(DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA) Volume of notarized bank protests

Sale 2368 - Lot 108

Unsold

Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,500

(DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.) Volume of notarized bank protests. 26, [469] pages. Folio, original 1/2 calf, moderate wear; minor dampstaining. Georgetown, DC, 1810-18

Set Alert for Similar Items

Additional Details

This volume was kept by notary public Richard Johns of Georgetown. Clients would come in with promissory notes on which they had difficulty in securing payment. Johns would present the note to the debtor, and if unsuccessful would enter this formal demand for payment in court. This volume includes transcripts of the original notes at the top of each page, with the protest completed below in a printed form. This volume offers great insight into finances in the capitol city during the period of the War of 1812. Numerous leading political figures appear as creditors, debtors, and endorsers. As an example, Secretary of War John Armstrong endorsed a huge $16,386.23 note from Orr & Greely to Samuel Tupper made in Cleveland in July 1813. Orr & Greely were major contractors furnishing provisions on the western front. When it went unpaid, Justice Johns recorded on 28 August 1813 that at the request of Mr. Samuel Tupper, he "called at the office of the Secretary of War with the original bill of exchange of which the above is a true copy, & presenting it to the chief clerk demanded payment, whereunto it was announced the same would not be paid." Among others mentioned as endorsers are Secretary of Treasury Albert Gallatin and Bushrod Washington, with dozens of other locally significant figures appearing as creditors or debtors.