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Baker City,OR - Baker County - March 22, 1873 - James W. Virtue Banking House :

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Banks, Registers & Vending Start Price:500.00 USD Estimated At:1,000.00 - 1,500.00 USD
Baker City,OR - Baker County - March 22, 1873 - James W. Virtue Banking House :
Lot of two letters/notices from the Banking House of James W. Virtue. The first is a note written in September of 1872 on 7” x 5.25” ruled paper with frank from the Office of James Virtue. This letter was not written by Virtue himself but by one of his subordinates. It regards bullion from a previous rendezvous. The reverse is signed by M.B. Willard on September 9, 1872. Secondly, a notice from James W. Virtue offices, also written on 8.25”x 5.5” ruled paper with official James W. Virtue frank. This notice is dated March 22, 1873, around the time Virtue was becoming a man of power in the Pacific mining community. This notice regards the Sorbett Tailings Co. in Portland, OR and addresses an issue of credit from a John Brattain, perhaps another business partner. It is signed on reverse by James W. Virtue and dated March 22, 1873. Both items are in Very Fine condition. Virtue was an Irish immigrant born in 1837 and was raised in Ontario, Canada. Later upon reaching adulthood, he moved to the Nebraska Territory and helped establish Dakota City. When the transcontinental railroad was constructed through Dakota City in 1863, Virtue decided to move west to look for more promising mining opportunities. Virtue then settled in Baker County, Oregon where he was eventually elected Sheriff. While serving as sheriff he helped establish the first bank in Baker and became financially powerful, soon becoming the most influential and richest man in Eastern Oregon. Following the financial Panic of 1893, Virtue’s bank failed and he moved to Portland. After several smaller successful mining businesses in the 1890s, he lived out the rest of his days in Portland as mining consultant. Virtue was considered such a prominent figure in Oregon’s history that he was honored in 1906 by Oregon Governor James Chamberlain and Oregon’s legislature as one of the most experienced and outstanding men in the history of Pacific Coast mining.