blessings which it gives; and grand in the extent, fitness, minuteness and power of its application.

The Committee, appointed for that purpose, reported the following list of

OFFICERS FOR 1862:

President JOSEPH C. HORNBLOWER, LL. D.

Vice Presidents-Hon. James Parker, Richard S. Field, Esq., Hon. Henry W. Green.

Corresponding Secretary-Wm. A. Whitehead, Newark.

Recording Secretary—David A. Hayes, Newark.
Librarian-Samuel H. Congar, Newark.
Treasurer-Solomon Alofsen, Jersey City.

Executive Committee-Hon. Dudley S. Gregory, Hon. Wm. P. Robeson, Rev. Henry B. Sherman, Rev. R. K. Rodgers, Peter S. Duryee, Esq., Rev. John Hall, D.D., Hon. Charles S. Olden, Samuel H. Pennington, M.D., C. C. Haven, Esq.

On motion of Mr. DURYEE,

Resolved, That the thanks of the Society are due, and are hereby tendered to the National Guard for the use of their Armory for the meeting of the Society.

The Society then adjourned.

Members Elected

JANUARY 16, 1862.

RESIDENT MEMBERS.

S. V. Cortlandt Van Rensselaer, Newark.
Cornelius Fornett, Belleville.

CORRESPONDING MEMBER.

Asher Taylor, New York.

HONORARY MEMBERS.

E. B. O'Callaghan, M. D., L.L. D., Albany, N. Y.
Samuel P. Hildreth, Marietta, Ohio.

LAID BEFORE THE SOCIETY JAN. 16, 1862.

From Mr. Joseph H. Blackford.

REV. JOHN HALL, D.D., Trenton, N. J.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9, 1861.

MY DEAR SIR-Your esteemed favor of the 5th inst. was duly received, and I avail myself of the earliest opportunity to furnish you with the desired particulars respecting the entries contained in the Post Office "Account Current," or what we might more appropriately term the Post Office Ledger, kept by Benjamin Franklin while Postmaster General.

Many of the entries of this "ledger," or "account current," are in the hand-writing of Dr. Franklin, but the most of them were written by Richard Bache, Esq., who was Dr. Franklin's chief or principal clerk. The usual formula of these accounts is as follows: "The General Post Office of the United States of America in account current with " and the

period of time embraced was from the 7th of Aug., 1775, to the 27th of August, 1778, inclusive.

I send you herewith exact and literal copies of the accounts with the Post Offices at "Trenton," ," "Prince Town" and "Morris Town," as entered in this book.

I also send you a list of the different Post Offices, the accounts with which were kept in the book referred to, which will doubtless be interesting to you; and have also copied a memorandum of the history of the Post Office up to the time it was removed to this city.

I am truly yours, &c.

JOSEPH H. BLACKFORD.

MEMORANDA,

RELATING TO DR. FRANKLIN'S ADMINISTRATION OF THE COLONIAL POST offices. Doctor Franklin was appointed General Deputy Postmaster of the Colonies in the year 1753, with a salary between him and his confederate of £600, "if they could get it." Franklin was removed from his office by the British Ministry, but in the year 1775 the Congress of the Confederation having assumed the practical sovereignty of the Colonies, appointed a Committee to devise a system of Post Office communication, who made a Report recommending a plan, on the 26th of July, which on the same day was adopted, and Doctor Franklin unanimously appointed Postmaster General at a salary of $1000 per annum. The salary of the Postmaster General was doubled on the 16th of April, 1779, and on the 27th of December of the same year Congress increased the salary to $5000 per annum.

Dr. Franklin, on the 7th of November, 1776, was succeeded as Postmaster General by his relative, Richard Bache, who remained in office to the 28th of January, 1782, when he was succeeded by Ebenezer Hazard, who was the last head of the General Post Office under the Confederacy.

In 1796 there were but 75 Post Offices throughout the United States, and but 1,875 miles of post routes.

The General Post Office, in the year 1790, was located in New York, and Samuel Osgood, of Massachusetts, was the first Postmaster General under the Federal Government. The salary of Mr. Osgood was $1,500 per annum. Timothy Pickering was appointed by Washington at an increased salary of $2,000. He was commissioned April 22d, 1795.

The office was located in Philadelphia in the year 1796, and was established at Washington, when the Federal Government was removed there; and in 1802 the United States ran their own stages between Philadelphia and New York, finding coaches, drivers, horses, &c., and cleared in three years over $11,000 by carrying passengers.

List of Post Offices, with which accounts current were kept in Dr. Franklin's book, (the largest or more important offices being underscored):

Philadelphia, Cambridge, Bristol, Trenton, Prince Town, Brunswick (no entries), Woodbridge (no entries), Elizabethtown, Newark, (no entries), New York, Stanford, Fairfield, Stratford, (with an entry no office here"), New Haven, Guilford (with an entry no office here"), New London, Westerly, Newport, Tower Hill, Greenwich, Providence, Marblehead, Salem, Ipswick, Newbury, Portsmouth, Falmouth, Middle-Town, Hartford, Springfield, Worcester, (no entries), Albany, Chester, Wilmington, Head Elk, Charlestown, Hartford, Baltimore, Annapolis, Upper Marlboro, Bladensburg, Georgetown, Alexandria, Colechester, Dumfries, Fredericksburgh, Port Royal, Hobb's Hole, Urbana, Aylett's Warehouse, New Castle, Richmond, Petersburg, Williamsburg, (Va.) Norfolk, Smithfield, Suffolk, Edenton, Bath-Town, Newbern, Brunswick, (N. Carolina,) Wilmington, (N. Carolina,) George-Town, (So. Carolina,) Charles-Town, (So. Carolina,) Savannah, New Castle on Delaware, George-Town, (Eastern Shore,) Chester-Town, (Eastern Shore,) Queens-Town, Talbot, Lancaster, The Post Office at Montreal, Purysbourgh, (So. Carolina,) Little River, (So. Carolina,) Pocotaligo, (So. Carolina,) Hampton, (Virginia,) Portsmouth, N. Hampshire, York-Town, (Virginia,) Fish-Kill, (State of N. York,) Fredericksburg, (Va.) Little Rest, Hartford, Morristown, Alexandria, Jacksonburgh, Easton, (Robert Trail, Postmaster,) Reading, (Henry Haller, Postmaster,) Port Royal, (George Taukerslie, Postmaster,) Salem, (Marcoll Williams, Postmaster,) Philadelphia, (Peter Baynton, Postmaster,) Post Office at Head Quarters, (Hugh Smyth, P. M.) Susquehanna, (John Rogers, Postmaster.)

In addition to the above, there are the following accounts, viz:

"The General Post Office of the United States, in account with Peter Baynton."

Richard Bache, Esq., in account current with Peter Baynton, as Comptroller."

"Benjamin Franklin, Esq., Postmaster General, in account with Richard Bache."

"The General Post Office of the United States of America, in account with Richard Bache, Comptroller," from Aug. 7, 1775, to Oct. 5, 1776.

The Post Office at Trenton.

Contra.

£10 16 11

£10 16 11

1778.

July 28th.-To Balance of acc't ending 20th July, 1778, £5 6 1

1778.

July 28th.-By Cash received from James Paxton, Esq..£5 6 1

Contra.

CR.

1776.

Feb'y 22.-By Cash rec'd from Hugh Montgomery,

£12 10 1

Jan'y 5th.-To Balance as p. acc't rendered, ending this

A MEMOIR OF MRS. ABIGAIL STAFFORD AND HER TIMES. Presented by Miss Sarah Smith Stafford, of Trenton.

Read January 16th, 1862.

Mrs. Abigail Stafford, relict of the late James B. Stafford, Lieutenant, in the Navy of the Revolution, died on the ninth day of August, A. D. 1861, at No. 45 South Warren street, Trenton, New Jersey.

Mrs. Stafford was born in the North-West Parish of old Dedham, (then in the County of Suffolk,) Massachusetts. She was the daughter of Henry Smith and Phebe Bacon, of that place. Her paternal grandfather was the Rev. William Smith, well known as one of the most active and influential clergymen of that day; and she was named after, and out of respect to, Miss Abigail Smith, who married President John Adams, and was the mother of the Hon. John Quincy Adams, (she being a branch of the same family of Smiths).

Mrs, Stafford's father, Henry Smith, resided on the bank of Charles River, near Boston, when the war commenced; he attached himself to Captain Joseph Morse's Company, Col. Samuel Bullard's Regiment, and served on the ever memorable day of the battle of Lexington, at which battle he was wounded. He again enlisted in Capt. James Mellon's Company, Col. Jonathan Ward's Regiment, and was at the battle of White Plains with a small detachment of the army, where he was again wounded, and died from mortification of his wounds while in the service of his country. He had acted in a Quarter-Master's capacity when our troops were stationed at Dorchester Heights and Castle Island, in the harbor of Boston. After his death, his property was sold to pay for the oxen that transported part of the camp equipage from Boston to White Plains, and for supplies furnished the American troops, leaving his only child without support, except a small amount which was paid to her in Continental money, which, however, she retained till her death. Mrs. Stafford's maternal grandfather, Ephraim Bacon, with whom she lived, belonged to Capt. James Mann's company, Col. Samuel Bullard's regiment; the roll of this company is now in the possession of Mr. Mann, of Boston, grandson of Capt. Mann. Mr. Bacon guided the troops from that neighborhood out to the battle of Lexington; he had five sons and five sons-in-laws in that battle, as well as three brothers, with their sons, and nearly all of the men who were engaged at Lexington were relatives of the family. Two of the family, viz., Lieutenant John Bacon, of Needham, and Jonathan Smith, of Natick, were killed on the 19th of April, 1775, by the British troops on their return from Lexington. Lieut. Bacon was attached to Captain Caleb Kingsbury's company, Col. Aaron Davis' regiment; his death is recorded in Doctor Gordon's History of the Revolution (vol. 1, page 485).

Mrs. Stafford was was about ten years of age at this time; she helped, with her uncles and aunts, in melting pewter dishes, and running them into bullets, which were fired at the British by the patriots of her family at Lexington. The bullet moulds are now at her late residence.