Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 18.djvu/352

 352 Southern Historical Society Papers.

Upon the nomination of Rev. Dr. B. M. Palmer, Dr. Joseph Jones was elected Secretary and Treasurer. Rev. B. M. Palmer, D. D. was elected President; General Braxton Bragg, Vice-President, and the following gentlemen representing the "four professions," the Advisory Committee: J. Dickson Burns, Thomas J. Semmes, W. S. Pike, General Harry T. Hays. The initiation fee of members was fixed at $5.00, and the annual subscription $6.00.

At this meeting "A. L. Stuart" was "Acting Secretary." At a meeting held May 10, 1869, in the rooms of the Howard Association, an official circular drawn by the President, Rev. B. M. Palmer, D. D., was recommended by the Advisory Committee, and adopted by the Society. At a meeting held June 14, 1869, the Secretary, Dr. Joseph Jones, submitted modifications of and additions to the circu- lar, which were adopted.

The objects of the Society were therein stated with great perspi- cuity and comprehension. The desire was to obtain materials for a just and accurate history of the great struggle, and representative documents and circumstantial details were to be sought for through- out the Union.

The material gathered was to be classified and carefully arranged. Copies of the circular, in manuscript, were sent by the Secretary to the following Vice- Presidents of the Society for the several States, who- had been " appointed " :

Virginia General Robert E. Lee. Maryland Hon. S. Teackle Wallace. North Carolina Lieutenant- General D. H. Hill. South Carolina Lieu tenant- General Wade Hampton. Georgia Hon. Alexander H. Stephens. Alabama Admiral Raphael Semmes. Tennessee Governor Isham G. Harris. Mississippi Governor Benjamin G. Humphreys. Texas Colonel Ashbel Smith. Kentucky Major-General John C. Breckenridge. Missouri General Trusten Polk. Arkansas Hon. A. H. Garland. Florida Hon. Stephen R. Mallory. District of Columbia William Wilson Corcoran.

In accordance with a resolution of the Society six thousand copies of the circular were printed, which were distributed throughout the South, partially by the aid of the several Vice-Presidents in the sev-