Witness to History

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A major part of the attraction of collecting obsolete paper money lies in the artistry of its beautifully executed vignettes. These illustrations depict a wide range of subjects, including locomotives, sailing vessels and romantic Mississippi riverboats, portraits of notable figures, historic events, buildings, Native Americans, and animals, to name but a few. Add in the incredible detail and lavish use of color provided by talented engravers, which was employed to deter counterfeiting, and it is pretty clear that there’s a lot to like about paper money.

Others are also attracted to the history and stories surrounding these notes. Those of us who enjoy solving mysteries like to put notes into their historical context and uncover when, where, why, and by whom they were issued. This search for “the story” can be as satisfying as acquiring the notes. Some notes with great stories are not much to look at. If they were issued before 1840 or produced during periods of war or financial instability, they may, in fact, be quite plain with little ornamentation. Other elements, such as the signers and other persons named on the notes, become the primary focus for understanding their story. Some stories are pretty mundane, but others more than make up for the more pedestrian tales.

Fractional Scrip 

The note we’re looking at in this article was issued by an individual in Mobile, Alabama. The location is clearly stated, and the note has only one simple vignette of a pharmacist’s mortar and pestle with the text “Sign of the Black Mortar.” It directs F.M. Alexander, Esq., to pay 6¹⁄₄ cents to Levi Fletcher and is signed by the apparent issuer, H. Gates. The note is not dated, nor does Gates’s name appear in printed form anywhere. Its issue date can be estimated as sometime in the 1830s for one reason: the denomination. Foreign coins were in widespread circulation in the United States at that time, with the Spanish milled dollar and its eight “bit” fractions being very popular in the first four decades of the 19th century. Thus, the seemingly unusual denomination of 6¹⁄₄ cents, equal to half of “one bit” (12¹⁄₂) of a Spanish milled dollar, was not that unusual at all. We also know from history that the Panic of 1837 and the accompanying disappearance of coins from circulation caused many private individuals and companies to issue large numbers of fractional scrip notes.

After establishing a rough time frame, my two go-to resources to research the people behind the notes are U.S. Census reports, conducted every 10 years, and newspaper databases. In this case, the census reports were of little utility as individuals’ occupations were not provided until 1850, which was a bit too late to shed any light on this note. However, the searchable online newspaper databases can often be valuable, particularly for medium to larger-sized cities. As it turned out, newspaper articles and advertisements provided a wealth of background information and answered almost all the questions regarding the people involved with this issue.

Prominent Men

With three names to work on, the one most prominently displayed on the note was that of F.M. Alexander. Searching for that name, I quickly ascertained that he was a justice of the peace in Mobile around 1839. The only unresolved question was why he was being used as the paying agent for the note. That’s one loose end that will deserve some additional research. But the rest of the story gets really interesting. I found the other names mentioned together in the same news article regarding what has become  known as  “The Great Mobile Fire of 1839.”

Unimaginable Losses

In the 1830s, Mobile was a rapidly growing and important commercial center, constructed almost entirely of wood. At the time, it did not have a full-time professional fire department; instead, it relied on six volunteer fire companies. Compounding this shortage of firefighting resources was an unreliable water supply. When three fires hit the city within a matter of days in early October 1839, the results were predictable. A large part of the city’s business district was reduced to rubble and ashes, with over 600 buildings destroyed. Losses were estimated at over $2 million, with most buildings dating from the city’s earlier Spanish, French, and British eras being consumed. In an odd twist, a criminal gang later took credit for setting the fires to create a diversion so that stolen goods could be moved out of the city.

Buried within a newspaper story detailing the destruction on Dauphin Street was all the information needed to discover the backgrounds of the other two individuals whose names appear on the note. Levi Fletcher was the proprietor of a mercantile establishment, and Doctor H. Gates, who ran a drugstore virtually next door, was his neighbor. The vignette of a mortar and pestle confirms the issuer’s identity as Dr. Gates. Levi Fletcher died just four weeks later on November 11, 1839, presumably of natural causes rather than from any fire-related injuries. I did not uncover the later events of Gates’s life.

Rewarding Research

Researching stories like these is great fun. There are literally thousands of others out there, just waiting to be explored. Give it a try; I think you will find the experience to be rewarding.

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A version of this article appears in the October 2025 issue of The Numismatist (money.org)