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From: "Richard A. Pence" <>
Subject: Re: [APG] "Up Through Slavery"
Date: Tue, 14 May 2002 07:42:34 -0400
References: <ea.27860ee5.2a110429@aol.com>


Some question I have never found a satisfactory answer to:

My third great grandfather, John Pence, moved from Champaign County, Ohio
(northeast of Dayton), to Bartholomew County, Indiana (south of
Indianapolis) in the fall of 1820. In October he purchased 42 80-acre
parcels of land from the government land office serving the area. According
to an article in a Bartholomew County newspaper, he paid for the land in
silver specie weighing "more than 250 pounds."

Questions:

Where did one keep that kind of money in those days? Under a very lumpy
mattress? In barrels buried in the backyard? In banks? (If so, how
reliable?)

How did you get it from one state to another? In the false bottom of a
wagon?

In other words, how was money transported? Physically or was there a system
for depositing the silver in one place and withdrawing it in another? If so,
how reliable was it?

Any insights to early 19th century money and banking greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Richard Pence
Fairfax, Virginia



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