The Eagle Paper Company of Richmond, Virginia

 

EAGLE PAPER CO.

APR

24

1900

RICHMOND, VA.

Advertisement in the Richmond Times Dispatch of April 27, 1907:

Where to Drink a Beer in 1900 in the District of Columbia

When a Republican Congresswoman accused Democrats of drinking on the House floor during the multiple rounds of voting for Speaker of the House in the past week, my mind drifted back to a bar near the Capitol that I once frequented many years ago known as the Tune Inn.  It was always popular with the Congressional staff crowd, and a few Congress persons too; I had staffer friends and meeting there was a common occurence.  

Unfortunately for the politicians of 1900, there was no Tune Inn.  But there were options.  One way to sort out where to go would have been to have consulted B. H. Warner Company's map of Washington, D.C.  In a pile of checks I acquired years ago that were all used and issued in the District of Columbia, I found both a B. H. Warner check and one from The Washington Brewery Company, which was located very near the US Capitol.

B. H. WARNER Co.

FEB

9

1900

Brainard Henry Warner himself signed the check above.  B. H. Warner & Company was involved in a variety of businesses in the District of Columbia at the turn of the century, but one of the company's enduring legacies comes from their publication of a D. C. street map.  A new arrival to the city, such as a new Congressman, might have familiarized himself with the city's layout by studying this map.  The District of Columbia at that time was a much smaller version of its current self.  Georgetown and Georgetown University were then at the far edge of the District and its population.  Georgetown University's Healy Hall is illustrated at the far left side of the map.  I lived in the District in the late 1980s in a northwest neighborhood called Cleveland Park, which is only indicated on the 1886 map as a nearly rural area that has a house owned by Grover Cleveland.

It occured to me that Congressmen might have become thirsty after multiple rounds of voting for a new Speaker of the House, and I'm sure they were interested in finding a nice beer garden or other suitable drinking spot within range of the Capitol.  Turns out there was a spot only blocks away!

B. H. Warner's Washington street map from 1886

Map inset showing the capitol building.  A thirsty Congressman could follow Maryland Avenue to 4th Street, NE, take a left, and walk three blocks to The Washington Brewery Company at block 811.

THE WASHINGTON BREWERY CO.

JUL

4

1900

1904 layout of the Washington Brewery Company with the brewery and a beer garden; plot map provides the street location and the block number.  

One option at the beer garden was Washington Brewery's Ruby Lager.

Washington Brewery Co., c.1910.  Washington Brewery Co. would close for good with prohibition.

Same Corner, present day

Southern Railroads: Mobile & Ohio Railroad, "The Rebel Route"

July 1, 1898, First Day of the Tax Period

Farm. & Mec. Nat. Bk

JUL     1     1898

Georgetown,  D. C.

Langlois scan

Check of the Farmers & Mechanics National Bank of Georgetown, District of Columbia from Joseph B. Bailey dated July 1, 1898, the first day of the Spanish-American War tax period. 

Completed in 1922 in the heart of Georgetown at the corner of M Street and Wisconsin Avenue, this neoclassical building was once the home of the Farmers & Mechanics National Bank.  It became a branch of the Riggs Bank for years, and is now a branch for PNC Bank. 

*****

The user of this check, Joseph B. Bailey, was a dry goods merchant in Washington.  ArlingtonCemetary.net provides a few details about Mr. Bailey:

"Joseph B. Bailey was born in 1848 at Heathsville,Northumberland County,Virginia. He entered service at Richmond on November 23,1864 and served under Captain William Dement, Company D, 1st Maryland, Light Artillery. In the Battle of Dutch Gap and Drewry's Bluff on the James River, he was taken prisoner of war. Paroled at Appomattox on April 9,1865 and Oath of Armesty taken May 29th,1865.  After the war, he was a dry goods merchant in Washington, D.C. and the father of Ralph B.Bailey. Lived at 413 6th Street,Washington, D.C. SW and was a Member of Camp# 171,Confederate Veterans.

1898 Revenue Exhibits at ARIPEX all Garner Gold Awards and Another Phoenix Check

1898 Revenue exhibits did well at ARIPEX!  All four of the 1898 revenue exhibits garnered Gold Medals! 

Additionally, Hermann Ivester's single frame exhibit, The Saint Louis Provisionals 1898, won the show's Single Frame GRAND AWARD, the ARA's award for the best revenue single frame exhibit, and the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitor's special award for the exhibit having the Best Title Page. 

Winning the ARIPEX single frame grand award, automatically qualifies Hermann's exhibit for the national single frame "Champion of Champions" competition at Ameristamp Expo in Little Rock Arkansas in February 2014!  Congratulations Hermann!! 

The ARIPEX multi-frame RESERVE GRAND award went to Frank Sente's 10 frame exhibit, Spanish American War Fiscal History: The US Documentary Taxes 1898-1902.  Sente's exhibit also was awarded the American Revenue Association Grand Award as the best overall revenue exhibit.       

Standing in front of Len McMaster's exhibit from left to right are:

Frank Sente, Len McMaster, Hermann Ivester, and Bob Hohertz

 

1898Revenue blog readers can enjoy much of the material in these four exhibits vicariously. 

 

Len McMaster's, "I. R." Overprinted 1898 1cent Franklin Postage Stamps, exhibit is available online here at 1898Revenues.

 

Many of the 1898 Saint Louis Provisional Issues in Hermann Ivester's exhibit and much more information about them can be found here on 1898Revenues.  And now that Hermann's wonderful material is in exhibit format, we'll be asking him to scan those 16 pages to put up on 1898Revenues.  

 

It was a thrill for me to view Hermann's exhibit as all I've ever been able to do is read about these stamps. Previous owners of the material never exhibited it, Hermann being the first ever to do so! 

 

Bob Hohertz  has blogged extensively about the revenue stamp paper of the 1898 tax era on 1898Revenues. Much of the material in his exhibit, Revenue Stamped Paper of the Spanish American War Tax Era, may be found in his blogs.

 

And finally, individual blogs about some of the items from my exhibit, Spanish American War Fiscal History: The Documentary Taxes 1898-1902, can be found among the On Document Uses blogs on 1898Revenues.    

 

Shows aren't just about exhibits and awards however; more importantly they provide a venue where collectors, exhibitors and dealers can meet, trade information, and discuss mutual interests.  The camaraderie and good fellowship developed from face to face meetings with others having similar interests far outweighs awards. 

 

I finally got to meet 1898 revenue contributor Sean Roberts.  Len McMaster and I discussed a joint article about bisect stamp usages from the 1898 tax era, and I attended the meetings of the American Revenue Association.  And I would be remiss if I didn't provide a link to the American Revenue Association website; it's their annual meeting that I'm attending at ARIPEX prompting these Phoenix-related blogs.

 

Here's an interesting bank check.  Other than being datelined Phoenix, Arizona, it's a generic printed form; essentially it could have been used at any bank!

 

Bank of Arizona check on generic check form

January 27, 1899

 

Drawn by John Lawler against the Bank of Arizona, Prescot, Aziz. (Note mis-spelling of Prescott) it was made payable to "Valley Bank" or bearer.  The pair of one-cent large I. R. overprint stamps paying the 2cent check tax apparently were applied at the bank as they bear a double ring cancel reading: "The Valley Bank"/ "Phoenix, Arizona"

 

John Lawler was a prominent Prescott businessman who had extensive cattle and mining interests.  His papers are available at the University of Arizona.  Perhaps he was on business in Phoenix and picked up this form check at the Valley Bank to secure $200 cash. 

 

As I now live in Prescott, Arizona it's a treasured item in my 1898 collection.

 

             

   

              

           

 

ARA Meeting at ARIPEX 2013 and an Interesting Phoenix National Bank Check

The American Revenue Association is holding its annual meeting at ARIPEX 2013 this weekend in Mesa, Arizona.  The show runs from Friday April 19 through Sunday April 21 at the Mesa Convention Center. 

The show is open to the public at no charge and features 226 frames of philatelic exhibits and more than 40 participating dealers.  Although not all of them are exhibiting 1898 revenue material, six contributors to the 1898REVENUES blog have  exhibits at the show: Bob Hohertz, Frank Sente, Len McMaster, Ron Lesher (Court of Honor), Hermann Ivester, and Mike Mahler.  A seventh contributor, Sean Roberts, has a dealer booth. 

In addition to the ARA, other groups having meetings at the show are: the State Revenue Society, the US Possessions Philatelic Society, the American Society of Check Collectors, and the American Airmail Society.  A special court of honor exhibit featuring several Buffalo Balloon stamps, a unique proof of the stamp, and just one of 3 known covers to have survived the 1877 balloon flight that carried mail bearing these stamps will be on display. 

ARIPEX is a World Series of Philately qualifying exhibition and any collectors or readers of this blog in the Phoenix/Mesa environs would benefit from attending.  Four 1898 tax era exhibits will be on display.  For more information about the show, go here.

Our thanks to Bob Hohertz for providing an interesting revenue imprint check drawn on The Phoenix National Bank and payable to the Central Avenue Driving Association. 

  Phoenix National Bank Check

11/22/1900

Bob Hohertz Scan

 

 

Central Avenue a major north south artery that runs through the heart of Phoenix. From the Phoenix Market Trends website we learn this interesting tidbit about the development of North Central Phoenix in the late 1900s and the role of the Central Avenue Driving Association.

 

 "Development of the North Central Avenue area began in 1895 when William J. Murphy platted the Orangewood subdivision. This two-square mile area bounded by what are now Northern Avenue and Bethany Home Road, between 7th Avenue and 7th Street was promoted as the Orangewood Residential Village.

Murphy’s concept about Orangewood was to create a suburb of Phoenix “wherein might be established rural homes at an easy distance from the city.” He believed that the large lot size would attract upper income residents of Phoenix, wealthy outside investors and immigrants who would utilize the lots to build large estate homes surrounded by citrus groves. The subdivision was divided primarily into 20-acre size lots with Central Avenue extending through the property as the subdivision’s principal roadway.
Olive and ash trees were added along both sides of Central Avenue with citrus trees from Southern California planted on the interior portions to make the subdivision more attractive to new investors and homeowners. The exclusivity of Orangewood was evident in that at the turn of the 19th century, the Central Arizona Driving Association arranged to have Central Avenue deeded as a “driving street” for property owners to drive their horse-drawn buggies. There was even a separate path on the east side of Central Avenue for horses and riders only.

We hope we can provide a couple of blogs during the show and perhaps a photo or two as well. 

 



        

New England Railroads: Old Colony Railroad

O.  C.  R.  R.

APR   1  1899

Dividend check for the Old Colony Railroad Company

Langlois scans

The Old Colony Railroad primarily served the state of Massachussets.  In the early 1890s, the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad leased in its entirety the OCRR.

New England Railroads: Boston & Providence Railroad

B & P. R. R.

Oct. 2, 1899

Boston & Providence Check from October 2, 1899.

The Boston & Providence was one of the first railroads in the United States of America.  It began construction in late 1832 to connect Boston with Providence, Rhode Island. 

Boston & Providence Railroad Depot, Boston

Oil Companies: The Standard Oil Company - John Rockefeller and Ida Tarbell

What was the Standard Oil Company?  Standard Oil was established in 1870, became the largest oil refiner in the world, and was broken up for anti-trust reasons by the Supreme Court in 1911.  John D. Rockefeller was the founder and chairman of the company, and with his control and ownership became the richest man in  the world.

Standard Oil and John Rockefeller became famous, and in some quarters infamous, for the firm's and its chairman's voracious appetite for its competition.  Rockefeller managed to undercut, weaken, and then find ways to control, buy-out, or destroy competition.  These behaviors would ultimately stimulate the work of muckraking journalists, and lead to anti-trust litigation that would break up the firm.  

The first great American investigative journalist, Ida Tarbell, would essentially establish the craft of investigative journalism through her work on the case of Standard Oil.  

John D. Rockefeller

1839-1937

For all the approbation cast upon Mr. Rockefeller for his aggressive business practices, Rockefeller was one of the greatest philanthropists in history and his legacy still benefits the world today.  Rockefeller lived a long time: 98 years.  He retired from business while still in his sixties, giving him more than 30 years to practice and structure formal philanthropy.  As one of the richest men in history, combined with his extended "retirement", John Rockefeller ultimately became a boon to the pursuit of the arts and sciences in the United States and throughout the world.

Ida Tarbell

1857-1944

Though published as a book, Tarbell's original work on Standard Oil appeared in a magazine called McClures, serialized in 19 parts.  McClures was quite popular in turn of the century United States, and distinguished itself by publishing a series of muckraking articles, including Ray Baker's investigation of United States Steel.

The famous 1904 Standard Oil octopus with a grip on everything within its reach, including the Congress, and with its eyes on its next target, the White House.

Asbury Harpending and His Busy July 11, 1898 Check

As with most examples of the early use of R153, this check comes from the far west, this example from the National Bank of D. O. Mills & Company.  Darius Ogden Mills was a tycoon who built his great wealth from the Comstock Lode in Nevada, and the Virginia and Truckee Railroad built to get the silver out of Nevada to California.  He owned a self-named building in New York's financial district housing many NYSE firms.

But while the use of two R153s on a far west check and Mr. Mills' bank and his role in the US economy might be interesting, the signature on this check is from a man perhaps more intriguing than Mr. Mills or the use of the stamps.

A. Harpending signature from check

Asbury Harpending in 1915 when he was 76 years old.  

Harpending published his autobiography, The Great Diamond Hoax and Other Stirring Episodes in the Life of Asbury Harpending - An Epic of Early California, in 1917.  The stories are remarkable, including time as a mercenary "freebooter" or filibusterer in Central America, making a fortune in mining in California and Mexico, joining an 1861 attempt to create an independent Pacific Republic out of California, and backing Confederate interests during the Civil War.  His autobiography's title, The Great Diamond Hoax, speaks to his involvement in the artificial creation by seeding, of an alleged diamond mine in Wyoming in 1872. 

From the preface of his book:

On my return to California, after an absence of many years, my attention was called, for the first time, to the fact that my name had been associated unpleasantly with the great diamond fraud that startled the financial world nearly half a century ago. Plain duty to my family name and reputation compelled me to tell the whole story of that strange incident so far as my knowledge of it extends. I sincerely trust that a candid reading of these pages will satisfy the public that I was only a dupe, along with some of the most distinguished financiers of the last generation. Concerning two of the historians who maligned me, I am without redress. They are dead. The latest author, Mr. John P. Young, repeated the accusation of his predecessors in his history of San Francisco. This gentleman has admitted that he merely copied the story of the earlier works, having no personal knowledge of events at that period, and has handsomely admitted, over his signature, that he unconsciously did me an injustice.

To the diamond story I have added, at the request of friends, some of my experiences and reminiscences of California of the early days.

Asbury Harpending.



Cotton "Factors": Heard Brothers

Cotton Exchange, New Orleans, 1873, by Edgar Degas

Cotton Factors, or businessmen that bought and sold cotton and acted as middlemen for cotton growers, were a mainstay of the southern cotton economy.  Some of the gentlemen in the Degas painting above were no doubt cotton factors.

RN X7 imprinted check drawn on the account of Heard Brothers

Bob Hohertz scan

The Heard Brothers, cotton factors, bought and sold cotton and manufactured and sold fertilizer, but as Harold Woodman writes, the cotton factor did more than just act a middleman for cotton: 

From King Cotton and His Retainers: Financing and Marketing of the Cotton Crop of the South by Harold D. Woodman:

"Although the factor served as the planter's banker, factorage houses were not banks in the real meaning of the word; that is, unlike commercial banks, factors did not have the power to create money either through note issue or deposit loans.  They did, as has been shown, often open a line of credit to a customer, allowing him to draw on them as funds were required.  In doing so, however, they merely loaned money on hand (their own funds or those being held for a planter) or they borrowed from other sources.  In the former case they could be compared to modern savings and loan associations or credit unions; in the latter case, they acted much as do present day finance companies.  The factor, then, was the planter's banker only in a very general sense: he handled his funds, arranged his credit, and paid his bills.

Cotton Buyers: Smith & Coughlan

RNX7 imprinted sight draft charged to Clifton Manufacturing in Clifton, South Carolina for 100 bales of cotton for $4809.26

Bob Hohertz scan

Bob Hohertz heeded my call last week for cotton-related material and sent in this scan of a draft from Smith & Coughlan, cotton buyers.  A little history on this firm is found below.  Smith & Coughlan had shipped by rail 100 bales of cotton to Clifton Manufacturing in South Carolina, and charged Clifton Mfg $4809 through this draft.

From  the

HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL REVIEW; MAILING AND SHIPPING GUIDE

(Illustrated)
Birmingham, Anniston, Gadsden, Huntsville, Decatur, Tuscaloosa and Bessemer

THEIR MANUFACTURING AND MERCANTILE INDUSTRIES, HISTORY, PROGRESS, AND DEVELOPMENT

NEW YORK AND BIRMINGHAM
Southern Commercial Publishing Company.
1888.

SMITH & COUGHLAN, Birmingham and Gadsden. — No class of commercial business advances a city more than those who advance the farming interests of the country, and thereby the producing supply. This is done more particularly by the commission men of the city. The firm heading this sketch bas been in operation about five years, and have a ripe experience in the handling as well as in the markets for selling the fleecy staple.

With ample cash to buy, Messrs. Smith & Coughlan are prepared to make liberal advances on cotton. They have another office at Gadsden, Alabama, in connection with the cotton business.  Mr. F. G. Smith is a native of Nashville, Tennessee. He has been engaged in the steamboat business for many years.  He is well known in the city as President of the South Anniston Land Company.  His partner, Mr. J. H. Coughlan, is a native of Boston.

Their long experience in the business, with their extensive correspondence and acquaintance with the cotton markets of the world, has fitted them to realize good prices for cotton, which brings them the most liberal orders. The firm is a leading one in the cotton trade, and is entitled to the confidence of the readers of the history of Birmingham, who have orders of cotton to give, and desire a good firm, possessed of executive ability in this line of business.

This is but a brief account of a firm which, in every way, is worthy of the success it has attained, and the esteem in which it is held by the entire communitv.



CLIFTON MANUFACTURING:

From the Textile History website:

Clifton Manufacturing Company was incorporated January 19, 1880 with a capital stock of $200,000 (1). Mills at this time were normally built along rivers where a change in slope gave opportunity to harness water power.  With prior experience downstream on the Pacolet River, Edgar Converse, a native of Swanton, Vermont, organized cotton mill at Hurricane Shoals. The noted engineering firm of Lockwood Greene was selected to design the mill. Clifton Mill No. 1 (named or the cliffs overlooking the Pacolet), began manufacturing in 1881 with 7,000 spindles, 144 looms and 600 operatives, who lived in the nearby mill village. (2)

The company prospered and authorized another mill in August 1887. The new mill, named Clifton No. 2 was located just downriver on Cannon’s Shoals. Construction began in 1888 and began production in 1889 with 21,512 spindles, a three-fold increase over No. 1. Early products for these mills included sheeting, drills, and print cloth.

In May 1895, management authorized a third mill to be located just north of mill No. 1. This mill, Clifton No. 3, would have 34,944 spindles and 1092 looms. Albert H. Twichell succeeded Edgar Converse as president of Clifton Manufacturing upon the death of Mr. Converse in May, 1899. Clifton No. 3 opened in 1900.

he Flood of 1903:  A devastating flood on June 6, 1903 tore through the valley and caused havoc. One witness said of Clifton No. 3, “The five-story, 50,000-spindle mill trembled for a while, then gave way, a wall of water rose 40 feet in minutes. Mill No. 1 was next in line. The entire mill village within 100 feet of the river was destroyed. One-third of the mill disappeared. When the water reached No. 2, it took away half the four-story mill.” (3)

Sources:


1. Teter, Betsy Wakefield, editor. 2002. Textile Town Spartanburg County, South Carolina, Hub City
Writers Project, Spartanburg ISBN 1-891885-28-6 Appendix.
2. Mike Hembree, The Birth of Clifton – Boom Town on the Pacolet
3. William M. Branham, The Flood of 1903 –Terror Along the Pacolet River p 77

J. E. Soper & Company, Cotton Seed Meal

From:  Boston, Its Commerce, Finance & Literature, by A. F. Parsons Publishing, 1892:

E. SOPER & CO., Millers' Agents for Cotton Seed Meal, Shippers of Grain and Feed, Nos. 2 and 3 India Street.— Considered as a factor in the sum of: commercial activity, the importance of the grain and feed interest in this city can scarcely be over-estimated. The transactions in ear lots of corn, oats, etc., daily reach enormous proportions, and the volume of trade affords evidence of steady and substantial increase. Notable among Boston's representative firms engaged in the line indicated is that of J. E. Soper & Co., of Nos. 2 and 3 India St., and which for thirty-five years has been a prominent factor in the trade.

They are millers' agents for sale of cotton seed meal, and shippers of grain and feed, and make a leading specialty of cotton seed meal, of which they are the largest handlers in the United States. The firm which is composed of Messrs. J. E. Soper and H. B. Moore, occupy a well ordered office, connected by telephone, (2133;, and employ several clerks. They are agents for a number of western millers, and represent nearly all the cotton seed meal mills in the country, selling immense quantities of the latter in car and cargo lots. The house js conducted on strict business principles, while its management is characterized by liberal and honorable methods, and those having dealings with this solid and reliable firm are assured of finding the same of an entirely satisfactory character.

The trade of the concern is exceedingly large, extending throughout New England, New York State and the British provinces; and all orders for anything in the line above indicated (in car lots) are executed in the most prompt and trustworthy manner, at lowest possible figures, manufacturers' prices being quoted. Messrs. Soper and Moore, who are gentlemen of middle age and natives of Maine, are men of energy and sagacity as well as thorough business experience, highly regarded in comm,ercial circles, and are valued members of the Boston Chamber of Commerce.

Chicago & West Michigan Railway

Or is it Pere Marquette?  Or the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern?  There is much going on with this check:

RN-X7 tax stamp printed check, prepared for the Chicago & West Michigan Railway, overstamped by the Pere Marquette Railroad and with a paid stamp from the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway.

The Pere Marquette Railroad was created on November 1, 1899, and absorbed through merger three railroads on January 1, 1900:  the Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad, the Detroit, Grand Rapids and Western Railroad, and the Chicago and Western Michigan Railway.

The Chicago & West Michigan check above was written only 12 days after the railway was merged into the Pere Marquette.  The PM RR, rather than throwing out a tax paid and preprinted check by C&WM Ry, simply overstamped their own name across the top of the check.

As to the use of the check, and with help from Bob H:  The PMRR hauled some cars belonging to the LS&MS the month before (actually, the C&WM did since the PM didn't own them yet.) and they are collecting mileage from the LS&MS.  The PM wrote up this draft and sent it to the LS&MS, who audited it, approved it (that oval "correct" stamp at lower left) and paid the money. 

Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Railway Company

Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Railway Company check with 2c revenue imprint

Langlois scan

The Duluth and South Shore ran from Duluth, Minnesota to Sault St. Marie in Michigan's upper peninsula.  In 1961 the D,SS&A was folded into the larger Soo Line Railroad, part of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

The check was written to the Marquette County Savings Bank.  The city of Marquette, Michigan is the biggest city in the upper peninsula.

Cancel for January 11: Jacob Hoffmann

Jacob Hoffman signed check

JacHoff

January 11/1900

manuscript cancel by Jacob Hoffmann

In a previous post, you can view a June 29, 1898 Jacob Hoffmann bill of lading.  Jacob Hoffmann ran a brewery in New York.

Cancel for October 3: Pennsylvania Railroad's Altoona Juniata Scales

PENNSYLVANIA  R.  R.

OCT  3  1899

ALTOON JUNIATA SCALES.

Altoona - Juniata, Pennsylvania

Altoona, PA is a town created by the Pennsylvania Railroad for their shops.  Altoona operations included the repair of locomotives and the design and construction of complete locomotives.  Altoona is located close to Bellefonte, PA, the home of the American Philatelic Society.