Office of the Superintendent/Administrative Records: Journal of Pay and Accounts, 1845-1855: Finding Aid

History of the Office of the Superintendent

The plan of the Naval School at Fort Severn, Annapolis, Maryland, approved by the Navy Department August 28, 1846, provided that a Superintendent of the school be appointed by the Secretary of the Navy from a list of officers of a rank not higher than commander. The Superintendent was to have responsibility for the general management of the institution, including overseeing the course of study, professors, and other personnel connected with the Academy. He could appoint and remove all persons employed at the Academy except those for whose appointment or discharge special provision was made by the laws or regulations of the Navy or the Academy. He had general charge of the buildings, grounds, and ships belonging to the Academy. The Superintendent also formulated the code of rules and regulations for the internal government of the school to be submitted to the Secretary of the Navy for approval. After 1867, officers were assigned by the Navy Department to the Academy to serve as assistants or aides to the Superintendent. The Office of the Superintendent as described in the 1846 plan remained relatively unchanged throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Officers of ranks higher than commander, however, have served in the position.

Description of Contents

This entry contains a journal of pay and accounts for both personnel and midshipmen attached to the academy, and contingent and general expense appropriations. The names of academy staff, including officers and enlisted men, and the amounts paid to them in cash or by check during 1845 are documented in the first portion of the volume.

Beginning in October 1845, the volume assigns successive numbers to and lists the names of academy staff members, midshipmen, and acting midshipmen, and documents the amounts paid monthly from cash for mess, laundry, barber, and postage bills.

With the fiscal year beginning July 1852, the volume records a sum set aside annually from the congressional appropriation for the academy to cover “contingent expenses,” later termed “general maintenance” expenses. The volume documents contingent account expenses for 1852, 1853, and 1855.

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically.

Access and Use

Access

Access is unrestricted.

Copyright and Permission

Use of materials is unrestricted.

Other Finding Aid(s)

National Archives Catalog entry available electronically at: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/3053911.

Acquisition and Appraisal

Custodial History

RG 405 Records of the United States Naval Academy is the property of the National Archives and Records Administration. The materials are housed at the United States Naval Academy, William W. Jeffries Memorial Archives, an affiliated archive, as per a Memorandum of Agreement between the National Archives and Records Administration and the United States Naval Academy.

Related Materials

Related Archival Material

Correspondence, requisitions, account lists, and reports, relating to pay and accounts and other fiscal matters between 1845 and 1924 may be found in entry 108: “Letters Sent Containing Requisitions for Money, Materials, and Supplies for the Academy, 1845-1865,” (NAID: 3053890); entry 109: “Letters Sent Containing Paymasters' Requisitions for Money, 1866–1869” (NAID: 3053909); entry 111: “Lists of Bills Approved for Payment by the Superintendent, 1846-1854” (NAID: 3053931); entry 112: “Lists of Bills Paid Out of Various Accounts, 1853–1878” (NAID: 3053937); entry 113: “Reports of Supplies for Subsistence of Cadets, 1874–1881” (NAID: 3053946); and entry 114: “Register of Requisitions and Vouchers for Purchases by the Medical Department, 1894-1924” (NAID: 3053954). Correspondence of the superintendent relating to supplies, equipment, as well as copies of annual estimates submitted to the Navy Department for this period may be found in entry 1: “Letters Sent by the Superintendent, 1845-1865” (NAID: 2953622); and entry 3: “Press Copies of Letters Sent by the Superintendent, 1865-1911” (NAID: 2980540).

Materials Cataloged Separately

No materials have been removed from this collection and cataloged separately.

Processing and Other Information

Preferred Citation

Office of the Superintendent/Administrative Records: Journal of Pay and Accounts, 1845-1855

Special Collections & Archives Department

Nimitz Library

United States Naval Academy

Selected Bibliography

The following sources were consulted during preparation of the historical note:

Sweetman, Jack. The U.S. Naval Academy: An Illustrated History. Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute Press, 1979.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Samuel Limneos in April 2023. Finding aid written by Samuel Limneos in May 2023. Historical Sketch and Scope and Content Note adapted in part from Inventory of Records Group 405 by Geraldine N. Phillips and Aloha South, 1975.

Subject Headings

Name and Subject Terms

• Midshipmen -- United States
• Naval education -- United States
• United States Naval Academy - Students
• United States Naval Academy -- History – 19th century
• United States Naval Academy – Faculty
• United States Navy – Officers

Genre Terms

• Account Books