Administrative Information

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Preferred Citation

Virginia Office of the Second Auditor. Literary Fund Receipts, 1813-1842. Accession SAI 57, State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Transfer information unknown.

Biographical Information

The history of the second auditor's office began in 1823 when the office was created by the General Assembly as part of an act to improve the navigation of the James and Kanawha rivers. Under the act, the second auditor was given responsibility for the Fund for Internal Improvements and for acting as secretary to the Board of Public Works. He was also appointed clerk and accountant to the directors of the Literary Fund. An act passed in 1829 made him the superintendent of the fund, and he assumed the responsibilities formerly held by the president and directors. In 1835 an act authorized the commissioners of the newly created Sinking Fund to redeem the state's debt, and the second auditor was appointed a commissioner with the responsibility, together with the state treasurer, for keeping the accounts of this fund.

Prior to the Civil War, the duties of the second auditor were fairly simple and straightforward, as were the duties of the treasurer. After the war, however, the devastation of the state's economy resulted in the creation of more numerous and complicated records concerning the redemption of the state debt. The office of the second auditor suffered from inadequate procedures for maintaining accurate records on the state's finances. By 1874, neither office had a complete or accurate account of the public debt, and between 1874 and 1877 major scandals were disclosed involving both offices and that of the sergeant at arms of the House of Delegates. Although a complete revision of the accounting methods used by both financial offices, especially the second auditor's, was called for, only minor changes were made.

In 1906 a legislative committee made periodic inspections of the finance offices. Finding that the situation in the second auditor's office remained almost as chaotic as it had been in 1874, the committee recommended that the office be abolished and its duties taken over by the first auditor. Although the committee's recommendations were not followed, its members continued to call for reform. Action was taken only after the election of Governor Harry F. Byrd, Sr., in 1926. Byrd hired a group of consultants from New York to study the finance offices, and the resulting report brought about a complete reorganization of state government in 1928. The offices of first and second auditor were abolished and replaced by a newly created office of comptroller. The second auditor's office closed its books on February 29, 1928.

The Literary Fund, which is still in existence, was established by an act passed by the General Assembly on 12 February 1811. Revenues derived from fines (except militia fines) and the sale of land escheated for unpaid taxes were deposited in the Literary Fund and the money was used to build schools and educate the state's poor children. The Fund provides services such as low-interest loans for school construction, grants under the interest rate subsidy program, debt service for technology funding, and support for the state's share of teacher retirement required by the Standards of Quality. The responsibility for keeping the accounts of the Literary Fund was shifted from the auditor to the second auditor when the latter office was created on 24 February 1823.

Scope and Content

Receipts, 1813-1842, from the Auditor and Treasurer for funds collected for the Literary Fund. Includes receipts for fines collected from counties; for the sale of delinquent and forfeited lands in counties; dividends for shares of James River Company and other stock; and interest due for bonds, among others. Often the receipt names from whom the fines were received in the counties, though it doesn't always state what the fine was for.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged chronologically.