Annual Reports 79 



have had the honor to continue in this office and the great satisfaction to 

 witness its development. 



The first repository of the collection of the Association was a bookcase 

 in the meeting room of the Board of Trustees of the Village of New 

 Brighton, in the building still known as the Village Hall on the southwest 

 corner of Lafayette Avenue and Second Street. I was not then a member 

 of the Association, and on inquiring of one of the village statesmen whom 

 I met in the building at that time, I was informed that the collection be- 

 longed to the " Bug " Davis Society. Not knowing who " Bug " Davis 

 was, on further inquiry I was informed that he was a man who collected 

 " worms, bugs and such truck " and put them on the shelves in that book- 

 case, and that he had with him a number of other cranks, whom the said 

 statesman could not name. This was, I think, the first time that I heard 

 of our vice president and charter member, Mr. Wm. T. Davis, who is still 

 active in all good things for the welfare of our organization. 



The membership of the society at its organization was 14. At the time 

 when I became a member it had increased to T7. Its present membership 

 is 309. The collection increased so much in a few years that' it became 

 necessary to remove it to another repository where the surroundings were 

 more congenial, to one of the top rooms of the Staten Island Academy. 

 The collection in time so filled the room that we began to question what 

 should be done with the rapidly accumulating material. It became evident 

 that this collection, which by this time contained both books and specimens 

 of great value to the community, should have a home where it might be 

 available, not only to the members of the society but to the public gen- 

 erally. And so the idea developed to make the Association a public insti- 

 tution, to be maintained by the public under the control of the Association 

 as were other similar institutions in Manhattan and Brooklyn. I was 

 accordingly authorized by the Board of Trustees to take the matter up 

 with Hon. George B. McClellan, mayor at that time of the city, and invoke 

 his interest and approval. I had a courteous reception from Mr. Mc- 

 Clellan to whom I stated our purpose and the necessity of a legislative 

 charter, but we realized however, that this could not be accomplished 

 without his approval, and we therefore urged his cooperation. While ex- 

 pressing general approval of our purpose, he referred me to his legal 

 adviser, the Corporation Counsel, who was at that time Hon. Delaney. 

 It so happened that Mr. Delaney was a gentleman of education and 

 culture and much interested in the growth and development of edu- 

 cative institutions. He also expressed interest in the project and requested 

 me to submit a bill which we thought sufficient to be submitted to the 

 Legislature. This was done and the bill received his approval. The rnayor 

 upon the recommendation of the corporation counsel, also approved the 

 bill, and it was then entrusted to our representatives in the Senate and 

 the Lower House at Albany. It went through both bodies and was signed 

 by the Governor with unusual expedition and became a law on May 17, 



