Records: Commissioners, City of Charleston Sinking Fund, 1829–1931

Scope and Content

This collection consists of the extant records of the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund for the City of Charleston for the years 1829–1931. Bound volumes include: Sinking Fund Ledger (1855–1924), Sinking Fund Cash Books (1855–1908, 1909–1931), Forfeited Lands Memo: For Insurance (ca. 1882), Forfeited Lands Cash Book (1881–1907), Forfeited Lands Ledgers (ca.1882, n.d.), and Sewerage Sinking Fund Cash Book (1910–1928). Loose materials include: Administrative documents (1869–1913), Stocks and Bonds (1829–1889), and Forfeited Lands documents (1870–1897, bulk 1881–1882).

Sinking Fund Ledger (1855–1924) records transactions (debits and credits) for various accounts within the sinking fund, such as cash, bond accounts, interest account, expense account, judgment account, etc. Each separate account has its own section within the ledger, and transactions within each particular account are listed chronologically.

Sinking Fund Cash Books (1855–1908, 1909–1931) list all transactions (debits and credits) conducted by the sinking fund in chronological order.

Forfeited Lands Memo: For Insurance (ca. 1882) contains information about properties in the forfeited lands account, gathered for the purpose of insurance appraisal. For each property, the following information is given: year of taxes for which property was forfeited, property owner, tax assessed for the year 1881, amount for which to insure property, property description, assessment, and ward number. The entries are listed in rough alphabetical order by the last name of the property owner.

Forfeited Lands Ledger (ca. 1882) contains taxation information for properties in the forfeited lands account. Each entry contains: year of taxes for which property was forfeited, property owner, description of property, stories, ward, bond to state, state tax 1881, expense of transfer, city tax, school tax, sheriff's cost, cost on judgment, penalty, and total. Entries are listed in rough alphabetical order by the last name of the property owner. Only property owners with last names beginning with T through Y are represented. Presumably, this is a subsequent volume in a series for which the earlier volumes are missing. This volume also includes memos of property still unsettled through 1889.

Forfeited Lands Ledger (n.d.) contains taxation information for properties in the forfeited lands account. Each entry contains: name of property owner, amount paid State for purchase, amount State tax paid since, amount City tax due, amount school tax due, penalties, and description of property. Entries are listed in rough alphabetical order by the last name of the property owner. This item has suffered insect damage, and, therefore, not all entries are legible.

Forfeited Lands Cash Book (1881–1907) records all transactions (debits and credits) pertaining to the Forfeited Lands account. Entries are listed in chronological order.

Sewerage Sinking Fund Cash Book (1910–1928) records all transactions (debits and credits) pertaining to the Sewerage Sinking Fund account. Entries are listed in chronological order. This volume also includes annual statements of the Sewerage Sinking Fund and separate entries for the coupon account, bond account, interest account, and special tax levy.

Administrative documents (1869–1913) include correspondence, vouchers, and miscellaneous financial records. Vouchers are documents detailing every debit (dr) and credit (cr) of the Sinking Fund, chiefly receipts and deposit slips. Miscellaneous financial records include annual statements, asset lists, expenditures, balance sheets, etc.

Stocks and Bonds (1829–1889) consist of receipts for purchase of stock, stock certificates, and miscellaneous stocks and bonds documents (e.g. stock quotations, lists of City stock, stock schedules, stock settlements).

Forfeited Lands documents (1870–1897, bulk 1881–1882) comprise State tax lists, Charleston County tax receipts, real estate transaction documents, and miscellaneous property records. The real estate transaction documents are bonds, mortgages, and titles pertaining to the purchase of forfeited properties by the City of Charleston from the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund of the State of South Carolina in 1881. These real estate documents are filed in alphabetical order by the last name of the original property owner. The miscellaneous property records include property lists, auction notices, sales lists, etc.

Administrative/Biographical History

A sinking fund is an account into which a corporation or government body sets aside money for the purpose of paying off a debt (often a bond or stock). Funds are added to the account on a regular basis in a prescribed amount and are then held in the account, usually at interest, until such time that they can be used to redeem the issued bonds or stocks. In addition, some institutions seek to increase the amount within a sinking fund by using the money therein to invest in other securities.¹

The City of Charleston first employed a sinking fund to manage debt in 1818. In order to enact "extensive and expensive improvements" within the city without raising taxes, City Council elected to issue two hundred thousand dollars in six per cent. stock, redeemable by quarters in 1833, 1836, 1839, and 1842. To prepare for the redemption of said stock, Council established a sinking fund, into which at least four thousand dollars was to be placed each year and kept at interest. These funds were then applied to the redemption of the six per cent. stock in the specified years. The sinking fund was administered by two commissioners, the Intendant (later called Mayor) and the Treasurer. ²

In the ensuing decades, City Council would enact several ordinances issuing city stock and, subsequently, creating sinking funds to administer them. The number of Commissioners overseeing said funds was increased to three, with the addition of one warden (later called an alderman). In 1845, Council reorganized the funds managed by the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund. At that time, all the individual funds were united into one sinking fund, with two exceptions: the bond of the City Land Company and sundry stocks.³ The two remaining special sinking funds were eventually consolidated

into the General Sinking Fund in 1849.⁴ Thereafter, most city stocks and bonds were administered using monies from the General Sinking Fund. The City of Charleston issued stocks (usually four, five, or six per cent.) for a myriad of reasons, including: purchasing fire-damaged properties; loaning money to the Louisville, Cincinnati, and Charleston Railroad Company; repaying debts due by the City for property purchased under the Act for the re-building of the City of Charleston; redeeming earlier issuances of stocks; funding construction of Roper hospital, Work House and Alms House; supporting improvements to Charleston College and High School; and subscribing funds towards stock in the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad Company.

In 1881, the City of Charleston purchased from the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund of the State of South Carolina two hundred and sixty-three pieces of real estate that had been forfeited to the State for non-payment of taxes. The City of Charleston also held unpaid tax claims against these properties, all of which lay within the city limits. The Commissioners of the Sinking Fund for the City of Charleston were charged with the management of these properties, including their sale or disposal. The resulting funds were to be used first to pay off the mortgages and bonds given by the City of Charleston to the Sinking Fund of the State of South Carolina. Any additional funds were to be applied to the purchase of other City bonds at the discretion of the Sinking Fund Commissioners.⁵ The Commissioners kept the accounting of the forfeited properties separate from the other stocks and bonds overseen by the Sinking Fund until 1907, at which time the forfeited property accounts were ordered closed and the remaining cash and six lots were transferred to the General Sinking Fund.⁶ A large portion of the materials in this collection pertains to the Forfeited Lands purchased by the City in 1881.

The extant records of the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund for the City of Charleston end in 1931. In December of that year, a new administration, headed by Mayor Burnet R. Maybank, took over the municipal government. It is possible that the management of the City's sinking fund(s) was reorganized or reassigned to a different municipal department. Further research would be required to determine the structure and management of the City's debt in the mid-twentieth century.

¹ Smith, Howard Irving. Smith's Financial Dictionary, (New York: s.l., 1903), 482. Available online at: http://books.google.com.

² A Digest of the Ordinances of the City Council of Charleston, from the Year 1783 to October 1844, (Charleston, S.C.: Walker & Burke, 1844), 247.

³ Ordinances of the city of Charleston, from the 19th of August 1844, to the 14th of September 1854, (Charleston, S.C.: A. E. Miller, 1854), 14.

⁴ ibid., 77.

⁵ Year Book, City of Charleston, 1881, (Charleston, S.C.: News and Courier Book Presses, n.d.),10–11.

⁶ Year Book, City of Charleston, 1907, (Charleston, S.C.: Walker, Evans, & Cogswell, 1908), 31.

Additional Finding Aids

See appended table for a listing of property owners whose names appear in the Real Estate Transaction Documents (Series IX, subseries C).

Acquisition

This collection comprises a portion of the Historic Records of the City of Charleston. These materials were put on permanent loan to the Charleston County Public Library by the City of Charleston Records Management Division in 2002.

Collection Outline

Real Estate Transaction Documents