HISTORY
OF THE CITY CLERK
Early
Beginnings
The Municipal Clerk is the oldest of public
servants in local government, along with the
tax collector. The profession traces back
before Biblical times. For example, the modern
Hebrew translation of Town Clerk is "Mazkir
Ha'ir" which literally translated, means
city or town Reminder: "The early keepers
of archives were often called Remembrancers:"
and before writing came into use their memory
served as the public record.
Colonial
Development
When the early colonists came to America they
set up forms of local government to which
they had been accustomed, and the office of
clerk was one of the first
to be established. When the colonists first
settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts, they quickly
appointed a person to act as recorder. That
person kept all the vital records for birth,
marriages and deaths for the church, as well
as various other records of appointments,
deeds, meetings, and the election of officers
at the annual town meeting.
Summary
Over the years, Municipal Clerks have become
the hub of government, the direct link between
the inhabitants of their community and their
government. The Clerk is the historian of
the community, for the entire recorded history
of the town (city) and its people is in his
or her care.
The eminent political scientist, Professor
William Bennett Munro, writing in one of the
first textbooks on municipal administration
(1934), stated: "No other office in municipal
service has so many contracts. It serves the
mayor, the city council, the city manager
(when there is one), and all administrative
departments without exception. All of them
call upon it, almost daily, for some service
or information. Its work is not spectacular,
but it demands versatility, alertness, accuracy,
and no end of patience. The public does not
realize how many loose ends of city administration
this office pulls together." These words,
written more than 50 years ago, are even more
appropriate today.
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