The Congressional Record…

…has finally arrived on microfilm at my local library!

There are NINE separate reels! Whew! They included the latter part of the 53rd Congress (I didn’t actually ask for this, but it may be useful), the 54th, and the early part of the 55th. For some reason, the remainder of the 55th was not included, but that is all right for now.

So. Where to start? Well, I began by looking for the first session of the 54th. Apparently, it’s arranged very conveniently with an index to both members of the House and Senate, and to specific bills and resolutions, included at the beginning of the reel. One thing I find confusing: Apparently the session began in December of 1895, over a year after the election in November 1894. I was under the impression that it began in March 1894; in fact I’m absolutely sure that this was when he officially became a member, as opposed to a member-elect. So, is there something I don’t know here? Feel free to enlighten!

Anyway, I of course checked the index first, and there was a lot of info. The complete entry is as follows:

Kulp, Monroe H. (a Representative from Pennsylvania)

Attended 2.
Appointed on committees 284.
Leave of absence granted to 91, 271, 285, 287, 1352, 2389, 2907.

Bills and joint resolutions introduced by

Berwick, Pa: donating cannon to Grand Army post at
Berwick, Pa: donating cannon to high school at
Bloomsburg, Pa: donating cannon and muskets to
Bloomsburg (Pa.) Monumental Association: donating cannon to
Brewster, John T: for relief
Campbell, William D: for relief
Catawissa (Pa.) Monumental Association: donating cannon to
Downing, Eugene: to remove charge of desertion
Heinze, Christen: to remove charge of desertion
Kline, Marian J: to pension
Kline, Marvin J: to pension
Kobel, Isaac: to pension
Koons, Eliza: to pension
Milton, Pa: donating cannon to Grand Army post at
O’Brien, Michael: to pension
Ogden, William: to pension
Salzman, Frederick: for relief
Schrout, Philip: to remove charge of desertion
Shamokin, Pa: to erect public building at
Shamokin, Pa: donating cannon to Grand Army post at
Shuman, Henry W: for relief
Swan and Lewis and Butler–canal boats: fo relief of owners
Tate, McCurdy: for relief
Towers, Alfred George: to remove charge of desertion
Watsontown, Pa: donating cannon to Grand Army post at
Williams, M.A.: for relief

Petitions and papers presented by, from

Berwick, Pa: Patriotic Order Sons of America: against Marquette statue
Danville, Pa., Grand Army of Republic: for service pension bill
Pennsylvania, citizens of: for Stone immigration bill
—against sectarian aid
—for amendment to Constitution
—citizens of Columbia County: relative to unclaimed pension money
—farmers of Columbia County and others: for protection of agricultural staples
—citizens of Limestoneville: for protection of agricultural staples
—citizens of Milton: for protection of agricultural staples
Pennsylvania Millers’ State Association and others: to secure better market for agricultural products
Pennsylvania Patriotic Order Sons of America: for Stone immigration bill
Pennsylvania Patrons of Husbandry: for protection of agricultural staples
Philadelphia (Pa.) Grand Army post: to revive grade of Lieutenant-General
Puckett, Greenville: for relief
Shamokin (Pa.) city council: for recognition of Cuban belligerents
Shamokin, Pa., Daughters of Liberty: for Stone immigration bill
Shamokin (Pa.) Lincoln Post: upholding President’s Venezuelan message
Shunk, Pa., Patriotic Order Sons of America: for Stone immigration bill

Reports made by, from

Committee on the Public Lands
Fort Assinniboine Military Reservation

Except for the first few entries, I have left out the page numbers and references, but this provides an excellent overview of basically what he was doing in Congress from December 1895 to February 1896 (yes, many more indexes to go through!). I followed up on a few of the references that seemed most intriguing, but couldn’t find any additional information–both the Record itself and the index to bills and resolutions were basically a repetition of what the index said.

So, what was most intriguing? First of all, the mention of a public building in Shamokin. In the Record this bill was described as: “A bill…to appropriate the sum of $60,000 to purchase a site and erect a public building at Shamokin, Pa.–to the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds.” No additional specifications anywhere, I’m afraid, as far as I can tell anyway. I’ve been trying to think of a specific local public building that was built around that time, but with no luck. The city hall came to mind but that was in 1894.

Also, Henry W. Shuman was a relative of his–his brother-in-law’s father. More specifically, the father of Edwin Shuman ( 1848-1888 ) who was married to MHK’s sister Joanna. I was unable to check the Record for information about this, as it was on another reel and I was pressed for time, but I did check the index to bills and it listed the following description: “To reimburse Mrs. Henry W. Shuman, widow of the late Henry W. Shuman, of Pennsylvania. Introduced by Mr. Kulp and referred to the Committee on War Claims.”

Back to the index: A very interesting read. A lot of superfluous bills, I noticed, for example the cannon in Berwick. But from what I can tell, at least he apparently did what he said he would–his campaign was mostly based on the promise that he would support the farmer and soldier, and there are quite a few references to pensions and agriculturalists. And, of course, this is only late 1895 to early 1896! I wonder if I can read everything by the time it’s due back on August 22…yes, I believe so! 🙂

Advertisement

Time to swat self again

Today, after having been busy for several days, mostly because of the holiday, I set out for the library again. (No ILL deliveries yet, I’m afraid.) I didn’t have much to do, but I thought I’d search out a death record for someone or other. However, the dates I was looking for weren’t there, so I instead took out the reel of microfilm for wills from the early 1900’s. I didn’t expect to find much, as my previous experience with the wills there had been that they are all administrations (no actual information about what was bequeathed to whom, just a basic overview written after the estate was settled). However, having nothing better to do, I decided to look for the administration for the estate of Elizabeth Gilbert Kulp, mother of Monroe H.; she died in 1902.