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Drexel, Sather & Church Banking House Promissory Note, Henry Meiggs [155392]

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Paper Start Price:75.00 USD Estimated At:150.00 - 300.00 USD
Drexel, Sather & Church Banking House Promissory Note, Henry Meiggs [155392]
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Dateline San Francisco, Sept. 30th, 1854. Promise to pay Drexel, Sather & Church $4,000. Signed by H. Meiggs. Two vignettes: bank building (bottom center) and allegorical woman (left). Lith. of Robertson & Seibert. 3 x 8" Toning. Henry Meiggs is listed as a lumber merchant in the 1854 SF Directory. He arrived in San Francisco in 1849 on the cargo ship, Albany, with lumber he sold there for 20 times its cost. He created his first sawmill in Mendocino County, California, which became the Mendocino Lumber Company. Meiggs was involved in real estate speculation in SF, and promoted the possibility of piers along the north shore area, on the grounds that it was closer to the Golden Gate than the usual harbor, located just south of Broadway Street on the shore of what is today downtown San Francisco. Today, the site of Meiggs' Wharf, in its day a marvel extending two thousand feet into the Bay, is occupied by part of Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, and Pier 45. He built warehouses, streets and piers in the area, and constructed sawmills and schooners. However, he paid for it by obtaining a book full of warrants on the Street Fund which the city's controller and mayor had signed in advance. Meiggs forged the remaining information. He fled SF right at the time of this note (1854) and travelled to South America. There, he became a successful railroad builder, building the second railroad in Chile, between Santiago and ValparaÃso. He spent his final years in Peru, powerful due to his railroad investments.

Date: 1854
Country (if not USA):
State: California
City: San Francisco
Provenance: