This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/21/2024
[AMERICANA - PANIC OF 1837]. HALSTED, William (1794-1878). Autograph Manuscript Signed Concerning the Great Panic of 1837. Trenton [New Jersey], 8 June 1837. Manuscript signed discourse written at the onset of the Panic of 1837, concerning the ethics and obligations of the Mechanics’ and Manufacturers’ Bank in Trenton which had been established less than three years earlier, by respected Trenton attorney and Whig politician William Halsted, who had recently been elected a Member of the United States Representatives to represent New Jersey, signed and dated in the original by the author. 8vo. 8 pages in manuscript, penned recto and verso, each leaf affixed to the next with two spots of glue to upper margin, measuring approximately 7 ¾ x 9 ¾”. Sheets feature an embossed cameo of a three-masted barque. Some creasing, light occasional edgewear, otherwise in very good condition. At the request of the Directors of the Mechanics’ and Manufacturers’ Bank of Trenton, from a legal standpoint, Halsted answers three specific questions regarding the bank’s refusal (inability) to redeem paper currency into specie (silver or gold coins). His erudite assessment surely resulted in careful deliberation by the members of the board, while it provides for us now a scarce period perspective of the historic financial crisis. It is interesting to note that just prior to the crisis at hand, the town of Trenton was in a period of unusual prosperity, with factories, mills, and other buildings being erected throughout. In September 1836 the bank in question had also decided to construct a new building, approved by William Grant, who had become the bank’s president in April 1837. Completion of the bank, unfortunately, was followed by a season of much financial distress. Halsted’s discourse is dated 8 June 1837. A financial assessment of the Mechanics’ and Manufacturers’ Bank in Trenton was reviewed at the Legislature’s General Assembly of 24 October 1837. The results of the investigation were submitted to William Pennington, Governor of the State of New Jersey, on 19 December 1837. Details are published in the “Votes and Proceedings of the Sixty-Second General Assembly of the State of New Jersey.” During the Great Panic of 1837, most or all banks had insufficient specie to redeem the paper notes which they had issued as currency. On 10 May 1837, banks in New York City, for example, suspended specie payments, meaning that they would no longer redeem commercial paper in specie at full face value. In the spring of 1837 all banks in New Jersey suspended specie payments, resulting in much financial distress for civilians, and in some cases bankruptcy. An act of the Legislature of New Jersey was passed on 11 November 1837, only a few months after this discourse was made, to investigate all banks in the State. Full description available upon request.