Another John Galt

Posted by $ MikeMarotta 9 years, 8 months ago to Business
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_The Numismatist_ magazine of the ANA for April 2014 carried "Wherefore Art Thou Galt?" by Wendell Wolka. Wolka is a specialist in early American paper money. This $1 "Bill of Commerce" note was a "maverick", an undocumented issue. Wolka explained how he tracked it to the town of Galt, Ontario. The Internet has been a boon to those of us who usually chase mavericks through city directories archived in state and local libraries. Still, it took some finesse.

Founded as Shade's Mills in 1816, in 1825, the town was renamed in honor of John Galt, "Scottish novelist and commissioner of the Canada Company." By the late 1830s, the town was called "the Manchester of Canada" because of its broad range of high-quality industrial products. Galt held its status until the early 20th century, when it was overtaken by the town of Berlin, Ontario. (Berlin was renamed Kitchener about the same time that the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family became the Windors.) In 1973, Galt was merged under a county plan into a regional city government called "Cambridge."

The note in question, issued May 1, 1862, was signed "DSmrs" which Wolka deciphered to D. Spiers. David Spiers (1832-1917) owned many businesses and was active in the town's civic life, serving as mayor once from 1880-1882.

Wendell Wolka is the principal author of _Indiana Obsolete Notes and Scrip (Society of Paper Money Collectors, 1978), and _A History of Nineteenth Century Ohio Obsolete Bank Notes and Scrip_ (Society of Paper Money Collectors, 2004).


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  • Posted by $ 9 years, 8 months ago
    I found this academic paper online, a biography of John Galt of the Canada Company. It does run 70 pages but it is a worthwhile frontier epic if you want to invest the time in a real life story about building a company and a life and a civilization. (I am just beginning here and will dedicate what time I can, so no discussions, yet; I have archived it to my computer Library for reading on the bus.)

    JOHN GALT BY R. K. GORDON, M.A. (TORONTO), B.A. (OxoN.)
    ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
    UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY
    MCMXX
    TORONTO: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, CANADIAN BRANCH

    http://www.archive.org/stream/johngalt00...
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