LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 December Signature Texana Auction #661  / 

56112

Portland Texas Capital Stock Certificate,

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:575.00 USD Estimated At:1,000.00 - 1,500.00 USD
Portland Texas Capital Stock Certificate,
<B>City of Portland, Texas Capital Stock Certificate</B></I>, 7" x 3.5". Engraved by "<I>J. Lowe, Galveston, Texas</B></I>." Capital Stock, "<I>Two Thousand Acres of Land & City Lots</B></I>." City of Portland, Matagorda Co., Republic of Texas. "<I>This Certificate for ___ Dollars will be received at par in payment for Lots in the above named City. City of Portland _______ 1841. ______ Sec. ______ Agnt.</B></I>" Vignette at top center depicts the railroad; vignettes of scales of justice at left and an eagle being fed at right. This certificate, blank and not filled out or signed, is engraved. It is the <B>earliest example known of engraving done in Texas</B></I>. The certificate represents an interesting scheme promoted by Nicholas Clopper of Cincinnati, his son Joseph C. Clopper, and the latter's brother-in-law, Edward Este, for establishing a new town on the Colorado River at the head of the raft. The plan was to connect the new town by a railroad with tidewater on Wilson's Creek, about three miles to the south and then by steamboat or other craft to Port Austin and Palacios on Matagorda Bay, south of the mouth of the Colorado. As "City of Portland" is not shown on the map in the 1845 edition of the <I>Hunt & Randell Guide to Texas</B></I>,<I> </B></I>the Cloppers' project was evidently not successful. The present city of Portland, Texas, is located on the Gulf of Mexico and was founded in the early 1890s. Thin, parchment-like paper; slight tears at upper and lower margins. Fine condition. <I>From the collection of Darrel Brown.</B></I><BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Flat Material, Small (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
Sign In to Bookmark Lot