Series X: Financial manuscripts and ephemera, 1776 - 1977

Series

Staff Only

Dates

1776 - 1977

Creator

Pickering, Timothy, 1745-1829. (Person)

Access:

All series and subseries within this collection are open for research, with the exception of a few files within the Academia series that are restricted. The Academia series contains financial and sensitive institutional records from Wilkes College, and financial report records from Princeton University that will remain restricted for 80 years upon creation.

Extent

From the Collection: 17 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Additional Description

Condition Note:

Overall this series is in fair condition. In Subseries II several of the currencies from the 18th century are in poor condition. They are faded and torn, making some illegible.

Series X: Financial manuscripts and ephemera, 1776-1977

Series X: Financial manuscripts and ephemera, 1776-1977, is arranged into two distinct subseries: Subseries I: General, 1795-1977 and Subseries II: Currency. 1776-1943. Both of these subseries are arranged chronologically by creation date and contain financial reports, clippings, lists, accounting ledgers, foreign and domestic currency, illustrations, and other research pertaining to finances and businesses. Subseries I: General contains documents pertaining to financial purchases and plans. In this subseries there are ledgers and receipts from eighteenth century businessmen, such as Matthias Hollenback and Col. Timothy Pickering. There are also several planning and budget reviews done in the mid-twentieth century. The reviews were for Luzerne County, Lehigh Township, and the city of Wilkes-Barre by the Pennsylvania Economy League. In Subseries II: Currency, 1776-1943, there are paper bills from Austria, Italy, France, Russia, and the United States. Some examples of these include state currency from New Jersey, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania printed during the American Revolution in the 1770s. These bills were printed by Isaac Collins, who was the royal printer for King George III of England, but later turned to support the American Revolution.

Subseries I: General, 1795-1977

Subseries I: General, 1795-1977, is arranged chronologically and contains financial reports, newspaper clippings, accounting, illustrations, and receipts. Items in this subseries include business information of many nineteenth century entrepreneurs from Wilkes-Barre and the surrounding Northeastern Pennsylvania region. There are also several newspaper clippings detailing the history of these businessmen and their companies. This subseries also contains receipts and accounting ledgers from early Wyoming Valley merchants from the eighteenth century. These merchants include Col. Timothy Pickering and Matthias Hollenback. These receipts and ledgers list expenses and other business deals made between Pickering and Hollenback. Other items included are receipts from Pennsylvanian companies from the late twentieth century. There are also several planning and budget reviews made for Luzerne County, Lehigh Township, and the city of Wilkes-Barre from 1958. These reviews were done by the Pennsylvania Economy League on the request of the local governments. Reports written by this non-profit organization included audits of wage and planning budgets and how they could be improved.

Subseries II: Currency, 1776-1874

Subseries II: Currency, 1776-1874, is arranged chronologically by creation date and contains currency from several nations from the late eighteenth century to the late nineteenth century. These nations include Austria, Italy, France, Russia, and the United States. In addition, this subseries contains early American paper currency from the 1770s. Prior to the ratification of the United States Constitution in 1784, currency in the United States was issued by the individual states. Found within this subseries are dollars from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. This subseries also has Confederate dollars from the 1860s. When the South seceded from the Union in 1861, they needed to print their own money to pay the Confederacy’s bills. The Confederate states did not have any Gold or Silver backing up their currency, so they issued paper currency to sustain themselves. There are banknotes issued from individual cities throughout the South such as Charleston. In this collection there is a counterfeit Confederate bill printed in 1861. This bill is known as the Female Riding Deer bill. This bill was printed by Union printers such as Samuel C. Upham and smuggled into the Confederacy. Counterfeit bills such as this one were used to create a surplus of circulated currency leading to inflation in the South.