1861 H.L. Eames Letter Requesting Payment for Outstanding Loan

On offer is an interesting private letter, written in 1861 in mid-western America, requesting payment on an outstanding loan.

The letter is a demand written to “Cousin Lewis” to repay a loan of $100.00. That $100 loan in 1861 was equal to about $3,000 in 2020, a respectable amount of money. It speaks to the position of the letter writer, one H.L. Eames. Eames may have been part of the Eames family who co-owned the City Bank of Eames, Allen & Co, located in Ottawa, Illinois.

Quite possibly, the recipient was a guarantor on the note. In the letter, Eames makes his desire clear:

I write to you at this time in relation to [ ] merchants note due last May for $100.00 and [ ]...because you are the one I look to for payment…

This is a fine example of the type of informal credit facility that underpinned so much of early American capitalism.

For a finance or banking professional, this would be an interesting addition to a collection or an interesting piece to adorn an office wall

The document is a one-page, single side letter measuring 9.75 inches by 7.5 inches. The page is in good condition and the handwriting is quite legible.