Historical note:

            Frederick S. Peck (1868-1947) was born in Providence, R.I. and spent most of his life as a resident of the Peck family homestead in Barrington, R.I. He was very active in state Republican party politics. He served as town clerk of Barrington, was elected a state representative in 1911, and served in that capacity for fifteen years. He served as state commissioner of finance from 1926 to 1934, when the position was eliminated.

            Peck was also an amateur historian and genealogist, and amassed a very important collection of Rhode Island-related manuscripts, which were placed at the Rhode Island Historical Society Library in 1944.

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Scope and content:

            This collection consists of a small quantity of Peck's personal papers from 1908 to 1938. Included are some political correspondence, notes on the bicentennial of George Washington's birth, material on various testimonial dinners thrown on his behalf, and Barrington Town voter lists. Many of the names on the voter lists are checked or crossed off, apparently to note who actually voted.

            Peck's manuscript collection, comprising 16 boxes of important historical material, is filed separately. Though there is no separate inventory, each item is indexed by name in the card catalog.

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Provenance:

            These papers were probably all donated by Frederick S. Peck in 1945, though the accession records are unclear. Peck made several donations of collected historical material over the last few years of his life.

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Inventory:

Folder 1. Correspondence, 1909-1932.

Folder 2. Re George Washington, 1927-1932

Folder 3. Re testimonial dinner, 1938.

Folder 4. Ephemera.

            Testimonial dinner programs, 1919 and 1933

            Invitation to Doyle Monument unveiling, 1889

                            to Courthouse dedication, 1933

                            to militia banquet, undated

            Report of Princes Hill Cemetery committee, 1909

            Act re Barrington cemeteries, 1909

            Certificate of inspection of nursery stock, 1931

            2 newspaper articles on leaving office, 1935. (copies)

            Resolution re resignation, from Republican Women Inc., undated

Oversized folder:        5 Barrington town voter lists, printed with mss. notations: 1908 (2), 1909, 1911 (2). Also printed ballot for state elections, 1909, marked for Barrington.

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Subjects:

Barrington, R.I. - Voter lists, 1908-1911

Cemeteries - Rhode Island - Barrington

Rhode Island - Politics and government - 1865-1950

Washington, George (1732-1799) - Anniversaries, etc.

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RIHS1822