NNP

Lest anyone think election controversy is a relatively modern affair, the Gallatin, Missouri Election Day unrest in 1838 reminds us otherwise. Wiki reports:

“The newly formed Daviess County, Missouri, held its first local elections on August 6, 1838. William Peniston, a candidate for the state legislature, made disparaging statements about the Mormons, calling them ‘horse-thieves and robbers’, and warned them not to vote in the election. Reminding Daviess County residents of the growing electoral power of the Mormon community, Peniston made a speech in Gallatin claiming that if the Missourians ‘suffer such men as these [Mormons] to vote, you will soon lose your suffrage.’ Around 200 non-Mormons gathered in Gallatin on election day to prevent Mormons from voting. When about thirty Mormons approached the polling place, a Missourian named Dick Weldon declared that in Clay County the Mormons had not been allowed to vote, ‘no more than negroes’. One of the Mormons present, Samuel Brown, claimed that statement was false and then declared his intention to vote. This triggered a brawl between the bystanders.”

A generation later, the First National Bank of Gallatin issued this large sized $5, Fr-574. This example is ex. Newman VI (Heritage Auctions, 4/2015), lot 19863, where it realized $6,462.50. The Freidberg reference, Paper Money of the United States (22nd edition), indicates ten known large examples of all types and denominations of this issue. We found only one other piece on Newman Portal, a $10 note offered by Lyn Knight in the June 1980 Bank Note Reporter.

Link to Eric P. Newman research files on Missouri paper money: https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/archivedetail/532241

Image: Gallatin, MO $5 note, 1882 Value Back, Friedberg 574.