At 9 o’clk. a quorum being present, the Pres’. Dr. L. M. Yale called the meeting to order. The Secty. Called the roll_ Present, messrs Yale, Reinhart, Colman, Tiffany, Wood, G.H. Smillie, Farrer, Baldwin, Church, Dielman & J. D. Smillie _11 members. The minutes of the last meeting (Feb. 10”.’79) were read and approved. The first regular business of the eveng. Being the election of officers for the ensuing year, tellers were appointed. A friendly discussion here took place between the Pres.’ & Secty. The Pres.’ Declined re-nomination or re-election, & nominated for the office of Pres.’, Jas. D. Smillie. The Secty declined that honor with thanks, & in addition begged to be relieved of his duties as Secty, apologizing to the club for his remissness during the past year. In the mean time the Pres.’ Had been preparing and distributing ballots, the tellers collected them & the unanimous election of James D. Smillie to the Presidency was announced by the chair. At this time Mr. T. W. Wood made his appearance & by acclimation was elected Secty. Treas’. He expressed his appreciation & thanks & promptly resigned. Ballots were prepared & Mr. J. C. Nicole not being present to defend himself was unanimously elected. Upon motion of Saml. Colman seconded by Hy. Farrer, the Executive Com. In office, messrs Gifford, Eno & Baldwin were unanimously re-elected. By ballot, Messrs Chas. A. Vanderhoff and K. Van Elten were elected members. Mr. T. W. Wood then called upon the Secty. Treas’. For a statement of the expenses of the club. The Secty. Treas’. Said that there had been no expenses. To this it was replied that there certainly had been expenses for gas, postage, stationary_ etc.etc. The Secty. Treas’. Said that he wished such outlay considered as his willing contribution to the cause of Free Hand Etching. The members present were unwilling to agree to such arrangement & after consultation & computation a bill of expenses was prepared & accepted by the Secty. Treas’. That will be found in the Treas.’rs statement appended. Mr. T. W. Wood moved (& it was seconded) that an assessment of $1.00 per member be made. Mr. S. Colman moved, as an amendment, that it be made an annual assessment. Mr. Wood accepted the amendment & the motion as amended was carried without opposition. Mr. C. S. Reinhart showed a working proof from an etching. Pfs. from 3 etchings by Mr. Vanderhoff & by Kruseman Van Elten were also shown.
At 10.30 the meeting was regularly adjourned.
Approved, Dec 8’ 1879.
James D. Smillie
Money received by Jas. D. Smillie, Treasure.
From T. W. Wood . . . . $2.00) money distributed as p’_accepted bill.
“L. M. Yale 2.00) To Postage 3.50
“Hy Farrer 2.00) “ Gas 2.25
F. Dielman 2.00) Old members “ Beer 2.50
Chas Reinhart 2.00) “ Book for minutes 85
“ Stationary 1.00 10.10
S. Colman 2.00)
J. D. Smillie 2.00) 5.90 Bal.On hand
Chas Vanderhoff 1.00} new members
Kruseman Van Elten 1.00 James D. Smillie Treas’.¨
======= 16.00
It is probable, based on careful study of the original handwritten copy of the minutes, that James D. Smillie recorded the first twenty-three pages of the club meetings elsewhere and re-wrote them sometime between February and December 1879 in the extant copy. His presentation and the consistency of these earliest minutes is nearly flawless. Supporting this observation is reference in the February 10, 1879, minutes to 85 cents being spent on a “Book for minutes.” At this point, the secretary job now goes over to James Craig Nicole, in whose handwriting the next minutes were recorded.
