Minute Book SCL

1-4 At a meeting of the subscribers to the society for the orphan & destitute female children held at the Episcopal Sunday school-room, on Wednesday the 28th of May 1839, the following ladies attended, viz: Mrs Lucy Green, Mrs Thos Taylor, Mrs Sarah Smith, Mr Law, Mrs Ellison, Mrs Shand, Mrs Kennedy, Mrs Stowe, Mrs H Marshall, Mrs Mr Gibbes, Mrs Myers, Miss Barnwell, Miss Bryce, miss Percival, Mrss D Hart, Miss Carter, Miss L Graeser, Miss Marshall.
The society was then organised and the following constitution of the Society for the orphan and destitute female children of Columbia was adopted
IT shall be the object of this society to originate & provide a fund which shall be appropriated in the manner hereafter specified in affording the relief to such young female children between the ages of 1 and 10 years as may have been left destitute of the mans of obtaining a decent education and in training them to habits of piety & virtuous industry. In order to give efficacy to the exertions of the society, the following constitution shall be adopted.
Art 1st This society shall be known & distinguished by the name of the Society for the Orphan & Destitute Female Children
Art 2nd This society shall be composed of females only, who shall be entitled to membership on signing this constitution & paying the sum of $3 each, and the like sum annually as long as they may continue in the society.
Art 3rd Gentlemen cannot be members of this society, but any donations from them will be thankfully received & acknowledged.
Art 4th The government of the society shall be committed to a board of managers, consisting of fourteen, chosen from amongst the members & invested with authority to elect by ballot from its own number a 1st directress, 2nd directress, a secretary, & treasurer.
Art 5th The 1st directress shall preside at all meetings, state questions for discussion & declare the decisions in all equal divisions she shall have the casting vote. With the advice of the board she shall call extra meetings of the society. In case of absence the 2nd directress shall take her place for the time being. If both be absent, a directress shall be chosen for that meeting.
Art 6th The secretary shall keep a register of the members names, collect the dues & pay them into the hands of the treasurer. She shall notify & attend the meetings of the society, record their proceedings & render at every meeting an account of monies received by her & paid to the treasurer & of monies due.
Art 7th. The treasurer shall attend the meetings of the board, examine the expenditures & render to the society at large, as well as to the board, when called upon, an account of its funds & her receipts & payments.
Art 8th There shall be not distinction of religious denominations either in the members of the society, or in the objects whose relief it may contemplate & it is ardently hoped that it will become the instrument of cementing Christian fellowship among different denominations.
Art 9th. No children shall be entitled to the bounty of the society but such as shall be exclusively given up by their parents or guardians to the control of the society.
Art 10th. Those children that may be admitted on the charity of the society, to be educated & taken care of, shall be placed under the care of a capable, discreet and virtuous woman, who shall arrange them in classes according to their age, capacity or improvement; she shall perform the duties of a governess in using her best endeavors to train them to a modest, virtuous behaviour, & to impress their minds with a just sense of God & religion. They shall be dressed alike in a plain simple attire & encouraged when they behave well, with some token of the approbation of the society.
Art 11th. The society shall meet annually or oftener if the board deem it necessary. The board shall appoint the time & place of their meetings & shall have full authority to appropriate the funds of the institution & make all contracts for the education of the children. Each meeting of the board shall commence & end with prayer by the directress or some member of the board present who shall be nominated by the directress.
Art 12th A majority of the society shall be considered a quorum. Seven members of the board shall be a competent number to transact business.
Art 13th. No alteration of, or amendment to the above rules shall be made but by a vote of two thirds of the members of the society.'
Amendments
13 No child shall be taken onto the society without a meeting of the board of managers have been first convened to decide upon the propriety of its being done. Should however, a case of great necessity require & a quorum of the managers cannot be obtained, the 1st and 2nd directress with any two of the managers may have the power of deciding. [May 4th, 1840]
14 Art. A meeting of the board of managers shall be held quarterly at which meeting two ladies shall be appointed to act as a visiting committee to inspect the clothes & education of the children & that they are properly attended to. [May 4th, 1840]
Art 15. At the anniversary meeting of the society, the matron shall be elected annually & 3 months notice given if it be her intention to leave.
Art 16 At the last meeting in May 1849 there was a resolution unanimously agreed to by the managers that no sum of money should be loaned out by the treasurer exceeding 100$ without consent of the board.