The Estate of Amos R. Eno

 

Executors of 

Amos R. Eno

1899.

David Thompson contributes a stamp with a fabulous and intriguing cancel this week, a cancel that practically requires one to Google "Amos R. Eno".  So Dave did, and so did I.  And we found, just as you will, that Mr. Eno was one of Manhattan's great real estate millionaires.  Not nearly as rich as the more famous John Jacob Astor, Eno nevertheless built a sizeable fortune based on New York real estate.  Eno died in 1898 and the executors of his estate were clearly still taking care of things when this stamp was cancelled in 1899.

As I was preparing this post, I began to reflexively hum the song The True Wheel, by Brian Eno.  I couldn't resist adding the video.  If intrigued, I suggest listening the entire influential album, Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy  It is possible that Amos and Brian share a distant relative.

Brian Eno - The True Wheel from the album Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy - 1974

Wabash Railroad

See the 1940s era Wabash Railroad video below.

THE WABASH

MAR

17

1899

R. R. CO.

Langlois scan

Wabash RR 1887 system map

Insurance Company of North America

INS. CO. OF N. A.

MAY      8     1899

Langlois scan

The Insurance Company of North America was founded in Philadelphia in 1792.  It grew to be one of the largest insurance companies in the United State before merging with Connecticut General to form the insurace company CIGNA in 1982.  CIGNA is now owned by the Swiss-based insurance firm ACE Limited.

New York Bankers, Banks & Trusts: New York Central Trust Company

NEW YORK CENTRAL TRUST CO.

APR

24

1899

New York Bankers, Banks & Trusts: Manhattan Trust Company

MANHATTAN

MAR

2

1899

TRUST CO.

Langlois scan

ANDREWS & CRISS.  broker cancel

SALES BILL WITH PROPER

STAMPS ATTACHED HAS

BEEN EXHIBITED

MANHATTAN TRUST CO.

Dave Thompson scan

Advertisment, 1901 Poor's Manual

Corporation Trust Company of New Jersey

CORPORATION TRUST CO.

NOV

XX

1899

OF N. J.

Dave Thompson scan

The Corporation Trust Company of New Jersey was formed in 1892, and was packed with people with political connections.  The directors included the state Governor, Leon Abbett, among others.  The firm acted as a corporate transfer agent, and provided shelter and support to big businessmen that used its services. 

The company effectively helped lure companies to move to or establish themselves in New Jersey by making compliance with local laws simpler and more efficient. 

New York Stock Brokers: Lehman Brothers

L. BRO'S

DEC  18  1899

NEW YORK

Langlois scan

Sigmund Lehman, member of the NYSE in 1897.

The great investment bank Lehman Brothers went bankrupt in the financial crisis of 2008 brought on by investments in collateralized debt obligations based on sub-prime mortgages.  The firm was started in Montgomery, Alabama as a dry goods store.  The brothers eventually found themselves dealing in cotton.  The Lehman Brothers interest in cotton would see them opening an office in New York, where the firm would work to set up the New York Cotton Exchange.  By the early 20th century the firm would begin to structure IPO's, and helped launch some of America's greatest companies.  Those companies included Sears, Woolworths, and B. F. Goodrich.

High Value Stocks with the Portrait Issues The $100 John Marshall Issue

To date only one 1898Revenues blog has referenced the Portrait Issues of 1899. It featured a $125,000 stock certificate for The Baldwin (Piano) Company submitted by Tim Kohler. It's such a great certificate with examples of the $5 and $10 gray overprinted Commerce issues of 1900 in addition to the $100 John Marshall Portrait stamp, we're picturing it again below to introduce the subject of high value stocks. For more details about it, read the original August 17, 2010 blog.

$125,000 Baldwin Company Stock Certificate #1
Issued December 31, 1901
Cincinnati, Ohio
Tim Kohler scan

As their availability at the beginning of the 1898 tax era wasn't deemed crucial, and usage was projected to be limited, the bi-colored $100, $500, and $1,000 Portraits weren't introduced until 1899 when the print demands on the BEP were diminished from the initial requirements placed upon them by passage of the War Revenue Law.

Most were used on high value stocks, but they also can be found on other highly taxed documents like conveyances of valuable property and mortgages underlying bond offerings. As we suspect extant examples are rather scarce we plan to conduct a census of on-document usages as we did for on-document usages of the 1/2 cent Orange documentary stamp.

If you possess any on-document usages of R179, R180, or R181, the $100, $500, or $1,000 Portrait Issues please send scans of the entire documents to 1898revenues@gmail.com.

$500,000 Schuylkill and Juniata Railroad Company Stock Certificate
Original Issue June 1, 1900
Philadelphia, PA

Properly taxed $250 with two $100 Portrait issues and a single R178 $50 Commerce Issue, the stock was issued to The Pennsylvania Railroad Company (PRR). Actually, The Schuylkill and Juniata Railroad Company was formed June 1, 1900 from the consolidation of five subsidiaries of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The predecessor component railroads were the Pennsylvania Schuylkill Valley; the Nescopec; North and West Branch; the Sunbury, Hazleton and Wilkes Barre; and the Sunbury and Lewistown. These lines all served the Coal Region of northeastern Pennsylvania. The company was absorbed into the PRR in 1902.

Detail showing straightline cancel:
Schuylkill & Juniata Railroad
June 1, 1900

$364,000 James S. Kirk Company Stock Certificate
Original Issue March 1, 1900
Chicago, Illinois

Properly taxed $182 with a single $100 John Marshall Portrait stamp, one $50, three $10, and two $1 Commerce stamps, the certificate was issued to James B. Kirk, Evanston, presumably a relative of the founder James S. Kirk. A third James, James A. Kirk, a son of James S. was president of the company at this time. Although the firm was located in Chicago, it was incorporated in New Jersey and this stock was issued through the firm's transfer agent, the Corportation Trust Company of New Jersey.

Originally founded in Utica, New York in 1839, James S. Kirk moved his soap manufacturing company to Chicago in 1859 where it competed with Proctor and Gamble who would eventually buy out Kirk's ancestors in the 1930s. The company however is again in business as Kirk's Natural Products Corporation.

I've seen period trade cards for Kirk's Jap Rose Soap. The firm also produced some perfumery products. Bob Mustacich's Battleship Desk Reference indicates they used the 3/8, 5/8, 1 1/4, 2 1/2, 3 3/4, and 5 cent proprietary issues. Perhaps we'll see more about James S. Kirk & Company in the future. For now we can enjoy the documentary stamps on its stock.

Cancellation Detail from James S. Kirk Stock:
Corporation Trust Co.
APR/27/1900
of N. J.

Bob Patetta again has provided a most interesting usage example for the $100 Portrait Issue.

$6,999,200 Saint Paul and Northern Pacific Stock Certificate
Original Issue May 13, 1897 (pre-tax era)
Brainerd then St. Paul, Minnesota
Bob Patetta scan

Had the original issue taken place during the War Tax era the tax would have been a whopping $3,499.60! Even the .02/$100 tax on its transfer, which did occur during the War Tax period, amounted to $1,399.84. The colorful payment, shown below consists of 13 $100 R179 John Marshall Portrait Issues including two full strips of four of that issue. (We discuss how these stamps were issued in a future blog). The payment also includes one R178 $50 Commerce; four R188 $10 gray overprinted Commerce; one R175 $5 Commerce; four $1 gray overprinted Commerce, plus the following battleship stamps: one 1-cent, four 2-cent, one 25-cent, and one 50-cent.

The 13 copies of the $100 John Marshall stamp are stunning, but wouldn't a $1,000 James Madison in place of 10 of them have been even moreso!

NOR. PAC.
1901
Railway CO.
Bob Patetta scan

Again, we are conducting a on-document usage census of ALL three Portrait stamps, the $100, $500, and $1,000 issues. If you have other on-documnet examples please send scans of the entire document to 1898revenues@gmail.com

Cancel for April 24: Central Trust Company of New York

CENTRAL TRUST CO. OF NEW YORK

APR

24

1899

The Central Trust Company of New York was established in New York in 1873.   By 1918 it became the Central Union Trust Company, and then again after a 1929 merger with Hanover Bank it became the Central Hanover Bank and Trust Company.  Eventually, after another merger, the bank would become Manufacturers Hanover.  After becoming a part of Chase Manhattan it would then, by 2004, be a part of JP Morgan Chase.  Phew...

Stock Certificates - The Basic Tax Rates

The tax on stock certificates is detailed in the first paragraph of the War Revenue Law of 1898 Schedule A Documentary Stamp Taxes. Full of bureaucratic jargon, the provision is lengthy and verbose. Cutting to the chase, original issue stock certificates were to be taxed at 5-cents per $100 in face value or fraction thereof, and upon resale, any stock certificate was to be taxed at the rate of 2-cents per $100 in original face value or fraction thereof.

Wall Street brokers had lobbied Congress against taxing resales based upon their actual resale value, arguing that doing so would be tedious as clerks would have to spend extra time calculating the tax on multi-share certificates. Hence the flat 2-cents per $100 resale tax on original face value.

Original Issue Stock Certificate Verde King Copper Company
Jerome, Arizona Territory
April 2, 1901

At $1 per share, the 100 share certificate of the Verde King Copper Mine shown above demonstrates the 5-cents/$100 tax in its simplest form with the embossed impression of the company's seal serving to cancel the R167 5-cent battleship stamp. Although this certificate likely was issued from the company's Los Angeles headquarters, the company was incorporated under the laws of the Arizona Territory in 1900 and the mine was located in Jerome, on the other side of Mingus Mountain from Prescott, the current residence of this blogger.

Since moving to Arizona in 2004, I've kept a watchful eye out for on-document usages from the then Arizona Territory; Arizona did not become a state - last of the lower forty-eight - until February 14, 1912.

At its height the copper mine boom town boasted a population of 15,000+ and held the dubious title of "wickedest town in the west." Today's Jerome is a bit more refined; a genteel artist community peppered with B&Bs, inns, and trendy restaurants.

Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad Co.
Resale of Stock December 10, 1901

John previously has blogged about a printed cancel on a $1000 share certificate for the Choctaw, Oklahoma and Gulf Railroad Car Trust issued through the Girard Trust Company in 1902 and how earlier stock issues from the company were bought up to force the sale of the road in early 1902 thus allowing the formation of the new 1902 trust agreement.

The stock pictured above undoubtedly was one of those earlier stocks accumulated just prior to that 1902 sale process as it bears a resale date of December 10, 1901 and was subsequently cancelled by Girard Trust on May 1, 1902. Actually there is more going on with this stock than meets the eye; the original owner, Atlee H. Tracy, resided in Sevenoaks just outside of Kent, England. For the purpose of this blog, however, it neatly demonstrates the 2-cents/$100 tax on a resale of stock with an original value of $100 or less. The single share here originally sold for $50.

1898 Original Issue Stock Certificate
Wisconsin Telephone Company
Patetta scan

Bob Patetta kindly has provided a nice example showing BOTH the 5-cent/$100 original issue tax and the 2-cent/$100 resale tax on the same document. At $100 per share the 1000 share certificate of the Wisconsin Telephone Company shown above originally sold for $100,000. At 5-cents/$100 it was properly taxed $50. The R178 $50 Commerce issue in the upper left corner provides a hint of some of the wild, high-value stamp combinations we'll feature in upcoming blogs.

Resale Endorsement
Wisconsin Telephone Company Stock Certificate
Patetta scan

Two $10 Commerce issues on the back of this 1000 share Wisconsin Telephone Company certificate neatly document its resale at 2-cents/$100 in original value.

The Wisconsin Telephone Company was founded in 1892. Today it's part of the "new" AT&T.

A Spectacular Bond

When I started blogging about bonds a few days ago, I emailed Bob Patetta, who has contributed some great documents before, asking if he had any unusual bonds.

Am I glad I asked! It turns out Bob has a spectacular bond, ex Morton Dean Joyce, written for Three Hundred and Fifteen Thousand, Two Hundred and Eighteen Pounds, Fourteen Shilling Sterling. That converts to $1,525,658.50 with the tax at 5 cents per $100 in face value, or fraction thereof, being $762.85

The $762.85 tax was paid by an interesting combination of stamps: four $50, five $30, twenty $10, twenty-nine $5, twenty-two $3, one $1, one 80-cent, and one 5-cent.

The Securities Company Consol (Bond)
New York, New York September 1, 1899
Bob Patetta

front of attachment sheet showing tax stamps
Bob Patetta scanback of attachment sheet showing the balance of the tax stamps
Bob Patetta scan

I'm guessing this Securities Company bond was a type of investment vehicle where the assets of various investors were pooled to create a super bond. Considering the official British Government bonds of the period generally paid just 2 3/4% annual interest, the 4% offered through this bond must have looked attractive to its investors. Anyone who can shed further light on how this investment likely was structured is invited to Comment below, or email 1898revenues@gmail.com

The stamps are all cancelled with a single-line hand stamp reading, J. A. H. Macnair, C. A. , the company's named agent, and a separate single-line date stamp dated, 29 AUG 1900. There is no indication other than the lined out signatures that the bond was called, but the fact that it was not taxed until 2 days prior to September 1, 1900, one of the interest due days when the principal also could have been paid off, suggests that's what occurred thus forcing Macnair to pony up the tax nearly a year after it should have been paid.

It's hard to find on-document usages of the $3 and $30 Commerce issues. To find both on the same document is a real coup! And it's likewise hard to find on-document usages of the 80-cent Battleship.

Thanks Bob for sharing this spectacular bond. If anyone else has an unusual bond with unusual taxation, please send a scan and description to 1898revenues@gmail.com

Cancel for March 2: Manhattan Trust Company

MANHATTAN

MAR

2

1899

TRUST CO.

A J.P. Morgan controlled company

Cancel for January 3: A. T. & T.

Scott R178 $50 Gray Brown Used

A. T. & T. CO.

JAN    3  1899

AT&T's long lines in 1891

American Telephone and Telegraph was formed as a subsidiary of the original American Bell Telephone Company of Alexander Graham Bell in 1885.  AT&T had a charter to create and operate the company's original long distance network.  By the end of 1885 the New York to Philadelphia line had been completed.  At that time the line could handle only one call at a time!    By 1899 AT&T acquired all the assets of American Bell Telephone and became the parent company.  And by the time of the cancel of the stamp above the company was in rapid expansion.