Texas Secretary of State, Statutory Documents Section:
An Inventory of Secretary of State Railroad Records at the Texas State Archives, 1876-1993
Overview | ||
| Creator: | Texas. Secretary of State. Statutory Documents Section. | |
| Title: | Secretary of State railroad records | |
| Dates: | 1876-1993 | |
| Abstract: | Beginning 1876, Texas statutes required persons forming a railroad corporation to have their charters first approved by the Texas Attorney General and then be certified by and filed with the Texas Secretary of State. Railroad charters are created to define the purpose, location and organization of a proposed railroad corporation; charters are approved and granted by the state and give the railroad the legal authority to operate as a corporation in Texas. Railroad contracts and conditional sales are created to accomplish the lease or conditional sale of rolling stock (locomotives and railroad cars) in Texas. These records include railroad charters, amendments to charters, minutes of meetings, resolutions from stockholders and boards of directors, deeds of sale, articles of merger, renewals, articles of dissolution of railroad corporations, orders concerning railroad bonds, valuation reports, railroad contracts and conditional sales, agreements, leases of railroad equipment, leases/conditional sales agreements, first mortgages and deeds of trust, assumption agreements, releases of chattel mortgages, and indexes. These records date 1876-1993. | |
| Quantity: | 29.63 cubic ft., 2 reels of microfilm (originals), 7 reels of microfilm (duplicates) | |
| Language: | These materials are written predominately in English with scattered Spanish throughout. | |
| Repository: | Texas State Archives | |
Agency History
The Texas Secretary of State is a constitutional officer of the executive branch of state government, appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate for a term concurrent with the governor's (a two-year term at first, a four-year term since 1974). The office was first created by the Constitution of the Republic of Texas in 1836, and has been continued by each succeeding Constitution.
The Secretary of State has an enormous number of duties and responsibilities, including the following: authenticating the publication of all laws passed by the state legislature; approving comptroller's accounts against the state prior to payment; maintaining a register of all official acts and proceedings of the governor, and all appointments to state boards and commissions; interpreting and enforcing the Texas Election Code, as the state's chief election officer; keeping the Seal of the State of Texas; maintaining many business-related filings, including corporation and Uniform Commercial Code filings.
The office of the Secretary of State is divided into five divisions: Executive, Elections, Business and Public Filings, Administrative Services, and Information Technology Services.
The Business and Public Filings Division (called Statutory Filings Division prior to 2002), composed of four sections (Corporations, Statutory Documents, Texas Register, and Uniform Commercial Code Sections), assists the secretary in most of his/her duties not related to elections.
The Statutory Documents Section: appoints, reappoints, and commissions all notaries public for the state (since 1940); records the charters of home rule cities; files amendments of charters of incorporated towns and villages; files bonds or copies of bonds for state officers and state employees, members of governing bodies of certain constitutionally authorized political subdivisions, and general law districts; files the constitutional statement of bribery; issues cards to all labor organizers in the state; files labor union annual reports; registers business opportunity sellers in Texas; registers health spas, athlete agents, and credit service organizations; licenses and regulates automobile clubs; files deeds of cession; etc.
Prior to 1876, each railroad in Texas was granted its charter by special act of the legislature. The 15th Texas Legislature approved Senate Bill 144 on August 15, 1876, which required persons forming a railroad corporation to have their charters first approved by the Attorney General and then be certified by and filed with the Secretary of State. Another piece of legislation, Substitute House Bill 227, 23rd Texas Legislature, Regular Session, passed April 8, 1893, required the registration of certificates of stocks and bonds issued by railroads with the Secretary of State, once authorization to issue had been granted by the Railroad Commission.
In 1887 (Senate Bill 272, 20th Texas Legislature, Regular Session), a law was passed to require railroad companies to furnish sufficient cars to transport freight when they agreed with private persons and corporations to do so. Certain penalties were laid out for failure to fulfil this requirement; this law was amended in 1899 and again in 1913. Texas State Archives staff could find no stipulation that contracts to lease or sell railroad cars must be filed with the Secretary of State; but this was consistently done from sometime before 1901, and continued until at least 1956. The filing may have stemmed from the requirement for filing railroad charters with the Secretary of State. By 1992 the Statutory Documents Section of the Texas Secretary of State noted that "these filings are no longer required."
During the 1970s and early 1980s, the Corporations Section filed charters and amendments for railroads; the Statutory Documents Section now handles that function.
(Sources include the following: Handbook of Governments in Texas (1983); Manual of Texas State Government (1950); Guide to State Agencies (1st-9th editions, 1956, 1964, 1970, 1972, 1978, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996); Texas Constitution, Article IV, Sections 1 and 21 (and others); Gammel's Laws of Texas, 1836-1879; the enabling legislation, 1876, 1887, 1893, 1899, and 1913; and biennial reports of the Secretary of State, 1870-1922 and 1932-1934.)
Scope and Contents of the Records
Beginning 1876, Texas statutes required persons forming a railroad corporation to have their charters first approved by the Texas Attorney General and then be certified by and filed with the Texas Secretary of State. Railroad charters are created to define the purpose, location and organization of a proposed railroad corporation; charters are approved and granted by the state and give the railroad the legal authority to operate as a corporation in Texas. Railroad contracts and conditional sales are created to accomplish the lease or conditional sale of rolling stock (locomotives and railroad cars) in Texas. These records include railroad charters, amendments to charters, minutes of meetings, resolutions from stockholders and boards of directors, deeds of sale, articles of merger, renewals, articles of dissolution of railroad corporations, orders concerning railroad bonds, valuation reports, railroad contracts and conditional sales, agreements, leases of railroad equipment, leases/conditional sales agreements, first mortgages and deeds of trust, assumption agreements, releases of chattel mortgages, and indexes. These records date 1876-1993.
The charters (in more recent years called articles of incorporation) date 1876-1993, and provide the following information: name of the proposed railroad corporation, location and distance of track, principal place of business, life span of the corporation, amount of capital stock, names and addresses of those forming the corporation and of the first board of directors, and the number and amounts of shares. Orders to register, exchange or cancel bonds, or to extend bond maturity dates are interfiled with the charters under the name of the individual railroads. The legislation requiring bond registration also required that railroads submit statements on the value of all of their lines of railway, and railroad property, rights and franchises. These statements include the value of the land for transportation expenses, the right of way and depot grounds, track ties and steel rails, bridges, embankments, furniture and fixtures, depots and section houses, and engineering expenses. Some of these valuation reports are filed with the railroad charters, mostly dating 1920s-1930s. Two additional volumes serve as alphabetical indexes to the charters, 1876-1929 and 1876-1943.
The railroad contracts and conditional sales, for the lease or conditional sale of railroad cars and locomotives (what is normally referred to as "rolling stock"), date 1901-1956. The types of contracts include agreements, leases of railroad equipment, leases/conditional sales agreements, first mortgages and deeds of trust, assumption agreements, releases of chattel mortgages, etc. Two additional volumes serve as alphabetical indexes to the contracts and conditional sales, 1909-1929 and 1927-1947.
Organization of the Records | ||
| These records have been organized into two series by the State Archives staff: | ||
| Railroad charters and related records, 1876-1993, 8.08 cubic ft. (originals), 7 reels of microfilm (duplicates) | ||
| Railroad contracts and conditional sales, 1901-1956, 21.55 cubic ft., 2 reels of microfilm | ||
Restrictions
Restrictions on Access
Railroad charters Books A-K, and the two indexes, are restricted due to their fragile physical condition, so researchers must use the microfilmed copies of the volumes.
Materials do not circulate, but may be used in the State Archives search room. Materials will be retrieved from and returned to storage areas by staff members.
Restrictions on Use
Most records created by Texas state agencies are not copyrighted and may be freely used in any way. State records also include materials received by, not created by, state agencies. Copyright remains with the creator. The researcher is responsible for complying with U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S.C.).
Technical Requirements
Microfilm readers are available in the Lorenzo de Zavala State Archives and Library Building. Ask staff members for exact locations.
Index Terms | ||
| The terms listed here were used to catalog the records. The terms can be used to find similar or related records. | ||
| Subjects: | ||
| Railroads--Texas. | ||
| Valuation--Texas. | ||
| Railroads--Texas--Buildings and structures. | ||
| Railroads--Texas--Design and construction--Costs. | ||
| Railroads--Texas--Equipment and supplies. | ||
| Railroads--Texas--Track. | ||
| Railroads--Right of way--Texas. | ||
| Railroads--Texas--Rolling-stock. | ||
| Document Types: | ||
| Charters--Texas--Railroads--1876-1988. | ||
| Articles of incorporation--Texas--Railroads--1876-1993. | ||
| Resolutions--Texas--Railroads--1876-1988. | ||
| Minutes--Texas--Railroads--1876-1993. | ||
| Deeds--Texas--Railroads--1876-1988. | ||
| Orders--Texas--Railroads--1876-1988. | ||
| Reports--Texas--Railroads--1920-1930. | ||
| Contracts--Texas--Rolling-stock--1901-1956. | ||
| Leases--Texas--Rolling-stock--1901-1956. | ||
| Mortgages--Texas--Rolling-stock--1901-1956. | ||
| Deeds of trust--Texas--Rolling-stock--1901-1956. | ||
| Functions: | ||
| Registering charters. | ||
| Registering bonds. | ||
Related Material
The following materials are offered as possible sources of further information on the agencies and subjects covered by the records. The listing is not exhaustive. |
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| Texas State Archives | ||
| Railroad Commission of Texas, Annual reports of railroad companies, 1859-1867, 1873-1885, 1890-1996, 380.24 cubic ft. | ||
| Records Relating to Railroads, 1836-1950, undated (bulk [ca. 1880]-[ca. 1910]), 9.4 cubic ft. | ||
| Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Ad valorem tax volumes [specifically the series Records of taxable property of railroads, 1873-1876, 1883-1890, 1892-1919, 3.40 cubic ft.] | ||
| Texas State Property Tax Board records, 1977-1991, 2.75 cubic ft. | ||
| Texas Secretary of State, Statutory Documents Section, City charter and railroad charter files, ca. 1887-ca. 1953, 3 cubic ft. [There is no finding aid available for these unprocessed records, which seem to duplicate the existing holdings of railroad charters. Call numbers are 1984/018-1 thru 3.] | ||
| Texas Secretary of State, Statutory Documents Section, Railroad charters, September 1960, 1.4 cubic ft. [There is no finding aid available for these unprocessed records. Call number is 4-20/534.] | ||
| Publications | ||
| [Railroad charters prior to 1876 may be found by consulting the Laws of Texas. See also Biennial Reports of the Secretary of State: virtually every report between 1878 and 1920 contains lists of railroad charters and amendments.] | ||
| The Laws of Texas, volumes 1-8, 1836-1879, by H.P.N. Gammel (compiler and arranger). Austin: The Gammel Book Company, 1898. (Also online at: http://texinfo.library.unt.edu/lawsoftexas) | ||
| Biennial Report of the Secretary of State of the State of Texas, 1878-1920. Austin: various publishers. | ||
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
(Identify the item and cite the series), Texas Secretary of State railroad records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession Information
Accession numbers: 1960/024, 1974/129, 1990/019, 1992/080, 1992/303, 2000/005, 2004/033, 2005/003
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Office of the Texas Secretary of State on August 23, 1961; by the Administrative Division (Legal Counsel) of the Texas Secretary of State on May 15, 1974; by the Statutory Documents Section of the Texas Secretary of State on October 19, 1989; March 18, 1992; August 20, 1992; September 9, 1999; and September 7, 2004; and by the State and Local Records Management Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (charters on microfilm) on October 7, 2003.
Processing Information
Initial processing by Paul Beck, March 1988
New accessions added by Tony Black, April 1990, September 1999
Finding aid encoded by Tony Black in EAD Version 1.0 by Tony Black, October 2001
Finding aid converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by TARO using the conversion stylesheet v1to02.xsl, July 2003
Microfilm reels added by Tony Black, October 2003
New accession added by Tony Black, September 2004
Finding aid expanded to include second series, and further corrections to DACS standards by Tony Black, June 2006
Corrections by Tony Black, December 2008
Appraisal Information
These records were appraised as archival by an in-house appraisal of Secretary of State records on December 15, 1998. See that appraisal report online at http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/arc/appraisal/sosstate.html#49 and http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/arc/appraisal/sosstate.html#50, or in paper in the State Archives reading room.
Accruals
The Texas Secretary of State's office periodically transfers railroad charters to the Texas State Archives, typically once every five to ten years. Railroad contracts and conditional sales are no longer required to be filed with the Texas Secretary of State.
Other Formats for the Records
The originals of Railroad charters Books A-K, and the two corresponding indexes, were microfilmed (on 35 mm microfilm) in 2003 by the State and Local Records Management Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. The reels are available through interlibrary loan; contact your local librarian for details.
The originals of Railroad contracts and conditional sales, 1953-1956, were microfilmed (on 16 mm microfilm), probably by the Texas Secretary of State, and the originals destroyed; these reels are not available through interlibrary loan.
Detailed Description of the Records