Footnotes

1. [1]

   This form of currency issued by city governments is referred to as fractional currency because notes were usually issued in amounts ranging from ten cents to one dollar. Such scrip was commonplace, and nineteenth-century examples have been found for towns and cities from Pennsylvania to Georgia. Economist Richard Timberlake identified city governments as “one of the most usual sources of fractional currency.” He further noted that while most issues of scrip occurred in economically unstable periods—such as 1814–1817, 1837–1840, 1857–1858, and 1862–1864—examples of city-issued scrip could be found for nearly any year in the nineteenth century. (Timberlake, “Significance of Unaccounted Currencies,” 859–860; see also Muscalus, Illustrations of County Scrip, 4–23.)

   Timberlake, Richard H. “The Significance of Unaccounted Currencies.” Journal of Economic History 41, no. 4 (Dec. 1981): 853–866.

   Muscalus, John. Illustrations of County Scrip Issued in Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee and Pennsylvania. Bridgeport, PA: Historical Paper Money Research Institute, 1967.

2. [2]

   Timberlake described the issuing of scrip or notes by city or county governments as a “natural” development that allowed local governments to operate during periods of specie suspension or specie shortages. Later, during the Civil War, the federal government resorted to issuing fractional currency, or postage currency, due to inflation and specie shortages. (Timberlake, “Significance of Unaccounted Currencies,” 853–860.)

   Timberlake, Richard H. “The Significance of Unaccounted Currencies.” Journal of Economic History 41, no. 4 (Dec. 1981): 853–866.

3. [3]

   Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840, square brackets in original.

4. [4]

   William Clayton, city treasurer in 1843, wrote to the city council warning that the treasury had only forty dollars left and asking for guidance on whether he should use the remaining money to redeem city scrip. (William Clayton, Nauvoo, IL, to Nauvoo City Council, Nauvoo, IL, 13 Jan. 1843, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)

5. [5]

   Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 14 Jan. 1843, 146–147.

6. [6]

   Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 4 Mar. 1843, 167.

7. [7]

   The handwritten treasury orders used after March 1843 appear to have also been referred to as “city scrip.”

8. [8]

   Bennett signed scrip with the serial numbers 1 to 240. (Nauvoo City Treasury Ledger, 1.)

   Nauvoo City Treasury Ledger, 1842–1845. Nauvoo, IL, Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.

9. [9]

   See William Clayton, Treasurer’s Report, 5 Nov. 1842, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.

10. [10]

    Ebenezer Robinson, Statement of Account, Nauvoo, IL, for City of Nauvoo, ca. 15 Jan. 1842, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.

11. [11]

    [James Sloan], Record of City Scrip, 27 May 1842, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.

    Nauvoo, IL. Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.

12. [12]

    Nauvoo City Treasury Ledger, 1.

    Nauvoo City Treasury Ledger, 1842–1845. Nauvoo, IL, Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.

13. [13]

    JS likely signed scrip with serial numbers 381–448 on 14 July 1842 and may have also signed additional notes. Robinson printed 500 copies of the city scrip in January 1842. Ultimately, 513 notes of Nauvoo city scrip bearing the signatures of either John C. Bennett or JS were issued. Few notes of Nauvoo city scrip are extant. When the scrip was redeemed for specie it was destroyed, usually by being burned. According to extant Nauvoo city records, at least 437 notes were destroyed by the city between 1843 and 1845. (Ebenezer Robinson, Statement of Account, Nauvoo, IL, for City of Nauvoo, ca. 15 Jan. 1842, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; Nauvoo City Treasury Ledger, 1, 6, 8, 10, 14, 17, 20; “Account of City Scrip Destroyed by Mayor,” 18 Dec. 1843; “Account of Scrip Destroyed,” 12 Feb. 1844; “Scrip Destroyed,” 17 May 1844; “Scrip Destroyed,” 10 Oct. 1844, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)

    Nauvoo City Treasury Ledger, 1842–1845. Nauvoo, IL, Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.

    Nauvoo, IL. Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.