Confe 7-16-97 FOREWORD The Inventory of the County Archives of Florida is one of a number of bibliographies of historical materials prepared throughout the United States under the direction of the Historical Records Survey Frogram of the Work Projects Administration. The publication herewith presented, an inventory of the archives of Clay County, is number 10 of the Florida series. The Historical Records Survey Frogram was undertaken in the winter of 1935-36 for the purpose of providing useful employment to needy unemployed historians, lawyers, teachers, and research and clerical workers. In carrying out this objective, the project was organized to compile inventories of historical materials, particularly the unpublished government documents and records which are basic in the administration of local government, and which provide invaluable data for students of political, economic, and social history. The archival guide herewith presented is intended to meet the requirements of day-to-day adrinistration by the officials of the county, and also the needs of lawyers, business men and other citizens who require facts from the public records for the proper conduct of their affairs. The volume is so designed that it can be used by the historian in his research in unprinted sources. The inventories produced under the supervision of the Historical → Records Survey Frogram attempt to do more than give rerely a list of records - they atterṛt further to sketch in the historical background of the county or other unit of government, and to describe precisely and in detail the organization and functions of the government agencies whose .1 records they list. The county, town, and other local inventories for the entire county will, when completed, constitute an encyclopedia of local governrent as well as a bibliography of local archives. The successful conclusion of the work of the historical Records Survey Program, even in a single county, would not be possible without the support of public officials, historical and legal specialists, and many other groups in the community. Their cooperation is gratefully acknowledged. The Survey Frogram was organized by Luther . Evans, who served as Director until March 1, 1940, when he was succeeded by Sargent B. Child, who had been National Field Supervisor since the inauguration of the Survey. The Survey Frogram operates as a Nation-wide series of locally sponsored projects in the Division of Professional and Service Projects, of which Mrs. Florence Kerr, Assistant Cornissioner, is in charge. HOWARD O. HUNTER The Historical Records Survey Program was initiated in Florida in March 1936 as a Federal project. In July of that year it was coordinated with the Florida State Archives Survey, sponsored by the Florida State Library Board. The two surveys operated under a single state director until July 1938, when the State Archives Survey was discontinued. Since July 1939 the Florida Survey has operated as a statewide project under the sponsorship of the Florida State Library Board. The Survey is engaged in the preparation of inventories of, and bibliographical guides to, source materials hitherto inaccessible to research workers. The Survey program in Florida, as throughout the Nation, includes an inventory of state, county, municipal, and church archives, of American imprints, and of manuscript depositories and collections. The Inventory of the County Archives of Florida will consist of a separate rimeographed volume for each of the 67 Floride counties. Numbers are assigned to the volumes according to each county's position in an alphabetically arranged list. The arrangement of agencies in part B of the inventory classifies them according to governmental function. The structural organization of the agency, its powers and duties (or jurisdiction, if the agency is a court), and the records requirements are discussed in a section preceding the inventory of the records of each agency. Records are classified, in general, under the agencies that make them, unless legal provisions indicate other classifications. Records are described in entries whose style is formalized to give the following information: Title of record, dates for which available, quantity and labeling of volumes or containers, variant titles, description of record contents, manner of arrangement, indexing, nature of recording, size of volumes or containers, and location. This inventory is the product of a cooperative research program and its publication would have been impossible without the diligent and painstaking work of the field, typing, and editorial personnel of the Survey. Virginia Maxwell, Field Supervisor, directed the field work in Clay county. The inventory was prepared for publication by the state editorial staff at Jacksonville, under the supervision of Dorothy Dodd, Fublic Records Editor, and Charles D. Farris, former Compiling Editor. The index was prepared by Wilton E. Marks. The state staff has profited in all phases of the work by the constructive advice and criticism of the National office. This inventory in final manuscript form was edited by Guy P. Timboe, Assistant Editor, and further reviewed by Mabel S. Brodie, Editor-in-Chief of Public Records Inventories. The publications of the Historical Records Survey are issued for free distribution to public and institutional libraries. A list of the publications of the Florida Survey is to be found at the end of this volume. Requests for information concerning the publications or work of the Survey in Florida should be addressed to the State Supervisor, Historical Records Survey, 49 West Duval Street, Jacksonville, Florida. Sue A. Mahorner State Supervisor Florida Historical Records Survey Jacksonville, Florida TABLE OF CONTENTS A. Clay County and Its Records System Governmental Organization and Records System--- The legal status of the county. Structural development of the county. General administration. Registration of property titles. Distribution of judicial power: Judicial agencies; jurisdictions. Law enforcement: Con- servation of the peace; apprehension of cririnals; initi- ation of cririnal proceedings; prosecutions; execution of sentence; custody of prisoners. Finance: Budgets; taxa- tion; licensing for revenue; fiscal control; audits; bond issues. Elections: Electors; political parties and nomi- nations; the ballot; conduct of elections; canvass of re- turns; elections for special purposes. Education: Finan- cial support; school administration and supervision; pro- visions for schools; teachers; instructional materials; pupils. Welfare. ings; roads, bridges, and ferries; drainage. Regulation in the public interest: Licensing and registration; in- spections. Fublic statistics: Vital statistics; census enumerations. Encouragement of agriculture. Housing, Care, and Accessibility of the Records. B. County Officers and Their Records Board of County Commissioners- Proceedings. Fiscal control: Derository records; claims; warrants; books of account; reports. Elections. County roads. Special road and bridge districts: District 1; Page |