History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men, Part 83

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1358

USA > Missouri > St Louis County > St Louis City > History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men > Part 83

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

1 Writing on this subject, Mr. Billon says, " The French word livre signifies in English a book, a pound-weight, and down to the date of the French Constitution of 1792 was the name of a coin of the value of eighteen and one-half cents of our cur- rency, which for long centuries back, under the ancient mon- archy of France, was established as the unit of that nation, in which all their money calculations were figured up and their account-books kept.

" The French Revolutionists, in their zeal to do away with everything that savored in the slightest of the ancien régime, abolished the livre and substituted therefor their new coin, the franc, which they made one mill, or the one-tenth of a cent, heavier than the livre, otherwise it would have been merely the same old thing with a new name, since which day the word livre, as applied to a money coin, has become obsolete, and is known but to few of the present age. The par value of five livres, by act of Congress, was ninety-two and one-half cents, United States currency, and that of five francs, ninety-three cents.

"As this term livre occurs in every French document on record in the archives relating to money matters, the persons who were employed to translate these papers into English some years back, being doubtless ignorant that there ever had been a coin of that designation, have almost invariably translated it into 'pound,' thereby making the document translated mean- ingless in its most essential particular, the consideration.

" Let it be understood that the above remarks in relation to the livre apply solely to the mode of keeping their accounts, there being but little of any coin seen in the country, the circu- lating medium being furs and peltries at a fixed price per pound, -forty cents for fincst, thirty for medium, and twenty cents inferior. Whether established by law or custom does not appear, but, unless otherwise stipulated by contract, all transactions were understood to be in the above medium. After the transfer to Spain the coin of that kingdom began to appear, but in very limited amounts, as we find a few transactions for 'hard dol- lars,' in contradistinction of the soft, or ' fur dollars.'

" As to paper money, none had ever been seen in the country at that early day, and even had there been any, but few could have made out the denomination.

"Even after the transfer to the United States transactions were made in pcltries, as we find that Judge John B. C. Lucas made his first purchase of a house for his residence from Pierre Duchouquette and wife, Dec. 14, 1807, for six hundred dollars in peltries."

2 The following advertisements, taken from the files of the old Missouri Republican, show that barter currency was very gen- erally in use in St. Louis at a late period :

Jan. 4, 1809 .- " Have just received and offer for sale an as- sortment of dry-goods, consisting of the following, viz .: Coat-

In many instances taxes were collected in kind, and fees were established in barter.

It was long before the tide of immigration brought to the people a small supply of silver coin. This

ings, flannels, blankets, velvets, cassimeres, linens, muslins, checks, sannas, baftas, ginghams, cambrics, hose, handker- chiefs, threads, sewing-cotton, sewing-silk, buttons, shoes, hats, paper, blank-books, pins, needles, etc.

" Also a small assortment of groceries, viz. :

"Young Hyson and Hyson skin teas, best green coffee at sixty-two cents, loaf and lump sugar at fifty cents, Muscovado sugar at fifty cents, black pepper, Spanish segars per box, hun- dred, or dozen, indigo, etc., with a general assortment of queen's penciled and enameled ware.

" The above goods were purchased in New York for cash, and will be sold as low as any in the Territory for cash, or lead at six dollars per hundred, delivered at Ste. Genevieve or Her- culaneum.

" Ste. Genevieve."

" H. AUSTIN & Co.

Jan. 11, 1809 .- " Just received and opened at the store of Bernard Pratte a complete assortment of dry-goods, groceries, liquors, iron, and steel, which will be disposed of at a moderate advance either for cash or pork."

Oct. 19, 1809 .- " The subscriber respectfully informs the citi- zens of Ste. Genevieve that he has just opened at the new store, opposite the billiard-room, a handsome and general assortment of hardware and groceries, which he will sell wholesale on the most advantageous terms for cash, lead, or approved notes.

" JOHN GORDON."

Dec. 21, 1809 .- " I wish to purchase a quantity of beef-hides of a good quality. A generous price will be given in cash or goods from those indebted to the subscriber. Hides will be taken in payment.

"GEORGE DALE."

April 26, 1810 .- " The subscriber has just opened a quantity of bleached country linen, cotton cloth, cotton- and wool-cards, iron, German steel, smoothing-irons, ladies' silk bonnets, arti- ficial flowers, etc. Also a handsome new gig, with plated har- ness, cable and cordelle rope, with a number of articles that suit this country. He will take in payment fur, hides, whiskey, country-made sugar, bacon, and beeswax.

" JOHN ARTHUR. " P.S .- A negro girl eighteen years of age, a good house- servant, for sale."

May 2, 1811 .- " The copartnership of Audubon & Rozier is this day dissolved by mutual consent. Those indebted are re- quested to make immediate payment to Ferdinand Rozier, who is duly authorized to settle all the business of said firm.

" JOHN AUDUBON. " FERDINAND ROZIER."

"The subscriber begs leave to inform his friends and the public that he has purchased that valuable stock of goods formerly owned by Audubon & Rozier, on such terms as to enable him to dispose of them by wholesale or retail un- usually low for cash, or to punctual customers on short dates. The best market price will be given for lead in exchange for goods.

" FERDINAND ROZIER. " Ste. Genevieve, April 6, 1811."

Jan. 4, 1812 .- " Look here! The subscriber has removed to the house adjoining Mr. Dongan's silversmith-shop, on Main

1369

BANKS, AND OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, AND BANKERS.

was usually in the shape of Spanish milled dollars, and did not satisfy the demand for small change. For the purpose of making change the people cut the dollars into pieces worth twenty-five cents and twelve and a half cents each, which were nicknamed " sharp- shins." This class of currency soon became very redundant and, of course, very unpopular, and in time ceased to pass except at a great reduction, or as old silver. Smaller sums than twelve and a half cents were given out by store-keepers in pins, needles, writing-paper, etc.

In framing the Constitution (1789), the right to coin money and regulate its value was given to Con- gress, the States being prohibited from making any- thing but gold and silver coin a legal tender, with the avowed purpose of establishing a specie currency as the national standard of value. But the States each claimed the right to incorporate banks, and Pennsyl- vania had taken a leading step in this direction by chartering, in 1781, the Bank of North America. This was the first bank which issued convertible notes. On Sept. 2, 1789, the Treasury Department was established, and Alexander Hamilton was ap- pointed secretary. He proposed the scheme of the first national bank of the United States, which was chartered by Congress in 1791. Its charter was for twenty years, and it issued no notes under ten dol- lars. Questions of coinage were taken up by Con- gress as early as 1781, but it was not until July 6, 1785, that the "dollar" was adopted. On Aug. 8, 1786, a mint law was passed, but after being modi- fied Oct. 16, 1786, it was not approved until Sept. 2, 1792. Silver was first coined in 1794, and gold in 1795.

Banks at this time werc political engines, and the charter of the Bank of the United States having ex- pired, its renewal was refused, and it went into liqui- dation in 1811. A large number of State banks at once sprang up, and a wild inflation of paper money prepared the way for a sad condition of financial affairs. Immediately on the declaration of war with Great Britain in 1812, all the banks in the Middle and Southern States except New York suspended payment, and the New York banks had to succumb in 1814, amid the closing scenes of the war. The

New Orleans banks suspended in April, 1814, the banks of Philadelphia Aug. 30, 1814, and those of the Middle and Southern States within a fortnight later. Those of Ohio and Kentucky had specic until Jan. 1, 1815, and while a few in Maine ceascd pay- ment early in 1814, the banks in the rest of New England did not suspend at all.

Banks now multiplied faster than ever, and the old ones increased their issues. The notes required clab- orate quotations, and brokers had a rich harvest in negotiating them. The war with Great Britain had very little effect upon St. Louis, but at its close immi- gration from the old States poured rapidly into the town. The new settlers brought more or less money and property with them, and introduced some changes in the customs and modes of living. About this period began that era of prosperity which has con- tinued ever since, and which has been a conspicuous feature of the city's history. Enterprising traders took up their abode in the town and commenced suc- cessful business. The new buildings that were erccted were more tasteful in appearance than the old ; a new vitality appeared to quicken the sluggish channels of business, and an atmosphere of thrift and comfort was created. The money which the new inhabitants now brought in, and which had been paid by the United States to the militia during the war, and to the regulars stationed in or passing through the town, turned the heads of all the people, and gave them new ideas and aspirations, so that by 1819 the whole country was affected with a mania for speculating in lands and town lots.1

St. Louis boasted in 1816 of having a business capital of nearly one million dollars, but complained that it did not enjoy the advantages of a bank, al- though the Territorial Legislature granted a charter for one as early as Aug. 21, 1813.ª All the leading

1 On the 9th of January, 1818, the following notice appeared : "St. Louis Exchange and Land Office. The undersigned having opened an office as broker for the Missouri and Illinois Territory, informs the public that he is now ready for the pur- chase and sale (on commission only) of houses and lands, United States stock, etc.

"S. R. WIGGINS."

2 The Missouri Gazette of July 13, 1816, says, ---

"The opulent town of St. Louis may boast of a capital of nearly one million, and has few manufactories, no respectable seminary, no place of worship for dissenters, no public edifices, no steam mill or boat, no bank, and (I was going to say) no effective police. Mr. Philipson has lately established an excel- lent brewery, where excellent beer and porter are made. Mr. Wilt erected a red and white lead manufactory, and threw into the market several tons of that useful article ; his red lead has been admired as superior to that imported. Mr. Hunt's tanning establishment is of primary importance. Mr. Henderson's soap

Street, St. Louis. He has on hand a heap of whiskey, plenty of peach-brandy, linsey, country linen, shoes, cut and ham- mered nails, cotton and cotton cloth, bed-cords, etc., which he will sell low for cash or beef-hides, delivered at the store or at Squire Moorehead's slaughter-yard.

" FRED. YIEZER.

"N.B .- No credit may be expected, as the subscriber has (unfortunately) never learned to write."

1370

HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.

citizens of the town felt that a bank was a necessity, and they made great efforts to establish one. They did not succeed, however, until September, 1816, when the Bauk of St. Louis was first opened for business, as will be seen elsewhere.

The State banks in other sections of the Union had by this time flooded the country with their issues, and the result was a succession of speculations, revulsions, panics, and general depression in business. The year 1817 was considered " a period of gloom and agony ; no money, either gold or silver ; no paper convertible into specie ; no measure or standard of value left re- maining ; no price for property or produce ; no sales but those of the sheriff and the marshal." It was upon this troubled sea that the fortunes of the Bank of St. Louis were cast. It conducted its business after the prevailing fashion. Instead of restraining specu- lation, it joined in the race for wealth and flooded the country with its issues. As a consequence it ceased to exist within three years.

Shortly after the Bank of St. Louis began business the Bank of Missouri was organized, and incorporated Feb. 1, 1817. The commissioners appointed to receive subscriptions to its capital stock of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars were Charles Gratiot, William Smith, John McKnight, Jean B. Cabanné, and Mat- thew Kerr. The first president was Auguste Chouteau, and the first cashier Lilburn W. Boggs. The institu- tion being a depository of the public moneys, it entered upon its career with the confidence of the public, but, like most banks of the day, it followed the course marked out by the Bank of St. Louis, and failed like its predecessor with great loss to many deserving and industrious citizens.

and candle manufactory would be of great utility if it only re- ceived that patronage the proprietor so richly merits.

"I have no doubt but that brickmakers and bricklayers, carpenters who could be satisfied with a moderate compensation for their labor, black- and whitesmiths, silversmiths, woolen- and cotton-carding and spinning-machines and managers, tobacconists, nailers, gunsmiths,coopers, pump-makers, stocking- weavers, wagon-makers, stone-cutters, boat-, barge-, and ship- builders, rope-makers, cutlers and tool-makers, skin-dressers, and many other employments would do well here. A man of capital and enterprise would soon accumulate a large fortune by erecting a steam flour- and saw-mill in this place; wheat sells here at one dollar per bushel (abundance raised in the country), and good merchantable flour is sure to command from eight to ten dollars per barrel. Corn generally rates at from twenty-five to fifty cents, and will bring in meal from fifty to eighty-seven and one-half cents per bushel. Pine boards sell at four dollars, and oak and ash at two and three dollars per hundred fcet. Saw-logs could be brought to town at one dollar each. Five thousand barrels of whiskey are annually received here from the Ohio, and sold at seventy-five cents per gallon, while thou- sands of bushels of grain are offered at a low price to any enterprising man who will commence a distillery."

Governor Ford, in his "History of Illinois," says emigrants brought money into the State at this period in great abundance. "The owners," he adds,

" had to use it some way, and as it could not be used in legiti- mate commerce in a State where the material for commerce did not exist, the most of it was used to build houses in towns which the limited business of the country did not require, and to pur- chase land which the labor of the country was not sufficient to cultivate. The United States government was then selling land at two dollars per acre, eighty dollars on the quarter-section to be paid down on the purchase, with a credit of five years for the residue. For nearly every sum of eighty dollars there was in the country a quarter-section of land was purchased, for in those days there was no specie circulation to restrain unwarrant- able speculation ; but, on the contrary, the notes of most of the numerous banks in existence were good in the public land offices. The amount of land thus purchased was increased by the gen- eral expectation that the rapid settlement of the country would enable the speculator to sell it for a high price before the expi- ration of the credit. This great abundance of money also, about this time, made a vast increase in the amount of mer- chandise brought into the State. When money is plenty every man's credit is good. The people dealt largely with the stores on credit, and drew upon a certain fortune in prospect for payment. Every one was to get rich out of the future emi- grant. The speculator was to sell him houses and lands, and the farmer was to sell him everything he wanted to begin with and to live upon until he could supply himself. Towns were laid out all over the country, and lots were purchased by every one on credit; the town-maker received no money for his lots, but he received notes of hand, which he considered to be as good as cash; and he lived and embarked in other ventures as if they had been cash in truth. In this mode, by the year 1820, nearly the whole people were irrecoverably involved in debt. The banks in Ohio and Kentucky broke one after another, leaving the people of these States covered with indebtedness and without the means of extrication. The banks at home and in St. Louis (as we have seen) ceased business. The great tide of immi- grants from abroad, which had been looked for by every one, failed to come. Real estate was unsalable; the lands pur- chased of the United States were unpaid for and likely to be forfeited. Bank notes had driven out specie, and when these notes became worthless there was no money of any description left in the country." 1

In 1822 there was a pressing scarcity of money ; in 1825, 1826, 1827, and 1828 convulsions and bank- ruptcy among the banks. Kentucky, Tennessce, Illi- nois, and Missouri tried stay laws, tender laws, and paper issues in every form. Kentucky tested the ex- periment most thoroughly ; the others desisted sooner. In 1829 and 1830 the gloom which had brooded so long over the country was dispelled and a brighter prospect was unfolded. For the first time for eight years the natural course of trade had brought a bal- ance of specie of eight and a half millions of dollars into the country. In 1828, in the clection of Gen. Jackson to the Presidency, the people began to evince hostility to every form of paper money, and in his first message to Congress President Jackson charged

1 Page 43.

1371

BANKS, AND OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, AND BANKERS.

the United States Bank, which had been chartered in 1816, and which had established a branch in St. Louis with Col. John O'Fallon as president, with having " failed in the great end of establishing a uniform and sound currency." The friends of the bank defended it, and the leading political parties took sides, one for, the other against, the bank. The citizens of St. Louis who favored the bank gave expression to their feel- ings at a public meeting held in the town hall on the afternoon of July 24, 1832. Dr. William Carr Lane presided at the meeting, and James L. Murray was appointed secretary. A committee consisting of Messrs. Edward Bates, Pierre Chouteau, Jr., George Collier, Thornton Grimsley, Henry S. Geyer, and Nathan Ranney presented the following resolutions, which were adopted :

" Resolved, That we view with deep mortification and regret the President's veto of the bill which recently passed both houses of Congress to continue for a limited time the charter of the Bank of the United States.

" Resolved, That, in our opinion, the Bank of the United States is greatly useful and convenient to the government as a fiscal agent, highly beneficial to the nation at large, and indis- pensably necessary to the commercial prosperity and individual comfort of the Western people, and its existence is as strictly accordant with the principles laid down in the Constitution as its operations are with the welfare of the community.

" Resolved, That in the present condition of the commercial and pecuniary affairs of this section of the Union, if the bank should be driven, by fear of the consequences of the President's veto, to curtail the discounts and withdraw its paper from cir- culation, one universal scene of distress and ruin will pervade the whole Western country.

" Resolved, That a committee be appointed to draft an ad- dress to the people on the subject of the re-charter of the Bank of the United States, and on the principles and doctrines of the veto message."

The chair appointed Dr. George W. Call and Messrs. Frederick Hyatt, Matthew Kerr, Asa Wilgus, Thomas Cohen, and James L. Murray to compose the committee under the last resolution.

Gen. Jackson had also a great many friends and admirers in St. Louis, and on the evening of the same day they held a meeting in the town hall, at which Dr. Samuel Merry and Absalom Link presided, and William Milburn acted as secretary. Col. George F. Strother made an address, after which Messrs. E. Dobyns, John Shade, James C. Lynch, L. Brown, B. W. Ayres, J. H. Baldwin, and P. Taylor were ap- pointed to draft resolutions. Subsequently the veto message was read, and the following resolutions were adopted :

" Resolved, That this meeting view all banks and banking institutions possessing exclusive privileges and powers of mo- nopoly as of dangerous tendency in a government of the people, calculated in their nature to draw distinctions in society and build up family nobilities.

" Resolved, That this meeting do concur with Gen. Jackson in the view which he has taken of the United States Bank, with its privileges, powers, and unconstitutionality.

" Resolved, That this meeting view the stand which Gen. Jackson has taken against the moneyed powers of Europe and America as a mark of firmness and patriotism not surpassed by any patriot or statesman since the light of liberty first dawned upon our country.

" Resolved, That he is entitled to the fullest confidence of this meeting and of the American people for his undiminished firmness.

" Resolved, That this meeting will, by all honorable and proper means, contribute all in their power to sustain him in his position against the bank."

During the time that the Branch Bank of the United States was in operation in St. Louis it had the confidence of the community, and was of great advantage to its business interests. It closed its career with great credit to its managers, for when the accounts were settled it was found that the govern- ment had sustained a loss of only one hundred and twenty-five dollars. On July 10, 1832, President Jackson vetoed a recharter for the parent bank, and in 1836, its twenty years' charter from the Federal government having expired, it was rechartered by the State of Pennsylvania. In 1837 and 1839 it sus- pended specie payments, and Feb. 4, 1840, it sus- pended finally, the stockholders losing cverything.

Upon the abolition of the Branch Bank of the United States the Cincinnati Commercial Agency established a branch in St. Louis, and by means of its ample capital and liberal dealing gained the confidence of the public. The general government deputized the agency as its fiscal agent, and the new bank assumed the business of the Branch Bank of the United States, and imparted new vigor to business, which had begun to languish for the want of pecuniary support. With the aid of government deposits the agency made considerable money, and its success excited the jealousy of the merchants, who had long wished for a bank of.their own, and who for several years had been trying to effect that object, but who had been opposed by others who dreaded the great influx of paper and a repetition of the disasters which had overtaken the banks that had previously been established in the city. The merchants, how- ever, determined to make another effort, and the first bill presented to the Legislature in 1837 was one to charter " The Union Bank of Missouri." The bill was amended and changed, and on Feb. 1, 1837, the charter of "The Bank of the State of Missouri," which had been passed, was signed by the Governor and became a law. Hugh O'Neill, Henry Walton, John B. Sarpy, George K. McGunnegle, and John O'Fallon were appointed to receive subscriptions in

1372

HISTORY OF SAINT LOUIS.

St. Louis, and a sufficient amount having been sub- scribed the bank went into operation on the 15th of April, 1837. After the establishment of the new bank tlic general government, in accordance with an act of Congress, was compelled to transact its business with it, and in Junc, 1837, a transfer was also made by the Commercial Agency to the Missouri Bank " of the local debt of our citizens," " the amount to be paid in installments at stated periods running through two years, bearing an interest of five per cent."

About the time of the agitation for the establish- ment of a local bank, a bill passed the Missouri House of Representatives for the expulsion of all agencies of foreign banking institutions from the State. Im- mediately a town-meeting was called at the City Hall, on Dec. 17, 1836, " for the purpose of taking into consideration the propriety of continuing bank agencies in the city, and for other purposes." The meeting was organized with Dr. Hardage Lane as chairman, and Charles D. Drake as secretary. John F. Darby addressed the meeting at some length, and Dr. William Carr Lane offered the following resolu- tions, which were adopted :

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Saint Louis City and County, from the earliest periods to the present day: including biographical sketches of representative men, Part 83

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898 Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts Number of Pages: 1358

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts
Number of Pages: 1358