Question about US banking methods of the 1800s

Hi,

I have a number of stationery items form American banks dated 1880s.
I wondered if anyone can give me the correct name for them...

They have the bank's letter-head at the top,
and then:

"Dear sir, I enclose for collection and remittance."

Below this, there is a list of amounts with names next to each. (Would
these have been individual checks which were enclosed?)

At the bottom, there is "Yours respectfully", then the cashier's name,
signed.

I'm guessing there must be (or was) a standard banking term for this
item.

Thank you,

Jim Z

In article ,
Jim Z wrote:
I have a number of stationery items form American banks dated 1880s.
I wondered if anyone can give me the correct name for them...

Below this, there is a list of amounts with names next to each. (Would
these have been individual checks which were enclosed?)

I don't know. But in the interests of idle speculation:
If you have a number of these, can't you guess based on amounts,
numbers per name, locale if any, etc as to whether they were
checks or not?

From page 443 of my older Soule's Accounts under Banking (1911):
The general form of a letter transmitting collections is as follows:
COLLEGE NATIONAL BANK OF NEW ORLEANS,
NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 10,
E. H. CLARK, ESQ., Cashier,
Chicago, Ill.
DEAR SIR:- We inclose for collection and credit, (or remittance)
Frank Soule', on J. Wood, Sight $400.00.
Very truly,
A. L. CHAPPUIS, Cashier

On page 445,
Received the following Notes and Bills for collection:
[various and sundry, not typed in]
For directions how to write up these transactions see previous
explanations on page 443.
NOTE.-Remit A.J.S[...]Drafts to the Cotton Bank of Shreveport for
collection and remittance.
Remit [...] to City National Bank of New York, for collection and credit.

Later on is an example of a Collection book in which these transactions
are recorded.
But there are no specific names for this type of letter.
It sounds from this and other parts that your statements do not deal with
checks but perhaps some sort of draft or something.

[Does any of this material mention New Orleans or Louisiana?]

On Sun, 25 Feb 2007 01:56:57 +0000 (UTC), wrote:

I have a number of stationery items form American banks dated 1880s.
I wondered if anyone can give me the correct name for them...

Below this, there is a list of amounts with names next to each. (Would
these have been individual checks which were enclosed?)

I don't know. But in the interests of idle speculation:
If you have a number of these, can't you guess based on amounts,
numbers per name, locale if any, etc as to whether they were
checks or not?

Hi, Thanks for the feedback. I guess they are checks, but I am not
sure. I am wondering if they are memos that passed from one bank's
cashier to another, within a clearing house. Is that fesable? I'm not
sure how clearing houses operate, exactly.

it's intersting to note that many of the headed papers have two holes
punched at the top, as though possibly they were all put into the same
ring-binder or lever-arch file at some point. Might this suggest they
circulated within the same building, even though they all have
different bank headings?

One of them has text printed in red, at the bottom with instructions
on endorsing all Checks, Drafts, Coupons or Acceptances, etc., and
discusses items which are "payable at points outside this clearing
house". That's where I got the clearing house idea from.

On that particular one, headed "The Commercial Bank of Pennsylvania",
it has a list of amounts, again, with signgle-word names by the side
of each. I'm not sure if the names are the names of people, banks or
towns - the handwriting is hard to decipher.

From page 443 of my older Soule's Accounts under Banking (1911):
The general form of a letter transmitting collections is as follows:
COLLEGE NATIONAL BANK OF NEW ORLEANS,
NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 10,
E. H. CLARK, ESQ., Cashier,
Chicago, Ill.
DEAR SIR:- We inclose for collection and credit, (or remittance)
Frank Soule', on J. Wood, Sight $400.00.
Very truly,
A. L. CHAPPUIS, Cashier

On page 445,
Received the following Notes and Bills for collection:
[various and sundry, not typed in]
For directions how to write up these transactions see previous
explanations on page 443.
NOTE.-Remit A.J.S[...]Drafts to the Cotton Bank of Shreveport for
collection and remittance.
Remit [...] to City National Bank of New York, for collection and credit.

Later on is an example of a Collection book in which these transactions
are recorded.
But there are no specific names for this type of letter.
It sounds from this and other parts that your statements do not deal with
checks but perhaps some sort of draft or something.

[Does any of this material mention New Orleans or Louisiana?]

No; they are all from banks in the North East.

Regards,

Jim Z