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San Francisco,CA - 1859-1861 - Fretz and Ralston, Collection of Three Drafts :

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Documents Start Price:100.00 USD Estimated At:200.00 - 400.00 USD
San Francisco,CA - 1859-1861 - Fretz and Ralston, Collection of Three Drafts :
Ralph Stover Frietz met Commodore Cornelius Garrison and became partners with him in several important enterprises. One of those business ventures was in the Isthmus of Panama pre 1848. Later, “in 1849 he sailed from the Isthmus to San Francisco, where in connection with the Commodore he established a bank” in San Francisco, where William Ralston was also a principle in the firm of Garrison, Morgan, Fretz & Ralston [http://www.pagenweb.org/~bucks/BIOS_DAVIS/philiphfretz.html] in 1856. In 1857, Garrison and Morgan retired and “the firm of Fretz & Ralston, which continued until June 1, 1861” [Cross, 1927, 75]. The firm would go on to become the Bank of California in 1864. Its founder was William Ralston.
The three drafts in this collection are dated 1859, 1860, and 1861. The 1859 draft is signed by R. S. Fretz for the amount of 1794.00. Its vignette has an Indian woman looking off in the distance with a quiver of arrows on her back. The 1860 draft is signed by Morris A. Cohen. It has a seated woman with a crown swaddled in cloth and a sailing ship in the background. The 1861 draft is signed by an attorney infact. This draft has no vignette at all.