Early illinois paper money

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Early IllinoisI aper Money

byR. Edward Davis


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R. Edward Davis


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Early Illinois Paper MoneyBy R. Edward Davis

Reprint from the Numismatic Scrapbook Magazine with theaddition of an alphabetical check list of paper currency

issued in Illinois.

Published ByHEWITT BROTHERS

CHICAGO


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The First Banks of IllinoisA JOURNEY to the Illinois coun-^ try, in the far west, in 1818,was usually made down the Ohio

river. The river followed a gener-ally westward direction along thesouthern border of Ohio and In-diana until it reached Illinois. Hereit turned abruptly south to passaround the Ozark uplift in southernIllinois. At the point where it turn-ed south, was situated the village ofShawneetown, which was the prin-ciple port of entry to Illinois. Hereemigrants left the slowly movingflat-boats to cross over to the settle-ments in western Illinois and Miss-ouri. Roads also lead northward tothe newly established settlements inEnglish Prairie fostered by MorrisEirkbeck and George Flower. Atraveller of that time says the town"consisted of about thirty log houses.The chief occupation of the peopleis the salt-trade. There is a UnitedStates Land-office, and a log bank isjust established. The chief cashier ofthis establishment was engaged incutting logs at the moment of myarrival." This was the metropolis ofIllinois in 1818, and the home of thefirst bank in Illinois.The founder of the first bank inIllinois was John Marshall, whocame to Shawneetown in 1804. Hebecame a prosperous merchant. Hetook deposits, loaned money and is-sued bills of credit. In 1816 he, incompany with a few others, appliedto the Territorial Legislature for abank charter. The law establishingthe Bank of Illinois at Shawneetownwas approved on December 26, 1816.The capital stock was fixed at$300,000, divided into $100 shares,but one third of this capital was tobe reserved for the Territory (orsubsequently the state) of Illinois,should the legislature wish to buythe stock. The subscribers were re-

quired to pay $10 per share in goldor silver at the time of subscription,and the balance in current papermoney, when called for by the di-rectors. The directors could not callfor more than twenty-five per centof the whole amount at any one time,and then only after sixty days notice.Since ready money was so scarce inthe new country, the charter pro-vided that the bank might beginbusiness as soon as $50,000 had beensubscribed and $10,000 paid in.Twelve directors were to be elect-ed, all of whom must be residents ofIllinois. The bank was empoweredto acquire property to the extent of$500,000, but such property shouldnot include real estate in excess ofwhat was needed to do business,except that which it had acquiredthrough forfeiture of loans or onmortgages. The charter also provid-ed that in the event that the bankrefused to redeem its notes in coin,the holder could collect 12% interest.The life of the charter was to betwenty-five years.The mininum capital of $10,000was soon paid in and the bank open-ed for business on January 1, 1817.The fact that for some time therewas no mention made of it in thelegislature, and little in the news-papers of the time, seems to indi-cate that it carried on a conserva-tive and successful business as mea-sured by the standards of the time.Banking standards in those dayswere quite different from bankingprinciples of today. To understandthe early history of banking in Illi-nois these facts must be kept inmind. James in "The Growth ofChicago Banking" explains this dif-ference quite clearly, "Banks wereorganized not because there wascapital seeking investment; not be-cause the places where they were

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established had commerce or manu-factures which needed their foster-ing aid; but because men withoutactive capital wanted the means ofobtaining loans, which their stand-ing in the community would not com-mand from banks or individualshaving real capital and establishedcredit. In frontier communities likeIllinois banks were regarded agentsfor the painless provision of capital.In a pioneer community capital ofall kinds was scarce, because therewas seldom much surplus product;of moneyed capital, there was verylittle, and banks were looked uponas a mechanism for increasing thesupply, without any painful savingon the part of the community."Checks were almost unknown,outside of the large eastern cities,and few people except the wealthiermerchants were familiar with bankaccounts. If banks were to supplythe community with either currencyor capital funds, it had to be in theform of bank notes, and if bankswere to exercise any influence uponthe general level of prices, it wouldhave to be through the policies thatthey adopted in regard to the issueand retirement of such notes."The success of the Bank of Illinoisat Shawneetown, inspired citizens inthe settlements near the Mississippito become bank conscious. A groupof people of Edwardsville headed byNinian Edwards and Benjamin Step-henson succeeded in obtaining acharter for the Bank of Edwards-ville from the legislature on Janu-ary 9, 1818. The provisions of thecharter were similar to those forthe Bank of Illinois, except that theshares were for $50 instead of $100.The first installment of the capitalamounting to $30,000 was quicklypaid in. Of this $22,625 came fromKentucky, $1,800 from St. Louis andonly $5,475 from Illinois. No resi-dent of Illinois paid in more than$50. Ninian Edwards was a powerful

political figure, and his name carriedconsiderable weight, in spite of thefact that he was deeply involved inland speculations, and that amonghis associates in the bank were sev-eral whose financial stability andhonesty were somewhat questionable.The bank at Edwardsville beganbusiness at once. Within a fewmonths a serious financial crisisdeveloped which spread through thesouth and the west. Both Illinoisbanks, after some anxious days,weathered the storm and camethrough the depression in good order.Early in 1818, through the politicalmanuverings of Ninian Edwards,both banks were made federal de-positories for money received fromthe sale of public land. Up to thistime the Bank of Missouri at St.Louis had been the federal deposi-tary for Illinois. The removal ofthese deposits from the Bank ofMissouri to the Illinois banks start-ed a long and bitter feud betweenthe St. Louis banks and the twoIllinois banks. On one occasion arepresentative of the Bank of Miss-ouri appeared in Shawneetown with$12,000 in notes of the Bank of Illi-nois and demanded payment inspecie. Representatives of the Bankof Missouri in Kaskaskia refused toaccept Illinois notes in payment forland, and in all possible ways madetrouble for the Illinois banks.At first the two Illinois bankscompeted with each other as fiercelyas they both competed with the Bankof Missouri. Finally they joinedforces against their more powerfulrival, and agreed that neither bankwould present the notes of the otherfor redemption, if it could possiblybe avoided, and in addition agreedto send notes of the other bank asfar from the point of issue as pos-sible, in order to make their redemp-tion more difficult.The financial depression of 1819had called attention of eastern


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bankers of the loose and perilousconditions in eastern banks. Thislead to a curtailing of the bank noteissues. In four years the bank notecirculation in the United States de-clined nearly fifty percent. This con-traction as it swept west causedbank failure after bank failure. Alllines of business were crippled.Through all of this depression theBank of Illinois continued to operateefficiently and profitably. In 1823the business of the bank declined sorapidly that the directors decided tosuspend operations, and they suc-ceeded in doing this without sur-rendering their charter.

The Bank of Edwardsville wasnot so efficiently managed and wassoon in trouble. Early in 1819,Ninian Edwards, became dissatisfiedwith the way things were going andquietly resigned from its Board ofDirectors. Although he was a Sena-tor in Washington at the time, heleft it to Stephenson, the presidentof the bank, to inform the Secretaryof the Treasury of his resignationand to ask that no more federalmoney be deposited, until the con-dition of the bank be investigated.Stephenson was well aware of thevalue of the prestige of the Ed-wards name, and also of the condi-

$20 Bank of Illinois of the second type; lower illustration $10 of theBank of Cairo issued at Kaskaskia.7


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tion of the bank, so he did nothing.Early in the fall of 1821 the failureof the Bank of Missouri caused apanic at Edwardsville. There was arun on the bank, and after a fewdays it closed its doors, owing near-ly $60,000, of which about $55,000was owed to the federal government,the proceeds of the sale of publiclands.The same legislature which issued

the charter for the Bank of Ed-wardsville issued charters for twoother banks, the Bank of Kaskaskia,and the Bank of Cairo. The promot-ers of the Bank of Kaskaskia werenot very energetic. By the time thestock subscriptions were openedthere were not enough people with

from the government about eighteenhundred acres of land on the narrowpoint of land between the Ohio andMississippi rivers. This land deededto a company of which Comegys wasthe leading spirit, and plans weredrawn up for a town, a bank and anambitious scheme of public improve-ments. The act of incorporation pro-vided for two thousand lots whichwere to be sold for $150 each. Onethird of this was to be spent forpublic improvements, one third wasto go to Comegys and his associates,and the other third was to be bankcapital. Comegys died suddenly inthe spring of 1819 and the wholescheme collapsed.When the first state Constitution

The rare $10 Bank of Edwardsville note. It is said that there is only onecomplete set of the notes of this bank in collectors hands.

ten dollars in gold or silver in Kas-kaskia to raise the required capitalso the bank never opened.The most interesting of all thebanking schemes was the organiza-tion of "The City and Bank ofCairo." The act authorizing thisscheme was also passed on January9, 1818. Five months earlier JohnComegys of Baltimore had bought

was adopted on August 26, 1819, theBank of Illinois at Shawneetownwas the only bank in the state ingood standing. The new Constitutionprovided that there should be noother banks or moneyed institutionsin Illinois except those already pro-vided by law, and a state bank withits branches to be established by thelegislature. The account of the ex-


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periences of the State in the bankingbusiness is another story and will betold later.

In 1835 during a wild period ofland speculation, advantage wastaken of the provision in the Consti-tution, allowing all banks in exist-ance to continue, to extend thecharter of the Bank of Illinois atShawneetown. The same men whohad managed it in its early dayswere again in charge. Although theBank of Cairo had never opened forbusiness its charter, too. was re-newed. The old charter had been soldto a group of Englishmen who open-ed the bank at Kaskaskia. This bankwas operated soundly and incon-spicously, and for several years fur-nished about 70% of all the smallnotes used in southern Illinois. Inabout 1841 the bank's officers useda considerable portion of the bank'sfunds to finance a canal company.As a result of the collapse of thisscheme the bank was forced intobankruptcy in February of 1842.

Following the disasterous collapseof the Second State Bank, the Bankof Illinois at Shawneetown againfound itself to be the only bank inthe state. Meanwhile, brought to thefront by the activities of AndrewJackson, there had developed a feel-ing that all banks were evil. TheBank of Illinois had been forced tobuy great quantities of IllinoisPublic Improvement bonds, and hadbeen obliged to sell to the state,some bank stock. The legislaturewanted to clear up the Public Im-provement bonds and the bank offer-ed to exchange them for its stock.The state administration wanted toclose the bank, which had a rightunder its extended charter to con-tinue operation for fifteen years.Finally the legislature repealed thecharter and placed the assets in thehands of three Commissioners, ap-pointed by the Governor, who were

required to close up the bank assoon as possible.A second act allowed the bank togo into voluntary liquidation underits own officers, provided the bankturned over to the state its statebonds in return for the bank stockheld by the state. This second actwas accepted by the bank. Thoughthe bank closed its doors in 1842,its notes continued to circulate formany years, so great was the faithof the people in John Marshall andthe other officers of the bank.The notes of these early Illinoisbanks are scarce, especially those of

Edwardsville, and the early notes ofthe Bank of Illinois. The notes ofthe Bank of Cairo at Kaskaskia aremuch oftener found. A list of thenotes of these banks follows:Bank of Edwardsville 25 cents,

50 cents, $1.00, $2.00, $3.00. $5.00,$10.00, and a "Post Note" where thevalue is written in, usually $20.00.These notes are nicely engraved byTanner, Kearney and Tiebout.Bank of Illinois at Shawneetownearly issue $1.00, $2.00, $3.00and $5.00. On these notes the name

is spelled "Shawance Town".Later issues $1., $2., $3., $20.,$50., and $100. The $20. notes of thelater issues occur in two types, oneof which was issued in 1838 and theother in 1839. The plates for thenotes of the last issue were engrav-ed by Wm. Dane & Co.The scarcity of the early notes ofthe Bank of Illinois is probably due

to the fact that when the bank sus-pended operations in 1823. it re-deemed and destroyed all notes pre-sented for payment.The Bank of Cairo at Kaskaskia

$1.00 (two types), $2.00, $3.00 (twotypes), $5.00 (two types), and $10.00.The plates for these notes were en-graved by Underwood, Bold, Spencerand Huffy.


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The State Banks of Illinois and the Era ofInternal Improvements

TLLINOIS was admitted to the1 Union in 1818. The Constitutionof the new state provided that"there shall be no other banks ormonied institutions in this state thanthose already provided by law, ex-cept a State bank and its branches,which may be established and regu-lated by the general assembly ofthe state as they may think proper."Two banks were in existance in Illi-nois at this time, the Bank of Illi-nois at Shawneetown, and the Bankof Edwardsville. There were twoother charters which had beengranted by the legislature, those forthe Bank of Cairo, and the Bank ofKaskaskia, but which had not, atthis time, been used.At this time there was very littlegold or silver in circulation in thestate. The circulation was mainly inbank notes of other states. Thesepassed at all kinds of discounts, andat constantly varying discounts. Afew came from specie paying banks,some from banks that were reallysolvent, some from banks that hadfailed, some from banks that hadnever existed, and some were coun-terfeits of the issues of existingbanks. The notes of the Illinoisbanks made up but a small part ofthe circulation, and notes of theBank of the United States were veryrare. This mass of paper camemainly from banks in Ohio and theSouth, though some notes frombanks in Western New York, Penn-sylvania and the District of Colum-bia, with a few from the New Eng-land states were also circulating.This was a period of wide spreadfinancial depression. Every one wasin debt. During the boom times,everyone had speculated in land andusually on credit. People were land-

crazy. Land could be bought fromthe government by paying only asmall part of its cost as a first in-stallment, and many, expecting arapid rise in land values, took outland when they only possessedenough money to pay the first in-stallment. The wild speculation re-sulting from such sales aroused theapprehension of the National Gov-ernment, and to curb such excessesand Act was passed in 1820, reduc-ing' the price of public lands from$2.00 to $1.25 an acre and requiringfull payment in all future sales. Theeffect of this act was to bring thedepression to the West. In the Eastattempts had been made to controland regulate banks of issue in somestates. This had led to a rapid con-traction in the volume of bank notesand from this a depression hadstarted. In this time of financialstringency the United States LandOffices were more careful what kindof money they accepted in paymentof public lands. Money of any kindwas not plentiful and when the LandOffices refused to accept about twothirds of that in circulation, a realdepression hit the state.As a measure of relief the firststate legislature passed an act toestablish a state bank. It was tohave a capital of $4,000,000, half ofwhich was to be subscribed by thestate and half by private persons.The charter provided that the bankmight start business when it hadreceived "in gold or silver or notesof banks in the Western countrypaying specie" an initial payment of$15,000. Even with the most liberalinterpretation of the last clause, itwas not possible to find enoughpeople who were able or willing tosubscribe enough cash so this bank

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never came into existance as a busi-ness institution.At the next session of the legis-

lature in 1821, a new bill was intro-duced creating a bank based entirelyon the faith and credit of the state.This bank would not have to worryabout stock subscriptions. Opposi-tion to the act was strong. It waspointed out that the bank wouldhave no specie with which to redeemits notes, also that the act was abare-faced attempt to violate theprohibition in the national constitu-tion of bills of credit, and that suchan institution would encourage wildspeculation instead of tending tocurb it. The bill was passed in bothhouses by a small majority.The bill came before the council

of revision, consisting of the Gover-nor and the Justices of the SupremeCourt, which under the state consti-tution, possessed the veto power.This council gave it a unanimousveto. The bill went back to the legis-lature and after a long debate itwas passed with a few votes tospare.The act as it was passed providedfor The State Bank of Illinois, with

its principal office in Vandalia, andwith branches at Shawneetown,Edwardsville, Brownsville and Pal-myra. The capital was finally fixedat $300,000, all subscribed by thestate. The management was to be inthe hands of a president, a cashier,and six directors, with five local di-rectors at each of the branches. Allof these officers were to be appoint-ted by the legislature every twoyears. The directors of the branchbanks were to select their ownpresidents and cashiers. The presi-dent of the Vandalia Bank was givena salary of $800 a year and thecashiers were to receive salariesnot to exceed this amount. The otherofficials received no salaries butwere given the right to borrow

amounts up to $1,000 at two percentinterest.

After the organization was com-pleted the Vandalia Bank was au-thorized to have printed $300,000 innotes in denominations of from $1to $20 and to give them out to thebranch banks in proportion to thepopulation in the various districts.These notes, guaranteed by the Stateof Illinois, bore two percent interesta year and were to be retired in tenyears. They were to be receivablefor all taxes and dues to the state,and one tenth of the entire issue wasto be retired each year.The officers of the various branchbanks were to lend this money atsix percent, the loans to be securedby real estate of at least twice thevalue of the loan. For small loansof less than $100, upon the consentof the board of directors, personalproperty could be pledged as secur-ity. No one could borrow more than$1,000. No loan was for more thanone year, but if the debtor would re-duce the loan ten percent he couldget a renewal for another year.

It is quite evident that the aim ofthe bank was to distribute the moneyamong as many borrowers as pos-sible. The bank was also to act as adepositary and as a business agentfor the state. It was also authorizedto receive deposits and do a generalbanking business, but it was pro-hibited from charging depositors forits services, and its exchanges wereto be made at par.

In the hope of its preponents suchwas to be the first State Bank ofIllinois, which its capital had beenput at $800,000 no such sum wasever turned over to the bank. It didreceive from the legislature $2,000in cash to pay for the engraving ofthe plates from which the noteswere to be printed. To insure thewidest circulation of these notes inthe states, the legislature passedadditional acts to prevent the issu-

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Notes of the Second State Bank. Upper One dollar on Illinois & MichiganCanal Fund; Middle and Lower $10 and $5 with "Branch Bank" imprint.

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ance of any form of paper currencyby any one but chartered bankers.As soon as the bank was openedabout every man who had any un-encumbered real estate had borrow-ed all he could get, and every manwho could get an endorser had bor-rowed his hundred dollars. In abouta week the whole $300,000 had beenloaned. Those who came too late toget a loan complained bitterly ofpolitical favoritism shown by thedirectors. Since most of the direct-ors were politicians with no bankingexperience, very little attention waspaid to the probable ability of theborrowers to repay the loan. Manyof the borrowers accepted the loanas a gift from a benificent common-wealth and never expected to haveto repay.

Briefly, the state enjoyed a mildboom, but it was of a short life. TheEastern banks had put their housesin order, and business conditionswere improving. This improvementdid not reach Illinois. Here a papercurrency with no specie backing,drove gold and silver and the notesof specie paying Eastern banks outof circulation. The State Bank noteswhich were intended to circulate atpar with gold and silver were downto 75 in a little over a month and inless than two years were worth onlythirty cents on the dollar. Even smallchange disappeared and to makechange it was necessary to tearthese notes in pieces the size ofwhich roughly indicated their value.While the act creating the bankhad provided that one tenth of thenotes issued should be retired eachyear, the legislature made no pro-vision to supply any specie to do it.In fact specie was so scarce thatwhen one of the branch banks re-ceived two silver dollars, they con-sidered them so rare they put themon display as a curiosity.So many complaints came in con-cerning the management of the

branches that in 1824 the legislatureappointed a committee to examinethese branches. It was found thatthe books were in such a condiitonthat it was impossible to find outwhat the true state of affairs reallywas. It was found that loans hadbeen made illegally, and severallarge sums could not be accountedfor in any way. At once steps weretaken to close up the banks. In Jan-uary, 1825, an act was passed order-ing the cashier to burn all notes inhis possession in a bonfire in thepublic square at Vandalia in thepresence of the Governor and themembers of the Supreme Court.In this fire, notes with a facevalue of $75,000 were destroyed.Other fires were held in June andDecember of the same year, whereabout $50,000 more were burned. Thebank still had a large volume ofloans outstanding and attempts weremade to collect them. Some smallparts were paid, but finally the Su-preme Court following a precedentin a similar case in the United StatesSupreme Court, declared these notesto be bills of credit and thereforeillegal, and that notes issued forthem could not be collected by law.This decision did not relieve thestate of the necessity of redeemingthe notes in full in 1831. There werestill $150,000 of these in circulationand the state had only $30,000 incash. To repay these notes, the Gov-ernor was authorized to borrow$100,000. A contract was made withSamuel Wiggins of Cincinnati forthis amount, he taking state stock,bearing six percent interest to be re-deemed whenever the State Treasur-er had any surplus funds on hand.In a year nearly $290,000 had beenredeemed or destroyed, and by 1835only $6,554.00 of the notes were stilloutstanding, representing probablythe losses and destruction during theten years of the life of the bank.This experiment in banking cost the

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state over $300,000 in cash and thelosses sustained by the people andbusiness in general cannot be esti-mated. With the closing of this bankthe state was left without a bankin its borders, and this conditionexisted for several years.Business conditions all over thecountry improved greatly in theearly '30's and it was not long be-fore the boom reached the West.With this improved business con-dition it was not long before therecame demands for financial institu-tions, able to provide exchange withthe East and with New Orleans. Thecharters of the Bank of Illinois atShawneetown, and the Bank ofCairo were revived, and a movementwas set afoot to establish anotherstate bank. The Bank of the UnitedStates had been refused a renewalof its charter by Jackson's adminis-tration, and to take its place variousstate banking systems had been es-tablished. Some were carefullymanaged, and some were very care-lessly managed. Floods of this newpaper money poured into the state.Under such conditions it was nothard to convince the legislature thata new bank was needed to protectthe business interests of the state.The bill for the new bank waspassed by the legislature and ap-proved by the Committee of RevisionFebruary 12, 1835. It provided thatthe bank should run until I860, itshead office was to be at Springfield,and eight branches were to be estab-lished where, in the opinion of thedirectors, they were needed. Thecapital was to be $1,500,000, all tobe subscribed by the general public,though the state reserved the rightto take $100,000, if the legislatureso desired. The bank could beginbusiness when $250,000 in specie hadbeen received.The state made no guarantee ofthe notes, and the value of the notesissued was not at anytime to exceed

two and a half times the paid-incapital. The notes were to be re-deemed in specie at anytime, and afailure to redeem any of them in tendays time was to cause the charterto be forfeited, and the bank to goout of business.

Within a few weeks after the sub-scription lists were opened $8,000,000was subscribed, and the task of cut-ting down the subscription started.Meanwhile, Samuel Wiggins of Cin-cinnati, with a group of followers,succeeded in gaining possession ofmany of the subscription rights, andwhen the stock was allotted, Wig-gins controlled nearly 3500 shares.In July, 1835, the bank opened forbusiness. Branches were establishedin Alton, Belleville, Chicago, Dan-ville, Galena, Jacksonville, MountCarmel, Quincy and Vandalia. Onthe whole the operations of the bankthe first years seemed to be morethan satisfactory. The notes circu-lated about at par with specie andthe bank made money on its regularbanking business.

In 1836 there began a period ofthe wildest speculation ever seen inAmerica. Townsites were laid outeverywhere and a sudden enthusiasmfor railroads began. Lines wereplanned to criss-cross the state inall directions, with little regard toany possible business they mightget. The move to build the Illinoisand Michigan canal, really got un-der way. Business was so good thatthe state legislature decided to sub-scribe $100,000 in state bank stockas provided in the bank's charter.The bank agreed to assume the oldWiggins loan left over from the firstState Bank, as a consideration forthe privilege of opening some newbranches. The legislature also tookadvantage of a provision in the oldcharter of the Shawneetown Bankand took $100,000 stock in that bankalso.The people of the state became so

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wild about public improvements thatwhen the legislature met in 1836 itpassed a most amazing act, knownas the "Public Improvement Bill". Itincluded all of the pet schemes ofthe wildest promoters. It providedfor the construction of seven rail-roads across the state from east towest and for the central railroadrunning from Galena to Cairo. Theold National Highway from Vincen-nes to St. Louis was to be improved.The state was to borrow $8,000,000at once and begin work upon all ofthese projects, starting from every

important town on the proposedrights of way. A Board of FundCommissioners consisting of three"experienced financiers" was ap-pointed to make the loan and to ad-minister the distribution of it to thevarious projects.Eastern capitalists did not seemvery anxious to make this loan, eventhough it was made an unconditionalobligation of the state. A provisionof the act prohibited the sale of thesecurities at less than par. The statecould not wait, so finally the StateBank and the Shawneetown Bank

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were asked to make the loan. Bothwere making money and at the timethe future looked rosy. Nearly threemillion dollars of these bonds wereunloaded on these two banks. TheShawneetown Bank sold part oftheir share at once at a fair profit,but the State Banks held theirs ascapital, against which more noteswere issued.The State Bank stock was earningnearly eight percent and timesseemed so good that the legislatureincreased the capitalization of theState Bank to $4,500,000 and of theShawneetown Bank to $1,700,000, ofwhich $1,000,000 was to be taken bythe state. These two institutionswere to finance the new public im-provements throughout the state.

Sectional jealousies would not al-low the Board of Fund Commission-ers to concentrate their energies onany one project. It decided to startall seven railroads and the Illinoisand Michigan canal at once. Fromeach direction from any town to betouched by any railroad work wasto be started, with local contractorsdoing the work as far as possible.Counties not touched by railroadswere given $200,000 each for high-way improvements.

Things were going well in theWest, when, in the early summer of1837, without warning, a suddencrash came in the East. Prices de-clined, banks failed, and businessfirms failed on every hand. Localfinanciers thought things in Illinoiswere on too stable a basis to beaffected by this eastern flurry, anddid little to prepare for the future.The panic spread and in 1838 thelegislature voted to stop work onthe internal improvement system.The state had incurred a debt of$6 000,000 and none of the railroadshad been completed. The Illinois andMichigan canal had its own boardof trustees and they decided even inthe face of the impending panic to

continue work on the canal.The banks became invloved in thepanic and at a special session of thelegislature an act was passed tolegalize the suspension of speciepayments. The activities of the bankswere greatly curtailed by this act.The Anti-Bank Democrats began adetermined fight on the two insti-tutions. In 1839 the State Bankceased to be a bank of issue andceased to do business except to dis-burse the Canal Fund, and to dealwith some eastern exchange. In 1843it was forced into liquidation. Itsnotes were nearly all redeemed andvery few of them have come downto us.The Chicago Branch of the StateBank opened December 1, 1835 in abuilding at the corner of Clark andWater streets. John Kinzie was itspresident and its board of directorsincluded most of the leading mer-chants of the city. The bank did agood business from the start. In 1840due to some trouble with some ofthe city's leaders, the bank was re-moved to Lockport, as a punishmentto the city. As the bank continuedto do business through an agent inthe city, the punishment lost mostof its force. From 1839 to 1843 whenit finally closed it did little excepthandle Illinois and Michigan CanalFunds, and issue a flood of papermoney based upon them.The Fund Commissioners had nobanking authority but they issuedpaper that was widely circulated asmoney. These were really promis-sory notes of small value, but theycirculated freely with the otherpaper. While the public improve-ment bubble burst in 1838, some ofthese notes circulated well alonginto the sixties. They were finallycancelled and most of them des-troyed in 1867.Very few notes of this period havecome down to us. The First StateBank issued notes in denominations

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of $1, $2, $3, $5, $10 and $20 butvery few can be found in collections.All but about $6,000 of these issueswere destroyed in the bonfires, or-dered by the state legislature. Notesof the Second State Bank are alsoscarce. As they were redeemed theywere destroyed. Notes drawn on theIllinois and Michigan Canal Fundthru Chicago Branch are more com-mon. The first issue of May 1, 1839,were type set notes in denomina-tions of $1, $2, $5, $10 and $100.Similar issues were made in Marchof 1840, while the bank was in Lock-port. In the fall of 1840 some beau-

tiful engraved notes in denomina-tions of 1, 2V2 , 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100dollars were issued. In 1842, someof this last issue were cut down insize and printed on the reverse witha statement that they representedan indebtedness of the Canal Com-missioners. The indebtedness was thesame as the face value of the muti-lated note.The notes issued by the Board of

Fund Commissioners are in denomi-nations of $2, $3, $5, $10 and $100.The lower values are quite scarce.The greater part of these notes were

$100 note of the "Fund Commissioner of the State of Illinois" and a $5note of the "Internal Improvement Office."

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destroyed at various times up to it not been loaded up with the fan-the year 1867. tastic internal improvement scheme,The experiences of Illinois in and with too much legislative tinker-state banking were very costly to ing; with the closing of this bankthe state. The first bank was on too the state was left without any banknebulous a base to have any chance in its borders, and there were noof success. The second bank might legal banks in Illinois for severalhave had some chance of success had years afterward.

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Illegal and Free BankingTN 1836 the legislature of the

state of Illinois had charteredthe Chicago Marine and Fire In-surance Company. The charterspecifically stated that the companywas not to do a banking business orissue any notes or bills to be passedas money or "in the semblance ofbank notes". However, as early asMay 1837, the company publishedan advertisement in a Chicago news-paper saying that, in considerationof the great need of the community,advantage would be taken of thesection in their charter which per-mited them to "receive moneys ondeposit, and to loan the same, onbottomry, and respondentia, o rotherwise, at such rates of interestas may now be done by the existinglaws of the State." The companywent into the banking business andin time its demand certificates ofdeposit took the place of money.However, the company compliedwith their charter and did not issuetheir certificates in the "semblanceof bank notes." It was not long be-fore these certificates became aninportant factor in commerce of thenorthwest.George Smith BillsGeorge Smith, a Scotch farmer,came to Illinois in 1834 and becom-

ing impressed by the possible fieldsfor investment profit, returned toScotland and organized the ScottishIllinois Land Investment Company.In 1836 Messrs. Strachan and Scottreturned with Smith to Illinois toact as managers. They took a trans-script of the Chicago Marine andFire Insurance Company and with afew changes obtained a charterfrom the Territorial Legislature ofWisconsin for the Wisconsin Marineand Fire Insurance Company. The

trio was joined by Alexander Mit-chell, a young banker from Aber-deen, Scotland. The company's stockof $225,000 was held half in Scot-land and half by these four men.The new company issued certificatesof deposit engraved like bank notesin denomination from one to tendollars.The new issue worked its way intocirculation despite of stiff oppositionfrom Illinois chartered banks. Be-fore long the new notes came to beknown as reliable, as, in contrast toother bills, they were always paidpromptly on demand. Soon Illinoisand other bank notes were being ex-changed at les& than face value andthe "illegal" currency of the Wis-consin Marine and Fire InsuranceCompany was required in larger andlarger amounts. By December, 1841,some $35,000 of these bills wereoutstanding. The amount increasedto $100,000 in 1843, $300,000 in 1847and steadily increased to a peak cir-culation of $1,470,000 in 1851. Afterthat the circulation was graduallycontracted, every dollar of the en-tire outstanding amount was redeem-ed, except $34,000 which were neverpresented these latter notes hav-ing, no doubt, been lost, burned orworn out.

Legal banks and others who wereinterested in stopping the progressthe institution was making, exertedgreat efforts to discredit its paper.Runs were instituted on the agencies,and banks would hoard large quan-tities of the illegal notes so thatthey might be presented all at onetime and thus drain the specie sup-ply of the company. Nothing, how-ever, seemed to avail. According toone story, Mr. Scammon, presidentof the Marine Bank of Chicago, had

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been enjoying the pastime of pre-senting large amounts of "Smith'sbills" for redemption. One day hemet Mr. Smith who asked him whatamount of the notes of his (Scam-mon's) bank were outstanding.When Mr. Scammon replied thatthere were just $175,000. Mr. Smithquickly informed him that his ownvaults contained $125,000 of thatamount, and that he would "bringthem over for redemption one ofthese days." That remark kept Mr.Scammon in a state of worry forsome time before an agreement wasreached between the two rivalswhereby each was pledged not toattempt anything to the detrimentof the business of the other. Since"Smith's bills" could not be drivenout and gained such popularity thatsoon agencies for their redemptionwere established at Galena (111.),St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Detroit.George Smith, operating underthe title of George Smith and Com-

pany, continued in business in Chi-cago on LaSalle street until 1857,when the house was closed. Shortlythereafter he retired, having acquir-ed large sections of valuable prop-erty in Chicago and elsewhere, to-gether with a sizable fortune in se-curities. Smith spent most of his re-maining days in Scotland.Smith's success encouraged othersto undertake similar illegal note is-sues and a number of unincorporatedcompanies were organized to issuemoney which circulated at variablediscounts. The Merchants' and Me-chanics' Bank of Chicago was one ofthe more successful in this businessof issuing illegal currency.Free BankingAfter a bitter fight between "freebanking" and "anti-banking" groupswhich started in the year 1846, at aspecial election the Free BankingAct of 1851 was adopted by a voteof 37,626 to 31,405. One of the re-quirements of the act was that any

person who desired to engage in theissue of notes be required to depositwith the State Auditor bonds issuedby the United States, the state oflillinos, or any state which paid fullsix percent interest. The deposit ofthe first two classes of bonds en-titled the owner to circulate notesto the full market value of theonds, but not more than half theirpar value.When first passed, this new, so-called "free" banking law of 1851,could be and was so construed thattwo kinds of banks were established,each under the supervision of thestate auditor, but one issuing notessecured by deposited bonds and theother simply issuing unsecurednotes.

This act was responsilbe for thecreation of many varieties of earlypaper money for which the collectorof today may seek. Newspapers ofthe period tell of the establishmentand the circulation of notes of manybanks that no specimens have comedown to us.Banks were slow to be organizedunder the new law. In 1852 theSenate decided to repeal the act andthere was a great rush to incorpo-rate banks before the law was re-pealed and within a few days twen-ty-seven applications were made.Later, when the law was not repeal-ed, the number of banks again felloff, until in 1854 the banking com-missioners reported that there wereonly twenty-nine banks operatingunder the law, ten in Chicago, twoeach in Springfield and Naperville,and not more than one in any othercity. The issues of these banks con-stituted but a small amount of thecirculation, while illegal issues andthose of foreign banks continued tobourish.For a period a bank war waged,but little could come of all the agi-tation because of the intricate situ-ation which existed. Legally estab-

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TheBank of Chicago

/^ I


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lished banks were issuing illegalbills; some few banks did a strictlylegal business, even going so far asto absorb illegal banks and issuelegal for the illegal currency out-standing. The Chicago Marine Bank,which had organized under the law,was accused of having revived itsold insurance company and of mak-ing legal loans thereto, so that thelatter, in turn, might circulate il-legal bills for profit. Some bankswere so bold as to issue illegal cur-rency for buying bonds that mightbe deposited with the auditoragainst legal issues. As a conse-quence, the bankers, under J. Y.Scammon of the Marine Bank ofChicago, determined to put an endboth to the actual illegal practicesand to unjust accusations of suchdishonesty by getting the legislatureto pass an amendment to the banklaw which would prohibit all illegalbanking. On Februaiy 10, 1853, thiswas passed and to conduct a bank-ing business within the state ex-cept under the provisions of thestatutes was made little less thana felony.In prohibiting illegal currency,more than the powers of the lawwere required to accomplish the re-sult. The public had been trained toaccept the illegal issues, such as theGeorge Smith notes in preference tolegal issues. Also, men like Smithhad bought interests in foreignbanks and were circulating theirissues in Illinois, and foreign bankshad established agencies in thestate for the purpose of circulatingand redeeming their notes. Nebras-ka established agencies at Gales-burg, Peoria, Macomb and other Il-linois cities. Some states would per-suade residents of Illinois to takestock in their banks and so attain aright to the bank's notes; suchstockholders would then agree tohelp keep each other's notes in cir-culation, and so "wild cat" issues

both good and bad followed.Seth Paine NotesInto this warfare stepped SethPaine & Co., when it opened theBank of Chicago on September 1,

1852.Seth Paine was a native of NewEngland. He arrived in Chicago byboat in 1834. When he landed he was

without a cent of capital, havingpaid his last dollar for his fare onthe boat. We are told he was talland straight with a pleasing pre-posing manner. He was an excellentconversationalist and a fine publicspeaker. He hired out to the firm ofTailor & Breese, and in a short timebecame a partner in the firm. Laterhe went into partnership with The-ron Norton under the name of Paine& Norton. He sold out to Norton in1842.During his early years in Chicagohe became an ardent abolitionist and

a follower of the socialistic doctrinesof Fourier. When he sold out toNorton he went up into Lake Countyand bought, with a number ofothers, a large tract of land at LakeZurich to try out some of these so-cialistic ideas. After a time we findhim one of the directors and a man-ager of the unchartered IllinoisRiver Bank at La Salle.About this time he became an ar-dent spiritualist. His type of mindwas such that he readily adopted

every new "ism" that came along.To him the world was sadly out ofjoint and he looked upon himself asthe one to set it right. The chaoticstate of the banking business wassuch that he decided to return toChicago and teach his old businessassociates how banking could becarried on in accordance with ahigher law than the banking law ofIllinois.The prospectus of the new bankwritten by Paine himself, statedseveral principals, "We loan to noone to pay debts. We loan to no one

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to aid in the murder of anythingwhich has life. We loan to no manto speculate in the necessities of life.We loan nothing on real estate, be-lieving that it can not be bought orsold, possession with use is the onlytitle to it. We loan nothing to aid inthe manufacture or sale of liquor ortobacco. We loan nothing to gam-blers or money lenders. Our basisfor making loans is the establishedcharacter of the borrower. He mustbe temperate, honest and religiouswith a mind sufficiently developedto understand business."For a few weeks the bank did aquiet business with a class of re-spectable citizens who approved ofthe sentiments in the prospectus.Paine and Eddy, his partner, wereboth ardent spiritualists and theybegan to bring spiritualism into themanagement of the bank. A trancemedium, Mrs. Herrick was broughtinto the bank to give the officers theadvice of departed spirits. The spiritof Alexander Hamilton was, thruMrs. Herrick, to direct the policy ofthe bank. If a person came in to dobusiness and Mrs. Herrick or thespirits, did not approve him he wasunceremonously thrown out into thestreet by some burly bouncers keptfor that puporse. No smokers,drinkers or bankers were to beserved. Women, children, negroesand spiritual minded men were tobe served in that order. During thistime Paine published a little papercalled the Chirstian Banker. The ar-ticles were rambling discourses,witty and sarcastic, containing amixture of spiritualism, bankingand personal attacks on his enemiesthat made many think he was crazy.Ira B. Eddy had put most of thecash into the bank and when hisfriends saw how the business wasbeing conducted they had him adjud-ged insane, and had an injunctionserved to protect Mr. Eddy's inter-ests in the bank.

This caused a run on the bank.Paine and Mrs. Herrick stood behindthe counter to redeem the bills thathad been issued. Several prominentcitizens who could not satisfy thespirits of the justness of theirclaims were unduly hustled out andthrown into the street.

Things came to a head the- nextday. The conservator of Eddy's es-tate tried to take over the affairs ofthe bank, and he met with threatsof shooting. Finally the whole corpsof the bank officers, mediums,bouncers and all, were arrested andtried. Two or three were dischargedand all of the rest except Mrs. Her-rick were put under peace bonds of$500. She was kept in jail for re-sisting officers.With the removal of Eddy'smoney the bank was so badly crip-pled that it soon went out of busi-ness. Every note that was presentedwas paid by Paine, or Eddy's con-servator. The bank, as bazarre aswas its existence, was neither dis-honored nor insolvent.After the closing of the bankPaine returned to Lake Zurich,where he tried out many of hisschemes. He established a school on

his farm called "the Stable of Hu-manity" which he managed for sev-eral years. In 1868 he returned toChicago and established a "Women'sHome". The object of this was toprovide respectable women a com-fortable home at a moderate price.This he operated for about threeyears. He died in Chicago in 1871.While Seth Paine's excursion intobanking was short lived, he fur-nishes the history of banking inChicago with one of the most color-ful figures it has ever seen.The End of Illinois Bank NotesAt the time of Lincoln's electionin 1860, business was so good thatthe banks had increased their cir-culation and inflated currency untilthe state of Illinois had an aggreg-

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ate circulation of $12,320,694, se-cured by deposits of United Statesand state securities with a par valueof $14,000,000. Of this amount$9,527,500 consisted of bonds of thesouthern states. Immediately follow-ing the election, the credit of theSouth began to diminish. Largedeposits held by that part of thecountry in northern banks were sud-denly withdrawn, which togetherwith the depreciation in southern se-curities threatened financial chaosfor Illinois.

In March, 1861, at which timetwenty-two banks were to makegood the demand of the commis-sioners for more security to covertheir notes, seventeen with a totalcirculation of $2,726,795 were un-able to comply and were placed inliquidation. By now southern stateswere seceding one at a time andtheir bonds declining more andmore rapidly in market value. Thebonds of Missouri, which on April1 were quoted at sixty-seven centson the dollar, were worth only fifty-one by the 17th and their futureprospects were growing steadily lessattractive. By the end of April, Chi-cago bankers, who had previouslycarried the bills of a large numberof Illinois banks whose bonds se-curing their currency had depreciat-ed, made a list of thirty-two whichthey felt could not be carried anylonger unless the deficiencies werespeedily made up. This decision wasreally brought about by a citizenwho circulated an article entitled"Stand From Under," warning thepeople of the state against takingthe notes of these thirty-two banks.Immediately the issues of thesebanks flowed into the offices of Chi-cago bankers for redemption insuch quantities that it seemed thebankers would soon have millionsof them on hand.

Since the southern bonds securingthese bills appeared not likely to

rise in value, the bankers could notwell undertake the risk of holdinglarge quantities of this currency andso were forced to discredit it, evenat a greater loss to themselves thanto their depositors. In addition tothese thirty-two, nine others hadbeen previously thrown out and thesituation which now developed wassubsequently referred to as an "era"in the financial annals of the state.The monetary column of the Chi-cago Tribune of April 2, 1861, im-mediately after the discrediting ofthese banks, listed all banks in thestate and showed that there werethen sixty-four doing business withtheir notes still accepted, whilethirty-nine were doing business withtheir notes in disrepute. OutsideChicago such discredited notes weresometimes accepted at fifty cents onthe dollar. General financial disorderreigned and uncertainty became sogreat that exchange on the Eastnot only rapidly rose but showedsigns of going higher.Currency became so variable as tobe of little use as money. The bills

of banks backed by northern se-curities, or those of banks which hadmade good their bond deficits, re-tired from circulation, driven out bythose less stable banks. The poorerbills flooded the country and it be-came necessary for daily bulletinsto be issued listing bills accordingto their present worth in terms ofexchange and specie. Railroads,boards of trade, newspapers, andother groups issued lists, no two ofwhich lists agreed. No holder ofbank bills knew from one day tothe next what his holdings wereworth. Notes that were bankableone day were worthless the next.The situation was pretty much thesame over the entire country. Withbetween 1500 and 2000 kinds ofpaper money circulating thruout thecountry a "bank note detector" wasan essential to the merchant. Some

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of these books went into detail des-cribing the distinguishing charact-eristics of more than a thousandbills. One of the best known of thesebank note guides was "Thompson'sBank-Note Reporter" which wasestablished in 1836 by John Thomp-son, who was one of the organizersof the First National Bank of NewYork and also of the Chase NationalBank of New York.Banks were rapidly forced into

liquidation and notes poured into theoffice of the state auditor at such arate that on occasions he had toclose his doors until the accumula-tion could be counted, cancelled andburned. On January 1, 1862, onlythree Illinois banks had notes on apar basis. In November, 1860, therehad been one hundred and ten sol-vent banks with a circulation of$12,320,694, while just two yearslater the total circulation of thestate amounted to only $566,163. Inspite of a bad situation the banks

were liquidated in such a mannerthat they managed to pay an aver-age of sixty percent on their cir-culation.The federal government issue ofgreenbacks and a little later nationalbank notes, soon started to replacelocal currency. By 1864 only twenty-three banks remained in the state.In 1866 the federal tax on state banknotes drove most of the currency,which until then had persisted, outof circulation and by 1869, accord-ng to the state auditor's report,there were only $531 in bank notesoutstanding in the state. This smallamount of unredeemed notes ac-counts for the rarity of Illinoisbank notes today. There are manyissues of which only one or twospecimens are known to be held bycollectors. Most of the notes whichhave been preserved for numisma-tists are canceled notes which somehow were not destroyed at the time.

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Check List of Early Illinois Paper MoneyBY D. C. WISHER and LEE F. HEWITT

STATE ISSUESState of IllinoisOffice of the Board of Public

Works; Fund Commissioner ofthe State of Illinois$2., $3., $5., $10., $100.Internal Improvement Office$2., $3., $5., $10.

BANK ISSUESAlbion

Albion Exchange Bank$1.25, $2.50Bank of Albion$5., $10.AlledoBank of Alledo$5.

AltonAlton Bank$1., $2., $3., $5., $5., $10.AnnaWheat Grower's Bank$1., $2., $5., $10.AuroraBank of Aurora$1., $2., $3., $5.

BellevilleBank of Belleville$1., $2., $3., $5.Southern Bank of Illinois$1., $2., $5., $10.Belvidere

Belvidere Bank$1., $3., $5.Benton

Frontier Bank$5.Union Bank$1., $2.BloomingtonBank of Bloomington$1., $2., $3., $5.

Lafayette Bank$1., $2., $3., $5., $5.

McLean County Bank$1., $2.BoltonBank of Southern Illinois$1., $2., $3., $5., $10.CairoBank of Cairo$1., $2., $2., $3., $5., $5.

City Bank of Cairo$1., $2., $3., $5.The Planters Bank$1., $2.Caledonia

Bluff City Bank$2., $5.CarmiBank of Carmi$1., $2., $5., $10.Merchants Bank$5., $10.

People's Bank$1., $2., $5.CharlestonFarmer's & Trader's Bank

$1., $2., $3., $5.ChesterBank of Chester$1., $2., $3., $5.

ChicagoBank of America$1., $2., $3.

Bank of Chicago (Seth Paine)$1., $1., $2., $2., $3., $3.Bank of Commerce$1.

Branch of the State Bank$1., $2., $5., $10., $100.

Chicago Bank$1., $2., $3., $5.City Bank of Chicago$1., $1., $1., $2., $3., $5.

Commercial Bank$1., $3., $5.

E. I. Tinkham & Company'sBank$1., $2., $3., $5.


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Chicago ContinuedExchange Bank of H. A. Tucker& Co.

$1., $2., $3., $5.Farmer's Bank$1., $2., $5.Marine Bank of Chicago$1., $1., $2., $3., $5., $5.,$5., $10.Phenix Bank$1., $2., $3., $5.

R. K. Swifts Loan & Trust BankBill of Exchange

Treasurer's Bank$1.

Trader's Bank$1.

Union Bank$1., $2., $3.Danville

Stock Security Bank$1., $2., $5.

State Bank Branch$1., $10.

DecaturRailroad Bank$1., $2., $3., $5.EdwardsvilleBank of Edwardsville25c, 50c, $1., $2., $3., $5., $10.,$20. (also post notes)

ElginBank of Elgin$1., $2., $5.

Elgin Bank of D. Clark & Co.$2.Home Bank$1., $2.Elizabethtown

Shawanese Bank$1., $2., $3., $5.

EqualityIllinois State Security Bank

$5., $10.National Bank$1., $3., $5.

FairfieldCorn Exchange Bank

$1., $2., $3., $5.Reaper's Bank

$1., $2., $3., $5.

GalenaBank of Galena$1., $2., $3., $5.

GalesburgReed's Bank

$1., $2., $3., $5.GalateaBank of Galatea

$5., $10.GenevaKane County Bank$1., $2., $3., $5.GeneseoBank of Geneseo$5.GolcondaBank of Ashland$5.Ohio River Bank$1., $2., $3., $5., $10., $20.Granville

Continental Bank$5., $10.

GrayvilleGrayville Bank

$1., $2., $5., $10.Southern Bank of Illinois$1,. $2., $5., $10.

GreenupCumberland County Bank$2., $5.

GriggsvilleBank of Pike County$1., $2., $3., $5., $10.Pamet Bank$1., $2., $3., $5.Hardin

Illinois River Bank$1., $2.Mechanic's Bank of Hardin$1., $2., $3., $5.

HarrisburgLake Michigan Bank$5., $10.

HutsonvilleBank of Hutsonville$1., $2., $5.Garden State Bank$1., $2., $2., $5.Jacksonville

Morgan County Bank$1., $2., $5., $10.

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Jacksonville ContinuedBranch of State Bank

$5.Joliet

Merchants & Drovers Bank$1., $2., $3., $5.

JonesboroUnion County Bank$5., $10.KankakeeKankakee Bank$1., $2.KaskaskiaBank of Cairo at Kaskaskia$1., $1., $2., $3., $3., $5.,$5., $10.KewaneeBank of Kewanee$1., $2., $5.Lacon

Marshall County Bank$1., $5.Lancaster

Lancaster Bank$5., $10.

LaSalleLaSalle Bank$2.

LockportState Bank of Illinois

$1., $2.50 $5., $50.Illinois & Michigan Canal In-debtedness, printed on back ofState Bank notes of the samedenomination

$2.50, $5., $20., $50., $100.MarionAgricultural Bank

$1., $2., $2., $5.Maihaiwe Bank$1., $2., $3., $5.Marshall

Corn Planters Bank$2., $3., $5.

McLeansboroBank of the Republic$1., $2., $3., $5.E. I. Tinkham & Co. Bank

(Branch)$1., $2., $3., $5., $10., $20.Hamilton County Bank$1., $2., $3., $5.

The Hampden Bank$1.

MetropolisFarmers Bank$1., $3., $5., $10.Momence

Bank of Momence$1., $2., $3., $5.Mon mouthWarren County Bank$5.Morris

Grundy County Bank$1., $5.Mt. CarmelBank of America$5., $10., $20., $50., $100.Branch of State Bank$3.

Citizen's Bank$1., $2., $5., $10.Mt. VernonBank of Mt. Vernon$1., $2.

NapervilleBank of Naperville$1., $2.Dupage County Bank

$1., $3., $5., $10.Humboldt Bank$1.New HavenBank of Illinois$1., $3., $5.Commercial Bank$2., $3., $5.

Illinois State Bank$5., $10.New CantonFarmers Bank$5.New Market

Bank of the Metropolis$5., $10.

New Market Bank$5., $10.NewtonIllinois Central Bank

$1., $2., $10., $20.OttawaBank of Ottawa$1., $2., $3., $5.


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Ottawa ContinuedCity Bank

$1., $5.OxfordMississippi River Bank

$1., $2., $5., $10.PalestineCommercial Bank

$1., $2., $5., $10.ParisEdgar County Bank

$1., $2., $3., $5.PeoriaCentral Bank

$1., $3., $5.Farmers Bank$5.PeruBank of Peru$1., $2., $3.

Illinois River Bank of Taylor& Coffin$1.

PittsfieldHighland Bank

$5., $10.Pittsfield Bank$1., $2., $5., $5.Prairie City

Graziers Bank$5.

QuincyBank of Quincy$1., $2., $3., $5., $10., $20Quincy City Bank$1., $2., $3., $5., $10., $10.,$20., $20.

RaleighAmerican Exchange Bank$5., $10.Bank of Raleigh$5., $10.

International Bank$5., $10.

RobinsonBank of the Commonwealth$5., $10.

RockfordLumberman's Bank of E. L.Fuller & Co.

$2., $3., $5

Rock IslandBank of the Federal Union$1., $5.Rock Island Bank$1., $1., $2., $2., $3., $3.,$5., $5.Rushville

Rushville Bank$2., $3., $5., $10.

St. John'sState Stock Bank

$1., $5.St. Marie

Bull's Head Bank$5., $10.Savannah

Western Bank$1., $2., $3., $5., $10., $20.Schawance TownBank of Illinois$1., $2., $3., $5.ShawneetownBank of Illinois$1., $2., $3., $20., $20., $50.,$100.

State Bank of Illinois$1., $2., $3., $5., $10.

SpartaUnited States Stock Bank$1.Bank of Sparta$1., $2., $3.

SpringfieldClark's Exchange Bank

$1., $2., $3., $5., $10., $20.Mechanics & Farmers Bank$1State Bank of Illinois (parentbank)

$1., $1., $2.50, $5., $10., $20.,$100.

State Bank of Illinois Branch$5., $10.Sycamore

Sycamore Bank$1., $5.

TaylorvillePlowman's Bank$2.Thebes

Canal Bank$3., $5.


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Thebes ContinuedEagle Bank

$1., $2., $3., $5.UrbanaGrand Prairie Bank$1., $2., $5., $10.Vandalia

State Bank of Illinois (the firststate bank, 1821)

$1., $2., $3., $5., $10., $20.VermontFulton Bank

$3., $5.ViennaNarragansett Bank

$2., $3., $5., $10.Bank of Commerce$5., $10.Washington

Prairie State Bank$1., $3., $5., $10.WaukeganBank of Northern Illinois$1., $2.West AuroraBank of Aurora$1., $2., $3., $5.Woodstock

Woodstock BanklOc.

CITY AND TOWN ISSUESCity of Bloomington, McLean County

lOc, 25c, 50c, $1.Bureau County, Board of supervi-sors, annual meeting, 1864, Sol-dier's Relief Fund

$2.City of Columbia, Monroe County

lOc, 25cCity of East St. Louis, St. ClairCounty

$1., $2., $5.Griggsville, Treasury Note

$2.Kankakee City, Kankakee County25cMound City, Pulaski County

5c, 25c

TRANSPORTATION ISSUESBloomington

Chicago, Alton & St. Louis R.R.$10.

ChicagoChicago & Southwestern PlankRoad Co.

$1.Lockport

Illinois & Michigan Canal Fundnotes on the State Bank

$1., $1., $2., $2.50, $2.50, $5.,$5., $5., $10., $100., $100.,$100., $150.East St. Louis

Illinois River Packet Co.lOc

JolietOswego & Indiana Plank RoadCo.

$1., $2., $3., $5.LaSalle

Illinois & Rock River R.R.$2., $3.

PekinIllinois River Railroad Co.

lOc, 25cIllinois & Rock River R.R.

25cPeru

Salisbury Plank Road Co.$1.

Shoal CreekShoal Creek Toll-Bridge (re-deemable at J. H. Lambert'sStore in Carlyle, Feb. 14, 1820)

25c

SCRIP ISSUESAlton

Jones & Sawyer25c

BeardstownChamplin Smith & Co. on thebanking house of J. C. Leonard& Co.

lOc, $10.


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BellevilleSt. Clair Savings & InsuranceCo.

lOc, 50cBishops Hill

L. Bjorkland, (Nov. 1, 1862)25c, 50cWestern Exchange & MarineInsurance Co.25c, 50c, $1., $2., $3., $5.Bloomington

Evergreen City Business Col-lege

10c, 25cBreese

R. S. M. DonnelOc

ChebanseE. S. Richmond

lOcChenoa

J. R. Snyder25cChicagoLuman Burr, Camp Douglass,Post Sutler

25cChadwick & Co.$1.

Chicago Marine & Fire Insur-ance Co.$1., $2., $3., $5.

Chicago Times5c

Thomas Church25cPhilip Conley, 137 Lake St.

25c, 25cCrosby Opera House, 1866.

$5.DeGraff & Co., advertising note$15.A. 0. Downs, 150 Lake St.25c

Eastman's College note, Mer-chants National Bank$3.North Chicago Rolling Mill$10.

P. Palmer & Co., 112-116 Lake25c, 50c

Pedman & Co.25c, 50c

Geo. Randolph (payable in 111.& Michigan Canal 6% scrip)5c

Ross & Co., 167 Lake St.25c

Stein, Advertising note, 1868,83 Clark St.

$3.Stryker & Co., 150 Lake St.25c

DanvilleTincher & English50c

DixonDixon Hotel Co.

$2., $3., $5.Dixons FerryDixon Hotel Co.

$3., $5.Dunton

J. M. Olmstead50c

El PasoVan Vleet & Bois50c

FreeportJohn Long, on the StephensonCounty BanklOc, 15c

Jos. Louchheim25c, 50cWm. P. Malbum, on FarmersBank5c, 5c, 25c, 25c, 50c

HanoverH. A. Hallerman, 1862.

25c, 50cP. Lampen & Co.

$1.Jackson

Illinois Exporting, Mining &Manufacturing Co., (Inc. 1833)

$1., $2., $3., $10.Joliet

Albert Day & Co., adv. note$3.

Joliet City Bank5c

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LockportNorton & Co.lOc

H. Norton12y2 c, 25c, 50cMacombChandler & Co.

5cNauvooNauvoo House Ass'n (Mormon

issue)$50., $100.

OttawaWm. H. W. Cushman, 1862.lOc, 50cPeoriaFarmers & Merchants Ex. Co.$3.Merchants Association5c

PeruBrewster & Co.

5cBank of Peru5c

QuincyL. & C. H. Bull

5cEagle Mill, 1862lOcFarmer's & Mei'chant's Ex. Co.

$1.Quincy Savings Bank

5cRochelle

Guest & Lake, advertising noteAO$rf.RockfordWood & Co., Druggists

2cSpringfield

(See State issues)Trenton

David Beardsley & Co.5c

WashingtonB. P. Kelly, Nov. 1, 1862

50c

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Early illinois paper money

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