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Essex
Town Clerks
by Don Malcarne
Town Historian
The 2002
Essex Annual Town Report
indicates the tremendous amount of activity that takes place in
the Office of the Town Clerk, showing an operating budget of almost
$100,000.00. Revenues were $78,659.00 in conveyance taxes and $84,737.00
in other Town Clerk fees. Whether it be issuing a dog license or
recording deeds, this town function has expanded greatly over the
years and become a vital part of the operation of our Town government.
In addition to the preceding, the Town Clerk maintains and records
all Essex vital statistics, issues sporting licenses and burial
permits, handles military discharges, issues absentee ballots, verifies
elections, and is in charge of the town vault.
The method of paying a Town
Clerk has dramatically changed over the years. In 1903 for example,
Thomas Coulter received $81.00 for recording vital statistics
and $90.00 for the other duties of Town Clerk. The gross majority
of his pay came from fees he collected and was allowed to keep.
The only money he collected that was turned over to the town was
the dog tax, which totaled $104.00 in this year. Today, the Town
Clerk is paid a salary and cannot personally keep any fees.
Since 1881, there have been
only five Town Clerks. James L. Phelps was elected to this
position in that year, and held it until his untimely death on May
18, 1899. At that time, Thomas Coulter was appointed to fill out
Mr. Phelps term. Judge Coulter held this job for 55 years, retiring
in 1954. Interestingly, Mr. Coulter was also Judge of Probate and
legal counsel for the Town, for many years. Rossiter Lord served
as Town Clerk from 1954 to 1974, when Betty Gaudenzi took
over. Mrs. Gaudenzi retired in 2000 and Frances Darcy has
been Town Clerk since.
Originally, Town Clerks were
elected every year, at the Annual Town Meeting. In 1939, this was
changed to a two year term, and very recently, the positions of
Town Clerk and Tax Collector were made four year positions. For
the most part, the Town Clerks have been endorsed by both the Republican
and Democratic parties in the past century.
Prior to 1881, Essex had nine
Town Clerks from 1854, when Essex Village became an official town.
The first was Gurdon Smith who was active in shipbuilding
and lived on Pratt Street. James Phelps, the father of James L.
Phelps served two terms, and was also a Representative to the General
Assembly. John G. Hayden served only one term, and banker John
Parker was active for three terms. Edward Redfield was
Town Clerk from 1861 to 1874 and Carnot Spencer from 1875 to 1878.
Carnot had operated the New City Store for a few years with his
father, Obadiah. Augustus Tiffany was Clerk for one term.
When Essex was a borough, from
1821 to 1852, the Town Clerk was referred to as the Borough Clerk.
Some well known Essex residents held this position for the slightly
over 30 years we were classified as such. Included were Judge
Samuel Ingham, Samuel M. Hayden, Felix Starkey, Henry Wooster, Joseph
Hill Hayden, Elias Redfield, and Doctor Frederick Shepard,
among others. These were all very active professional and business
people, and the Clerk position was strictly part time.
The evolution of the position
of Town Clerk, from the part time job it once was, to a time when
Town Clerk and Judge of Probate were held by a single person, to
the complicated job it is today, attests to the growing influence
of government (on all levels) in the lives of all citizens. Every
time a law, rule, or recommendation is passed by our town, the State
Legislature, or the Federal Government , it requires recording and
enforcement at the local level, for the most part. This is why our
Town Hall offices are so busy. In a future issue of Essex Events,
other offices that perform important town functions will be examined.
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