Page:Samuel F. Batchelder - Bits of Harvard History (1924).pdf/125

 Widener, and some of the old “buttery books” preserved in the college archives. A printed catalogue replaced the buttery boards, and the once indispensable Butler, whose glory had long been decrescent, faded into limbo.

The actual purchase and supervision of the food, seemingly considered quite a secondary matter, was at first deputed to the Steward. To give an account of the stewardship would be one of the most curious studies in the history of the University. Originally the Steward was a lowly soul, the mere fraction of an official, being in point of fact also the cook. As business increased, he confined himself to the marketing and accounting. This naturally led to the general oversight of the financial details of the institution, the Steward acting as the immediate agent of the Treasurer. In that capacity his status waxed as the Butler’s waned, until by 1765 he was receiving a salary of £150 per annum, while his former superior, the Butler, had only £65 (the same as the