JAY COOKE - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 11/10/1880 - HFSID 81311

JAY COOKE
The American financier pens a letter regarding sales. At the time of this letter he was in the midst of recouping losses suffered in 1873 when his banking house financed the Northern Pacific Railroad
Autograph Letter Signed: "Jay Cooke", 1¼p, 5½x9 lined sheet. Philadelphia, 1880 November 10. On his imprinted letterhead to his Western land agent based in Chicago, W.J. Barney. In full: "Yrs recd. Of course all actual sales made by your Mr Lewis will have to acknowledge & I have no idea he intended to repudiate any sales already made & if in your case I would take that for granted. I think he is making up a list for a new distribution & doesn't want it changed by sales in meantime. I could see him if you wish it but would advise you simply to close up & stop further sales, no doubt he will consider those made already as irrevocable." American financier Cooke (1821-1905) marketed government bonds for financing the Civil War, raising over $2,000,000 following the First Battle of Bull Run in 1861. He served as fiscal agent for the U.S. Treasury (1862-1864, 1865) and after the war, financed the construction of western railroads. Problems in building the Northern Pacific Railroad (the second transcontinental railroad) and the financial crisis of 1873 forced Cooke to close his business Jay Cooke & Co. He later recouped his fortune with silver mines in Utah in 1878 and 1879 and investments in real estate in the West. 3 file hole pinches at left touch some text (all intact) but not signature. Mid-vertical fold, not at signature. Slightly creased. Otherwise, fine condition.