RG-24. RECORDS OF THE OFFICE OF THE REGISTER GENERAL
The Office of the Register General was established in 1789 to serve as a check on the comptroller general. Initially the comptroller general was required to submit all public accounts before final settlement to the register general for his advice and assistance. The duties of these offices were reversed in 1790 when the register general was given the responsibility for examining and adjusting accounts and then submitting them to the comptroller general for his approval. In 1809, the auditor general’s office was created to replace and assume the functions of the register general.
Day Books, 1789-1809. (27 volumes) Arranged chronologically by date of transaction and indexed externally in Ledgers, 1789-1815, alphabetically by name of account. These volumes provide a record of the daily transactions of the Office of the Register General. Information provided about each transaction includes name of the firm or individual involved, date, circumstances of payment, amount of payment, and the account number. Types of activities documented include the payment of widows’ pensions, militia fines and expenses, forfeited estates, and the surveying and improvement of roads. Included in some of the day books are references to African Americans. Day book entries dated May 20, 1791 and June 2,1791, for example, show the amount of money due to "John the Negroe" from the comptroller general’s office.