The Ward M. Canaday Center
for Special Collections
The University of Toledo
Finding Aid
Toledo City Council Records
MSS-297
Size: 55 linear feet
Provenance: Julie Gibbons, Assistant Clerk of Council, City of Toledo
Access: Open
Collection Summary: Meeting minutes from the City Council and Board of Aldermen, dating to the founding of the city of Toledo. Also includes ordinances and resolutions.
Subject(s): Politics and Government
Related Collections: Toledo Mayoral Paper MSS-06, Linda Furney City Council Files MSS-150, Mary M. Gillham Papers MSS-029, City of Toledo, Commission on Publicity and Efficiency MSS-030, Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments (TMACOG) MSS-114
Copyright: The literary rights to this collection are assumed to rest with the person(s) responsible for the production of the particular items within the collection, or with their heirs or assigns. Researchers bear full legal responsibility for the acquisition to publish from any part of said collection per Title 17, United States Code. The Ward M. Canaday Center for Special Collections may reserve the right to intervene as intermediary at its own discretion.
Completed by: Laura Morillo, March 2016
Historical/Biographical Sketch
The Toledo City Council has been the governing body of the city of Toledo, Ohio since 1914. Prior to that there was a bicameral council consisting of the Board of Aldermen and the Common Council between 1874 and 1903. Originally just the Common Council existed in 1837. Typically city government changes from bicameral to unicameral legislatures as a cost cutting strategy.
The Common Council proposes bills, holds votes and passes laws to help govern the city much like the federal legislative system. The original Common Council members were: Junius Flagg, Jamie S. Way, Elijah Porter for the North East Ward, and George B. Way, Stephen B. Comstock, Samuel R. Bradley for the South East Ward (Belford).
Aldermen represent a specific ward or section of a city. They also serve on committees of larger projects; in 1883 there were twenty-one committees: Claims and Accounts, Ways and Means, Streets, Health and Hospital, Judiciary, Harbor and Commerce, Infirmary, Parks Canal Beds and Pounds, Water Supply and Water Works, Sewers, Gas, Printing, Education and University, Police, Cemetery, Fire Department, Bridges, House of Refuge and Correction, Work House, Markets and Market Houses, and Buildings.
The first Aldermen in 1874 were: Frederick Dodge, James H. Maples, Robert J Wallace, Frank j. Sting, Daniel Segur, Exle Hamilton, Jacob Romeis, and Patrick Owens.
Works Cited
Belford, Irvin, and Charles T. Lewis. The Municipal Code of the City of Toledo, Comprising the General Ordinances and Special Ordinances of General Interest, Together with an Appendix, Containing the Rules and Regulations of the Board of Aldermen, the Board of Councilmen, and the Board of Water Works, and Other Matters of Public Interest. Toledo, O.: Spear, Johnson, 1885. Print.
Scope and Content Note
The Toledo City Records collection mostly consists of meeting minutes from the Board of Aldermen between 1874 and 1903, the Common Council between 1837 and 1905, and Joint Committee of Alderman and Council between 1874 and 1903.
There are also letter books from the Clerk of Council from 1906 to 1925. There are five volumes of the Toledo Municipal Code from 1919 from the Committee of Publicity and Efficiency and two boxes from 1952. There are several bound books regarding gas/electric and lighting assessments, improvements, ordinances, and resolutions.
This collection is an invaluable resource on the development and history of the city of Toledo. Of particular note are the Articles of Incorporation for the city of Toledo from 1837; this important founding document for the city can be found in Volume A of the City Council Meeting Minutes.
Series List
S# |
Series |
Description |
S1 |
Board of Aldermen, 1874- 1903 |
Meeting Minutes |
S2 |
City Council
|
Meeting Minutes Letter Books Toledo Municipal Code
Improvements, Ordinances, Resolutions |
S3 |
Joint Committee of Aldermen and Council, 1874-1903 |
Meeting Minutes |
Box |
Folder |
Item |
|
|
Series 1- Board of Aldermen, 1874-1903 |
1 |
|
Board of Aldermen VOL. A, 1874-1877 |
2 |
|
Board of Aldermen VOL. B, 1877-1882 |
3 |
|
Board of Aldermen VOL. C, 1882-1887 |
4 |
|
Board of Aldermen VOL. D, 1887-1892 |
5 |
|
Board of Aldermen VOL. E, 1892-1896 |
6 |
|
Board of Aldermen VOL. F, 1896-1898 |
7 |
|
Board of Aldermen VOL. G, 1898-1900 |
8 |
|
Board of Aldermen VOL. H, 1900-1902 |
9 |
|
Board of Aldermen VOL. I, 1902-1903 |
|
|
Series 2 – City Council, 1837-1950 |
|
|
A. Clerk of Council 1906-1925 |
10 |
1 |
Clerk of Council Letter Books; 1906-1907 |
10 |
2 |
Clerk of Council Letter Books; 1908-1910 |
10 |
3 |
Clerk of Council Letter Books; 1916-1917 |
11 |
1 |
Clerk of Council Letter Books; 1913-1915 |
11 |
2 |
Clerk of Council Letter Books; 1923-1935 |
12 |
1 |
Clerk of Council Letter Books; 1915-1916 |
12 |
2 |
Clerk of Council Letter Books; 1925 |
|
|
B. City Council, 1837-1950 |
55 |
|
City Council Meeting Minutes VOL. A, 1837-1846 |
13 |
|
City Council Meeting Minutes VOL. B, 1846-1851 |
14 |
|
City Council Meeting Minutes VOL. C, 1851-1855 |
15 |
|
City Council Meeting Minutes VOL. D, 1855-1858 |
16 |
|
City Council Meeting Minutes VOL. E, 1858-1862 |
17 |
|
City Council Meeting Minutes VOL. F, 1862-1866 |
18 |
|
City Council Meeting Minutes VOL. G, 1866-1867 |
19 |
|
City Council Meeting Minutes VOL. H, 1867-1869 |
20 |
|
City Council Meeting Minutes VOL. I, 1869-1871 |
21 |
|
City Council Meeting Minutes VOL. K, 1871-1873 |
22 |
|
City Council Meeting Minutes VOL. L, 1873-1874 |
23 |
|
City Council Meeting Minutes VOL. M, 1874-1877 |
24 |
|
City Council Meeting Minutes VOL. N, 1877-1880 |
25 |
|
City Council Meeting Minutes VOL. O, 1880-1882 |
26 |
|
City Council Meeting Minutes VOL. P, 1883-1887 |
27 |
|
City Council Meeting Minutes VOL. Q, 1887-1891 |
28 |
|
City Council Meeting Minutes VOL. R, 1897-1895 |
29 |
|
City Council Meeting Minutes VOL. S, 1895-1898 |
30 |
|
City Council Meeting Minutes VOL. U, 1899-1901 |
31 |
|
City Council Meeting Minutes VOL. V, 1901-1902 |
32 |
|
City Council Meeting Minutes VOL. W, 1902-1903 |
33 |
|
City Council Meeting Minutes VOL. X, 1903-1904 |
34 |
|
City Council Meeting Minutes VOL. Y, 1904-1905 |
54 |
|
City Council; Proceedings, 1950 |
|
|
C. Committee of Publicity and Efficiency, 1919 |
35 |
|
Committee of Publicity and Efficiency; Toledo Municipal Code 1919 |
36 |
|
Committee of Publicity and Efficiency; Toledo Municipal Code 1919 |
37 |
|
Committee of Publicity and Efficiency; Toledo Municipal Code 1919 |
38 |
|
Committee of Publicity and Efficiency; Toledo Municipal Code 1919 |
39 |
|
Committee of Publicity and Efficiency; Toledo Municipal Code 1919 |
40 |
|
Committee of Publicity and Efficiency; Toledo Municipal Code 1952 |
41 |
|
Committee of Publicity and Efficiency; Toledo Municipal Code 1952 |
|
|
D. Gas/Electric Lighting, 1854-1948 |
42 |
|
Gas/Electric Lighting Assessment, 1900 |
43 |
|
Gas/Electric Improvements to Resolutions B, 1896-1900 |
44 |
|
Gas/Electric Improvements to Resolutions C, 1900-1903 |
45 |
|
Gas/Electric Ordinances 1, 1854-1892 |
46 |
|
Gas/Electric Ordinances 2 1892-1902 |
47 |
|
Gas/Electric Resolutions A, 1903-1910 |
48 |
|
Gas/Electric Resolutions B, 1910-1922 |
49 |
|
Gas/Electric Resolutions C, 1928-1948 |
|
|
Series 3 – Joint Committee of Aldermen and Council, 1874-1903 |
50 |
|
Joint Committee of Aldermen & Common Council Meeting Minutes A, 1874-1899 |
51 |
|
Joint Committee of Aldermen & Common Council Meeting Minutes B, 1899-1903 |
52 |
|
Local Ohio Centennial Commission Minutes 1897-1902 |
53 |
|
Map of Port of Toledo 1947 |