Historical Records For Kent Turn Up In Florida Historian makes plea for other "lost" County records by Richard Muscarella, Putnam County Historian

Historical Records For Kent Turn Up In Florida
Historian makes plea for other "lost" County records
by Richard Muscarella, Putnam County Historian

Richard Muscarella, Putnam County Historian, examines the Kent Town Ledger discovered in Florida.

On May 1st a package arrived in the mail at the County Historian’s Office from the State of Florida, which would represent the greatest historical contribution that I could make to the History of Putnam County and to the Town of Kent.

The package contained a Town Ledger dating back to April 1788 when Fredericksburg changed to Frederickstown and then recorded the events of Frederickstown up until 1795, then it became the ledger for the Town of Fredericks which became the Town of Kent in 1817. The document then continues to the date of September 1840 when the Town went onto a new ledger. The information in this book is so fascinating that I find it hard to put it down. It is written in script and is well done. It is still legible even though it suffered many years of improper handling and storage. As I read it I was surprised to learn that the Town Fathers voted against the division of Frederickstown into four towns in 1791, then in 1795 they voted for it.

How I came to learn about the ledger was on a trip to Florida in 1990 when I visited my friends, the Lindquist’s. At that time I told them that I was involved in the Kent Historical Society and I was just appointed Kent Town Historian. My friend’s wife Elva said that her husband Tore had come into possession of some old historical records that were stored in a barn that was located on a 75 acre tract that they bought to develop, on top of Seminary Hill, which became a development known as Hill Top Manor.

My association with the Lindquist’s was that I operated and owned a dry wall finishing and painting and decorating business. I did all his work from 1958 until 1972. The project was completed and they decided to retire to Florida, where the document finally ended up for a period of twenty eight years.

When I realized what I was looking at I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I understood the significance of the document and what it contained and I asked them to please give it to me so that I could bring it back where it belongs. He refused me, and possibly thought I was after the document for its monetary value. I assured them that my interest was purely historical and that this ledger would prove to be a tremendous source of information to researchers. They still refused to relinquish the ledger and said that they wanted to keep it. On subsequent visits to Florida and much pleading over the past ten years, Mrs. Lindquist assured me that if anything should happen to her husband Tore, she would send me the book. On my recent trip to Florida I learned that Mr. Lindquist suffered from a major paralyzing stroke that has confined him to a wheel chair and nursing home. He also suffers from dementia. I didn’t feel it proper to ask for the ledger at that time. When I returned from the trip, I telephoned her and reminded her of the promise. She told me that she was ready to send it to me due to the circumstances.

The story of how they came into possession of the ledger is that in the 1950’s The County Building was undergoing a major alteration. The Old Historical records were brought up to the barn at Anson Field’s farm for storage. Apparently Anson sold the barn and acreage to Tore Lindquist, and the County never retrieved the records. It seems that the practice of improperly handling and storing the old Archival Records was common procedure at that time throughout the State. Officials left office or would get voted out and the records that were in their charge got lost or misplaced or in some cases actually stolen by outside contractors that were working inside of these Public Buildings.

Mr. Lindquist got rid of the old uncared for and unretrieved records but he managed to save the ledger and a few other documents. Fortunately for us that he did this or we would be without this invaluable source of information which contains primary source documentation as to names, places, positions, and Town, Government, Offices, etc.

Elva Lindquist told me that Putnam County and Carmel was good to them and that she is glad that it is back where it belongs.

The future goal is to have the ledger transcribed and put onto microfilm so that it can be used as a primary source research document. For this purpose we have to raise funds by applying for grants and getting assistance from our County and State Government Representatives.

If any of the public that reads this story has access to Historical Records that belong to the Town or County, please turn them into the Historian’s Office for Archival Storage and safe keeping.