TEN ENGRAVED AND ILLUSTRATED BANK CHECKS FROM THE BANKING HOUSE OF AN AMERICAN JEWISH PIONEER WESTERN BANKER, ALL WITH U.S. REVENUE STAMPS AND SIGNED BY L.H. HERSHFIELD OR HIS BROTHER AND PARTNER AARON HERSHFIELD.
Helena, MT: 1866-1874. Ten engraved bank notes, completed in manuscript, from the "Banking House of L.H. Hershfield," "Banking House of L.H. Hershfield & Co.," and "Banking House of L.H. Hershfield & Bro." All signed by Hershfield or his brother and partner Aaron. All with U.S. Revenue Stamps and endorsements. A few light repairs, Very Good.
Lewis Hershfield was among the most prominent, successful Jews in the American West. See, Jewish Museum of the American West.
"Hon. L.H. Hershfield was born in Oneida County, N.Y. August 21st, 1836; in 1854 he went to St. Louis and took a position in a wholesale notion house, and in 1859 removed to Leavenworth, Kan. When the great gold excitement broke out in Colorado he started for Pike's Peak , driving an ox team across the plains to Central City, where he went into the mercantile business, and remained until 1864, at which time he came to Montana with a train of twenty-six wagons laden with goods, and sold the whole outfit to Monroe Salsbury. Mr. Hershfield reached Virginia City on July 3rd, 1864. He succeeded in buying up a large quantity of gold dust, on which he made a large profit. In 1865 he established a bank , now known as the Merchants' National, in Helena, having a branch also at Virginia City. His brother Aaron was admitted as a partner in the business in 1868 and the Merchants' National Bank was organized with a capital stock of $150,000 in 1882. In 1880 Mr. Hershfield established a bank at Benton, and in 1883 a bank at White Sulphur Springs; he is also largely interested in White Sulphur Springs property.
"He was married in 1874 to Miss Mary Grab, a native of Germany, by whom he has had six children: Lily, Henry, Ezra, Rennie, Sybil, and Louis Harrison; four of the children are living. Mr. Hershfield's family lives in New York in the winter, and generally spends the summer in Helena. He has had a remarkable business career, and is noted as a financier who is second to none in the West On August 12th, 1868, their correspondents in New York suspended, owing them $107,000, from which they never realized a dollar, but they paid every obligation at maturity, and the bank has always been noted for its sound financial condition.
"Mr. Hershfield was a member of the Constitutional Convention and has been for many years a prominent leader and adviser of the Republicans in Montana" [Montana Blue Book 152. Helena: 1891.]. Item #37546
Price: $1,000.00