history of CLERKCLERK
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 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. Ancient Greece had a city secretary who read
official documents publicly. At the opening of a meeting, one of his first duties was to decree
a curse upon anyone who should seek to deceive the people.
St. Paul and his followers during his missionary work in Persia (now Western Turkey) owed
their safety to the action of a town clerk. As related in Acts 19:22-41, written in A.D. 58,
the artisans of Ephesus who made the idols of the time, feared the effect of Paul's
missionary work on their trade. They incited a mob to seize two of Paul's followers. The
town clerk, however, spoke out against this action and insisted that charges laid against
these men had to be settled in the proper manner and before the proper authorities. There
was no justification for riotous conduct. With that, he dispersed the crowd. Reportedly, the
regency line of France descends from the office of the Clerk. According to James Bryce in his
book "The Holy Roman Empire," there is a direct link between the position of Mayor of the
Palace, a clerical post created by the Merovingian Kings of France, and all subsequent Kings
of France.
In the eighth century, the Frankish Kings of France depended on the Mayor of the Palace to
perform all manner of clerical and administrative tasks for the King including collecting
taxes and fees, publishing documents, keeping state records and assisting in the
enforcement of the King's justice. In 751, the Merovingian King, Childeric, was deposed and
his assistant, Pippin, the Mayor of the Palace, became not only the monarch of France but
was simultaneously created a Patrician of Rome by Pope Gregory the Third. Pippin was, in
turn, father of the great Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the
Carolingian Dynasty of Europe on High, which in successive generations, produced the Kings
of France, as well as the Emperors of Germany and Austria.
DEVELOPMENT IN ENGLAND
The title "Clerk" as we know it developed from the Latin clericus. During the Ages, when
scholarship and writing were limited to the clergy, clerk came to mean a scholar, especially
one who could read, write, and thus serve as notary, secretary, accountant and recorder. In
ancient England, the township (surrounded by its hedge or "tun") and the borough (an
outpost fortified with a wall) developed a strong system of democratic local government.
And one of the first officials these freemen elected was the "Clarke."
The beginning of the office of city clerk in England can be traced back to 1272 A.D. in the
history of the Corporation of Old London. The "Remembrancer" was called upon to remind
the councilors (members of the council) what had transpired at their previous meetings,
since the meeting of the early councils were not recorded in written minutes. In 1354, the
Mayor of Nottingham appointed the Clarke and provided for his remuneration. In 1439,
Symkyn Birches was awarded the office of "Toun Clerk" in another community for the rest of
his life. In 1477 Thomas Carton, a town clerk, was the first English printer, and served as
diplomat for the King. In 1485, Nicholas Lancaster, the Clarke, became Mayor of York.
Perhaps the strongest statement of the unique position occupied by the Municipal Clerk is by
Court in the Middle Ages ruling in the case, Hurle-Hobbs ex parte Riley and another.
Concerning this case, Chief Justice Lord Caldecote, observed: "The office of town clerk is an
important part of the machinery of local government. He may be said to stand between the
local Council and the ratepayers. He is there to assist by his advice and action the conduct
of public affairs in the borough and, if there is a disposition on the part of the council, still
more on the part of any member of the council, to ride roughshod over his opinions, the
question must at once arise as to whether it is not his duty forthwith to resign his office or,
at any rate, to do what he thinks right and await the consequences."
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.
Indeed, in Massachusetts, the town clerk was one of the earliest offices established in
colonial towns. The settlers were well aware of the importance of keeping accurate written
records of their agreements and actions including grants of land, regulations governing
animals, the collection of taxes and the expenditure of town funds.
The person given the responsibility for recording these orders was also often given other
duties, such as sweeping the meeting-house and selling the seats, ringing the bell, and
paying the bounty for jays and blackbirds whose heads were presented to him by the
citizens. By the middle of the 17th century, the title town clerk appears in town records and
this title has continued to the present. One of the earliest statutory duties imposed by the
Massachusetts General Court on town clerks was recording births, deaths and marriages.
Since that time, the General Court has formalized by statute many of the duties first
delegated by vote of the town and has added others.
By 1692, the town clerk was required to enter and record divisions of land and orders of the
selectmen as well as all town votes, orders and grants. Warrants directed to the constable
for the collection of taxes were to be signed by the assessors or the town clerk. Between
1742 and 1756, the General Court made the town clerk responsible for maintaining a list
showing each inhabitant's property value and for producing it, if necessary, to substantiate
a person's voting rights. The town clerk was required to administer and record the oath of
office taken by town officials. By 1776, the town clerk was empowered to call town meetings
to elect selectmen if a majority of the selectmen had moved from the town or were absent
in the service of the country.
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.