The minutes of the 1844 distribution committee (appointed to apportion a $1000 appropriation for the relief of the victims of an October fire in the Fourth Ward) mainly includes a record of how the relief funds were spent, although there is also information on the committee's procedures and on donations made to the relief effort. Also included is a separate volume, listing the names of the fire victims, along with a brief description of their families and losses, with the committee's appropriation toward their relief also recorded.