists, [pg 19] rectores chori, etc. ”

“ If a man performs the duties of the office for one year he gains a settlement, and cannot afterwards be removed without just cause.
An important Act was passed in 1844, to which I have already referred, for the better regulating the office of lecturers and parish clerks. Sections 5 and 6 of this Act bear directly on the method of removal of a clerk who may be guilty of neglect or misbehaviour. ”

“ The position of file clerk is a sure stepping stone to something better—a more responsible and better paid position. No clerk in the office has a better opportunity to obtain a general knowledge of the business. From the stenographer who files the manager's personal correspondence, to the clerk in charge of an extensive filing division, each is intrusted with important papers revealing the very secrets of the business. ”

“ Johnson's definition of a parish clerk in his Dictionary does not convey the whole truth about him and his historic office. He is defined as "the layman who reads the responses to the congregation in church, to direct the rest." ”

“ A judge may sit for one term in the equity court, then in the criminal branch, and next in a court en banc. All the time there is only one office of record, one clerk of the court, with as many deputies as may be found necessary. ”

“ The next great official is the Town Clerk, who is appointed by the Common Council and re-elected annually. John de Batequell, clerk of the city, is referred to in Letter Book A, [276] and this is the first recorded mention of the office afterwards known as the common clerk, and later as town clerk. Next to the recorder the town clerk was the chief officer in the local courts of law called the Hustings and the Mayor’s Court. ”

“ Under such circumstances, when the law provides expressly for the appointment of a deputy, and authorizes the clerk to pay his compensation as a part of his office expenses, there can be no question that his acts as such deputy should be recognized as the acts of the clerk himself, and that the clerk is entitled to like fees for the performance of such acts. ”

“ Paved like the corridor, and hung with a shabby paper, the first room, where the servant is stationed, is furnished with a stove, a large black table with inkstand, pens, and paper, and benches, but no mats on which to wipe the public feet. The clerk's office beyond is a large room, tolerably well lighted, but seldom floored with wood. Wooden floors and fireplaces are commonly kept sacred to heads of bureaus and divisions ”

“ Secretary of State to appoint an additional clerk; with what salary.Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the more effectually to do and perform the duties in the Department of State, the Secretary of the said department be, and is hereby authorized to appoint an additional clerk in his office, who shall be allowed an equal salary, to be paid in the same manner as is allowed by law to the chief clerk. ”

“ A book should be kept in every office, in which should be entered the name and age of each Clerk or other officer, at the time of his appointment, the dates of his examination, first appointment, and subsequent promotions, together with notes of all the reports made upon him from time to time, either on the occasions afforded by the occurrence of vacancies, or at other times, in consequence of some special instance either of good or ill behaviour. ”

“ The state board of control shall elect a clerk, who shall hold his office during the pleasure of the board, and shall receive as compensation for his services a salary of eight hundred dollars per annum. ”

“ During the next few years he paid close attention to his work, and his reward came in 1865, when he was gazetted acting chief clerk in his office. In the following year he was permanently raised to the office of chief clerk. ”

“ In the Quartermaster General’s Office.Six clerks and one messenger, in the Quartermaster General’s office, whose compensation shall be as follows; one clerk at sixteen hundred dollars, one clerk at twelve hundred dollars, four clerks at one thousand dollars each, and one messenger at five hundred dollars, one clerk for the Ordnance Office at twelve hundred dollars, and four clerks at one thousand dollars each. One clerk in the Engineer Office at twelve hundred dollars, and one clerk at one thousand dollars. One clerk in the Commanding General’s office at one thousand dollars. ”